Sunday, October 25, 2009

Total Perspective Vortex

Thinking about building a renvois navigation scheme, with some kind of visualization, for the Encyclopédie, reminded me of the Total Perspective Vortex from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the greatest selling electronic book in the history of the universe. It is important to note that "in an infinite universe, the one thing sentient life cannot afford to have is a sense of proportion." Thankfully, the renvois system is finite, so we won't risk brain vaporization. The original radio broadcast is available in bits and pieces on YouTube, with Don't Panic in large, friendly letters as the video track. :-) The Guide's best advice is, aside from Don't Panic, "expect the unexpected".