WikiTaxi keeps Power Downloader in the know

This week, Power Downloader returns from vacation with a discovery that's fun and useful: WikiTaxi, a program that takes Wikipedia offline.

As you might have noticed, Power Downloader hasn't been around for the past few weeks. Even on vacation and out of range of a Wi-Fi signal, Power D's been able to look up any question he has on Wikipedia. He managed that little superheroic feat with a sharp program called WikiTaxi.

WikiTaxi compresses Wikipedia down to offline size.

(Credit: WikiTaxi)

WikiTaxi compresses all of Wikipedia into a database that's searchable, fully usable, and small enough to fit on an 8 GB USB drive. Power D knew not to be skeptical about the entries getting old because WikiTaxi grabs the Wikipedia database dump every few weeks. There's also an option in the program to update it yourself, if you do happen to find yourself near a fleeting connection to the Internet.

As a single-file app, WikiTaxi is easy to manage--hence the portability. To install it, you extract the file to any folder. When you open it, it opens to a randomly selected page, and you can browse from there. Power D cautions users who want the images from Wikipedia, though, that WikiTaxi abandons those to keep the file size down. Also, internal links are supported, but external ones are not for obvious reasons.

For those who want to learn more, the WikiTaxi site explains in further detail how the database, compression, and installation works.

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