Struggling without Wikipedia today? Here’s how you can still get access

Wikipedia is offline today in a 24-hour protest at the SOPA legislation being proposed in the United States but its pages can still be viewed. Here's how.

As the starting point for most pieces of internet research, Wikipedia has come an awful long way in its 11-year history. Of course you can’t trust everything on there but as a great place to get a good grounding on a subject, it is hard to beat.

If you're flailing around like a headless chicken because you can't access the site, don't worry, there's an incredibly simple hack. The lads at Wikipedia have taken the lazy way of taking the site offline and have only put in place a redirect page when you visit one of theirs.

So, when you find the Wikipedia page you want, let it load... and the very minute it does then press the ESC key on the top left-hand corner of your keypad. Simples.

The cheat works on pretty much all browsers, but you have to be fairly quick on Internet Explorer - completely unlike the browser itself.

The site actually seems to be fully accesible to internet-enabled phones and some tablets. Inevitably leading to the question: 'Are Wikipedia really taking this blackout seriously?' Probably not, but hey, we're just relieved we have our access to the fountain of knowledge back!