(2004-06-01) Bray Purple Numbers

Tim Bray [is](http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2004/05/29/Purple Numbers) starting to use Purple Numbers. Though he's [now](http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2004/05/31/Purple Again) changed the symbol, plus hidden it so that it only shows up when you mouseover a paragraph.

Adrian Holovaty thinks this isn't a good idea for Newspaper sites. Would there be value in being able to link directly to a particular paragraph in a Washington Post story -- say, a telling quote or a provocative fact? Probably. Would it be worth it if, in the process, it confused millions of people who didn't know why they'd started to see purple pound signs all over the place? Probably not. Oh my god, some of these words are underlines, I'm so confused!