Interactive......

.......Encyclopaedias.

Anyone use one......or more?

I want to get Encarta because I used to use it in school and I loved it. I'm a knowledge freak but Encarta just isn't as comprehensive as Encyclopaedia Brittanica, but the software on Encyclopaedia Brittanica is supposed to be shit.

I know I can find all the stuff out online at wikipedia etc, but not all computers are connected to the internet, so this way I can use it whenever i want.

It would be sweet if Wikipedia came out with one.

Anyway, does anyone use either of these or something else? Are they good or shit?

Cheers D

wikipedia does have offline versions... they're huge though.

[quote88de5f1bad="Admin"]wikipedia does have offline versions... they're huge though.[/quote88de5f1bad]

doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Wiki?

[quote8addfe7082="doylnea"][quote8addfe7082="Admin"]wikipedia does have offline versions... they're huge though.[/quote8addfe7082]

doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Wiki?[/quote8addfe7082]

No.

I like Brittanica offline. It's pretty great. It has video as well.

http//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_mission_statement is the purpose of the wiki. i can't recall where i read it but there are packaged versions of wikipedia meant for offline use, i.e. in countries where internet access is not a reasonable expense (used at libraries or other places in a lan situation) or for schools (same way).

[quoteb2d200ffcb="Averagejoe1039"]I like Brittanica offline. It's pretty great. It has video as well.[/quoteb2d200ffcb]

What's the software like though? Is it slow and/or shit?

I love Encarta too. I can use it free online, so I don't bother paying for the cd copy. I use a combination of Encarta and Wikipedia for research.

I hate research so much. Some people enjoy it.... I'm like stackmjwiz, I always use encarta, brittanica, or Wiki for free...

I have a genie named Jambi. Meka leka hi, meka hiney ho!

[quotef4bae7c7fa="agroman"][quotef4bae7c7fa="doylnea"][quotef4bae7c7fa="Admin"]wikipedia does have offline versions... they're huge though.[/quotef4bae7c7fa]

doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Wiki?[/quotef4bae7c7fa]

No.[/quotef4bae7c7fa]

How do you figure? The beauty and strength of the Wikipedia, is that it is constantly updated - sometimes within minutes of news-making events.

On offline version doesn't have that central characteristic.

[quote353f80b542="Admin"]http//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_mission_statement is the purpose of the wiki. i can't recall where i read it but there are packaged versions of wikipedia meant for offline use, i.e. in countries where internet access is not a reasonable expense (used at libraries or other places in a lan situation) or for schools (same way).[/quote353f80b542]

I found this.

http//download.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/

The most recent is

pages_full.xml.bz2|2005-Nov-17 194711|[b353f80b542]14.1G[/b353f80b542]|application/x-bzip

Look at the size of that fucker.

[quoteeca9e49ec0="agroman"]I have a genie named Jambi. Meka leka hi, meka hiney ho![/quoteeca9e49ec0] Genie's rock! I only have my floogerhorse... Do they have genies on eBay?

[quote315755caee="doylnea"][quote315755caee="agroman"][quote315755caee="doylnea"][quote315755caee="Admin"]wikipedia does have offline versions... they're huge though.[/quote315755caee]

doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Wiki?[/quote315755caee]

No.[/quote315755caee]

How do you figure? The beauty and strength of the Wikipedia, is that it is constantly updated - sometimes within minutes of news-making events.

On offline version doesn't have that central characteristic.[/quote315755caee]

Because the online wiki still exists; it's still a wiki and will continue to be updated. Most of the information in the offline wikipedia will still be valid despite its age and how many times its been updated online. I don't think you want to argue that an offline version doesn't have any value. As long as the user of the offline version is aware of the fact that it will always be superceded by the online version everything's cool. Right?

[quote17d873fcd2="agroman"][quote17d873fcd2="doylnea"][quote17d873fcd2="agroman"][quote17d873fcd2="doylnea"][quote17d873fcd2="Admin"]wikipedia does have offline versions... they're huge though.[/quote17d873fcd2]

doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Wiki?[/quote17d873fcd2]

No.[/quote17d873fcd2]

How do you figure? The beauty and strength of the Wikipedia, is that it is constantly updated - sometimes within minutes of news-making events.

On offline version doesn't have that central characteristic.[/quote17d873fcd2]

Because the online wiki still exists; it's still a wiki and will continue to be updated. Most of the information in the offline wikipedia will still be valid despite its age and how many times its been updated online. I don't think you want to argue that an offline version doesn't have any value. As long as the user of the offline version is aware of the fact that it will always be superceded by the online version everything's cool. Right?[/quote17d873fcd2]
The offline version will always have less value than the online version - just as a 2003 copy of the World Book has less knowledge value than the 2006 printing of the same.

[quote412688eb5c="doylnea"][quote412688eb5c="agroman"][quote412688eb5c="doylnea"][quote412688eb5c="agroman"][quote412688eb5c="doylnea"][quote412688eb5c="Admin"]wikipedia does have offline versions... they're huge though.[/quote412688eb5c]

doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Wiki?[/quote412688eb5c]

No.[/quote412688eb5c]

How do you figure? The beauty and strength of the Wikipedia, is that it is constantly updated - sometimes within minutes of news-making events.

On offline version doesn't have that central characteristic.[/quote412688eb5c]

Because the online wiki still exists; it's still a wiki and will continue to be updated. Most of the information in the offline wikipedia will still be valid despite its age and how many times its been updated online. I don't think you want to argue that an offline version doesn't have any value. As long as the user of the offline version is aware of the fact that it will always be superceded by the online version everything's cool. Right?[/quote412688eb5c]
The offline version will always have less value than the online version - just as a 2003 copy of the World Book has less knowledge value than the 2006 printing of the same.[/quote412688eb5c]

We can agree on that. The point I was trying to make was that an offline version has value, period... Rather than, not having an offline version.

http//digg.com/links/Download_WikiPedia[]http//digg.com/links/Download_WikiPedia

I was reading this when I clicked into this thread.

feels like he just entered a parallel universe

Dodododo Dodododo

[quote411bf76fb7="theysayjump"][quote411bf76fb7="Admin"]http//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_mission_statement is the purpose of the wiki. i can't recall where i read it but there are packaged versions of wikipedia meant for offline use, i.e. in countries where internet access is not a reasonable expense (used at libraries or other places in a lan situation) or for schools (same way).[/quote411bf76fb7]

I found this.

http//download.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/

The most recent is

pages_full.xml.bz2|2005-Nov-17 194711|[b411bf76fb7]14.1G[/b411bf76fb7]|application/x-bzip

Look at the size of that fucker.[/quote411bf76fb7]

and bzip is really really really good at text compression \

also- that probably doesn't contain wikimedia (i.e. pictures, videos, etc)

Is there anyone who has the new Encarta version 2006? If so is it any good?