"We're making some sort of pop-culture dream of our childhood," says Bob Callahan, the auteur behind The Dark Museum. "This is the first attempt to write the history of the Cold War from the perspective of the lived experience." And what an experience! This cold war cultural museum, a combination of story-telling and self-guided exploration, will explore the toxic effects of the Cold War on American culture since 1946, featuring cold war politics, drug lords, dark fiction, film noir, and Thanksgiving Day Parade-type balloons of cultural icons like Annette Funnicello.

Developed on both coasts, the project involves several remarkable collaborations. First, Silicon Alley's design and tech innovators Funny Garbage and I/O 360 have signed on as WDF Web Development Partners to work with San Francisco writer and editor Bob Callahan. And Callahan will recruit many of America's best known underground artists to create original illustrations for the site.

No less significant, The Dark Museum is sure to break new ground in the areas of interface design and on-line narratives. "Get the user into the space, then make it melt away," said Gong Szeto of I/O 360. "We're not bound to gravity."