The total time the master viewer page takes to load is based on three things
If you have a DSL or broadband connection and a computer made in the last two years your load time should be under 30 seconds. aproximation is trying to optimize its code (and if you have any ideas please let aproximation know) but in the meantime aproximation appologizes for the delay.
When the page first loads (provided you are not looking at a particular item - e.g. no '?' in the URL bar) should be navagational items on the left side of the window, assorted links and certifications and such along the top of the window, and the main part of the window should be populated with horizontal lines that have dots scattered along their length
The left and top navigations should be relatively explanitory, but the main window may need some explination. The horizontal lines are the different channels for which items exist. A channel is an arbitrary classification of an item, and an item is an individual record of a particular artistic endevor. So an MP3 recording of an audio piece by aproximation would be an item, and this item would be placed along the 'audio' line.
That explains the vertical placement. The horizontal placement is based on when the event happend (or was entered into the database at least). When the page oads the left side of the main window is the end of the most recent year for which items exist, and the right side of the window is the beginning of the earliest year for which items exist. So if you have 10 items ranging in date from the middle of 2002 to the middle of 2006 the left side of the screen is 2006-12-31 and the right side of the screen would be 2002-01-01.
The hashes, or whatever you would like to call the marks along the inside top of the main window, represent years and months. The larger marks are years and the smaller marks months.
The slider along the top of the main window is the time zoom function. You can drag the main window so that your target item (or item grouping) is in the center of the window, then drag the slider to the right to zoom in on that date. Drage the slider to the left to zoom back out. If you get lost there is a reset button in the left top most part of the main window marked by the letter 'R'.
To shift time ranges just drag the main window left or right.
You can make results 'disappear' by using the dates dropdowns in the toolbar along the left side of the navigator window. Currently you can only specify a date range in years.
You can use the search bar in the left tool bar along the left side of the navigator window. To make all the results that do not match your search reappear simply clear the select bar and either click the question mark.