You already know Wikiwix, the search engine run by the web company Linterweb that gives only results out of the databases of the Wikimedia Foundation projects.

Today, Linterweb is pleased to introduce you My Wikiwix. My Wikiwix, by using the technologies initially developed for the searches on the Wikimedia projects with Wikiwix, allows you to have a search engine for your own website.

To perform searches on your website, My Wikiwix, like Wikiwix, uses semantic search technologies, in order to generate more relevant results.

In addition, My Wikiwix allows you some control over the way in which the results are displayed by letting you create up to 255 categories ; you can then specify to which category a particular page belongs to, by the introduction of an invisible meta tag in the source code of this web page. You can also directly categorize all together a whole set of web pages whose URL complies with a particular pattern. Thereafter, with just one click, a search can be restricted to the pages of a particular category.

To set up your My Wikiwix search engine, you must first sign up on this web page: http://my.wikiwix.com/index.php.

Next, with the email address and the password that you have given for the registration, you’ll be able to log in and access to the creation form that allows you to ask for the set up of your My Wikiwix search engine.

Once your My Wikiwix search engine has been set up by our team, to connect you on this same web page will allow you to access the search engine management tools.

My Wikiwix is part of a set of web applications programmed by Linterweb, including the research engine Wikiwix, that performs its search exclusively amongst the articles of the Wikimedia foundation, the Wikipedia offline browser Okawix, and a DVD of around 2000 articles from the English speaking Wikipedia.

We spent the week end of November, 22th in Germany, where took place an openZIM developer meeting.

The openZIM project aims to define a new standard for the archiving of Wikimedia content. Based on the ZIM standard, the openZIM format will be open source, so that the users will be given the possibility to browse ZIM files with a variety of ZIM able readers.

Okawix currently uses the Zeno format, which has been a precursor to the ZIM format. Our participation in this meeting aimed to decide if it could be of interest to us to integrate the ZIM format into Okawix, or even to switch from Zeno to ZIM in all of our Wikipedia-related applications.

Indeed, in addition to the development of Okawix, our company, Linterweb, also makes available for download archives of the various Wikipedia projects, in all languages. Presently, those archives are available uniquely as Zeno files, either directly through the Okawix user interface or as BitTorrent links. A switch to an exclusive use of the ZIM format would therefore mean much more to us than a mere integration into Okawix, it would mean deep, substantial changes to the architecture of our applications.

However, after careful consideration, we decided to take the plunge: not only are we going to integrate the ZIM format into Okawix, but we are also going to generate and make available ZIM files. Of course, good things take time, and such changes won’t happen overnight, but the integration into Okawix of the ZIM format should be complete by the end of the year, and ZIM archives of Wikipedia should be available for download by the end of the first trimester 2010.

The openZIM project is approved by the Wikimedia Foundation; it will thus be, after our collaboration with TranslateWiki, our second collaboration with a project supported by Wikimedia.

Yours sincerely, Guillaume, Linterweb developer.

Linterweb is a web company that, for now several years, has been developing various Wikipedia oriented programs, including:

• Wikiwix, a semantic web search engine that gives only results out of the databases of the Wikimedia Foundation’s projects; My Wikiwix, your own search engine for your own website; wikiwix.mobi, a mobile version of Wikiwix;
  
• Okawix, the offline Wikipedia browser free of copyrights and free of charge that allows you to read offline archives of the articles of the various Wikimedia Foundation projects, as well as archives of your own website; those archives are available for download on the website of Okawix;
  
• a DVD of around 2000 articles from the English speaking Wikipedia; a USB flash drive that contains the version 0.7 of the English speaking Wikipedia;
• a program that archives the external web pages of the Wikipedia articles (that is, the web pages outside Wikipedia but linked from a Wikipedia article), so that their content remains available and that those external links don’t get broken; this program is used automatically, in particular, for all external links of the French speaking Wikipedia.
• …

Dear all,

We are proud to announce that, this year again, Linterweb and Wikiwix are supporting the fund raising campaigns of several local Wikimedia associations.
These local fund raising campaigns are taking place right now, at the same time as the global fund raising of the global Wikimedia Foundation.

Linterweb and Wikiwix support these local fund raising campaigns… The logos of the various local Wikimedia associations are added to the Wikiwix search result pages.
If you click on these logos, the webpage of the fund raising campaign of the corresponding local Wikimedia association is then displayed.

Right now, the local Wikimedia associations concerned by this support are those of the following countries:

• Hungary,
• Italy,
• France,
• Switzerland,
• Austria,
• Germany,
• the Netherlands.

Other local Wikimedia associations from other countries may be added in the near future.

Your donation will help to operate the Wikimedia projects and to relate them to your contry.
Among other things, your donation will finance local projects of promotion and diffusion of the contents produced by the Wikimedia community.

We look forward to your donation and to the success of this fund raising campaign,

Sincerely yours, Matthieu.

Linterweb is a web company that, for now several years, has been developing various Wikipedia oriented programs, including:

• Wikiwix, a semantic web search engine that gives only results out of the databases of the Wikimedia Foundation’s projects; My Wikiwix, your own search engine for your own website; wikiwix.mobi, a mobile version of Wikiwix;
  
• Okawix, the offline Wikipedia browser free of copyrights and free of charge that allows you to read offline the articles of the various Wikimedia Foundation projects, as well as archives of your own website;
  
• a DVD of around 2000 articles from the English speaking Wikipedia; a USB flash drive that contains the version 0.7 of the English speaking Wikipedia;
• a program that archives the external web pages of the Wikipedia articles (that is, the web pages outside Wikipedia but linked from a Wikipedia article), so that their content remains available and that those external links don’t get broken; this program is used automatically, in particular, for all external links of the French speaking Wikipedia.
• …

I use Wikipedia quite a lot. Well, I mean… really a lot! Most of the time I can survive without Wikipedia. But I may sometimes feel as well quite disarmed without it. I need it a lot for my work, I use it also just for my own pleasure… Then I find it of course very convenient to be able to browse Wikipedia on my mobile phone. Anywhere, anytime…

Well, people like me may be interested by the fact that our company, Linterweb, has just released a mobile version of its semantic Wikipedia search engine, Wikiwix.

It is quite simply called wikiwix.mobi.

Like Wikiwix, it gives only results out of Wikipedia.

This mobile version is available at the address http://wikiwix.mobi/. Just give it a try!

So, we hope you will enjoy wikiwix.mobi, and of course enjoy Wikipedia,

Take care, Matthieu.


Linterweb is a web company that, for now several years, has been developing various Wikipedia oriented programs, including:

• Wikiwix, a semantic web search engine that gives only results out of the databases of the Wikimedia Foundation’s projects; My Wikiwix, your own search engine for your own website; wikiwix.mobi, a mobile version of Wikiwix;
  
• Okawix, the offline Wikipedia browser free of copyrights and free of charge that allows you to read offline the articles of the various Wikimedia Foundation projects, as well as archives of your own website;
  
• a DVD of around 2000 articles from the English speaking Wikipedia; a USB flash drive that contains the version 0.7 of the English speaking Wikipedia;
• …

Hello everybody,

Recently we (I mean the people who work at Linterweb) have had the surprise to read here and there in a couple of comments or articles that Okawix would regrettably not be a free software. How and why this has been written, is for us great mystery.

Therefore, we’d like to make it completely clear that Okawix IS an absolutely and entirely free software… As free as a bird!!

Okawix, the off-line Wikipedia reader that has been developed by our company, Linterweb, was released officially on the 13th of July 2009, while Okawix’ source code was released on the 9th of the same month; that is, before Okawix’ publication…

More accurately, Okawix is available under the GPL version 2 License, (i.e., among other things, the software is free of copyright and free of charge, and anyone interested may view the source code at the address http://sourceforge.net/projects/okawix/ and edit it).

Okawix uses the Mozilla technologies (XUL / Javascript, XPCOM components written in C++) and can be run on the popular Linux operating system, as well as on the Windows or MacOS operating systems.

Okawix can be downloaded for free from Internet at the following address: http://www.okawix.com/. If your connection is slow, our website allows you too to buy USB flash drives with on it Okawix and all articles of the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, in one or several languages of your choice (all of Wikipedia, all of Wikisource, … with the pictures).

It was worth to be said, wasn’t it?

So, have much free fun with our free Okawix software 🙂 take care, Matthieu.

SHOULD I REQUEST A HOME INSPECTION?

A home inspection is often a condition of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Having that condition in place ensures that if the house you plan to buy is not in good repair, you have the option of withdrawing the purchase offer. Many agreements are made conditional on home inspections, but some buyers choose to waive it. That can be a mistake because the home may have problems that cannot be discovered without a good home inspection.

A HOME INSPECTION PROVIDES IMPORTANT INFORMATION

A home inspector will conduct an assessment of the home’s structure and condition. He or she will inspect the foundations, electrical and plumbing systems, the roof and ventilation of the house.

The home inspector will also look at:

• Windows and doors
• Heating systems
• Air conditioning systems
• Walls
• Insulation
• Drainage
• Roof Inspection

Once the inspector has completed the assessment of the house, he or she will issue a report on its condition. The report will usually inform you about any areas of concern, such as previous problems or what parts of the home need repair.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A HOME INSPECTION CLAUSE

You can rescind your offer if there is a home inspection clause in your purchase and sale agreement and the home inspectors report advises of deficiencies. You can also ask the seller to lower the price due to the deficiencies. It is also important that the home inspector you hire possess good credentials. It is advisable to ask about their training and experience and whether they have insurance. He or she should also provide you with a written contract.

To ensure your agreement has the home inspection clauses, it’s a good idea to have a lawyer review your purchase agreement before you sign it. This will ensure that your agreement won’t exclude important clauses that could result in delay and additional costs in the future.

At Filice Law, we have extensive experience reviewing Agreements of Purchase And Sale for our clients. We ensure that your contract will have all necessary clauses, including the home inspection clause, to protect your interests. We can also refer you to a qualified and reliable home inspector.

CONTACT US FOR A FREE CONSULTATION

Filice Law offers free consultations. If you want to find out more about home inspections or have other questions about your real estate transaction call our Ancaster, Ontario office at 905-581-2266. You can also reach us by email.

Linterweb is pleased to announce that its offline Wikipedia browser Okawix has just been added to the list of the projects whose translation is supported by translatewiki.net, a localisation platform for open source projects.

This means that, from now on, Okawix translation will be taken in charge by the members of the translatewiki.net community.

We’d like to thank very much Nike and Siebrand, who run the translatewiki.net project, as well as the numerous members of the translatewiki.net community (among others Michawiki, ‎Fryed-peach, Hosiryuhosi, Naudefj, Umherirrender, Bennylin, ‎Александр Сигачёв, Toliño, Kiranmayee, Purodha, Fulup, Cedric31) who have startedtwo days ago to deal with the translation in already more than 10 different languages.

If you wish to help, don’t hesitate to go onto the home page of the Okawix translation project, that you will find here: http://translatewiki.net/wiki/Translating:Okawix.

Okawix lets you download all of Wikipedia articles, with or without the pictures, so that you can read them off-line.

With Okawix you will be able to browse the articles of Wikipedia, as well as those of its sister projects (Wikisource, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikibooks, …) in 253 languages.

Okawix offers you also the possibility to perform searches on these articles through the search engine Wikiwix, produced by the software company Linterweb.

Okawix, developed by the same company, Linterweb, is a software initially designed to read the articles of the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikiversity, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikispecies, Wikinews, Wikisource, …; but Okawix is in reality able to read any HTML document).

One of its characteristics is that it allows you to store effortlessly all articles of a given Wikimedia project (Wikipedia, …) on any data storage medium (e.g. the hard drive of your computer, a CD, or a USB flash drive), and then to browse the articles off-line (that is, once you have copied the articles of a project from, for instance, Internet, or from a CD, you can see these articles without being connected to the Internet).

Furthermore, you can choose to copy the articles with or without the pictures (in order to reduce the space required for the storage of the articles).

Okawix is distributed under the GNU General Public License (ie, among other things, the software is free, and anyone interested may view the source code at the address http://sourceforge.net/projects/okawix/ and edit it).

Okawix uses the Mozilla technologies (XUL / Javascript, XPCOM components written in C++) and can be run on the popular Linux operating system, as well as on the Windows or MacOS operating systems.

Okawix can be downloaded for free from Internet at the following address: http://www.okawix.com/. If your connection is slow, our website allows you too to buy USB flash drives with on it Okawix and all articles of the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, in one or several languages of your choice (all of Wikipedia, all of Wikisource, … with the pictures).

We’re very grateful to Abhijeet and Kaly from MakeUseOf.com for their nice review of our application Wikiwix on their excellent website. They write that Wikiwix is the “Ultimate Wikipedia Search Engine”. Isn’t that cool!?

(let’s just note that Wikiwix allows searches in all Wikipedia languages, that is around 253 languages)

Again thank you very, very, very much to MakeUseOf.com!

Matthieu.

One for all, all for one. The combination of Google Maps, Wikipedia, and Wikiwix is what the firm Linterweb brings you with Atlas.

Atlas uses Wikiwix, the semantic search engine programmed by Linterweb, to enhance Google Maps with resources extracted from Wikipedia, the well known on-line encyclopaedia.

Whether you use it for browsing around Google Maps, or for preparing for your business or pleasure visit, you’ll find out that Atlas is a very worthy companion and figure out two main ways to use its functionality.

Let’s assume, for instance, that you perform on Wikiwix a search on Rouen, a city in Normandy, in France. Wikiwix sends you back a list of results ranked according to their estimated relevance. In our example, the result at the top of the list is the link to the English language article about Rouen. For each result, Wikiwix provides you some more related information (in particular, Associated categories, Close places, Map). By clicking on Map, you’re then directed to the so called Atlas functionality of Wikiwix: a Google map of Rouen appears and you will notice some blue and red location pins, also called markers. If you click on one of the pins, a small window opens, containing additional Wikipedia information about the location. For instance, in our example, if you click on the red marker in the middle of the map of Rouen, the small window will display information about Rouen stemming from the Wikipedia, as well as a thumbnail picture.

You can also access this enhanced map by going directly to Atlas and entering a place name into the search box.

Atlas, as well as Wikiwix, are available in many languages.

Just give it a try, and please don’t hesitate to send us your feedback, it is valued and will be considered as we work to improve Atlas.

Thanks in advance, Matthieu.