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About LinkBacksRead more.New 'knowledge engine' occupies the space in between Google and Wikipedia.
Read more.New 'knowledge engine' occupies the space in between Google and Wikipedia.
Last edited by Scott B; 18-05-2009 at 11:56 AM.
It failed after the third itteration of the 'random words of the top of my head typed in' test with Domesday.
Rubbish
Actually for the stuff it did work with it seems pretty neat.
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Anyone else getting "Wolfram and Hart" going through their head?
Looks kind of interesting. I'm intrigued by the motiviation behind it, and also where Wolfram Research gets its data from since they're a private research company - I assume they're aggregating publically published statistics. Obviously I have concerns about a private company managing an apparently open data source; about how often the data is going to updated; about who is going to authenticate the information and data held; and since I work in statistic publication I always have concerns about putting that amount of data into the hands of the general public (since you don't know what they're going to do with it). Also it makes a big thing of how much data it has - but says nothing about whether it will provide information: and the difference between data and information is both subtle and *hugely* important. Add to that the fact that they'll be looking at major corporate sponsorship for raising money and you've got to ask just how impartially and responsibly the data's going to be handled.
Wow - that's a lot of concerns. Apparently I'm suspicious of it! But it's definitely an interesting idea, and I should imagine I'll follow its progress closely. It indirectly ties in with a number of strands of the work I do at the minute, so it could be a very interesting resource...
Wonder if they're hoping Google will buy them out?
Alpha has been hyped to be anything between the "best in search technology" and something that will save Google from regulatory inquiries. Seems to me, it'll be the same as the countless google-killers that came and went before it.
Scaryjim made a good point about Alpha providing data, not information. And in this sense it could be useful to scientists and students (try typing any formula in the search field). But since Google is much more general, Dr. Wolfram's creation won't really cut into its market share.
Despite what many are saying, Wolfram Alpha is not trying to compete against google. It isn't a search engin for starters.
There was a very good write up of it in New Scientist the other week.
Do not search for kittens. That is all.
Yeah, right - how am I supposed to resist doing that now?Originally Posted by directhex
It still fails hard at basic physics though. :/
Its quite good so long as your in its limited knowledge area, ie:
resistance of copper - Works
resistance of kittens - Nothing.
throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)
I shall be naming all new HEXUS projects after me.
Look out for Kerrison Beta.
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