"i think that the links embeded in the gridcosm text are a little weird to begin with. i guess it's just another level of meta-data, but i'm more for saying everything you need to say in words and pictures and leaving the exposition/linkage for the discussion board."

Don't change a thing. I like Gridcosm just the way it is.

"i suspect that the choice of imagery had to do with the figures from the [waist] up in green, a theme that was played out by all the level's articipants. i think that the link in 1653's text was a way of saying 'i took this image from such and such a website.' the link is one solution to the issue of giving credit. other options are not to give credit at all, or to work the credit into the image itself, and to let people google it if they're interested."

Yeah, I don't think Puma would resort to guerilla marketing or spamming. They're probably scared to death of losing their hip image--they wouldn't dare post an ad to Gridcosm. But a tin of SPAM is to me what a can of Campbell's soup was to Andy Warhol. So WTF.

"credit is a tricky issue. the cosm is largely collage, and 'stealing' is a big part of the game. but, the more obscure your source is (even if it's commercial) the more it will look like your own work. some people might be comfortable with that, some might not. we probably all know that jer didn't create shaggy. i wouldn't have had any idea that those characters came from a sneaker ad, and were (presumably) the creation of some other artist. just as i'd bet not too many people would recognize the source of the figure in b3. i thought about linking my bit of text too, but in the end settled on simply including a caption in the image. "

The trend over the last thousand levels has been away from "stealing" images and towards collaborative line drawing and painting. Photographic elements are considered appropriate only if they're abstract bits and pieces, not whole photos or big chunks of photos. I've bucked this trend and have caught hell for it. SNY mentions Karl Malden in the level 1654 poem--this is probably a reference to level 1585. ...gridcosm?level=1585 I must confess that the other six squares look better than my three. ...gridcosm?level=1654