EnCarta For Instant Messenger
Microsoft has created an EnCarta "bot" for Instant Messenger (IM) as part of their premium service - however, you can try the light version for free. Simply add Encarta@converseagent.com to your IM contacts and type a question. It's a great service, but if your question is too complex, or if you drill down too far into the EnCarta summary, it will bump you to upgrade to find your answer! I'm not sure what the premium service actually costs. One time it told me it was £59.99 for a premium product that included among other things firewall protection and virus security - if you're using IM and don't have comprehensive protection, you have bigger problems than an online encyclopaedic can solve! Another time, I was directed to a site where I could sign up for a year of EnCarta Premium for $29.99. Bottom line, the free version is a useful tool for quick factoids. Perhaps the next question I should ask is "What does EnCarta Premium cost?"
