Element 112 copernicium to have symbol Cn

The proposed symbol for element 112 is now Cn, instead of Cp as originally proposed. The proposed name is still copernicium, but the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) has rejected Cp. The main reason is that element 71, now called lutetium, had an alternative name of cassiopeium and symbol Cp prior to 1949.

Element 112 to be called copernicium

Element 112 (ununbium) will be called copernicium, named after the astronomer and scientist Nicolaus Copernicus.

My English-Chinese Periodic Table of the Elements has been updated with this information.

The end of Encarta Encyclopedia

What I predicted in my Oct 2008 entry The end of Encarta Encyclopedia? has now come true. Microsoft announced they will stop selling Microsoft Student and Encarta products worldwide by June 2009, and MSN Encarta will be discontinued on October 31, 2009. The reason given was that people search and use information in different ways than with traditional encyclopedias and reference works. They didn't say what the new ways were, but most can guess: the Internet, commonly Google and Wikipedia. No successor product was announced, though there was a vague comment about leveraging the Encarta assets to develop future technology solutions, which in everyday language means they have stuff they don't know what to do with.

I've watch Encarta grow and change from the early 1994 version to the 2009 version. In those 15 years, there been many content changes. Some have persisted to the end, such as sidebars, while others only stay for a few years, such as collages. In a way it was like watching a cherished pet being born, grow, mature, and finally leave. In my youth I always wished I owned a set of encyclopedias. Encarta helped fulfilled that young boy's wish as it joined me on my journey with the computer industry. You help keep alive the spark of wonder and joy of learning. Farewell old friend, you shall be missed.

The end of Encarta encyclopedia?

It looks like the reign of Encarta as the leader in consumer electronic encyclopedias is coming to an end. With the release of Microsoft Student, the amount of encyclopedic content added was slowing down, with an emphasize shifting towards homework tools. Starting around the same time in 2006, the amount of articles and media have fluctuated as well, sometimes going down and then gradually increasing as "improved features" for the next year. Coincidently, in July 2006 Microsoft contracted out the maintenance of Encarta to Websters Multimedia Inc, a subsidiary of UK-based Websters International Publishers. According to Webster's website, the majority of their editorial team have worked in house for Microsoft as either staff or contractors.

Having worked in the software industry and have gone through the slow and agonizing downsizing of a company due to changing markets, this does not look good for the continuing survival of Encarta as an leading-edge education product. Here are some thoughts on this conjecture.

1. The slowing down of adding innovative features and content shows the product is reaching maturity status, with no expected new growth and just a steady or even declining customer base.

2. The contracting of maintenance means the management does not see the product as fitting in their core-focus to maximizing return on investment, and it is time to phase it out. Reading between the lines from Websters statement that "the majority of their editorial team have worked in house for Microsoft as either staff or contractors", it sounds like the editorial team from Encarta was laid off but was luckily rehired by Websters. This follows a classic path of phasing out a product.

3. A disc-based encyclopedia no longer has the the killer-app factor as it had in the late 1990's, so value of an associated encyclopedia brand does not add much value to the company. Of the old competitors, such as Comptons, Grolier, World Book and Britannica, only Britannica survived in the consumer market. Of the new competitors such as Wikipedia, companies have only limited success in convincing consumers that convenient, edited, accurate and objective content is worth paying for.

4. The marketing of Encarta 2009 is greatly reduced. The 2009 edition of Encarta does not appear to be available at the retail level yet. Usually the next year edition of Encarta is available by August or September, by so far it appears to be available only as a direct purchase from Microsoft. Some product links on the Microsoft site still points to previous version of the product (from 2006 to 2008), no press release have been written, and viewing the current product information requires the installation of Silverlight. This all seems to point to a phase out.

As a fan of reference works, it is a little sad to see how Encarta is slowly ending.
Having bought and used Encarta over the last decade, I can look back with fond memories: browsing through what seems like an infinite list of articles; following the evolution of the user interface interface; feel the excitement with major additions of content such the sidebars, the Collier yearbooks, and the book summaries. Thank you Encarta for being part of my lifelong learning.

Encarta: upgrade to get less?

Microsoft Encarta gives you less when you upgrade.

Year	# articles	# pictures	# sound clips	#animations
2005	68,000	25,000	2,800	400
2006	68,000	25,000	2,500	300
2007	66,000	26,000	3,000	300
2008	60,000	25,000	3,800	800 (incl. activities)
2009	62,000	?	?	?

In using Student 2006 and Student 2009, less encyclopedic content is evident everywhere. The number of articles has been reduced by 6000. The number of media in articles were reduced. The video of the Return of Hong Kong was replaced by a picture, and the picture was listed under the video section. Excerpts from Chinese philosophical texts were removed. The number of virtual tours were reduced by half. The book summaries no longer have a list by title option. And the list can go on.

In the old days, when the storage capacity of the delivery media is a limiting factor (e.g. a CD holds 600M), some features are scaled back to make room for new features. An example was the removal of "collages" in Encarta. But in the modern era of high capacity DVDs, and when there is more than a gigabyte of space left on a DVD, it makes much less sense to reduce multimedia and article counts. In releases of Encarta from 2005 to 2008, there is always something that is reduced. Remaining space on the delivery medium certainly cannot be a factor.

trivia game gameplay

Here are some thoughts about making a generic trivia game.

- individual or team play
- playable with 2 players?
- trivia as central feature or sidekick
- knowledge vs strategy vs luck to win

Here are some common rules in trivia games

- Each player answers a fixed number of questions. The most correct answers wins.
- Each player answers a question in turn. The first to reach the winning square or scoring configuration wins.
- Each players rolls and selects a category question to answer, until they get one wrong. Some squares give category credits. The first to get all category credits and answer final question wins.
- Each player in turn chooses an answer from multiple choice question. Other players predict and wager N squares. Right/wrong predictions moves wager player ahead/back N squares. First to get the last square wins.
- Each player in turn asks other_team/other_team_member/own_leader a question. A right answer moves other/other/own team ahead. A wrong answer moves own/own/other team ahead, and nothing/swap teams with member/become own team's leader. After a team reaches final square, leader who answers a question correctly wins.

Some of my ideas

- A player can answer up to three questions or until a wrong answer, which ever comes first. A correct answers moves ahead one square. Nothing happens for a wrong answer on Q1. On the optional Q2,Q3 right answer is +1, wrong answer puts you back to the original square (i.e. you lose all your gains). This also scales up to more than three questions.

- Some gameplay should involve special squares on the board.

- Instead of categories, have six classes of cards. Move around an interesting board to land each of six special squares to earn token.
- Or have different Achievements to get, such as getting 2-in-a-row, open question and be minority who knows answer

Dark trivial forces rising

Dave and Devon discuss some recent observation in the ongoing battle to get good trivia games at thrift stores.

Devon: I don't see the "big corporate store" really as a friendly force based on some of our recent purchases.

Dave: I fully agree. They appear to have some system to price games based on condition, so that a poorer looking box of TP1 can go for $2 while a newer looking one will be $3. But that is definitely not applied consistently. We've seen and bought games with missing pieces that is going at the regular price.

Devon: And sometimes the missing parts are vital to play. For example, one game Outburst requires using a clear red filter to be able to see the answers. That piece was missing from the game, thus making gameplay impossible. That clearly should have been a criteria to classifiy the game as broken.

Dave: We also seen a set of pentominoes with a piece missing, going for regular price. I feel sorry for whoever bought that thinking it might be complete.

Devon: Yet our competitors doesn't seem rattled by this. They've been on a frenzy lately.

Dave: They picked up all three of the generation TP's (The 1980's, Pop Culture, and DVD edition), all three of the TP1's, Simpons Battle of the Sexes and both Outburst Jr's within a few days.

Devon: Either there are many people with a sudden interest in trivia games, or someone is flipping these for a profit.

Dave: If it is a profit-monger, why didn't they get the SNL and Cheers trivia games as well? Or first getting the TP Millennium edition for $10. Or not getting the other games such as IQ 2000 or Who wants to be a millionaires?

Devon: This pattern of contradictions shows the sign of multiple hunters at work, each with their own agenda.

Dave: A greedy source and multiple rivals... this might be happening everywhere. Game makers should be paying attention.