What is Qwikipedia?
Ever been on Wikipedia to look up an article? More often than not, we start with one topic, click on a few links and within no time are reading about something else.
Qwikipedia is a game that tries to quench this curiosity in us. The objective is to get to a particular wiki page, starting from a specific article, using minimal clicks. There is no single correct answer, so we might surprise ourselves by finding new routes each time!
Monday’s Marauder
>Frank Bainimarama —> >Friends
Frank Bainimarama
The tiny island nation of Fiji has been in the news over the past week as elections took place there, for the first time since 2006 when military leader Frank Bainimarama seized power in a coup. The naval officer has been the Prime Minister since 2007, and was the commander of the military forces since 1999. He began his military career in the 1970s, and trained in Australia. He has been embroiled in many a controversy during his career. The results of the recent elections are yet to be announced, but Bainimarama has claimed for his party.
Australia
The land of kangaroos and coral reefs, Australia is a continent country located in the Indian Ocean. Its earliest inhabitants were the indigeneous people, and it was a British settlement, and is today a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as the Queen of Australia. The country has a strong sporting culture, and its national teams in sports like cricket, hockey, rugby, and athletics have won several international competitions, and it is the second most prolific medal winner in Olympic history. Some of Australia’s sporting icons are swimmers Dawn Fraser, and Ian Thorpe, tennis player Rod Laver, and cricketers Don Bradman and Shane Warne.
Ian Thorpe
One of Australia’s most successful swimmers, Ian Thorpe has won five Olympic gold medals, and competes in the free style, backstroke, and individual medley divisions. His Olympic tally is the highest for an Australian, and he won three golds and two silvers in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and was the most successful athlete at those Games. An icon in the swimming world, he also has his own fashion and jewellery line. He has also appeared on the popular American talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and even made an appearance as an extra on the sitcom Friends.
Friends
Twenty years ago, on September 22 began an American TV show which went on to become among the most popular in television history. Friends, set in New York City, is based on the lives of six friends in their 20s, and their life stories. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer in the lead roles, it was nominated for several Emmy awards, and ran successfully for ten seasons. New York City has been abuzz with Friends frenzy to mark the 20th anniversary, and fans have thronged the replica of the famous Central Perk, the friends’ favourite hangout spot.
So the path that we have traversed today is:
Frank Bainimarama —> Australia —> Ian Thorpe—> Friends
Four clicks! Hop over. It’s time for the next question:
Tuesday’s Traveller
>Ig Nobel Prize —> >Evo Morales
Send in your paths for the above to school@thehindu.co.in with the subject “Qwikipedia”.
