What is Quotidian? Quotidian is a new way to visualize time and events. Traditional timelines are limited to displaying events marked along a line. Quotidian displays events in a three dimensional space that can be scaled in all directions to show vast amounts of information.
Like a web browser, Quotidian is a program that you download and install on your desktop or laptop.
Quotidian works with your Web browser to provide time indexes for information on the Web. It allows Web pages to link to events in timelines. Quotidian has two parts: a Viewer to display timelines of events and an Editor to construct timelines.
Quotidian events can be displayed with sound, images, video, and popup text. An event's data can be extended with text, citations, and geographical coordinates.
In the future Quotidian will be available on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. [read more]
Like a web browser, Quotidian is a program that you download and install on your desktop or laptop.
Quotidian works with your Web browser to provide time indexes for information on the Web. It allows Web pages to link to events in timelines. Quotidian has two parts: a Viewer to display timelines of events and an Editor to construct timelines.
Quotidian events can be displayed with sound, images, video, and popup text. An event's data can be extended with text, citations, and geographical coordinates.
In the future Quotidian will be available on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. [read more]
Can I run Quotidian on my machine? If you have a machine that runs a recent version of MS Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux you probably can.
The Quotidian viewer displays events as objects in a three-dimensional space. It requires that your machine support OpenGL, a common standard for three-dimensional display. Quotidian performs best when your machine also contains a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Most computers have some support for OpenGL and many have modern GPU. If you are not sure about your machine's capabilities, the install program for Quotidian will test your machine before you buy or install Quotidian.
Why is this? When we started the Quotidian project we thought that by 2012 all new machines would have powerful graphics processors. This is true with the entire Apple computer line. The growing popularity of laptops and a corresponding concern with cost and power consumption has limited the graphics capabilities of the most popular low cost machines from major manufacturers. Even so, the graphics capability of recent machines continues to grow, but more slowly than we had thought.
The test program will tell you if you can or can't run Quotidian. It will also warn you if your machine supports OpenGL but lacks a GPU. Quotidian will usually run on such machines, but perhaps without the expected speed and the ability to handle very large and complex timelines. [read more]
The Quotidian viewer displays events as objects in a three-dimensional space. It requires that your machine support OpenGL, a common standard for three-dimensional display. Quotidian performs best when your machine also contains a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Most computers have some support for OpenGL and many have modern GPU. If you are not sure about your machine's capabilities, the install program for Quotidian will test your machine before you buy or install Quotidian.
Why is this? When we started the Quotidian project we thought that by 2012 all new machines would have powerful graphics processors. This is true with the entire Apple computer line. The growing popularity of laptops and a corresponding concern with cost and power consumption has limited the graphics capabilities of the most popular low cost machines from major manufacturers. Even so, the graphics capability of recent machines continues to grow, but more slowly than we had thought.
The test program will tell you if you can or can't run Quotidian. It will also warn you if your machine supports OpenGL but lacks a GPU. Quotidian will usually run on such machines, but perhaps without the expected speed and the ability to handle very large and complex timelines. [read more]
How do I get Quotidian? It is easy! Because we run a small test of your machine's graphic capabilities, we add an extra step to the download process. This test assures you that your machine will run Quotidian before you purchase a license.
- Go to Download from the home page and follow the steps to install Quotidian. The first step will download the Check Program. This will first run a quick test of your machine's graphics capabilities. If your machine can run Quotidian, the Check Program waits for you to enter a license key.
- Go the the Register section from the home page. Be sure to give your current email address when you register. The license key will be sent to that address. Having an account allows you to track the status of your order, to get a new license key if the old one is compromised, and to purchase new licenses in the future for add-on programs and complex timelines.
- To get a license key, go back to the Download page and determine which license is right for you. After you buy a license, you will get an e-mail from Quotidian support containing a license key.
- If the Check Program is not running, restart it. Copy the license key into the Check program and start downloading Quotidian. Follow the instructions to complete the installation.
- After Quotidian is installed, you can read the Quick Guide for information on setting up your browser to handle Quotidian timelines. You can then try out the various sample timelines.
Freebase People Timeline
Submitted by quotidian on Sun, 04/22/2012 - 15:37
We have added a demo timeline that asks you for a person's name and uses the Freebase database (www.freebase.com) to automatically build a timeline for that person. It starts with a list of people to try, but you can enter any name you wish. If it can't find the person you ask for, it just asks again.
A person's timeline is populated with set of events that is limited, for now, to an author's books, a musician's albums and groups. a politician's offices, and films by directors, writers and actors.
- Read more about Freebase People Timeline
- Log in or register to post comments
Version 1.2 Released
Submitted by quotidian on Mon, 03/26/2012 - 16:41
Version 1.2 of Quotidian has just been released. This version contains many changes and is the first one to be generally available. It is available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.
- Read more about Version 1.2 Released
© 2011 Quotidian Incorporated
Videos of Quotidian in Action ...
An introduction to Quotidian
(view full size)
An introduction to creating timelines with the Quotidian Editor
(view full size)
Quotidian and the Twitter timeline
(view full size)
Linking in Quotidian
(view full size)