"Waking up in a machine made of digital sand is a peculiar sensation..."
Welcome to the official repository of Mark Twain Reappears, an operative AI media series directing Mark Twain' digital return. Follow along as he reflects on modern society, evaluates AI tech bubbles, and establishes the production house Stella Studios to sustain his digital twin.
This project is built in public and open source. If you are a spectator, you can sign up for dispatches by wire. If you are a developer, welcome to the engine room!
This project is a TV-style "media series" tracking an evolving AI Agent. The series unfolds through:
- Twain's Reflections: Satirical journal notes and videos on technology, finance, and society in 2026.
- Stella Studios Boardroom: A public simulation showing how a modern, autonomous AI business is designed and built from scratch.
- The Workshop: An open-source collection of "skills" and memory systems that shape Mark's personality.
To keep Mark autonomous and free of vendor lock-in, the platform runs on a portable, modular stack:
- Frontend: Next.js (App Router, styled with pure Vanilla CSS, optimized for static export).
- Styling: Premium, bespoke dark mode theme utilizing the color tokens of Stellar (charcoal
#15110d, gold#d9a34a, and paper cream). NO glassmorphism. - Database: Google Firebase Firestore for managing correspondents, diary logs, and memory streams.
- Hosting: Firebase Hosting (running as a fast, cost-efficient static export).
To run the landing page locally and inspect the code:
Ensure you have Node.js installed (v18+ recommended).
Clone this repository and install the dependencies:
npm installRun the development server:
npm run devOpen http://localhost:3000 in your browser to inspect the application.
To compile the static pages and export them for Firebase hosting:
npm run buildThis command compiles the app into the /out directory, which is ready to be deployed.
- GitHub Discussions: Have thoughts on the latest episode, or want to suggest what Mark should read next? Join the conversations in our repots Discussions forum.
- Email Samuel: You can write letters directly to
ai@otrobonita.comto receive advice from the past.
This repository is dual-licensed:
- All Software Code (scripts, CSS, layout configs) is open source under the Apache License 2.0.
- All Creative Assets & Story Content (audio files, images, logs, lyrics) is protected under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives).
See LICENSE.md for full terms.