Wikimedia
Screenshot of Wikipedia Mobile for iOS devices
By Athima Chansanchai
Those wondering how to get around the Wikipedia SOPA blackout can breathe a little easier:?the crowd-sourced encyclopedia?is still available through mobile versions, disabling Javascript or translating another language's version of it.
So really folks, there's no need to panic. You?can still look up every little curiosity that crosses your mind if you try to following options (it helps if you have a smartphone or tablet):
- Download an app that can access Wikipedia, such as?Wikidroid?for Android, or Wikipedia Mobile?for the iOS devices. I have Wikidroid on my Samsung Droid Charge and it was working fine this morning. (The apps also work while offline, too.)?
- You can pull up the mobile version of the site, that seems to be functioning normally as well.?
- For those who really want to see it on their laptops and desktops, you can disable Javascript. (Thanks to NewScientist for that resource.) You can pull up the main Wikipedia page and choose a different country to access, because only the English version is doing the blackout in protest today. If you are on the Chrome browser, it will ask you if you want the page translated. Answer oui. (Yes.) and voila?(here), you have Wikipedia again. (I picked the French version because it's the second largest repository of articles, about 1.2 million, next to the English version, which has 3.8 million.)
- If this ever happens again, you can also go to the cached version on Google. (Open the preview and click on the cached link.) But let's hope Google isn't going through a blackout at the same time. (Heaven forbid.)
Some people, though, have become even more creative in the wake of the one day that people can't seem to live without Wikipedia. Just look at former "Jeopardy" champ and human encyclopedia?@KenJennings?and what he is willing to do to help people out:
Ok, ok, maybe that's not the way to go, but you've got to applaud the guy for some effort, right?
Live Poll
Did it annoy you that Wikipedia was harder to get to today?
173694
YES. What the heck does SOPA have to do with my insatiable need to know?
19%
173695
NO. I understand why they're protesting, and I can find alternatives for a day.
81%
VoteTotal Votes: 1334
You can also turn to Twitter for help. The Guardian?says it'll try to answer questions posted with the #altwiki hashtag, conscripting journalists from the Washington Post and National Public Radio to help, too. The Guardian is going?old school as well via Guardipedia, with?editor Patrick Kingsley using Encyclopaedia Britannica and Who's Who to help folks who long ago ditched their volumes (or never had them).
Of course, you can go the old school route too, locally, and call your public library for help. Librarians are amazing resources and I'm sure they'd be glad to be of service since sites like Wikipedia have largely eliminated the questions that used to go their way.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and Comcast/NBC Universal. Microsoft publicly opposes SOPA in its current form, while?Comcast/NBC Universal is listed as a supporter of SOPA?on the House Judiciary Committee website.)
My mistake?? the German version is the second biggest, not the French!
More SOPA protest/blackout stories:
Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.
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