Do you use Wikipedia instead of Google? YouTube instead of downloading?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I do. If there’s a factoid that piques my interest, I Wikipedia it first, by means of Firefox’s handy “w <interesting topic>” feature in the address box. Sometimes Wikipedia doesn’t have much to say on the subject, in which case I resort to “g <interesting topic>”, i.e. Google. I realise that this makes me vulnerable to the whims of Wikipedia editors, but so far I seem to be holding my end up in pub quizzes, so it’s good for superficial knowledge, at least.

Likewise with random tunes or TV programmes that come up in conversation or simply float through my head. Before, I may have attempted to download an (entirely legal, for research purposes) sample from one of the internet sources that I hear are available. Nowadays, I just go to YouTube. Something has to be pretty bloody obscure for it to not have a video on YouTube.

2

I wiki random stuff all the time! Google is sort of a different tool. Youtube comes into use if I have no interest in keeping the particular video or don’t care about the quality.

3

Yeah, Youtube is wonderful for quick and dirty lookups of obscure bands. It is a completely enabling technology.

Usaram, I didn’t even know about the Firefox W and G commands. I can’t seem to get the “w” command to work. Do you mean the drop down automatic website function?

4

Sorry, they are not standard Firefox commands. I have duplicated the standard Quick Searches in the Firefox bookmarks, and modified them so that “w” goes to Wikipedia and “g” goes to Google. Too lazy to type “google <whatever>” every time.

Probably sounds like small potatoes, but only having to type “g” or “w” makes quite a difference. I use “g <whatever>” much more than I ever used “google <whatever>” or the actual Google home page or the various toolbars. And as the OP suggests, I find myself using “w <whatever>” in preference to “g”.

5

I use wiki if I want to look up random info, but google if I need to find a topic on something with several terms. Wikipedia’s built in search is horrible. One misspelled word and it suddenly has no clue what it could be.

Search for ‘anerica’ and “No page with that title exists.” Do that in google and it asks you “did you mean america?” Why yes, google, I did! Thank you!

6

Most of the time when I Google a word, a Wikipedia article will be among the top results, so I usually use Google and pick the Wiki article first.

7

I do for Wikipedia but not for Youtube. I prefer to own the mp3.

8
  1. Go to Wikipedia.
  2. Right-click on the Wikipedia’s search box
  3. Select “Add a Keyword for the Search”
  4. Give it what ever name you like. In the keyword field, put “w”
  5. You can now search Wikipedia by typing w SearchTerm in the address bar
9

Thanks, that works great. I might have to add a few more.

But getting back to the OP, I was just looking at this thread and was using Youtube to listen to the songs I was interested in. I went from Warren Zevon to Flaco Jimenez and tossed the Texas Tornados onto my Amazon wish list.

10

What’s really impressed me lately is WIKIMAPIA.org !

Seriously, it’s like an obsession for me, ever since I found out there is a nuclear weapons bunker not more than 20 miles outside of my town!

11

I tend to use Wiki for a quick overview of many topics, then use Google after I’ve been informed of terms that I can use to narrow my search. I tend to view them as complimentary tools, not competing ones.

12

I usually google it, but if a Wikipedia page is in the first page of hits, it’s usually the first link I go to.

13

I Google everything. Even if I know I’d get better results with things like IMDB or Wiki, I still Google it and click on the inevitable IMDB or Wiki link in the search results.

And like bouv mentioned, Google will search Wikipedia better than Wikipedia’s own search engine.

I use Youtube (via Google’s video search) to look up popular videos and sometimes for songs I never heard of.