Born Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus on December 15, 37, at Antium and originally named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero was the son of the consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (died about 40) and Agrippina the Younger. (Unless licensing agreements prevent it–Encarta incorporates content from several defunct dead-tree encyclopedia.) There need to be validated sources of the truth in a world beleaguered by spin and distraction. Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia Nero (AD37-68), fifth emperor of Rome and the last of the Julio-Claudian line.

I lament the loss of Encarta, and encourage Microsoft to release its contents into the public domain or via a Creative Commons license so it doesn’t disappear, period. Colbert caused chaos on Wikipedia by urging his viewers to edit the Wikipedia entry on elephants, and modified entries about himself and George Washington on air. With approximately 60,000 articles, compared to Wikipedias nearly three million, Encarta was discontinued in 2009. After all, there is a reason why college professors accept research cited from Encarta and not Wikipedia: one is trustworthy, and the other is not entirely valid.Īs comedian Stephen Colbert hilariously pointed out, it’s possible for anyone to vandalize Wikipedia. Launched in 1993 on CD-ROM, Encarta was initially based on the Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia and later augmented with the inclusion of Colliers and New Merit Scholars Encyclopedias.

While its decision to discontinue out will no doubt help Microsoft tighten its belt, it is a sad occurrence. Microsoft delivered the coup de grâce Monday to its dying Encarta encyclopedia, acknowledging what everyone else realized long ago: it just couldn’t compete with Wikipedia, a free, collaborative project that has become the leading encyclopedia on the Web. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past.” Microsoft announced today that Encarta software products will be discontinued by June, and that MSN Encarta Web sites worldwide would be shuttered on Halloween–with the exception of Encarta Japan, which will close at the end of the year.Ī FAQ on Microsoft’s Web site reads: “(T)he category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. The company cites changes in how people seek and consume information online as the impetus behind its decision to pull the plug on the venerable research work, which it launched in CD-ROM form back in 1993. Once the bedrock of Microsoft’s home product offerings, the Encarta encyclopedia has been buried by the Web.

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