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It’s tornado season in some parts of the United States, and while longtime users of Wolfram|Alpha are probably aware of our ability to analyze earthquake data, we weren’t able to say much about tornadoes. Now, utilizing data from from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, Wolfram|Alpha can answer questions about tornado activity in the US from 1950 to 2012. For good measure, we’ve also added data on worldwide volcanic eruptions to our knowledge base. More »
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Today, we’re proud to unveil the Wolfram|Alpha Handwritten Knowledge Engine, a new, more personal way of delivering computed answers.
You might be wondering where this idea came from. Well, let me tell you a story.
We had a thought not long ago that it would be nice to get you (the internet) a gift. One of those “just because” things to spread a bit of happiness around the world.
Conventional wisdom holds that the best gifts are handmade. But making gifts by hand for over 2.2 billion people? It was a daunting challenge. Luckily, we had a head start: Wolfram|Alpha already computes its answers just for you. The answer to every query, question, and computation is custom-generated, drawing upon trillions of pieces of built-in knowledge.
We began to imagine ways to add that handmade, personal flair to Wolfram|Alpha results. Artisanal answers, if you will. We narrowed it down to “putting a bird on it” versus a handwritten interface, results pages and all. Handwriting won the coin toss.
You remember handwriting, right? The thing you used to do with a pen, to write letters and checks? Checks, well, they were these pieces of paper that represented… you know what, I should get back to the story.
We knew we’d need a goodly number of contributors, as well as some sort of training component—consistency is important, after all. Human Resources began recruiting in earnest (by the way, we’re hiring), as well as organizing a Corporate Penmanship Retreat.
That brings us to now. The retreat just wrapped, and the Wolfram|Alpha Handwritten Knowledge Engine is ready to go. Ask a question, and your machine-computed results will be transcribed and illustrated by a real live human being.
I recommend acting fast. A few of the physicists already have writer’s cramp, and the pop culture researchers might be next.
So what will you compute? I definitely cannot recommend running your homework through Wolfram|Alpha, printing out the handwritten results, and trying to pass them as your own. Definitely not. But here are some other ideas to get you going.
Go meta, and get handwritten knowledge about the word handwriting:
Find derivatives… with style:
Put your mind at ease with a handwritten verification of some important information:
Why not Zoidberg?
We hope you enjoy the Wolfram|Alpha Handwritten Knowledge Engine. Please share your favorites in the comments.
April 2, 2013 Update: We hope you enjoyed the handwritten Wolfram|Alpha results on April Fools’ Day. While some staff are recovering from carpal tunnel, we have returned to the normal styling for all results.
If you want to see the handwritten results, begin any query with “handwritten style” (without quotes), and our staff will get back to work!
This Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers are going to play against each other in Super Bowl XLVII, which takes place in New Orleans. So what do we know about the teams and their histories, and what can we determine from their statistics this season? More »
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Wolfram|Alpha has released a suite of apps that cover all of your financial needs. The apps are profoundly powerful tools, allowing you to stay informed about your business’s finances and the marketplace at large while in the office or on the go. More »
Searching for that perfect gift? Here’s a stocking stuffer to fulfill anyone’s wish list: Wolfram|Alpha Pro. The supreme Wolfram|Alpha experience is now available in 3-, 6-, and 12-month gift subscriptions. More »
We’re huge library fans here at Wolfram|Alpha. We proudly count a number of former librarians and library science experts among our ranks, and we rely heavily on contacts at public and academic libraries for expert assistance in locating sources and answering difficult questions across a wide range of knowledge areas. So we hope that, like us, you’ve been celebrating National Friends of Libraries Week (October 21–27) the past few days. More »
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Attention all educators! Tell us how you use Wolfram|Alpha for a chance to win an iPad and a slew of Wolfram|Alpha-powered apps, PLUS a year’s subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Pro!
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Today we are introducing our new Clip ’n Share feature. Wolfram|Alpha users can now easily share individual result pods on their favorite social networks.
When you hover over a result pod, an icon tray featuring Wolfram|Alpha Pro functionality will appear. The brand new Clip ‘n Share feature, which is free and easy for anyone to use, is now included at the end of the icon list. More »
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The 2012 Olympics are here, and surely between those moments of watching athletes perform fantastic maneuvers, shatter world records, and generally inspire us all as we recognize just what exactly human beings are capable of, you may say to yourself: “I wonder how I can use Wolfram|Alpha in a conversation about sports?” Luckily, we’re all big sports fans, and since the outcome of events is so often determined by inches or fractions of seconds, it is crucial that every object used conforms to certain standards. More »
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We are happy to announce that we have partnered with Samsung to bring Wolfram|Alpha’s computational knowledge to Samsung smartphones. The new GALAXY S III and GALAXY Note will now include the Wolfram|Alpha knowledge base with S Voice and S Note applications.
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