WolframAlpha -new search engine which answers questions

timbim_2

You must have a pretty advanced calculator to have i on it. You don't have one of the texas instruments graphical ones do you?

epninety

timbim wrote: »

You must have a pretty advanced calculator to have i on it. You don't have one of the texas instruments graphical ones do you?

I'm awkward enough to insist on RPN, so it's HP calculators every time for me. (I love it when someone borrows it and can't find the '=' key :rolleyes:).

Have just treated myself to the anniversary HP35s, and yes, I am anorak enough to love it

asininity

Dont get whats its about keeps saying it doesn't know what to do with my input.

isofa

asininity wrote: »

Dont get whats its about keeps saying it doesn't know what to do with my input.

What technical or comparative question are you trying to ask it? Remember pop-culture isn't it's thing...

asininity

I asked it the square root of minus one.

kwikbreaks

@isofa

The only one I expected to see anything for was the first one but I guess it is lacking UK data. The other queries were very much tongue in cheek as I'm sure you guessed.

I really don't have any great need for this sort of tool right now but I can see that others may well have and you are correct - nothing else aims to do what it is doing but I can virtually guarantee that if it looks like being any good then google will swiftly launch something similar.

isofa

kwikbreaks wrote: »

@isofa

The only one I expected to see anything for was the first one but I guess it is lacking UK data. The other queries were very much tongue in cheek as I'm sure you guessed.

I really don't have any great need for this sort of tool right now but I can see that others may well have and you are correct - nothing else aims to do what it is doing but I can virtually guarantee that if it looks like being any good then google will swiftly launch something similar.

I was only teasing with my quoted bits. :beer:

You are right there is supposed to be some US pop-culture data (box office figures and so forth), but little if any UK data at the moment. But then it's very early in it's progress. However it does have stats on main other UK attributes from towns/counties to many other items for comparison. Just put in a town or county and it gives enormous detail right within the engine.

Wolfram have led the World in mathematical modelling for decades with Mathematica (a tool I remember using at Uni way back!), this new search is based on years of their research and is totally different to the index/db searches of Google. I'd bet if WA took off, Google would perhaps bid for it, or even MS to gain ground in their poor search market and to try to trump Google. I personally think it'd take significant time for Google to ape WA search technology, if indeed they would at all, it's a different beast entirely, Google tend to innovate and invent, not copy.

epninety

asininity wrote: »

I asked it the square root of minus one.

Like this ?

square root of -1

of course, every engineer knows the answer is 'j', not 'i', but that's academics for you

timbim_2

epninety wrote: »

I'm awkward enough to insist on RPN, so it's HP calculators every time for me. (I love it when someone borrows it and can't find the '=' key :rolleyes:).

Have just treated myself to the anniversary HP35s, and yes, I am anorak enough to love it

Nice. I use a [URL="vhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-FX-991-ES-Calculator/dp/B0009FHRPW"]Casio fx-911ES[/URL]. Does for A-level, and will do to AS Further Maths, which is about as far as I want to take things. Integrates, finds sums, simplifies surds. Good bit of kit.

bat999

timbim wrote: »

Nice. I use a [URL="vhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-FX-991-ES-Calculator/dp/B0009FHRPW"]Casio fx-911ES[/URL]. Does for A-level, and will do to AS Further Maths, which is about as far as I want to take things. Integrates, finds sums, simplifies surds. Good bit of kit.

That link's not working.