Now that they have the lists catagorized by subjects, it can be easier to hone in on topics you like.

I'm hoping someone from Japan will fill up the famous people and historical people. Flashcards with that seems useful in two ways: name pronunciation, and just common knowledge identification.

theasianpleaser Wrote:Core 2000:
http://uploading.com/files/E2NTBQE9/ikno...).rar.html

Core 6000 (1-8):
http://uploading.com/files/3P0VU6ZP/ikno...).rar.html

Core 6000 (9-12):
http://uploading.com/files/WVIG4V12/ikno...).rar.html

Thanks for uploading these, however, uploading.com sucks horrible ass (low speed/download limits/etc). This site, and it's users, generally rock, so I have mirrored these same files at my website, which is on a really fast connection, and no worries of bandwidth overages or anything. I ask you not submit this link to anywhere else, but all users of RevTK are welcome to it.

enjoy.

http://www.pwnd.org/files/iknow/

edit: Also, if anyone else ever needs file hosting for stuff related to our studies of Japanese, just ask. I'll happily host it on a temp or permanent basis, free.

Here are the original MediaFire links that were posted to pseudosphere:

iknow_core2000_(01-10).rar

iknow_core6000_(01-08).rar

iknow_core6000_(09-12).rar

Looks like iKnow aka smart.fm is "down for the count"...

kfmfe04 Wrote:Looks like iKnow aka smart.fm is "down for the count"...

No, they'll be back. They were extremely slow about 5 hours ago, but I managed to squeeze off two sessions. At the end of the 2nd session, however, they said they were going down for a bit. Now a page loads redirecting to Twitter, and there's an explanation of what is going on.

Definitely *not* "down for the count" (as in game over). But for 24 hours maybe, and maybe a bit slow for another 24 after that.

Oh crap. Looks like iknow / smart.fm's fancy upgrade wasn't so successful. Let's hope they get it back up quicker than last time. I quite like their interface, but damn this is getting annoying.

MeNoSavvy Wrote:Oh crap. Looks like iknow / smart.fm's fancy upgrade wasn't so successful. Let's hope they get it back up quicker than last time. I quite like their interface, but damn this is getting annoying.

It's quite an enterprise; they have server farms in both S.F. and Tokyo to take care of. That they might not have been prepared for their own popularity should hardly be surprising. And I might add that the price is right.

Wally Wrote:That they might not have been prepared for their own popularity should hardly be surprising.

The problem with that statement is that they were perfectly fine -before- the upgrade. It isn't their success that is the problem right now. It's the new version.

wccrawford Wrote:

Wally Wrote:That they might not have been prepared for their own popularity should hardly be surprising.

The problem with that statement is that they were perfectly fine -before- the upgrade. It isn't their success that is the problem right now. It's the new version.

And the problem with *that* statement is that you have no idea, I presume, what limits they were about to buck up against, that they knew about and you did not.

wccrawford Wrote:

Wally Wrote:That they might not have been prepared for their own popularity should hardly be surprising.

The problem with that statement is that they were perfectly fine -before- the upgrade. It isn't their success that is the problem right now. It's the new version.

It's not really the same though, before the upgrade the traffic was spread throughout the day. After the upgrade they were probably getting hammered because everybody hadn't got a chance to study for awhile and everybody was using it at once.

Wally Wrote:And the problem with *that* statement is that you have no idea, I presume, what limits they were about to buck up against, that they knew about and you did not.

The service was smooth as silk, and now it crashes constantly. That doesn't sound like they were bucking up against limits. It sounds like the new software is crap.

I suspect it's largely a rewrite. Too much of it changed for it to just be an update. Even little things like button highlights were missing initially. (I complained about that and they are back.)

I'm not saying it's impossible they were having load issues before, but occam's razor certainly doesn't point to that.

cracky Wrote:It's not really the same though, before the upgrade the traffic was spread throughout the day. After the upgrade they were probably getting hammered because everybody hadn't got a chance to study for awhile and everybody was using it at once.

While I don't doubt there was some extra load from that, and it probably caused quite a few of the initial crashes, people study at certain times of the day because they have time for it then. I can't study while I'm sleeping or at work, and most other people can't either.

In fact, I've studied -less- since the update because it's always down (or really, really slow) when I try to study. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

wccrawford Wrote:

Wally Wrote:And the problem with *that* statement is that you have no idea, I presume, what limits they were about to buck up against, that they knew about and you did not.

The service was smooth as silk, and now it crashes constantly. That doesn't sound like they were bucking up against limits. It sounds like the new software is crap.

I suspect it's largely a rewrite. Too much of it changed for it to just be an update. Even little things like button highlights were missing initially. (I complained about that and they are back.)

I'm not saying it's impossible they were having load issues before, but occam's razor certainly doesn't point to that.

It's never crashed on me. Not once. Slow, yes, but not a single crash. Bottom line, none of us know exactly what their problem is, but we do know they are working hard to fix it, and probably will. As I said, the price is right, and they don't really owe anyone anything.

Just because it's free doesn't mean the service should be sub-par. The bar has been raised in the Internet Age: what would you think of google if it only worked once every three or four times? Or god forbid, google goes down for a week!

No one knows for sure, but I have a feeling it is more an IT-migration issue more than anything else. I base this on the appearance that the main Flash/Flex Software (iKnow, Dictation, etc...) hasn't really changed. I think their new ISP/providers are not up-to-par, which is rather surprising since iKnow had enough of a user-history to provide this information to the new ISPs so there would be no surprises.

During the times the site has been up, my experience has been: a super-flaky connection - both the website and the connection to their servers (via the Flex Apps).

The correct way is to run things in parallel (new site hidden) until you are satisfied that the new provider can do the job before moving.

McCrawford is right - before the update, the apps and the site always ran as smooth as silk.

Someone did not plan this migration thoroughly enough...

As a developer, I've never yet seen a migration that went well. I'm not mad at iKnow for the problems, I'm just being realistic about where they lie.

As for the price, yes, it's free. And they've said the current services always will be. But they play pay-services later, and I wouldn't be surprised to see ads soon as well. At that point, I -will- be paying for the service and I'll feel entitled to having it working when I want it, whenever I want it.

I could care less about the speed. The beauty of the modern computer is that you can do many things at once. So while I wait for it to load I read, watch shows, make posts, and work on my art. The only times that bite me in the rear are the down times. I hope they can get the site back up soon.

It's back up now.


Darn, having problems again but at least I got 5 lessons in beforehand ;-)

Hopefully it's just a bumpy start to the rollercoaster and not the whole ride. Me going through wif draws now......

wccrawford Wrote:

Wally Wrote:That they might not have been prepared for their own popularity should hardly be surprising.

The problem with that statement is that they were perfectly fine -before- the upgrade. It isn't their success that is the problem right now. It's the new version.

Exactly- really fast before the upgrade.

Not sure why they changed the name either- iKnow is a pretty catchy name, where as smart.fm sounds like, well, a radio station.

kfmfe04 Wrote:Just because it's free doesn't mean the service should be sub-par. The bar has been raised in the Internet Age: what would you think of google if it only worked once every three or four times? Or god forbid, google goes down for a week!

No one knows for sure, but I have a feeling it is more an IT-migration issue more than anything else. I base this on the appearance that the main Flash/Flex Software (iKnow, Dictation, etc...) hasn't really changed. I think their new ISP/providers are not up-to-par, which is rather surprising since iKnow had enough of a user-history to provide this information to the new ISPs so there would be no surprises.

During the times the site has been up, my experience has been: a super-flaky connection - both the website and the connection to their servers (via the Flex Apps).

The correct way is to run things in parallel (new site hidden) until you are satisfied that the new provider can do the job before moving.

McCrawford is right - before the update, the apps and the site always ran as smooth as silk.

Someone did not plan this migration thoroughly enough...

The bar? That really amuses me in the context of a completely free service that doesn't even bother you with advertising.

There is no bar.

Now that said, I'm sure they are trying to build something, and I'm sure they'd like to be up and running at full speed. But they aren't, and such is life. Hardly the end of the world, or the end of their service or popularity. If they get it running again in reasonable time and the problems don't become ongoing, this thread, and this incredibly minor life inconvenience, will soon be forgotten forever.

Well, you can think what you like, but the level of competition on the Internet is fierce. If I were running iKnow, I would be scared - the barrier to entry for creating such a service these days is not very high...

captal Wrote:Not sure why they changed the name either- iKnow is a pretty catchy name, where as smart.fm sounds like, well, a radio station.

Agreed. I personally preferred iKnow, too...

Man there is a lot of complaining for a free program that just did a complete rewrite. I wonder how many of you are going to want to burn down this website when Fabrice starts up his own new rewrite. I, for one, intend to wait patiently. If you intend to do the same maybe you should extend that courtesy to the people at smart.fm. They are obviously going to be more aware of the limitations they had with the current software vs. where their vision was leading them.

Wally Wrote:The bar? That really amuses me in the context of a completely free service that doesn't even bother you with advertising.

There is no bar.

There is advertising, it's just a little more subtle. And there is a bar. Rosetta Stone is the bar.... right now. So by existing, the site has raised the bar (in language learning software). When another competing service arrives, simply existing won't be good enough. iKnow* can afford to do what it is doing right now by sheer grace of being a unique entity. As for the bar of internet quality...

Imagine being invited to someone's home where they planned to unveil their latest life changing gadget, only, the power kept cutting out. The person tells you, "alright, come back in three days we should have everything worked out." Three days later you come back. You're so excited to be a part of this great unveiling. You get your hopes up. You're tingling with anticipation. The powers suddenly cuts off again. You understand... these thing happen... afterall. You come back an hour or two later. Things are finally starting to roll but they're going a bit slower than expected. You're still a bit excited, so you wait patiently... for a few hours... for few a days... then all of a sudden... the power cuts off... again. How are you feeling now? As you sit there in the dark... waiting...

The answer depends solely on how much you knew about the gadget before hand. If you experienced it, got to... taste it... came to see potential behind the spark... you might wait out the darkness... risk wasting your time... because you know that out of that darkness is coming one of the brightest lights that ever did shine.** If you've only just begun to taste it, though... you might find your time is better spent playing Halo.

There's also the 3rd alternative where a completely normal person just goes about life and waits for the site to come back up... but that's not quite as dramatic so I'll pretend it doesn't exist.

Wally Wrote:Now that said, I'm sure they are trying to build something, and I'm sure they'd like to be up and running at full speed. But they aren't, and such is life. Hardly the end of the world, or the end of their service or popularity. If they get it running again in reasonable time and the problems don't become ongoing, this thread, and this incredibly minor life inconvenience, will soon be forgotten forever.

I have a feeling, much like the AJATT thread, as long as this site and that site exist so will this thread.


*Don't get me wrong, ***** is a good name. It...just... sounds cheesy rolling off the tongue.

**I could care less how fast it goes just gimme another hit.

kazelee Wrote:[...]
As for the bar of internet quality...

Imagine being invited to someone's home where they planned to unveil their latest life changing gadget, only, the power kept cutting out. The person tells you, "alright, come back in three days we should have everything worked out." Three days later you come back. You're so excited to be a part of this great unveiling. You get your hopes up. You're tingling with anticipation. The powers suddenly cuts off again. You understand... these thing happen... afterall. You come back an hour or two later. Things are finally starting to roll but they're going a bit slower than expected. You're still a bit excited, so you wait patiently... for a few hours... for few a days... then all of a sudden... the power cuts off... again. How are you feeling now? As you sit there in the dark... waiting...

The answer depends solely on how much you knew about the gadget before hand. If you experienced it, got to... taste it... came to see potential behind the spark... you might wait out the darkness... risk wasting your time... because you know that out of that darkness is coming one of the brightest lights that ever did shine.** If you've only just begun to taste it, though... you might find your time is better spent playing Halo.
[...]

Except that this is the internet, so your analogy doesn't really work! Better to say:
So you are in a room with 200 tv monitors, and on one of them, a guy is promising a new device. But his power cuts out, so you go back to your other 199 monitors. Later on you check back, he's doing stuff, but it cuts out again. So you go back to your other 199 monitors and pour yourself a martini, then you start wasting time by talking to a dude in monitor 137 about this moron in monitor 4 who's wasting your time...

welldone101 Wrote:Except that this is the internet, so your analogy doesn't really work! Better to say:
So you are in a room with 200 tv monitors, and on one of them, a guy is promising a new device. But his power cuts out, so you go back to your other 199 monitors. Later on you check back, he's doing stuff, but it cuts out again. So you go back to your other 199 monitors and pour yourself a martini, then you start wasting time by talking to a dude in monitor 137 about this moron in monitor 4 who's wasting your time...

The point was to image how absurd it would be if something like this happened in a less virtual setting. Even in a virtual setting is it still bordering on WTF. After the first day, this guy's just getting on your nerves. After a week+ you're either steamed or you've forgotten about it completely, the latter being the worse of the two .