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!
Friday’s Free rider
Vladimir Lenin
You may have read about a peculiar little green statue of Lenin that is making news in a town in Poland. Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary who served as the premier of the Soviet Union from 1922 till his death in 1924. He was imprisoned many times and even exiled to Siberia during his years of activism. He became one of the most influential and controversial figures of the 20th century. His supporters look at him as a champion of the working class but detractors argue that his rule was dictatorial and saw many cases of human rights abuses.
Siberia refers to a large geographical area encompassing almost all of North Asia. Historically a part of Russia, today it includes north Kazakhstan, some of Mongolia and China. Though Siberia covers 70 per cent of Russia by area, only 27 per cent of Russia’s population live in Siberia. Siberia produces over 10 per cent of the world’s fish catch; it’s Sea of Okhotsk is one of the richest fisheries in the world! Some of its major cities include Barnaul, Tomsk and Kemerovo.
Kemerovo
The industrial city of Kemerovo is in Russia and located almost 3,500 km away from Moscow. Built up during the Soviet era, Kemerovo continues to be an industrially important city mostly because of its coal deposits and mining. Besides coal mining, Kemerovo is also known for something a little more interesting – Yetis! Administrators of the city turned many heads in 2011 when they claimed to have ”indisputable proof” that mountains in the region were inhabited by Yetis.
Yeti
Rumoured to inhabit the Nepali and Tibetan Himalayas, the Yeti or the Abominable Snowman, has lingered in popular culture for very long. It has been mentioned and featured in dozens of movies, TV shows, cartoons and music. With DNA evidence last week finally pointing to overwhelming evidence that the so-called Yeti are just prehistoric polar bears, the legend may finally be put to rest.
So the path that we have traversed today is:
Marin Cilic —> Croatia —> Axis Powers —> Phnom Penh
Three clicks!
Hop over. It’s time for the next question:
Monday’s Marauder
>Shaving cream —> >Milos Raonic
Send in your paths for the above to school@thehindu.co.in with the subject “Qwikipedia”. Do include your name, class and school!