Xanadu: Browser Demo Released!

At a Chapman University Event, Ted Nelson announced the release of Xanadu:

Instructions

Now before you click on the “Read More” link:

  1. Realize that it loads slowly.  Just wait.  It’s just a demo so the performance hasn’t been optimized.
  2. The user interface isn’t always intuitive (it uses keyboard shortcuts)

Background:

  • The main content is visible in the middle and the related content is displayed in parallel on the side
  • The connections between the different sources are displayed with colored lines between the documents
  • To see the related source, click on it with your mouse.  To get back to the prior source, click on it.

About the document:

  • The document, written by Moe Justes, is a compilation of different sources.
  • I haven’t read all the content; but though Ted Nelson has said he himself is an atheist, Juste’s method of intertextually invoking other sources is actually quite biblical.
  • At this point, it probably isn’t easy to duplicate something like this with your own content, but I wonder how biblical criticism could benefit from this form of parallel writing.