WolframAlpha -new search engine which answers questions

hotkee

I just cottoned on why Wolfy is familiar - Wolfram, the makers of Mathematica, an application used in universities!

isofa

hotkee wrote: »

I just cottoned on why Wolfy is familiar - Wolfram, the makers of Mathematica, an application used in universities!

This is why it's potentially so powerful, people putting in a standard search and not understanding the limited results are completely missing the boat. (But then most people don't really know how to use Google properly either...)

It's been in beta with non-disclosure for a few months so some lucky people have been playing about with the ideas ahead of the release... :rolleyes:

deejayen

Seems OK -- It just told me I'm 24,908 Days old today -- :rolleyes: --Dave

peter999

My question wasn't just about about basic mathematics.

WolframAlpha seemed to be described as able to pull together a number of sources & answer more general questions.

It hasn't done very well in what I have tried.

peter999

timbim_2

How about this? Can google do this off the hoof?

isofa

Well in my experience and tests it's stunning, incomparable with anything else available at the moment, Google is a basic search index, WA is a totally different beast, it can derive answers to anything you ask it, suggest links and solutions you might not have considered, the comparison feature is excellent too. And all from a text box, hard not to be impressed IMO.

kwikbreaks

I'd heard of this before but not checked it out (mostly because I didn't remember to). I thought it was supposed to produce a smart analysis of various data sources to answer English questions. If that is so then I'd say it's an abject failure as I asked some reasonably topical questions which it should be able to make a stab at and I got zilch in the way on an answer.

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=what+is+the+change+in+average+UK+house+prices+over+the+past+year+

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=What+is+the+average+amount+defrauded+by+UK+MPs

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=How+long+would+I+get+in+jail+if+I+stole+%C2%A315%2C000+from+my+employer

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=How+long+before+the+first+MP+is+strung+up+by+taxpayers

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+much+money+was+wasted+developing+this+festering+pile+of+doggy+do

There was another supposed google beater a few months back and that was useless as well.

isofa

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I'd heard of this before but not checked it out (mostly because I didn't remember to). I thought it was supposed to produce a smart analysis of various data sources to answer English questions. If that is so then I'd say it's an abject failure as I asked some reasonably topical questions which it should be able to make a stab at and I got zilch in the way on an answer.

The thing is it doesn't work like Google, and if you expect it to, you'll be disappointed, but if you can see the power and have a use for it, it is much more powerful. It doesn't seem to work with free text as they (or people) initially think it should (clearly a limitation if you compare with Google when searching for "knowledge"). However try the share indices (Tim's example above), comparing anything such as populations, building sizes etc, and a multitude of other things, including stats. Can Google do anything like that, with such clarity and suggestions, diagrams and charts. Not at all.

It's initially based on maths and stats, and popular culture (all the questions you asked below) aren't a large part of the index so far. Why not look at the examples: http://www23.wolframalpha.com/examples/

It's not meant to replace Google or the wilfully inaccurate Wikipedia, it's something different.

kwikbreaks wrote: »

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=what+is+the+change+in+average+UK+house+prices+over+the+past+year+

Ask the Daily Mail - I expect using this search engine will directly affect house prices in tomorrows Mail...

kwikbreaks wrote: »

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=What+is+the+average+amount+defrauded+by+UK+MPs

Ask the Telegraph... they haven't had a decent story in years, so are milking this into mass hysteria.

kwikbreaks wrote: »

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=How+long+would+I+get+in+jail+if+I+stole+%C2%A315%2C000+from+my+employer

Try and see, why would you ask this type of search engine this question?

kwikbreaks wrote: »

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=How+long+before+the+first+MP+is+strung+up+by+taxpayers

I imagine a few minutes before the entire country descended into anarchy and anyone with a brain will have left long ago.

kwikbreaks wrote: »

http://www83.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+much+money+was+wasted+developing+this+festering+pile+of+doggy+do

:rolleyes:

isofa

timbim wrote: »

How about this? Can google do this off the hoof?

Great use of it! This crashes my Firefox browser, (or it hangs at least), but works fine in IE...

epninety

timbim wrote: »

Did you know that before, or did Wolfram do it for you?

Well, as a professional electronics designer for the last 20 years or so, I should probably be able to work it out...

...But being a lazy engineer instead of a scientist, I just plugged it into my calculator :rotfl:

(BTW it's Euler's identity for those who want to look it up.)