How To Search Wikipedia More Quickly, From More Places
This week: How to find answers on the Internet without using a search engine, a browser, or, in some cases, a computer or an Internet connection.
You have probably heard of Wikipedia (
www.wikipedia.org) by now, and if you haven't, I'd be interested to know where you're getting your information. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia built by its readers. It's a well-organized, constantly updated and revised -- albeit uneven -- repository of knowledge. The fact that it can be updated by anyone, including nonexperts, means it isn't perfect, and it isn't about to dislodge search engines such as Google, but it's a great place to start when you're looking for quick information, whether it's how many airlines are in the Star Alliance (21) or the year when Uhtred of Hwicce granted some land to Bishop Milred (757 -- really).
When looking up things, speed is generally a priority. And while the browser is the usual method of doing this (open browser, type in Web address, wait while page loads, find search box on page, type in query, wait while page loads again), it's not the fastest. There's a host of little-known widgets and tweaks that can help you do it quicker. While some might be a tad geeky, most aren't, and if you get used to them you might find Wikipedia as accessible as any search engine.
Looking up something on Wikipedia is easiest via your browser. But that doesn't mean having to open a Web page in order to search it. Nowadays most browsers come with small search boxes, usually located in the top right-hand corner of the program. This search box spares you the extra step of typing "www." and ".com" or whatever: Instead, type your query into the box. The default search engine is usually Google or one of the other biggies, but you can easily change it, and in most cases Wikipedia is one of the options.
Still one step too many? Some search engines are getting smarter, in that they try to anticipate what you're looking for before you've finished typing it. Answers.com, for example, contains what is basically a copy of Wikipedia's content but with a search engine that lists, below the box where you type your query, any answers that match -- as you're typing it. So, if you type the first three letters of "Ethelred," for example, it starts to list matches ranging from "eth" the file extension (don't ask) to Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (whose New York Stock Exchange code is ETH). By the time you've typed "ethelr," it's already narrowed the list down to six people who go by that name, including Ethelred the Unready and the comedy actress Ethelreda Leopold. It's like having someone interrupt you before you've finished talking. In a good way.
All of this still involves your browser. But we could ditch it altogether. Answers.com has also created a small program for Windows (wikipedia.answers.com) that allows you to look up Wikipedia entries by holding down the Alt key and clicking on any word that happens to be on the screen -- whatever program you're currently in. The Wikipedia entry will appear in a window below the text you clicked on -- after a second or two's delay, and assuming, of course, you're connected to the Internet. Alternatively, you can type your query into a little search box that appears in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. A rival is Babylon (
www.babylon .com), which has been going since the late 1990s and offers a similar route to searching dictionaries, translations and encyclopedias (not just Wikipedia), although it will cost you: The new version retails for $60.
The answers.com and Babylon software don't call themselves widgets, but they should. Widgets are little splashes of program that sit above your bigger programs and give you important information such as weather or sports scores. Wikipedia is a natural fit: Mac users have one widget (
www.apple .com/downloads/dashboard/reference/wikipedia.html), while fans of the Opera browser have more than a dozen to choose from (widgets.opera.com). Yahoo also has its own widgets for both Mac and Windows users (widgets.yahoo.com); several of them make searching Wikipedia easier. All are free.
This all still assumes you're sitting at your computer, connected to the Internet. If you're not, you could always download the whole of Wikipedia onto your laptop. The best way to do this is via a new program called Webaroo (free from webaroo .com), that offers what it calls Web Packs -- specially compiled globs of content that can be taken from the Internet, installed on your hard drive and accessed as if they were still on the Internet. Just make sure you have a good connection, a lot of hard disk space and some patience: The Wikipedia Web Pack weighs in at six gigabytes -- that's about the same size as a movie. If you have an iPod and some nerve, you might want to try the inevitably named Encyclopodia (free from encyclopodia .sourceforge.net/en). (It requires installing another operating system on your iPod -- Linux -- and won't work on the newer iPods.)
If you aren't sitting at your computer but have a hand-held and an Internet connection, you can still access Wikipedia. If you have a smart phone, aim your in-phone browser to en.wapedia.org or wikipedia.7val .com, which offer lighter versions of the encyclopedia, formatted for your device. Likewise, Quickipedia ($15 from
www.standalone .com/palmos/quickipedia) does a fine job of getting the data and formatting it so that it's easy to read (and fast to load) on your Palm. Windows Mobile users have Lexipedia (between $15 and $20 from revolution.cx/Lexipedia/Lexipedia.htm).
With Wikipedia, the usual caveats apply about what you read on the Internet: Get a second opinion. But armed with these tools, that quick, off-the-cuff answer to a question is a step closer.
Jeremy Wagstaff
玩转维基百科
我们本周将向大家介绍如何在不使用搜索引擎、浏览器，甚至是电脑或网络的情况下进行搜索。
双语阅读
? How To Search Wikipedia More Quickly, From More Places你可能已经听说过维基百科(Wikipedia)，网址
www.wikipedia.org，如果还没听说，我可要问问你平日在哪里获取信息了。维基百科是由无数读者共同创建的百科全书。它是一个条理清晰并不断得到更新和修订的知识库──尽管更新的频率并不固定。由于可被包括非专业人士在内的所有读者更新，因此维基百科并非完美无缺，它也无意与谷歌(Google)等搜索引擎媲美，但如果你希望快速查找信息，那么不论你是想知道星空联盟(Star Alliance)旗下有多少家航空公司（答案是21个），还是想搜索赫威赛人的Uhtred王国在哪一年向Bishop Milred赏赐土地（答案是757年），维基百科都是个不错的起点。
当我们搜索信息时，速度通常是最重要的。虽然浏览器是我们最常用的工具（打开浏览器，敲上网址，等待页面下载，在页面中找到搜索框，再敲上你要找的问题，再次等待页面下载），但它并不是最快的。其实有很多鲜为人知的小工具可以帮助你搜得更快。虽然有些看上去可能有点儿奇怪，但大多数还比较顺眼。如果用惯了这些工具，你也许会发现维基百科并不比其他搜索引擎差。
通过浏览器在维基百科上查找信息最为简单。但这并不意味著必须打开网页才能搜索。如今，大多数浏览器都配备一个小小的搜索框，通常位于浏览器的右上角。这个搜索框可以为你减少输入“www”或者“.com”之类的麻烦：将问题直接输入搜索框即可。浏览器默认的搜索框通常是谷歌或其他知名搜索引擎的，但更改设置很简单，而且多数情况下维基百科也是备选引擎之一。
就这么一步你还嫌多？那么告诉你，有些搜索引擎已经变得越来越智能化，在输入完毕前就可以猜出你要输入的内容。举例来说，answers.com是一个内容与维基百科差不多的网站，当你在搜索框输入搜索内容时，凡是与之匹配的内容都会出现在搜索框下，在输入过程中，对应内容也会不断发生变化。比如，如果你输入“Ethelred”的前三个字母，下面就会出现从“.eth（文件扩展名）”到“Ethan Allen Interiors Inc.（其纽约证交所股票代码为ETH）”的各种结果。而当你打上“ethelr”后，搜索范围将缩小到6个人名，包括Ethelred the Unready和喜剧演员Ethelreda Leopold。这就像你的话没说完就被人打断一样。不过，这是友好地打断。
我们所说的这一切仍然没有离开你的浏览器。不过我们可以完全抛弃它。answers.com为Windows创建了一个小程序（见wikipedia.answers.com），不管你正在运行哪个程序，按下“Alt”键，在屏幕上出现的任何词上点击一下，即可进入维基百科的输入框。这个输入框窗口将出现在所点文字的下面──中间有一两秒钟的延迟，当然，前提是你连接了互联网。或者，你可以将问题输入到屏幕左下角的一个小搜索框中。answers.com的竞争对手之一是Babylon (
www.babylon.com)，后者成立于上世纪九十年代末，为搜索字典、译文和百科全书（不只包括维基百科）提供类似的服务，不过它是收费的：新版零售价为60美元。
answers.com和Babylon软件并不把自己称为小工具，但事实却的确如此。“小工具”是运行在大程序之上的小程序，可以为你提供天气或体育比赛结果等重要信息。维基百科自然符合这个定义：Mac用户有一个小工具：(
www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/reference/wikipedia.html)，而青睐Opera浏览器的用户则有更多选择（widgets.opera.com）。雅虎(Yahoo)也有为Mac和Windows用户准备的小工具；其中很多工具使搜索维基百科变得更为方便了。所有这些小工具都是免费的。
使用上述功能的前提是你拥有电脑，并且接入了网络。如果没有满足这个条件，那么你可以把整个维基百科下载到你的笔记本上。下载的最佳途径是通过一个名为Webaroo的新程序进行（在webaroo.com上可免费获得)，这里面有一个Web Packs，汇总了很多可以在网上获得的内容。将该程序安装在硬盘上，你就可以如同在网上一样自由查找你需要的内容了。但是要确保线路通畅，硬盘空间较大，而且还需要有些耐心：Wikipedia Web Pack要占用6G的空间，这相当于一部电影的大小。如果你有iPod和一点儿胆量，你可以尝试一下Encyclopodia（可从encyclopodia.sourceforge.net/en免费获得)。（它要求在iPod上安装另外一个操作系统Linux，而且不适用于新版iPod）。
如果你没有使用电脑，但是有一个手持设备并且能够上网的话，你仍然可以访问维基百科。如果你拿著智能手机，那么可以把手机浏览器链接到en.wapedia.org或者kipedia.7val.com，它们提供适合设备的、内容更简易的维基百科。同样，Quickipedia（可从
www.standalone.com/palmos/quickipedia购买，售价15美元）在获取信息和格式变化方面也表现出色，可以轻松读取并快速上传到你的Palm上。Windows Mobile用户可以选择Lexipedia（可从revolution.cx/Lexipedia/Lexipedia.htm购买，售价在15-20美元之间)。
人们对网络内容发出的警告同样适用于维基百科：对搜索结果要多方求证以确保准确。不过有了这些工具的帮助，我们距离快速、实时得到问题的解答又近了一步。
Jeremy Wagstaff
