![Encyclopaedia Britannica, the mother of all alphabetized knowledge, will be putting its 244-year-old print business out to pasture effective immediately.
This makes the august encyclopedia publisher’s 32-volume 2010 edition the last of its kind.
“Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now,” said Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. president Jorge Cauz. “The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.”
Indeed, over the last decade, Encyclopaedia Britannica has seen online rival Wikipedia slowly eat away at its market share, with its high-minded notions of free information for all by all.
By comparison, a complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannica books will set you back a cool $1,395. Additionally, dead-tree tomes lack the self-correction and expansion features that come standard with Wikipedia, and are increasingly necessary in today’s fast-paced world of the 24-hour news cycle.
Curriculum products for schools have been Encyclopaedia Britannica primary source of revenue since encyclopedia sales peaked at 120,000 in 1990. According to the company, nearly all the other money it makes comes from subscriptions to its website. Print encyclopedias make up less than 1 percent its profits.
[mediadecoder.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0ugwjfdui1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Encyclopaedia Britannica, the mother of all alphabetized knowledge, will be putting its 244-year-old print business out to pasture effective immediately.
This makes the august encyclopedia publisher’s 32-volume 2010 edition the last of its kind.
“Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now,” said Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. president Jorge Cauz. “The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.”
Indeed, over the last decade, Encyclopaedia Britannica has seen online rival Wikipedia slowly eat away at its market share, with its high-minded notions of free information for all by all.
By comparison, a complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannica books will set you back a cool $1,395. Additionally, dead-tree tomes lack the self-correction and expansion features that come standard with Wikipedia, and are increasingly necessary in today’s fast-paced world of the 24-hour news cycle.
Curriculum products for schools have been Encyclopaedia Britannica primary source of revenue since encyclopedia sales peaked at 120,000 in 1990. According to the company, nearly all the other money it makes comes from subscriptions to its website. Print encyclopedias make up less than 1 percent its profits.
[mediadecoder.]
What if you were playing in the club championship tournament finals and the match was even at the end of 17 holes.
You had the honor and hit your ball a modest two hundred fifty yards to the middle of the fairway, leaving a simple six iron to the pin.
Your opponent then hits his ball, lofting it deep into the woods to the right of the fairway.
Being the golfing gentleman that you are, you help your opponent look for his ball. Just before the permitted five minute search period ends, your opponent says, “Go ahead and hit your second shot and if I don’t find it in time, I’ll concede the match.”
You hit your ball, landing it on the green, stopping about ten feet from the pin. About the time your ball comes to rest, you hear your opponent exclaim from deep in the woods: “I found it!”
The second sound you hear is the sound of a club striking a ball.
The ball comes sailing out of the woods and lands on the green, stopping no more than six inches from the hole.
Now the real “what if” in this story: What if you had your opponent’s ball in your pocket?
Meet the 18-year-old mayor
Leap Year explained.
[cgpgrey.]
Update: As a few of you have noted, this extension has actually been available for quite some time, since Google originally announced the ad cookie blocker back in 2011. Check out the details in the team’s original Public Policy blog post and combine it with a dose of web history cleaning to keep your activities to yourself.
![Should You Send That Email? Here’s A Flowchart For Deciding
INFOGRAPHIC OF THE DAY
ALTHOUGH THE ADMONISHMENT IS USEFUL, CAN ANYTHING CURB THE EXPLOSION OF EMAIL?
Email is broken. There’s too much of it, no one can agree on how to use it, it’s too easy to send, which encourages a glut of CYA CCing, and there are spammers. Online IT Degree (which is apparently the real name of a real website) has ventured into this fray with a lighthearted flowchart, designed to help you decide whether it’s really worth sending an email.
It’s a losing battle–we learn that right up at the top. According to Online IT Degree, Atros, a company that banned email, has managed to only reduce its email volume by 20%. That’s with a ban! What can we mere mortals hope to accomplish?
We have some quibbles with the decision tree. The first question is “Are you at work?” and if you answer “no,” then the chart leads to “okay.” No! Not okay. Heartwarming PowerPoint forwards are never okay (confidential to our relatives: We love you very much). Further down, there’s weird ritual advice like implementing a “No Email Friday” policy.
But there are some good considerations there too. Poorly written subject headers remain the bane of our existence, to say nothing of the ongoing river of pain that is CC abuse. For a more thorough and thoughtful take on when to send email, we recommend Seth Godin’s checklist (forlornly titled “(maybe this time it’ll work!)”).
Here’s the sick thing. If we know the Internet (and we think we do), we can confidently say that this infographic is going to get shared all over the place. Via email.
[Image: Roger Costa Morera/Shutterstock]
TIM MALY
Speculative writer Tim Maly runs Quiet Babylon, a website about cyborgs & a](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lztbqv5hOM1qeoyxwo1_r1_500.jpg)
Should You Send That Email? Here’s A Flowchart For Deciding
INFOGRAPHIC OF THE DAY
ALTHOUGH THE ADMONISHMENT IS USEFUL, CAN ANYTHING CURB THE EXPLOSION OF EMAIL?
Email is broken. There’s too much of it, no one can agree on how to use it, it’s too easy to send, which encourages a glut of CYA CCing, and there are spammers. Online IT Degree (which is apparently the real name of a real website) has ventured into this fray with a lighthearted flowchart, designed to help you decide whether it’s really worth sending an email.
It’s a losing battle–we learn that right up at the top. According to Online IT Degree, Atros, a company that banned email, has managed to only reduce its email volume by 20%. That’s with a ban! What can we mere mortals hope to accomplish?
We have some quibbles with the decision tree. The first question is “Are you at work?” and if you answer “no,” then the chart leads to “okay.” No! Not okay. Heartwarming PowerPoint forwards are never okay (confidential to our relatives: We love you very much). Further down, there’s weird ritual advice like implementing a “No Email Friday” policy.
But there are some good considerations there too. Poorly written subject headers remain the bane of our existence, to say nothing of the ongoing river of pain that is CC abuse. For a more thorough and thoughtful take on when to send email, we recommend Seth Godin’s checklist (forlornly titled “(maybe this time it’ll work!)”).
Here’s the sick thing. If we know the Internet (and we think we do), we can confidently say that this infographic is going to get shared all over the place. Via email.
[Image: Roger Costa Morera/Shutterstock]
TIM MALY
Speculative writer Tim Maly runs Quiet Babylon, a website about cyborgs & a
Dean du Plessis was born blind but makes a living by ‘watching’ cricket. The Zimbabwean commentates on matches by listening to the speed and spin of the ball, as well as players’ reactions, keeping track of the score by memory.
Women always say that giving birth is way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the nuts. Here is proof that they are wrong.
A year or so after giving birth a women will often say, “It would be nice to have another kid.”
You will never hear a guy say, “I would like another kick in the nuts.”
A sexually active middle aged woman informed her plastic surgeon that she wanted her vaginal lips reduced in size because, over the years they have become loose and floppy.
Out of embarrassment, she insisted that the surgery be kept secret and, of course, the surgeon agreed.
Awakening from the anesthesia, she found 3 roses carefully placed beside her on the bed.
Outraged, she immediately called in the surgeon.
“I thought I specifically asked you not to tell anyone about my operation”!
The surgeon told her he had carried out her wish for confidentiality and that the first rose was from him.
“I felt so sad for you, because you went through this all by yourself.”
“The second rose is from my nurse. She assisted me in the surgery and understood perfectly, as she had the same procedure done some time ago.”
“And what about the third rose?” she asked.
“That’s from a man in the burn unit - he wanted to thank you for his new ears.”
