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How to read Wikipedia articles in simple English?

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 08:57 AM PDT

I often read Wikipedia for finding some interesting facts. Most times it is to get some basic background about certain things. Most articles will include a lot of information like the correct way to pronounce certain words.

It also has links to a particular query’s ambiguous meanings. This can be a little too much for children or for people who do not know English as their first language.

Getting Wikipedia articles in simple English

Let’s say I am reading an article about India on Wikipedia. The URL will be http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India .
To get the same article in simple English just replace “en” with “simple”.
So the URL will be http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/India.

This gives the same content in simplified English which does remove a lot of information which people might not really be interested in. Special thanks to Mani Karthik for this tip.

I do not think most people will find Wikipedia articles are too difficult to understand. But this is really useful if you are learning English or for students who might find the language of a particular article too difficult.

Do you think Wikipedia needs more such filters? Do drop in your comments?

Links: Wikipedia | Simple English

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Why Google Chrome will win the browser wars?

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 03:16 AM PDT

Which browser will win the browser war? Every month we see the browser share of Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer go up and down to give us some sign of who will emerge the winner.

I started a discussion on our Devils’ Workshop Facebook page about which browser was the favorite and why it was a favorite?

Credit: Mozillazine

Some interesting observations

Well the sample size is a little small to be called a poll but about 13 responses were in favor of Firefox, 6 for Chrome and only 3 for Internet Explorer. There were other opinions which even found favor with Opera and other browsers.
At first glance it looks like Firefox wins hands down but 4 opinions which were favorable to Firefox also said they really liked using Chrome.
Majority of the people who voted for Firefox seems to like the browser for its amazing add-ons.
Almost no one had anything negative to say about their experience using Chrome.

Going by the response, one can assume that Firefox is leading the pack by a big margin. But I feel differently about which one will end up winning the browser wars.

Why Chrome will end up winner?

Everything about using the Chrome browser comes down to one word and that word is ‘Simplicity‘. Lets be honest the world is not full of techies and majority of the people who use browsers are not geeks.

Installation

Installing newer versions of Internet Explorer or Firefox seems like rocket science when compared to installing Chrome. Most people use Gmail, Orkut and other Google related services which actively prompts people to download Chrome. This actually works great because Chrome installation is awesomely easy.

Speed

Chrome browser came to the market as the fastest browser around. It even boasted about it’s speed with its strange experiments. Jokes apart people felt Chrome won’t stay fast once they supported extensions. That has not happened and even now Chrome is known for being lightning fast as a browser.

User-Interface

Chrome has a spartan User Interface. The search bar is the same as the address bar. The tabs are nicely up right at the top, the settings and options are hidden and access through just a couple of not so interfering icons. Chrome keeps the user’s focus on the web-page rather than other features it might or might not have.

Add-on and extensions

When Firefox updates its Add-ons or when you update even its version it needs you to restart the browser. Get and extension on Chrome and start using it without any interruption. Such interruption free features make Chrome a browser to beat.

I know a lot of you might not agree with me and might argue that Firefox simply has more options. The problem with Firefox is not the options which makes it a browser of choice even for me. The problem is it has not been able to make it simple.

So do you think Chrome will win the browser war? Do drop in your comments and views.

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