New encyclopedia goes by the book

An alternative online encyclopedia, Citizendium, launched recently.

It’s described as a “citizens’ compendium of everything” and takes on a slightly different version of the wiki model that Wikipedia developed. This one’s goal is to be a more reliable, better edited version of Wikipedia.

The project, guided by Larry Sanger, a co-founder of Wikipedia, says it will reach those goals by adding “gentle expert oversight” and requiring contributors to use their real names.

“You don’t have to choose between content and accountability. We have shown that we can create open and credible content,” Sanger wrote on the site’s FAQ.

So far, it’s relying on contributions from more than 180 expert editors and 800 authors, who’ve produced about 1,000 articles. Some of the articles are modified, edited versions of those found on Wikipedia. It’s still in beta.

MSN local gas prices

Several sites now offer ways to track down the lowest-priced fuels in your neighborhood. I originally would have recommended the Yahoo Widget called Gas Konfabulator — a free download — for that purpose.

But MSN does the same thing and you don’t need a download .

It’s at http://autos.msn.com /everyday /gasstations.aspx. Prices derive from a credit card reporting service that updates as often as possible. The site also reports on the highest and lowest prices of gas in the United States.