But it doesn’t stop there. The signal is compared against the noise to Ulu ratio, then duplicated, and duplicated again. Eventually 1000 fold, the specs are then transmitted, along with any new dates for Mary Chapin Carpenter or Omar & The Howlers, to the Hubble Space Telescope, which in turn, disperses the data to over 10,000 downlinks across the planet.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It’s not. For it is at this point that events on the quantum level take over and the observer becomes part of the experiment, eventually influencing the outcome. For example, in the last ten days new dates for Ian Moore were ultimately responsible for Tom Cruise filing for divorce from Nicole, a change in the routing for Austin Lounge Lizards influenced the latest Napster decision, additional shows for Orgy enabled Gladiator to pick up 12 Oscar nominations and the Euro dates for Buddy Mondlock confused a skipper of a sub off the coast of Hawaii into giving the “all clear.”

Having changed the course of human events, the information exits the micro world to re-emerge in the macro. The data is broken down into its primary components, date, city, state and venue, where each packet is given its own destination. Spreading out over the globe, each concert module rushes to its pre-determined destination, where it regroups, taking the form of schedules for acts like Dexter Freebish or Alan Jackson.

It may seem inconsequential, but once reassembled, the reconstituted data may offer clues to a cure for cancer or help prevent Groupie Attention Disorder as well as provide a heads up on the new dates for Joshua Redman or Quiet Riot. Regardless of the outcome, it often means a new lease on life. A new hope for all mankind.

And that is how Pollstar.com’s Instant Notification works.