Answerit vs Google vs Wikipedia & trustworthy sources

Strange. I honestly did not believe that Answerit would manage to take on the mighty Google with a question that I posed.Yet I stand corrected. Answer it might not have provided me with the perfect answer at all but I was able to narrow the answers significantly. While on Google I was wading through ten tons of word related answers to a question taken out of context. One. word. at. a. time.So this was my test question: What is the largest website in the world?It's broad so the answers could vary, specific enough to warrant a genuine answer, and relevant to the people who might be interested in the topic. So I did help the service out a bit. It was a fairly easy question to garner some answers.People took to it like wildfire (relatively of course). In 3 hours I received 9 answers. That's good odds I think. Of those nine there were some relevant answers, some ill-researched ones and a question or two posed back to me. Very community orientated.When I asked Google the same question, the answers were fairly dismal. Nothing that was relevant or helpful.This is only one question, one example and very, very early in the life of Answerit. It is not a search engine, don't misunderstand me, but let's be honest, we all use Google as an question/answer service.I have some reservations that can only be proven in time. One of these is the Wikipedia phenomenon. This is basically a temporary version of what Wikipedia is or has become. You can pose a question, on a topic and have a host of people (in the future) rally to find you the right answer. Wikipedia is permanent and it appears to me that questions posed on Answerit are available for a week. So it's much more of a quick fix answer service. Nice.But how can we actually trust these answers? Are sources sighted? Are the people answering community members or hired by 24.com? Are they average joes who sit in their dark basements taking pleasure out of giving me incorrect information? You laugh, but those people exist and they are screwing with your mind right now.So basically, I like the service, I think it needs a bigger community and I think it might need to explain a bit better why we should trust the answers it provides.

St Francis holiday in review

So instead of writing about my holiday, here are some photos:

Buying Xbox360 games online: An SA website comparison

Since my purchase of the fantastic Xbox360 I have been searching for the perfect site with the perfect prices and the perfect delivery package to buy my games from online.In this post I will be comparing three sites that I have found.For this comparison I will be looking at three main criteria: Cost of game, delivery package (incl. cost) and variety of available games.The Websites:digitalplanet.co.za - This site is not exclusively about gaming. You can buy various other products and software. This sort of broad service always puts me off. The site is manageable enough for me not to feel lost.You are able to search through the Xbox games by price tag (R0-R99, R99-R199 etc etc), alphabetically and by page. Nice and easy.Take2.co.za - The great thing about this site is that I've actually tried and tested it. And it works. On top of that their game-filtering system, or search facilities are great.You are able to search within the specified list of games and filter the search. Filters include asking for what's in stock, sold out, pre-order, local, international and more. You can then sort your filters alphabetically and a variety of other ways. Very handy if you know what you are looking for.Edreams.co.za - This site has done a lot of promotion on Facebook with banner ads and in fact that is how I found this site. That immediately, for some reason, puts me off. Although I have friends who swear by this site in spite of a couple of late deliveries. This is definitely the most visually appealing of all three sites and is probably the easiest to navigate. Edreams also sells various other products which as I have said, I don't like (although I can't imagine there is a lot of money is an exclusive Xbox or Gaming website).Cost of games:I will be looking at 5 games and comparing their prices across the three sites. The reason for 5 games is that I wanted to look at the most recent (pre-order) games as well as older more classic games.The games and their prices:Tiger woods '08Digital Planet: R 421.20Take 2: R 453Edreams: R441Cheapest: Digital PlanetTony Hawk Project 8Digital Planet: R 336Take 2: R 361Edreams: R274Cheapest: EdreamsLost Planet: Extreme ConditionDigital Planet: R 513.63Take 2: R 538Edreams: Not on saleCheapest: Digital PlanetRockstar Games presents Table TennisDigital Planet: R 250.80Take 2: R 270Edreams: R137Cheapest: EdreamsCall of Duty 2Digital Planet: R 237.60Take 2: R 256Edreams: R260Cheapest: Digital PlanetOVERALL CHEAPEST WEBSITE: Digital PlanetThere could be a better mix of games but this is what I have chosen.Delivery Package:Digital Planet: Delivery fees range from R30 to R250From their site:

Currently we have a few delivery options. The delivery price is dependant on the size and weight of your product. Delivery fees range from R30 to R250. Please call our call centre on 0860 245 000 for any queries.

Take 2: Shipping to South Africa only - R29From their site:

Deliveries to towns outside of the major Metropolitan Areas ( Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, East London, Port Elizabeth, George, Nelspruit and Pietersburg) will be done by means of Speedservices Couriers. It will therefore be delivered to the post office where you have a post office box or private bag. If you only have a street address, it will be delivered to the nearest post office. We will notify you by email as soon as your order has shipped and your Speedservices tracking number will also be provided. In most cases the items will be delivered to your post office within 24 hours of despatch.

Edreams:From their site: Calculated by weightFrom their site:

All our shipping rates are calculated according to the total weight of your parcel and destination of delivery.

Variety of games:From the review above it seems as though the only site that is lacking in games when I searched for them was Edreams. The others seem to have availability on most games available and Take 2 will even source and deliver from overseas distributors at a cost.The end result:Overall I like the results that Digital planet have presented. I suppose it really is a matter of choice and experience with each individual site. So if you have experience with any of them please let me know!I am going to be trying out all three sites over the next while and will update as I do. For now, make your choice and get gaming.