A new generation of celebrities has taken up the cause, including Paris Hilton, Christina Applegate and Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys pop group.
Meanwhile, several citizens' groups have taken up the cause, including Save Open Spaces and CitiSpace.
Officials were investigating the cause, including the possibility that an inmate had set fire to a mattress.
Early theories about the cause included solar activity affecting the magnetic field, atmospheric motions and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigerators and aerosols.
John has also lined up a series of celebrities to tweet in support of the cause, including Stephen Fry, Phillip Schofield, Jimmy Carr, John's partner David Furnish, Kanye West and Lily Allen.
Black and white abolitionists took up the cause, including Wendell Phillips, George L. Sterns (one of the "Secret Six" that had financed John Brown's raid), William Wells Brown and Frederick Douglass.
Lowe had been recruiting locals for the cause, including Abdu Ghaba, a Jack-of-all-trades who had helped machine a set of bespoke screws for the Lucida after a batch got lost on the journey from Spain.
Through his wide-ranging contacts, he has corralled a roster of stars popular with young people to plug the cause, including America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty"), Hayden Panettiere ("Heroes") and Tyra Banks ("America's Next Top Model").
He was relentless and creative in cultivating celebrities for the cause, including Sting and Daryl Hannah, and in eliciting support from wealthy patrons such as Russ DeLeon, a law-school contemporary who had made a fortune through an online-gambling venture.
Intel has also contributed significant resources to the cause, including its own design for an inexpensive laptop computer, albeit one that is currently more expensive than Mr. Negroponte's.
