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All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia by Simon Garfield

Published in February 2023

The only time that I ever worked outside higher education was when I worked for Encyclopdia Britannica. If you are interested, that story is detailed in a blog post I wrote in 2010.

My professional connection to Britannica is why I couldnt wait to read Simon Garfields new book, All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia.

I recommend All the Knowledge in the World to even those who never worked for an encyclopedia company. Anyone fascinated by the origins, evolution and the ultimate mortality of print encyclopedias will love this book. Wikipedia enthusiasts, from casual consumers to dedicated contributors, will also gain much from reading the book.

While I am confident that my experience working for Britannica makes me biased, I have long believed that those of us in higher education can learn much from the story of encyclopedias.

When I went to work for Britannica, the brand currency of the company was incredibly strong. The first print edition of the Encyclopdia Britannica was published in 1768. Near the end of the 20th century, when I joined the company, Britannica felt solid, consequential and permanent as our oldest and most established of universities.

Today, wellyou know the story. The last print edition of Encyclopdia Britannica came out in 2010. Purchasing complete used print encyclopedia sets is possible for very little money.

One of the questions that Garfield asks in All the Knowledge in the World is how the print encyclopedia became extinct so rapidly. How could a product with so much cultural heft and brand legitimacy become obsolete so quickly?

Certainly, digitization was one element in the death of the print encyclopedia. Microsofts CD-ROM Encarta, built on the old Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia after Britannica refused to license its content, was creating competitive pressure for Britannica. But it was not until Wikipedia was launched in 2001 that the print encyclopedia was doomed to extinction.

All the Knowledge in the World is excellent at telling the long historical story of all encyclopedias, including those that predated Britannica. The book does a great job of detailing the 20th-century history of Britannica and the full story of Wikipedias creation, challenges and impact.

What is mostly absent from Garfields narrative is the inside story of how Britannica attempted to pivot to the digital age. Someone should write a book about how the company split itself into two divisions, one for Encyclopdia Britannica and one for Britannica.com. At the height of the first dot-com bubble, Britannica opened up all its content for free online in 1999. The site promptly crashed from demand that Britannicas servers couldnt handle.

In 2020, Britannica.com released maybe the worst Super Bowl ad of all time. (You can watch it here.)

What ultimately killed Britannica was not the transition from analog to digital. Or the internet. A free, ad-supported Britannica.com might have done really well. The reason why the cultural and brand value, not to mention monetary value, of Britannica today is a shadow of its former self is because of Wikipedia.

It turned out that a user-written and edited online encyclopedia is superior to a professionally written and edited online encyclopedia.

At the time of Wikipedias launch, nobody working at Britannica believed that that site would ever be a threat. How could it? Britannica had been investing in quality for well over 200 years.

Back in 2012, when The New York Times declared the Year of the MOOC, some within higher ed wondered if universities were having their own Wikipedia moment.

Having had a front-row seat to both the decline of the print encyclopedia and the birth of the massive open online course, I had my doubts.

But just because MOOCs failed to do to residential postsecondary education what Wikipedia did to the print encyclopedia does not mean that our campus-based universities are immune from existential threats.

So far, programs like UT Austins new $10,000 online master of science in artificial intelligence (MSAI) seem to be strengthening the residential-first institutions in which they are emerging.

What high-quality, low-cost scaled online degree programs will mean for the broader residential and online university ecosystem remains an open question.

If the history of the print encyclopedia tells us in higher education anything, it is that we should resist the urge to assume that we can fully predict our future.

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Print Encyclopedias, Universities and 'All the Knowledge in the ... - Inside Higher Ed

I dont know about you, but Ive always been addicted to those shows that have you guessing the price of an object. Im horrible at the guesswork, mind you, but its absurdly fun to estimate how much lighter somebodys pockets will be when they have their sights set on something particularly pretty which is why we have a little equation ready for your Wednesday bike news lineup.

Here are all the details & relevant media:

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A 1993 Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000 was originally shipped to Athens with a purported 10 miles on the odometer and all the standard parts that a dealer would assemble to sell the completed machine on the showroom floor after uncrating it (via RideApart).

The bikes original Moto Guzzi warranty card comes included in the crate, as well as a pre-delivery checklist intended for dealers to check off, a bill of sale, and a manufacturers certificate of origin.

The bike, unridden for 30 years, was later auctioned off at Bring A Trailer auctions.

Whats your best guess on what the winning bid paid out to have this gal?

If you guessed upwards of $30k USD, youre headed in the right direction; were told that the new owner of this 1993 Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000 paid out a comfy $31,500 USD, putting the heritage racing machine in the firing range of more than a few commentators who believe the pricepoint to have been too much.

Considering the Daytona 1000 sports a rich racing pedigree from a brand whose untimely financial struggles ended up stunting the Daytonas successes on track, the find is both rare and valuable to those who know what theyre looking for (via Wikipedia).

What do you think? Was this 1993 Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000 worth her $31,500 USD final bid?

The rest is here:
Guess the Guzzi: How Much Did This 1993 Daytona 1000 Bring In? - webBikeWorld

This whole social-media mogul thing started with Annie Rauwerda being captivated by a Wikipedia entry about cow tippingthe purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment, according to the internets massive user-curated encyclopedia.

What actually grabbed her were the entrys photos and captions: Cows routinely lie down to sleep, the caption reads, under a photo of a slumbering bovine.

Another: A healthy cow lying on her side is not immobilized; she can rise whenever she chooses, it proclaims under a picture of a cow lying down with her head raised.

Rauwerda mines the weirdest, most absurd, and oddly fascinating Wikipedia entries for her project Depths of Wikipedia, a group of social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Her nearly two million followers include singers John Mayer and Troye Sivan and actors Olivia Wilde and Jesse Eisenberg.

Rauwerda, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich., and is a member of Cascade Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, says her curiosity and sense of wonder was cultivated at home, at church, and as a student at Grand Rapids Christian Schools.

In Christian school, I was always interested in morality, in right and wrong, but I never felt indoctrinated, she said. Starting in middle school I was interested in what Greek word was used (in a certain Bible passage). The teachers were focused on getting students like me to think for themselves.

After graduating high school, Rauwerda took a gap year in Chicago through Americorps, tutoring young students in math and science. In 2019 she started a neuroscience degree at the University of Michigan, where she contributed a page to a friends zine project during the pandemics quarantine period in April 2020. My page was all these weird Wikipedia things, she said.

She began to post oddities from Wikipedia on her Instagram page, which got a major boost when internet celebrity and influencer Caroline Calloway posted some of the content on her stories. It snowballed from there, Rauwerda said.

With more than 55 million Wikipedia entries, the 23-year-old has her work cut out for her as she tries to curate the strangest and most obscure articles. The first thing to blow my mind was an entry about sexually active popes, she said. Other topics shes highlighted include exploding trousers, water pie, chess on a really big board, and a recipe for toast sandwiches, which calls for two pieces of bread with toast in the middle. Her hilarious captions make the entries even funnier.

Since graduating from Michigan in the spring of 2022, Rauwerda has laid aside neuroscience for now and is making a living from gigs related to Depths of Wikipedia. She has a full schedule of live stand-up shows booked (Eisenberg joined her on stage at a sold-out New York City show, and she has given workshops on editing Wikipedia pages.)

Its fun to be curious, Rauwerda said. I always think about the New York Times slogan All the News Thats Fit to Print. Theres no way thats all the news that's fit to print, because the world is full of all these crazy stories. There is so much wonder out there.

More here:
Excavating Wikipedia for Fun and Profit - The Banner

After spending at least one year planning the brutal murder of their family, two teenage brothers in Oklahoma went on a killing spree but they were caught before they could flee the state to commit mass shootings in a bid to become famous.

According to Tulsa World, on July 22, 2015, Robert Bever, then 18, and Michael Bever, then 16, armed themselves with knives they had stockpiled at their home in Broken Arrow and methodically stabbed their parents, David Bever, 52, and April Bever, 44, their two brothers, Daniel, 12, and Christopher, 7, and their 5-year-old sister, Victoria.

A second sister, Crystal, then 13, survived the brutal attack despite suffering a slit neck, knife wounds to her abdomen and arms, and strangulation. A 2-year-old girl was spared from the violence because the killers forgot about her and she slept through the ordeal, detectives said.

During the room-by-room attack, Michael reportedly tricked his 7- and 5-year-old siblings, Christopher and Victoria, into opening the door of a bathroom where they were hiding by claiming he needed help because Robert was trying to stab him. Christopher suffered seven stab wounds, while Victoria was stabbed 18 times.

The killers 12-year-old brother, Daniel, managed to hide in a home office and phone 911 for help, but he was slain when Michael repeated the ruse that Robert was coming after him. When the boy opened the door, prosecutors said, Michael stepped to the side and told Robert: He's all yours.

When police responding to Daniels 911 call arrived at the Bever familys home, Robert and Michael fled. A police dog located the pair in nearby woods and they were placed under arrest.

In an interview with police while hospitalized, the surviving sister, Crystal, claimed her brother Robert once complained there were too many people in the world and he and their brother Michael were collecting knives and body armor, Tulsa World reported.

During a preliminary hearing in February 2016, Broken Arrow police detectives testified the two defendants goal was to outdo other mass killers, Tulsa World reported.

[Robert] expressed wanting to have some sort of fame or notoriety for being a serial killer, Detective Eric Bentz told the court. He said that if he killed more than one person, it made him like a god.

According to Bentz, Robert showed no remorse for what he had done and considered killing a hobby.

He was laughing or chuckling on several occasions, Bentz recalled of questioning the siblings after the deadly attack. He appeared calm and relaxed and mildly excited when telling the story [of the killings].

Detective Rhianna Russell said the murderous brothers intended to go on a mass-killing spree and nightly planned out the slayings. They wanted a Wikipedia page. They wanted media coverage.

The brothers reportedly hoped to make videos with their familys bodies before dismembering and storing them in their homes attic.

Robert wanted to make a video with him in the living room with the bodies visible, which would be seen by attorneys and law enforcement, Bentz said. He also wanted to make a second video that he said was less 'horrific' so it would go public [on YouTube]. He called it a G-rated video.

On Sept. 7, 2016, Robert accepted a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. A judge sentenced him to five life terms without the possibility of parole as well as one life term. He was given another three life sentences in 2020 after he attacked prison staff with a sharpened instrument.

On April 20, 2018, the trial began for Roberts younger brother and co-defendant, Michael, and he was found guilty three weeks later of five counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences plus 28 years with the possibility of parole.

At a hearing, Michael told a Tulsa County district judge: Every minute and every second, Ive been thinking about what I could have done different and what kind of life I could have had with my family.

See the article here:
'They Wanted A Wikipedia Page': Oklahoma Brothers Murdered ... - Investigation Discovery

In recent years, biopics of famous musicians and artists have been increasingly popular, leading to immense success at the box office and during award season. Films like Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, Rocketman, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and Love & Mercy have managed to honor the stories of legendary musicians in ways that appeal both to die hard fans and those who are unfamiliar with their music in the first place. Its easy to see why musician biopics are so popular: not only does working with these legendary artists give filmmakers a chance to utilize a great selection of songs, but the chaotic personal lives these performers lead provide a great basis for dramatic material. Theres often a built-in history that is more exciting than many fictional screenplays.

N.W.A. was one of the most influential rap groups of all-time, and it was inevitable that their story would be adapted for the big screen in some way. Straight Outta Compton had the benefit of being produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, and was directed by F. Gary Gray. Although the film spans many years and incorporates many different sides of the music industry throughout the 1980s and 1990s, it is centered on the relationship between Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Ice Cube (OShea Jackson Jr.), and Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) as they grow up as childhood friends and leave a colossal impact on music, race relations, and culture during their careers together. While some musician biopics feel like nothing more than elevated Wikipedia articles, Straight Outta Compton shows the best that the genre can be.

Great musician biopics need to do something more than simply play the most iconic tracks from their artists discography. While its exciting to hear many of these great songs on the big screen, being nothing more than an elevated music video does not make a film worthy of the cinematic experience; additionally, this makes musician-based films harder to watch for those who arent familiar with the artists themselves. Thankfully, Straight Outta Compton does a great job at showing how inspiration begins. Its shown how over policing, societal injustice, and casual racism inspire Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre to begin expressing themselves through music. Theyre inspired to use the gifts that they have to cast a spotlight on the injustice within the world, creating an empowering experience.

Related: The Best Musical Biopics, Ranked

Theres also time dedicated to showing how difficult crafting a future classic can be. One of the films best scenes is the extended recording process where Eazy-E performs "Boyz-n-the-Hood" for the first time; he lacks experience, and has to deal with humorous criticism from Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. However, he slowly gains enough confidence to take a different approach to his craft, and the film shows the instant ramifications that the song has.

Theres also a significant amount of time dedicated to the complex, and often corrupt world of record producing and financial deals. Paul Giamatti delivers one of his strongest performances as Jerry Heller, N.W.A.s initial producer. While Heller defends his clients in the face of police harassment, he later underpays them and gets caught in an embezzlement scheme.

Straight Outta Compton benefits from an extraordinary ensemble, and Gray does a great job at balancing the screen time so that each artist can be shown for all their flaws and attributes. While casting OShea Jackson Jr. as his father could have been seen as nepotism, Jackson proved his doubters wrong and delivered an outstanding performance that was far more than an impersonation. He showed Ice Cubes leadership skills in pushing the group to be more radical and speak up in the face of skepticism. However, Jackson also showed a more sensitive side to his father; a scene towards the end when he goes to a hospital to see a dying Eazy-E is tear-inducing.

Related: These Are Some of the Best Movies About Musicians

Hawkins also delved into the complexity of Dr. Dre as he grows involved in more salacious activities. Theres a charm to the early scenes of Dre lying on his bed and listening to records, but later on, Dre gets into more violent altercations with his partners. Creating an aura of raw genius isnt easy, but Hawkins showed the sort of creative dexterity that Dre had during a scene where he collaborated with Snoop Dogg (Lakeith Stanfield).

Mitchells performance was incredibly emotional, as Eazy-Es death weighs heavily on the films narrative. Chicago Sun Times critic Richard Roeper praised Mitchells charismatic, ultimately heartbreaking performance, and Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers said Mitchells work was awards-caliber. While Eazy-E isnt always shown in the most positive light, Mitchell explored how his traumatic experiences shaped him into becoming one of the most influential voices of his time.

The scenes in Straight Outta Compton that show the live performances are truly electrifying. While some musician biopics cut corners by only showing clips of the most famous records, Straight Outta Compton builds up audience anticipation before the biggest shows. The film does an excellent job at showing how the growing controversy around gangsta rap puts pressure on N.W.A. during their 1989 concert tour. Their performance in Detroit is empowering because of the defiance that they show, and the film captures the instant chaos and blowback that occur once the police attempt to block the performance. The audience understands how this show could be both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

Its also interesting to see how the artists personal relationships inspire their work. After N.W.A. calls out Ice Cube in one of their records, Ice Cube gets his revenge with the diss track No Vaseline. Since Jackson shows how stung he was by the initial criticism, its understandable why Ice Cube would lash out in such a public way. The films well-rounded view of the rap world also includes terrific guest roles for artists like Suge Knight (R. Marcos Taylor), Shorty (LaDell Preston), Sir Jinx (Cleavon McClendon), and Warren G (Sheldon A. Smith). The overwhelming excellence of all the films performances earned it a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture.

See the article here:
Why Straight Outta Compton Is One of the Best Music Biopics Ever ... - MovieWeb