update the time every 5 seconds.

gistfile1.js

var line;
var future = new Date(Date.parse("06 Jan 2013 09:00:00 GMT-0500")); // XXX PST vs PDT?
var past = new Date(Date.parse("30 Nov 2012 09:00:00 GMT-0500"));

line = document.querySelector(".orange");
setTimelineChars(line, future);

function setCurrent() {
  var current = new Date();
  line = document.querySelector(".green");
  setTimelineChars(line, current);
}

setCurrent();
setInterval(setCurrent, 5000);

line = document.querySelector(".yellow");
setTimelineChars(line, past);

console.log("Done! Great Scott!");