Blog Trek, the next generation

Emmanuel's Visit

2012-01-04T17:26:00.001+05:30

Shantabai Ladkat English Medium School, Nanapeth Pune had a unique visitor in November 2011. Emmanuel Engelhart from Switzerland is the creator of a program called "Kiwix" which runs "Wikipedia for Schools", a digital encyclopedia that runs on any computer, has over 6000 articles equal to 20 large encyclopedias. And it is completely free of charge, made to spread to schools for the benefit of teachers and students.

Our school was one of the first in India to install and use this wealth of knowledge in our computer lab. So Emmanuel came to Pune specially to meet us and spent two full days interacting with all the students and the teachers, seeing his program in action in our lab and he even taught us a little French. We held a special ceremony for him to convey our gratitude for his noble and selfless work in the field of education that can empower millions of students all over the nation.

HOW TO deploy Wikipedia for Schools offline encylopedia on school computers

2011-12-16T00:29:00.001+05:30

Bridge the internet divide; spread the light of knowledge to school computers the same way you share movies and songs with your friends: with Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V and a few clicks!

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AOffline_Wikipedia_install_guide.pdf

Thanks to Jessie and Emmanuel for their support and faith; it's an honor to be collaborating with you on this project!

Nikhil Sheth,
Teach for India Fellow, 2011-13
Grade 3 teacher, Shantabai Ladkat School, Nanapeth, Pune

Comment posted regarding Wikipedia for Schools... on Jimmy Wales' blog

2011-04-18T19:19:00.001+05:30

Just posted a comment on... JIMMY WALES' BLOG!

Hi Mr.Wales,
I started spreading the Kiwix version of Wikipedia for Schools (2008/09 edition - the only one out there at present) since Jan 2011 when I was looking for something of this sort to put in the net-less computer lab in a school I'm volunteering with. The Kiwix version it's a lot more portable, compact (4GB compressed to 2.8GB and only one file for all the content) and is available for download from http://download.kiwix.org/portable/

I've started a page and a map (for India) where volunteers can co-ordinate on spreading the package (I've christened it WFSOE - wikipedia for schools, offline edition)
http://tinyurl.com/WFSOE (a wikia education pg)
http://tinyurl.com/WFSOEIndiaMap (a google maps link pg)
I'll be joining a 2-yr fellowship programmed shortly where I'll work as a teacher at under-resourced schools in 3 cities in India, as part of a movement to battle educational inequity. The Wikipedia for Schools fills a huge gap and can turn any simple computer into a digital reference library for students, giving them access to information that would be otherwise too expensive for them. I will try to spread this to my cohort of 400+ young people when our training begins in 2 weeks time.

Damn, so many typos and logical errors! I won't be teaching in 3 different cities.. my TFI group will !

Read his post here: http://blog.jimmywales.com/2009/10/24/a-small-wedding-gift/

Changing profile/index location for Kiwix on Windows

2011-02-27T00:12:00.001+05:30

Quick primer : Go to http://tinyurl.com/WFSOE

Changing profile / index location for Kiwix on Windows. This can also be taken as a guide for pre-installing indexes for your zim files.

1. Go to a path like this: E:\Users\NIKHIL\AppData\Roaming\www.kiwix.org\Kiwix
--this path is for Windows 7 and Vista and on my PC the OS is on E: drive; for Windows XP it would probably be like
C:\Documents and Settings\Nikhil\Application Data\www.kiwix.org\Kiwix

2. Open profiles.ini to edit (just double-click or open with Notepad or whatever text editor you use)
Add these lines to whatever’s already there:

[Profile1]
Name=Localize
IsRelative=0
Path=C:\Kiwix Profile
Default=1

----------------
3. Make the new folder (“C:\Kiwix Profile” here), leave it empty, run kiwix once and then close it. After running you'll find all sorts of files have been created inside "C:\Kiwix Profile".

4. Shift the index folder from old to this new profile folder and rename it to something legible like "wikipedia_en_wp1_0.8_45000+_12_2010_rc1.zim.idx" (note: this is a folder, not a .idx file. All index folders have .idx or .index at the end.) so you can identify it with your zim file rather than those weird long alphanumeric names. See the library.xml in the old profile folder to figure out which .idx folder is for which zim file in case you’ve loaded multiple zims by now.

In case you don’t have it already, I’ve uploaded some indexes (incl. for the latest english wikipedia zim) on this shared online folder: http://www.4shared.com/dir/ua44LHvy/Indexes.html You can directly download and unzip them to the new profile (using 7-zip).

5. Open library.xml inside the profile in a text editor and make a change like this:
<library current="4dd18dea-9afd-080a-080a-50c68d62072f5675"><book id="4dd18dea-9afd-080a-080a-50c68d62072f5675" path="C:\Wikipedia\wikipedia_en_wp1_0.8_45000+_12_2010_rc1.zim" last="1298420521" indexPath="C:\Kiwix Profile\wikipedia_en_wp1_0.8_45000+_12_2010_rc1.zim.idx" indexType="xapian"/></library>

Take care of your absolute paths.

6. To add more indexes, simply repeat the steps and remember to vary the ‘book id’ variable in library.xml. Also you may set last=”undefined”. It should all be between the <library …> </library> tags.

7. Now run Kiwix again. Hopefully it should be done.

News coverage for Wikipedia for Schools project

2011-02-16T01:17:00.002+05:30

The Wikipedia for Schools project got a small but incredibly helpful mention in Hindustan Times, Mumbai, on Sunday 13th Feb 2011 !

See on the far right under "Pune" !

all image credit to HT, source

Click here to see the article on HT website.
Special thanks to Radhika Raj, journo at Hindustan Times!

Here's the text:
Pune Wikimedians are compiling CDs of select English Wikipedia articles for free distribution to schools across the state that have no internet access. Last month, an early copy of the CD was handed over to a municipal school in Pune as an experiment. "The students had never seen an encyclopedia before", says electrical engineer Nikhil Sheth, 25, the man behind the project. "Some logged on to read about the history of the Taj Mahal, others started exploring pages related to animals."

>>I'm extremely grateful for the publishing, but, well... don't expect a newspaper to have full accuracy when they have to economize on words... also they have to write it for the layman... so here are some corrections, though perfectly understandable I have to share them...

It's DVD or the package is in a USB drive... size is 2.7GBs so it can't really fit on a CD.
We might do compiling select articles later, right now it was "Wikipedia for Schools 2008/09" selection created by the SOS Childrens Villages in collaboration with Wikimedia, and the very portable and easy-to-proliferate DVD/USB package was created by some ingenious people behind Kiwix.org and OpenZIM.
Handed over... more like went below every table, stuck the USB cord in the behinds and installed in each computer!
The students hadn't seen a digital encyclopedia before... books they must have had a peek for sure.
I wish I'd been identified as a to-be Teach For India fellow or an IT professional instead of electrical engineer... I haven't been an electrical engineer since I graduated ;)

The pic was taken in Shantabai Ladkat School, Nanapeth, Pune - the first school where I installed Wikipedia for Schools. In the pic it's loaded on Teach For India Fellow Kaushik's netbook; After demo'ing it there, I'd gone and installed it in the computer lab. Here's the original:

Want to get in on the action? Browse over to http://tinyurl.com/WFSOE, sign up and join the movement to empower schools across India and the world!

get your copy of Wikipedia for Schools +more at at GNUnify 2011, SICSR Pune, today and tomorrow

2011-02-11T09:32:00.000+05:30

Hi Wikipedians and Friends,

I'll be there all day today at SICSR Pune (http://gnunify.in/) and will also transfer to someone at the college; anybody interested in getting a DVD-ready copy of Wikipedia for Schools Offline Edition, you can copy it from us here. Bring a USB or computing device with min 2.7GB free space.

I'm very grateful for the organizers at GNUnify for giving a generous slot tomorrow (12th Feb, 11:45am) to talk and discuss about Wikipedia for Schools project. Please attend! You can read up more on it on http://tinyurl.com/WFSOE

I'm also bringing the dumps of :
Wikipedia English Dec 2010 selection (wikipedia_en_wp1_0.8_45000+_12_2010_alpha1.zim, 3.74GB),
Hindi Wikipedia (wikipedia_hi_all_01_2011_beta1.zim, 483MB),
Marathi Wikipedia (wikipedia_mr_all_01_2011_beta1.zim, 212MB),
Gujrati Wikipedia (wikipedia_gu_all_01_2011_beta1.zim , 112MB)

All these can of course be downloaded online from http://tmp.kiwix.org/zim/0.9/
(Due thanks to Emmanuel and Kiwix team for speedy creation of the Indian language dumps!)

So see you there, and let's bridge the internet divide, using the Largest Ebooks ever Created ! (sorry, couldn't resist using that!)

Cheers,
Nikhil Sheth
+91-966-583-1250
Pune, India
Teach For India Fellow, 2011-13
www.nikhilsheth.tk
Find me on: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google | RangDe
Join me on: Pune Documentary Club | Let's Do it Pune | Toastmasters in Pune | Wikipedia For Schools project

Cover letter for Wikipedia For Schools

2011-02-09T13:43:00.002+05:30

I was asked by a school principal to prepare a letter describing the Wikipedia For Schools so the school trustees can get to know about it before giving their permission to install in in their computer lab. This is where a realization dawned : I had till then just assumed I'd pass on the URL and whoever needs to know will see it and know. It's not so, and I'm glad I was made to sit and create a cover letter as it solidified the initiative. I'm sharing the cover letter here. Please evaluate it and give any recommendations in the comments section.

======================

Date: 9^th February 2011

Respected Sir / Madam,

Sub: Permission to install Wikipedia For Schools Offline Edition in computer lab

I am a Teach For India volunteer and will be joining TFI as a fellow this year (2011-13). I'm presently involved with a grassroots volunteer project where we want to spread an offline version of Wikipedia (largest online encyclopedia in the world), specifically made for school children from ages 8 to 17, to schools all over the country. For details please visit http://www.tinyurl.com/WFSOE

I would like to request permission to install this encyclopedia in the computer lab of your respected institution so that the students and teachers can benefit from it. There are no costs or charges involved.

The package is of 2.7GBs size and can be easily installed or copied from a DVD or a USB Drive to any computer in under 10 minutes. The software running it is Kiwix (http://www.kiwix.org), an open source free reader created for this purpose. We may need to also install "Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 drivers" (included, free) to make it run properly on older computers. Wikipedia For Schools is distributed for free and non-commercial use for spreading to schools around the world. Below is a paragraph quoted from their press release on http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/archive/2008/10/2008-wikipedia-for-schools :

Press Release: Wikipedia for Schools

Oct 22, 2008 12:00 PM

SOS Children UK, in coordination with the Wikimedia Foundation, has released a complete 2008/9 revision of the Wikipedia Selection for Schools, which is perhaps the most successful "checked content" project derived from the English Wikipedia. Previous revisions have been distributed off-line widely across the globe including by the Shuttleworth Foundation to South Africa Schools, by the Hole in the Wall project to rural Indian children and through SOS offices worldwide. The updated selection has the content of a 20 volume encyclopaedia - with 34,500 pictures, 20 million words and articles on more than 5500 topics….

….SOS Children's Villages is best known as the world's largest orphan charity (UK Charity No. 1069204) but is also a very large educational charity running 192 schools with 91,000 pupils in the developing world. See www.soschildren.org

To check the contents of this encyclopedia, you can visit http://schools-wikipedia.org which is an online version of the same package. This project has been successfully implemented in Shantabai Ladkat English Medium School in Nanapeth, Pune (contact: TFI Fellow Moiz, 9819117826). I look forward working with your esteemed institution on this project.

Yours Faithfully,
Nikhil Sheth
Teach For India Fellow, 2011-13
Previously working with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
Contact: 966-583-1250, nikhil.js@gmail.com

================================
..So... ok??

Points to note:
1. I want to give them a complete and honest picture of what will be going into their computers, so they don't tell later that "Hey, you didn't tell us about this!".
2. The non-commercial, moneyless nature of the project is to be stressed and specified as early as possible so they can be assured that no one is after their school's limited money.
3. The persons we're working with may only have a rudimentary knowledge of computers. They typically are very fearful of viruses, are prone to labeling anything that doesn't work at first try as having "virus". One teacher informed me there was a virus in her comp because she couldn't get through the account creation stage of gmail successfully. (this is one of the reasons we must spread an encyclopedia - to inform people and dispel rumors)
4. The text above is already a one-full-pager so no more additions please - suggest replacements and deletions only if you must.

Troubleshooting the Wikipedia For Schools Offline Edition + Call to Action

2011-01-22T08:11:00.002+05:30

That big term shall henceforth be referred to as WFSOE (wow, sounds like a cool game! As it should!)
In my pilot drive at Shantabai Ladkat school in Nanapeth, Pune, I came across some issues when installing WFSOE on some older computers: The indexing process never took off. Now, indexing is what kicks in the first time you open a .zim file in the primary form of Kiwix (the software used here.. look, just go with it, ok?) – it’s necessary if you want to be able to Search thru the WFSOE. So that’s a dilemma : a whole encyclopedia and we can’t even search our favorite topics! So, started looking around.. and thanks to a comment on my original post on WFSOE, I started downloading the pre-indexed, ready-to-DVD version of WFSOE that the awesome folks at Kiwix.org prepared:
http://download.kiwix.org/portable/wikipedia_en_for_schools.zip
Note: Don’t start downloading it yet – it’s freakin’ huge – 2718MB direct download! And, as in many such ventures, I detected a problem only AFTER fully dloading it over 3 days! I can’t say whether the issue is there in the original file hosted on kiwix.org or if it crept in during my downloadathon, but that’s just it – huge file direct download = Russian Roulette. This blog post is the story of that issue, how I hacked my way past it, and the solutions for anyone who wants to download a good, awesome, readily working version of WFSOE. To make things interesting, we’ve got screenshots galore!
Expand this article to read thru it… long length!
If you’re looking for the wiki page, http://education.wikia.com/wiki/Wikipedia_For_Schools_Offline_Edition (short URL: http://tinyurl.com/WFSOE)

If you’re just looking for the Call to Action, go to the very end after expanding.

“You must be the change you want to see in the world” – M K Gandhi

So, let’s begin… here’s the downloaded .zip file – all 2718 MBs of it:

---------------
Opening it in 7-Zip Portable:

-----------
I extracted it the first time itself, but just pressing the Test button reveals the error:

Now that’s a bummer. The schools….rc5.zim file is the MAIN file here – it’s the 2.something GB behemoth that’s a compressed archive of all the htmls, images and everything else that makes up the miracle that is the WFSOE. To put things in perspective : It’s one of the largest ebooks created by mankind. The rest of the stuff in the whole zip archive are just the software for running this baby.
------------
Fortunately, I’d already obtained that .zim file separately from elsewhere! Incidentally, I’ve even set up a mirror website that hosts this behemoth in parts, you can go get it from there: http://wikipediaforschools.4shared.com (look for the “schools-…rc5.zim in parts” folder).
So, I now opened the extracted WFSOE folder and made my way to the place where I had to make the switch:

-----------------
It’s the data \ content folder in case you can’t see the images. There, I found a 645mb broken version of our .zim file. Renamed it and copied over my *working* .zim file!

----------------
And.. now for the test run! Go to the main folder of the extracted archive, go into autorun folder and run autorun.exe

--------------
And voila…

Updated : Use the Install option to put it into the computer. You can change the install directory if you don't want it all the way in Program Files etc. It says 42MB but that's a small typo : After installing the software, the whole 2.6GB ZIM files is also copied over to the system. It also creates a shortcut to "Kiwix" in start menu; I recommend you copy that shortcut to the desktop and rename it "Wikipedia for Schools", or even drag it to the startup folder so it starts up every time the computer starts. For now, I just went with the first option, “Launch Kiwix from here".
--------------------------
And IT WORKED!!! WEEEEE!!! Here’s some screenshots.. of the main home page that first loads, then the Subject Index where categories are given, then 2 shots of random articles I searched my way to. Click on them to enlarge (Duh)

-------------------
A LITTLE EXPLORATION
Hacking into this pre-indexed business,

Oh. So I’m gonna have to… for this little …
Ohhhhh @#$#$#$@&%^%.
---------------
MORE FIXES:
In case you can’t get this thing to run or to search, it may be some drivers missing. From the main folder, go to Install folder and run vcredist_x86.exe . May the Force be with you.
--------------
THE CHALLENGE
To proliferate this ready-to-run version across the world. I’ll also have to put in something at the top level so people don’t get confused. (The autorun.inf isn’t for humans, and if you’re just copying the dump over a pen drive, you need to know what to run, and many people are too scared to fool around the place like I do).

….thought process….

Ok! I’ll have to post 2 versions :
One – the whole thing, re-packaged. This time I’ll do a 7-zip (.7z) instead of .zip – it’s freeware, got better compression and it can split itself into parts.
Two – Like me, there must be others who have got the .zim file already. For them, Just the supporting file structure (most importantly the pre-indexed stuff) should be enough; they can then just copy the .zim file into the data\content folder the same way I did. So, gotta make a separate zim-less archive for that too. I’ll host both of them on my mirror website : http://wikipediaforschools.4shared.com

Update: Get the second one directly here

It’ll take some time over my humble 256kbps broadband connection, but I’ll do the zim-less version first and then go for the longer haul. Give this a day, ok?
Update: Done! Full pre-indexed version available here
---------------------
SOME MOTIVATIONAL CRAP
So… here’s a stupid question I get asked: Why am I doing this? Am I a trustee of wikipedia or of WFSOE or something? Do I know the guys who made this? Am I a person holding any position? A guy with any resources? Was I hired for this?
NO.
I haven’t spent a dime in all this nor am I getting anything for it, nor do I want to. I’ve downloaded the stuff off the free web, used 7-zip, a totally free compression utility and my mirror site hosting these large things is 4shared – on a free account! (10GB limit, FYI. Their uploader utility’s awesome and they don’t ask difficult questions or screen out benign exe’s like some other idiots I won’t name here).
I’m just an ordinary guy who wants to do his part in eliminating educational inequity. (ohh yeah, really rubbing it in, aren’t I!) The driving force here is a little bit more intrinsic.
Friends, this is a mission : To take the WFSOE to each and every non-internet-connected computer in the world. So that we can bridge the educational divide and give all those millions of kids access to humanity’s largest knowledge resource – for Freeee, and that too when they need it : in their childhood instead of after they’ve turned adults! We can’t wait for the fancy high speed internet to go everywhere and that too be free to all. That will happen later, but we can do THIS right NOW, from the grassroots. Having a proper ready-to-go version that can be downloaded by one and all is critical here.
Wikipedia have done their part in creating an amazing encyclopedia.
SOS Children’s Village have done their part in hand-picking the best articles for school children and creating the Wikipedia For Schools.
Kiwix.org have done their bit in compiling all of it into a .ZIM archive that we can use without the decompression hassles of some other offline website readers. And they even made a pre-indexed ready-to-DVD version that we can just copy and run anywhere.
Several organizations all over the world are doing their part in getting computers donated to low resource schools where kids from lower economic backgrounds can get a chance to use them. But most of them don’t have the WFSOE.
And now it’s OUR turn.
This cause needs OUR HELP. Get the WFSOE. Go copy it to every computer you can get your sweaty hands on! Pass the baton on - Get your friends in on the action! Spread the word! Here’s the wiki page set up to co-ordinate this effort – enlist yourself as a WFSOE Champion and get to work!
http://education.wikia.com/wiki/Wikipedia_For_Schools_Offline_Edition

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” - Margaret Mead

Nikhil Sheth
+91-9665831250
Pune, India
Teach For India Fellow, 2011-13 (just a volunteer at the time of writing this)
nikhil.js [at] gmail.com

Wiki and Walky Weekend in W(m)umbai

2011-01-19T11:53:00.004+05:30

Hi All!

Sharing some pics from Mumbai Dream Run last Sunday.. it was more of a carnival than a run, with lots of shouting and dancing thrown in!

You'll find more pics adding over the coming week on http://picasaweb.google.com/nikhil.js ; and I'll post videos too on http://www.youtube.com/user/nikjs

I started out with Team RangDe.org (an online micro-credit social investment platform), but half an hour into it lost them (I was, ahem, distracted..)

...and then joined the Teach For India group instead!

Also nearly bumped into two old friends from the TCS contingent.. ;)

Ajay - Right after the Carnival ended, we headed like a pack of hungry dogs to Jazz buffet restaurant in Marine Drive... and I got to implement most of the recommendations from your humorous speech on Buffet meals. Wishing you were there... those waiters never saw it coming! ;)

One note about the Jazz restaurant - they've strategically placed all the Desserts at a spot where there's very little place between the table and a wall section. Only thin people can squeeze in to take it and even that's an effort! Smart!!

Also attached a pic from Wikipedia 10th anniversary Mumbai meetup that took place on Saturday (and one of the reasons why I wasn't around last Sat)

At the meetup, when the right time came, I made a pitch about the wikipedia for schools project, how I installed the offline version at an under-resourced english medium school in Nanapeth, Pune and the impact it's had.. and the response was so great, with university professors and tech bloggers lining up their laptops to copy it and expressing interest, it's turned into a movement now that can potentially spread all across India!

Check out http://wikipediaforschools.4shared.com

We also learned about Google IME - which installs any Indian or other language into your computer and is being used by many senior citizens with no technical knowledge to contribute Indian language articles on wikipedia! It uses an auto-suggest concept the same way we add recipients when sending email.. no need to type the whole word, and it learns the most often used words so you get faster each time. Tres comfortable, even for rapid switching between English and the language. Do check it out if you're interested in creating vernacular content or helping your folks do it.

http://www.google.com/ime/transliteration/
(read through the installation instructions once)

And between these events, equally exciting, was to-and-fro across Mumbai using the best transport imaginable - the Mumbai Local!
On Friday night, I was in the middle of a crowded bogie when I found from a phone call that I was supposed to get off at Andheri instead of Borivli.. and just then the train reached Andheri. Everyone said there's no way I can get out here in time, but with a huge squeeze-through effort, I managed to alight, with all parts intact at the nick of time. 1 second late and the train would have been too fast moving out and I'd have crashed! Now I know how a baby feels after being pushed out of a womb!!
Oh, and a Kudos to the automated ticketing machines with touchscreens - Damn easy to take your ticket now, I didn't have to wait in any line at all.

One thing I appreciated about my Mumbai Local experience was that the people care about each other, despite all the rush. And it works - people with big bags just pass them on to the middle of the bogie and call for them when their station is coming - implicitly trusting every one of the 20 or so people who pass it along. Whenever I asked a question out to the crowd, I was given a detailed and helpful answer, and then they even acted to help me at times without me having to ask them. And there's groups of people interacting, brainstorming all the time. I saw a TED video once about how coffee shops in England where people could interact for long hours and weren't forced to buy stuff, could be the reason behind her huge leap forward in science, knowledge and trade over a century ago. I have a strong feeling the Mumbai Local is doing the same for Mumbai.

Also did a night-over with college buddies on Friday night.. one of them had come straight from the airport after a long onsite stint and we all met up after a long time. On Saturday night, met family friends after many years and got a huge bear-hug from Nilaxi Aunty which was even more crushing than the trains! I was so lost in chit chatting with them I totally forgot to take photos! :(

So, it was an eventful weekend in Mumbai and with the wikipedia for schools project, we may just have opened a Pandora's box (a good one!) for more things to come!

Oh, and for TFI friends.. I introduced myself at the wikipedia meetup as a Teach For India Fellow -- good publicity -- Wanna take it forward??

Cheers,
Nikhil Sheth+91-966-583-1250
Teach For India Fellow, 2011-13
Pune, India
www.nikhilsheth.tk
Find me on: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google | RangDe
Join me on: Pune Documentary Club | Let's Do it Pune | Toastmasters in Pune

Wikipedia for Schools project

2011-01-17T09:42:00.003+05:30

Inviting one and all to a very ambitious project : Wikipedia for Schools - the Indian leg

======Update====

I've created a WIKI page for this grassroots movement - all info on that now, in a much less confusing form!

Wikipedia_For_Schools_Offline_Edition

======================
Let me just quickly put in the essentials here...

Welcome to http://wikipediaforschools.4shared.com/

You can download and install separately kiwix and the huge .zim file from here, or take the torrent for the whole thing. It is recommended that you take the torrent.

Direct link for torrent file
The magnet URL for the torrent is: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:MY657CRWERM4QHKMIVQXW6Q3SPZLQELA
Alternate direct download:
http://notebook.nikhiljs.operaunite.com/file_sharing/
(Using Opera Unite, this is a direct bridge to my computer)

In case it's not working, please contact yours truly here or on twitter or facebook, or anyone else in the seeders community that is going to be formed once this gets out.

Background : On the 10th Anniversary of Wikipedia on 15th Jan 2011, at an event held in VJTI, Mumbai, one of the big goals stated was to take the offline version of wikipedia for schools (http://schools-wikipedia.org/) to all the computers across the nation that kids use but that don't have internet connection. One of the wikipedians happened to have it on his portable HDD! There was immense interest expressed by everyone gathered and we all made a committment to share this and spread it as far and wide as possible. This is the first step towards that.

Aim :
Many schools and computers in childrens' homes across the country don't have internet connection. So our aim is to copy this encyclopedia - wikipedia for schools - to each and every one of those computers, so all the kids have a chance to tap into the number 1 knowledge resource of the world!

Guide:
If you're going the torrent way:
1. Download the .torrent file and open it in your torrent sofwtware. Start downloading.
2. Read the READ ME FIRST text file in the folder that you download.

If you're going the other way:
1. Download the kiwix software, either from here or check out http://www.kiwix.org

2. Download the huge wikipedia for schools .ZIM file. There's a folder for it here and it's got the file split into parts of 100 MB each. They simply have to be joined together once you've downloaded them all. See the README file in there for instructions. (Note: They're still getting upload as this is being written, so you might not find them there immediately)

3. Copied instructions from the torrent here on.. it's the same:

4. Run / double-click on kiwix.exe (the executable with the black kiwi icon)

5. From the top menubar, click File > Open

6. Locate the .zim file you want to use, press Open / Ok.

7. Now you will probably see a popup asking you : "Do you want to index your ZIM file now?" -- press OK.

8. This indexing is a 1-time activity that may take some time. You'll see the progress on the bottom right. May take 10 mins or more. It is necessary to complete for you to be able to search for articles.

9. Meanwhile, you can click-browse through the encyclopedia while you're waiting for indexing to finish. In case you by mistake cancelled it, you can open it again and will be asked again..

10. Once indexing is done, it's ready! Now next time you run Kiwix, you'll get the last opened .zim file already opened and ready for searching.

---------------
Thanks for showing interest in this project!
Let me / us know if you're facing any problems!

Regards
Nikhil Sheth
Wikipedian, and Teach For India Fellow, 2011-13