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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week05/20/2009 We don’t need another search
engine on the web, but the new Wolfram Alpha computational
knowledge engine might be just what some of us are looking for. The new Wolfram Alpha computational
knowledge engine actually works differently from google and other search
engines, and it’s not designed to be a google-killer or a vanity
lookup-your-own-name to see how many websites and links you’re on. Wolfram
Alpha went live yesterday, and became the new internet darling, which of
course slowed it down quite a bit, but today it seems to be working fine. If I type
the search string “Raw Bytes Computer News” into google, it comes
up with pages and pages of sites that link to or use transcripts of my show. If I type
the search string “Raw Bytes Computer News” into Wolfram Alpha,
it tells me that it isn’t sure what to do with my input.
That’s
because Wolfram Alpha wants to DO something with what you type into it
– data analysis or computation – rather than just lookup information
for you. You type your
input or question, and Wolfram Alpha produces the result. So this
definitely is something new, and one of the best ways to learn it is to go
through their on-line tutorial as to what it can do. They also have examples
by topic and a visual gallery of examples, but I found the tutorial the
quickest way to learn about Wolfram Alpha. The
tutorial is an audio/visual presentation given by the developer Stephen
Wolfram, in a low key British accented voice. You can
type in easy math questions like 2 + 2, or advanced math.. Type in something like GDP of France, and you’re shown the details of the Gross
Domestic Product of France. How many
internet users are in Europe? If you
type in a city name, it shows you an array of details about the city,
anticipating questions you might ask. What was
the weather in Springfield, Il in 1869? What does
$ 17 hr equate to monthly, annually ... 6000
words – how long it would take to type or read them Medical test
results for an ldl level of 150 Life
expectation for a 40 yo male in Finland . calories
burnt running 4mph based on your height and weight Calculate
mortgages What’s
red plus yellow? orange What’s
the estimated website traffic for any website? It will
play musical scales and chords you type in What’s
the fish production in France? What’s
in 2 cups of orange juice – get all the caloric info Crossword
puzzles – what words match letter patterns Mt.
Everest – what’s the atmospheric pressure? What’s
the height of Mt. Everest compared to the length of the Golden Gate bridge? Who was
the president of Brazil in 1922 Popularity
of names – Peter vs. paul, most common names Probability
of coin flips The video
ends with Mr. Wolfram asking you to participate in this project, to help make
the world’s knowledge computable for everyone. And that
includes rocket scientists down to us common folks. Wolfram
Alpha – definitely something new and exciting for you to check out. |
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For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2009 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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