Project Nomad – Knowledge That Never Goes Offline

(projectnomad.us)

142 points | by jensgk 4 hours ago

14 comments

  • adsharma 33 minutes ago
    So this thing is based on Kiwix, which is based on the ZIM file format.

    In the meanwhile, wikipedia ships wikidata, which uses RDF dumps (and probably 8x less compressed than it should be).

    https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Database_download

    There is room for a third option leveraging commercial columnar database research.

    https://adsharma.github.io/duckdb-wikidata-compression/

  • Yokohiii 57 minutes ago
    I like the idea of an LLM that acts as a public knowledge base. But that doomsday framing on the site is pretty annoying.
    • adsharma 30 minutes ago
      This is not just a random idea.

      AlexNet -> Tansformers -> ChatGPT -> Claude Code -> Small LMs serving KBs

      Large LLMs could have a role in efficiently producing such KBs.

    • waynerisner 0 minutes ago
      [dead]
  • ZeroCool2u 8 minutes ago
    See I really want this in a simpler format. Like a single file embedded database on my filesystem that I can point a single/or few tools at for my model to use when it needs.
  • Lapra 13 minutes ago
    In a world where this is useful, you aren't going to be spending your precious battery on running an LLM...
  • iandanforth 45 minutes ago
    I like this idea! I don't need the LLM bits, and want it to run on an old Android tablet I have lying around. Can anyone recommend similar software where I can get wikipedia / street maps / useful tutorial videos nicely packaged for offline use?
  • JanisIO 2 hours ago
    Anyone thought about using a Steam Deck with this? Or explored the concept of a "Nomad Deck"?
    • wds 1 hour ago
      Not sure how good of an idea a Steam Deck would be for this. If you can't access Wikipedia, I imagine a replacement for its unprotected glass screen would be harder to come by if you drop it.
    • c0balt 2 hours ago
      It might be an interesting idea given that the Steam Deck has reasonable amount of RAM/GPU. The main issue for a knowledge base might be the lack of a physical keyboard though.
      • mhitza 38 minutes ago
        It has built in microphones though.
  • myself248 2 hours ago
    • kgeist 1 hour ago
      Also https://kiwix.org/en/about/

      I used it on a long train trip. There was no internet due to drone attacks, and with Kiwix I could browse pre-downloaded Wikis

    • cousinbryce 1 hour ago
      I’m convinced that the multitude of off-line Internet tools is a ploy to keep any one of them from gaining traction
      • lucasluitjes 52 minutes ago
        The ones mentioned in this thread all use Kiwix for off-line wikipedia, OSM for maps, Khan for educational videos. It looks like internet-in-a-box is aimed at working well on low-powered devices, whereas nomad expects beefy hardware and includes local AI. Not sure how WROLPi differs from internet-in-a-box.

        Maybe it's like linux distros: all based on the same software, but optimized for different use-cases or preferences.

  • WillAdams 2 hours ago
    Missing a chance to note (or configure for?) installation on a Raspberry Pi --- that'd make an affordable option to leave powered down, but ready to go in an EMI-shield/Faraday Cage.
  • bpavuk 1 hour ago
    turns out I have the same setup (sans local LLMs - they are pretty useless on 2018 cards) but in Obsidian :)

    whatever I think might be useful later, I capture through the web clipper extension. [0]

    [0]: https://obsidian.md/clipper

  • moffers 2 hours ago
    Really clever targeting of a niche. I’d be interested to hear if they find success!
  • mohamedkoubaa 55 minutes ago
    Great premise for a science fiction story
  • shevy-java 2 hours ago
    So how does that work?
    • WJW 1 hour ago
      It never goes offline by already being offline.
  • tsss 3 hours ago
    I was expecting the game from my childhood and was disappointed.
    • aquariusDue 2 hours ago
      Yeah, that game was really ahead of its time. I still hold out hope some indie studio will attempt a spiritual successor.