function registerDailyWisdoms() {
   
   // which wisdom are we currently displaying?
   var currentWisdom = -1;
   
   function initialize() {
      
      // start fading in the wisdom feature
      $('#feature_wisdom').fadeIn(1000);
      
      // do we have anything to show?
      if (wisdomData.length > 0) {
         
         // create a slide for each piece of wisdom
         var slidePrototype = $($('#feature_wisdom .slide_container .slide')[0]);
         
         for (var i = 0; i < wisdomData.length; i++) {
            
            var d = wisdomData[i];
            
            // clone the slide
            var slide = slidePrototype.clone();
            
            // position the slide, set its slide's class and add it to the container
            slide.css('left', (i * 791) + "px");
            if (d['css_class'])
               slide.addClass(d['css_class']);
            slide.appendTo('#feature_wisdom .slide_container');
            
            // store the slide's blurb position
            var blurb = slide.find('.blurb');
            blurb.data('blurb-position', parseInt(blurb.css('left')));
            
            // populate the slide's values
            slide.find('a.clickcatch').attr('href', d['uri']);
            slide.find('.blurb p.title').text(d['label']);
            slide.find('.blurb p.tagline').text(d['tagline']);
            slide.find('.blurb a.go').attr('href', d['uri']);
            slide.find('a.learn_more').attr('href', d['uri']);
         }
         
         // get rid of the prototypical slide
         slidePrototype.remove();
         
         // set the current
         // if defined, use the start slide
         // otherwise, use use second-to-last or very last slide, if necessary
         if (typeof(startWisdom) == 'undefined') {
            
            // second-to-last or very last
            displayWisdom(wisdomData.length == 1 ? 0 : wisdomData.length - 2, false);
         
         } else {
            
            // normalize the value and use it
            startWisdom = startWisdom >= 0 && startWisdom < wisdomData.length ? startWisdom : 0;
            displayWisdom(startWisdom, false);
         }
         
         // register event handlers for the buttons
         $('#feature_wisdom a.previous').click(function() {
            displayWisdom(currentWisdom - 1, true);
            return false;
         });
         
         $('#feature_wisdom a.next').click(function() {
            displayWisdom(currentWisdom + 1, true);
            return false;
         });
      }
   }
   
   function displayWisdom(index, animate) {
      
      // bounds check
      if (index < 0 || index >= wisdomData.length)
         return;
      
      // load the image
      loadImage(index);
      
      // update share links
      var facebook_link = $('#feature_wisdom ul.wisdom_share a.facebook');
      if (wisdomData[index].facebook_url) {
         facebook_link.show();
         facebook_link.attr('href', wisdomData[index].facebook_url);
      } else {
         facebook_link.hide();
         facebook_link.attr('href', '#');
      }
      
      var twitter_link = $('#feature_wisdom ul.wisdom_share a.twitter');
      if (wisdomData[index].twitter_url) {
         twitter_link.show();
         twitter_link.attr('href', wisdomData[index].twitter_url);
      } else {
         twitter_link.hide();
         twitter_link.attr('href', '#');
      }
      
      var email_link = $('#feature_wisdom ul.wisdom_share a.email');
      if (wisdomData[index].email_url) {
         email_link.show();
         email_link.attr('href', wisdomData[index].email_url);
      } else {
         email_link.hide();
         email_link.attr('href', '#');
      }
      
      // update calendar
      $('#feature_wisdom span.calendar_date').text(wisdomData[index].date);
      
      // animate or move immediately?
      if (animate) {
         
         // pre-set the position of the blurb
         var blurb = $($('#feature_wisdom .slide_container .slide')[index]).find('.blurb');
         blurb
            .clearQueue()
            .hide()
            .css('left', (blurb.data('blurb-position') - 300) + "px");
         
         // animate
         $('#feature_wisdom .slide_container')
            .clearQueue()
            .animate({
                  left: (index * -791) + "px"
               },
               350,
               (function(blurb) {                  
                  return function() {
                     blurb
                        .show()
                        .animate({
                           left: blurb.data('blurb-position') + "px"
                        },
                        200
                     );
                  }
               })(blurb)
         );
         
      } else {
         
         // just move immediately to the position
         $('#feature_wisdom .slide_container')
            .clearQueue()
            .css('left', (index * -791) + "px");
      }
      
      // update the current wisdom index
      currentWisdom = index;
      
      // update the next/back buttons
      updateNextBackButtons();
   }
   
   function updateNextBackButtons() {
      
      var prev = $('#feature_wisdom a.previous');
      var next = $('#feature_wisdom a.next');
      
      if (currentWisdom == 0)
         prev.hide();
      else if (wisdomData.length > 1)
         prev.show();
      if (currentWisdom == wisdomData.length - 1)
         next.hide();
      else if (wisdomData.length > 1)
         next.show();
   }
   
   function loadImage(index) {
      
      // sanity check
      if (index < 0 || index >= wisdomData.length)
         return;
      
      // are we already loading this image?
      if (wisdomData[index]['image_loading'])
         return;
      
      // setup callbacks
      function handleError(index) {
         
         return function() {
            
            // just load adjacent images
            if (index + 1 < wisdomData.length)
               loadImage(index + 1);
            if (index - 1 >= 0)
               loadImage(index - 1);
         }
      }
      
      function handleSuccess(index) {
         
         return function() {
            
            // if this image is currently displaying fade it in
            if (index == currentWisdom) {
               
               $(this).css('opacity', 0.0);
               $(this).animate({
                     'opacity': 1.0
                  },
                  300
               );
            }
            
            // insert the image
            $($('#feature_wisdom .slide a.clickcatch')[index]).append($(this));
            
            // load adjacent images
            if (index + 1 < wisdomData.length)
               loadImage(index + 1);
            if (index - 1 >= 0)
               loadImage(index - 1);
         }
      }
      
      // go ahead and load the image
      wisdomData[index]['image_loading'] = true;
      
      var img = new Image();
      img.onabort = handleError(index);
      img.onerror = handleError(index);
      img.onload = handleSuccess(index);
      img.src = wisdomData[index][$('#feature_wisdom').hasClass('detail') ? 'image_archive' : 'image_primary'];
   }
   
   // kick things off
   initialize();
}