Wolfram Alpha launches this weekend.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/index.html

As many of you are no doubt aware, a challenger to the might of Google is being launched this week. Spurred on by the idea that search engines are quite basic in how they "find" information, This new engine supposedly is able to answer direct and complex questions.

If, for example, you were to type in "What is the average rainfall in London?" It will actually give you the answer to that specific question and not merely throw up websites which may or may not have the answer.

It'll be interesting to see just how far this technology can be pushed but from news reports I watched today, You can supposedly ask complex mathematical formulae based questions and it'll work out the answers.

If that's the case then it may well be the tool that many students throughout the world are looking for...or would that just be a calculator...

Will you be using it?

Or rather here's something to get some discussion going

What will be your 1st question?

If you say "What's the meaning of life?" and get a valid answer...do let the rest of us know.

Actually it'll be interesting if we all ask that and see if we get different answers...

I am looking forward to it, wonder if it goes down by people flooding it the first day.

It sounds interesting anyways, I don't know if I'd need it day to day ever and Wolfram got a face I wanna punch, but Nova Spivack had his panties in a bunch for the last few months about it, so maybe it'll be the next coming of christ.

Btw, it's not a challenger for Google, really. They do very different things. Though, I read google is working on something similar which would compete with WA, obviously.

Doesn't sounds like there would be any competition with Google. If I'm looking for a site I would still want to use Google. If anything it might end up competing with various encyclopedias.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I'll just sit here while that question overloads the server and a black hole forms somewhere in Switzerland.

Originally posted by Ace of Knaves
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I'll just sit here while that question overloads the server and a black hole forms somewhere in Switzerland.

The chicken, Bardock42 and me solved this question a few years ago, so the planet and possibly the solar system are safe.

Originally posted by Ace of Knaves
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I'll just sit here while that question overloads the server and a black hole forms somewhere in Switzerland.

Chicken. Check any dictionary.

Alright, Wolfram Alpha is alright. Like I thought there's little I'd need it for, at least at the moment. But it is kinda fun. It should get better at understanding semantic input though, and it just seems to find a very limited set of things, so far.

Just been using it now, pretty smart bit of kit I have to say.

I put in "where is the moon"

Got
"altitude | -14deg 50' (below horizon)
azimuth | 263deg 40' (WSW)
constellation | Capricornus"

And clicked "sky map" for more info and got loads of information, excellent.🙂

Hahaha...I put in "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

I got

"A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood"

Keeps having the computation time out. Guess we don't have to worry about computer conquest any time soon.

I typed in "How much does a mountain weigh?" and got...
"Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input."

I asked Google the same question, and it directed me to answerbag.com with some semblance of an answer.

W|A has a ways to go.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Chicken. Check any dictionary.

And if a tree falls in the woods?

Originally posted by Ace of Knaves
And if a tree falls in the woods?

There's probably a Jew nearby ready to make a profit.

tried it last night. not bad, not bad at all...

Originally posted by Mindship
I typed in "How much does a mountain weigh?" and got...
"Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input."

I asked Google the same question, and it directed me to answerbag.com with some semblance of an answer.

W|A has a ways to go.

If you ask a daft question your gonna get a unproductive answer.

Spokesman for this site said it is to be used as a tool with google, and won't even come close to replacing it. It is a compliment to google.

Sounds like assignments will be easier to compile with this puppy. naughty

Originally posted by dadudemon
Spokesman for this site said it is to be used as a tool with google, and won't even come close to replacing it. It is a compliment to google.

Sounds like assignments will be easier to compile with this puppy. naughty

And in reply, Google turns around with a big "**** you, Wolfram" and Google Squared, I hear.

Originally posted by Bardock42
And in reply, Google turns around with a big "**** you, Wolfram" and Google Squared, I hear.

Squared?

Google didn't like them?

Edit-

Note: Site works like utter shit in IE 6. (What I am forced to use here, at work.)

Originally posted by dadudemon
Squared?

Google didn't like them?

Nah, Google Squared is the next step in their total domination of the internet.

Originally posted by dadudemon
Squared?

Google didn't like them?

Edit-

Note: Site works like utter shit in IE 6. (What I am forced to use here, at work.)

And Google Squared is a new app by google, which apparently structures google searches in a spreadsheet like way, which, can do similar things to Wolfram then, not the same, it sounds cool though.