Wednesday 18 January 2012

Missing It Already?

So, how are you coping? Without the benefit of Wikipedia, I mean. As all the world surely knows (from Wikipedia), the go-to site for just about everything you need to find out about is blacked out for the day, in protest against a couple of acts that Obama wants passed and Wikipedia doesn't. Of course, with Wikipedia down, I can't find out anything about these acts. I tried going into the French site and getting the information back-translated, which might have been fun, but in the event didn't work. It's like being back in the Nineties, some are saying - we might have to rely on old-style books and phone calls and memory. Memory! Mine is but a distant... er, memory - at least the instant-fact-recall part of it. Wikipedia aided Google in making it largely obsolete, while the advancing years took care of the rest. Actually it's not at all like being back in the Nineties, as there are plenty of other ways of getting information - they might not be as quick, neat and encyclopaedic, but they work. And we still have everything else - it's not like Google going down for a day; that really would be tough. Meanwhile, there's an easy way round the Wikipedia blackout: before it disappears, each page is on screen just long enough for a quick Cmd A, Cmd C. Sorted.

5 comments:

  1. Or you can forward all your questions to me at Nigipedia. Just don't expect any correct answers...

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  2. Now I know of the existence of the Nigipedia, I won't be needing the Wikipedia ever again.

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  3. Spread the word, Frank! Demand seems a little slack thus far...

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  4. Oh mighty Nigipedia, what is the answer? You know, THE answer? Here is your chance to step up and replace both Wikipedia and the Omni-Encyclopaedia Dobsonia.

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  5. Well I've checked out 42 and that's wrong.
    I fear The Answer is that there is No Answer.
    So much for my career as an encyclopedist. I like the name though - Nigipedia...

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