An invention that could change the internet for ever

[TheMercenary]

Anyone hear about this?

Revolutionary new web software could put giants such as Google in the shade when it comes out later this month. Andrew Johnson reports


Sunday, 3 May 2009

The biggest internet revolution for a generation will be unveiled this month with the launch of software that will understand questions and give specific, tailored answers in a way that the web has never managed before.

The new system, Wolfram Alpha, showcased at Harvard University in the US last week, takes the first step towards what many consider to be the internet's Holy Grail – a global store of information that understands and responds to ordinary language in the same way a person does.

Although the system is still new, it has already produced massive interest and excitement among technology pundits and internet watchers.

Computer experts believe the new search engine will be an evolutionary leap in the development of the internet. Nova Spivack, an internet and computer expert, said that Wolfram Alpha could prove just as important as Google. "It is really impressive and significant," he wrote. "In fact it may be as important for the web (and the world) as Google, but for a different purpose.

continues:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...r-1678109.html

[xoxoxoBruce]

Considering all the misinformation on the web, I'd be suspect of a single answer to any question.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Considering all the misinformation on the web, I'd be suspect of a single answer to any question.

Wolfram Alpha will not only give a straight answer to questions such as "how high is Mount Everest?", but it will also produce a neat page of related information – all properly sourced – such as geographical location and nearby towns, and other mountains, complete with graphs and charts.

[xoxoxoBruce]

How many people will read past that "straight answer"? And where is that straight answer coming from, a politically correct source? Sounds like the same as using Wikipedia as the definitive source. Color me skeptical.

[Undertoad]

What is the answer? To life, the universe and everything?

[Meursault]

i'v been working on this one a long time. the answer seems to lie somewhere between 41 and 43. i'l get back to you..

[Razzmatazz13]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

What is the answer? To life, the universe and everything?

42, Of course.

But what is the question?

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's exactly the answer I'd expect from this system.

[ZenGum]

There isn't even a straight answer to the height of Everest. Do you measure from the rock, which is never exposed? or the top of the snow, which varies seasonally? Do you measure from sea level? What is that, anyway? Do you take the satellite measurements or the trigonometric measurements? Etc.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

There isn't even a straight answer to the height of Everest. Do you measure from the rock, which is never exposed? or the top of the snow, which varies seasonally? Do you measure from sea level? What is that, anyway? Do you take the satellite measurements or the trigonometric measurements? Etc.

Sea level. 29,000 feet exactly. But the record books say 29,001 because they don't want the reader to think the figure is rounded.

[Flint]

From Tech Republic: Wolfram Alpha will complement not replace Google. There's a video.

[Stormieweather]

Well, since I rarely get a straight answer from a real PERSON, I'm a bit skeptical of this newfangled gadget's ability to give me one.

[wolf]

I'm losing track ... is this thing supposed to be Colossus or Skynet?

[Beestie]

Forunately, neither. Bonus points for remembering the Forbin Project, tho.

For some reason, I think about that movie more than I used to...

I remember what happened to the guy who tried to pull the plug.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Beestie

Sea level. 29,000 feet exactly. But the record books say 29,001 because they don't want the reader to think the figure is rounded.

But sea level varies, not only with lattitude, but also longitude with relation to the surrounding landmasses. (The East side of the Atlantic, eg is about two feet higher than the west side (or maybe its the other way) due to the spinning of the earth, even at the same lattitude.)

So the concept of "sea level" where Everest is is fuzzy, since there is no sea there. A hypothetical sea level would depend on surrounding landmasses, which can vary with our hypothetical sea.

You might resort to "mean global sea level" but then I ask, averaged over what period? Sea level is not stable and hasn't been for hundreds of thousands of years.

At best we might say "betweeen 8,840 and 8,850 meters above mean sea level averaged over the last 100 years as it would be applied to the location of Everest if said location was in the middle of an open ocean, which it isn't."

And use metric you bloody peasant. :p

ETA: but Why use sea level? Why not measure the distance from the centre of the Earth? (This would in fact give the "Highest Mountain" prize to some mountain in central America whose name I can neither find nor remember. Due to the oblate shape of the Earth, its peak is almost 2,000 meters further from the center of the Earth than Everest's is.)