Our goal is to produce a “natural” interactive multimedia educational website that teaches visitors about the mind. This goal is a humbling one, especially since we have so little precedent to go on. But that is our goal and vision.

Part of the metaphor we are using in our development comes from the "Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Aadams. The Hitchhiker’s Guide, as it is vaguely described in the books, seems to be akin to one of our existing Personal Digital Assistants on steroids. Accordingly, epsych employs the “look and feel” of a stainless steel PDA with a blue screen. EncyclopediaTerra is clearly the “publisher” of this advanced-generation site...

Along the way, we are doing our best to have a great time, and we hope our visitors have a great time, as well. Accordingly, we have tossed in a number of “insider jokes” for our own amusement. Gary, in particular, includes random allusions of all sorts. For example, in developing the horizontal/vertical illusion, he tossed in a referent to "The Thin Red Line," a recent movie. This is one of the most contemporary of his allusions. Others: Starman Jones (from the book by Robert A. Heinlein); dilithium crystals (from Star Trek); and the repairBot (a ripoff of R2/D2). The Bad Guys™ hunt (still in its early stages) owes a particular nod to Asimov, both for his David Starr Space Ranger series, as well as the Foundation trilogy. And there is more to come: he is planning to add an allusion to the vintage TV show Tom Corbitt, Space Cadet, along with another to Heinlein’s Space Cadet. There seems to be no stopping this guy. Couldn’t he at least rip off GOOD SCIENCE FICTION?

Another insider joke can be found on our awards page. You have to check back every day for a few days to get the joke. Changes take place at midnight CDT US/EARTH.

We would like to share more information about the state of the project, our plans, goals, etc. But we’re so busy working on the rest of the site, we don’t have TIME to step back and assess where we are. Nevertheless, we welcome your thoughts and suggestions about what we might add to the site, how we might improve it, and so on. Just send e-mail. In the near future, we hope to create a mailing list that we can use to share information about developments. Another task on a very, very long list.

Sigh.

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