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Planes overhead

wolframalpha.com

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Re: Planes overhead

#61

Post by cormullion »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #53
meadhikari wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.wolfram.com/mathematica-home-edition/ That strongly suggests somebody do need it.

I'd like to know the set of people that: * Go beyond Alpha's capabilities in home use * See the need for full-on Mathematica * Are dedicated enough to make full use of it * Don't already have access to full-on Mathematica somehow (work/uni computer, etc) * Can't buy a student license ($140) * Really wants to spend $300 on it. Hm, how will I ever figure all that out? :)

That's quite cheap for a hobbyist's item (if they already have a computer). Compared with a yacht, or a golfing bat, for example... :)

Re: Planes overhead

#62

Post by fikhma »

As someone who enjoys watching the planes, I would love to have an iPhone app where you point and click and get a plane data, model number, etc, either from engine noise signature or from silhouette. That's the way to do it.

Re: Planes overhead

#63

Post by ma2rten »

Dobbs wrote: post #30

Just realized wolfram alpha works really well for doing complicated data conversions, particularly data transfer rates. 100 Terabytes a month in megabits a second.

Google can do the same, you have to say per instead of a though.

Re: Planes overhead

#64

Post by NegativeK »

fikhma wrote: post #62

As someone who enjoys watching the planes, I would love to have an iPhone app where you point and click and get a plane data, model number, etc, either from engine noise signature or from silhouette. That's the way to do it.

A la Google Sky Map?

Re: Planes overhead

#67

Post by fomojola »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #53
meadhikari wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.wolfram.com/mathematica-home-edition/ That strongly suggests somebody do need it.

I'd like to know the set of people that: * Go beyond Alpha's capabilities in home use * See the need for full-on Mathematica * Are dedicated enough to make full use of it * Don't already have access to full-on Mathematica somehow (work/uni computer, etc) * Can't buy a student license ($140) * Really wants to spend $300 on it. Hm, how will I ever figure all that out? :)

Would Wolfram Alpha be able to compute that for you?

Re: Planes overhead

#68

Post by tripzilch »

thefool wrote: post #18
frisco wrote: post #3

Wolfram Alpha might be the most advanced piece of web technology nobody needs.

Except that it is extremely useful as a powerful calculator for students and professionals doing technical things, and in the process of being very handy teaches people mathematica notation. Just because it's not necessarily aimed at the average person doesn't mean its not aimed at anyone. I expect Wolfram alpha has done a lot to drive sales of mathematica.

Problem is, every time I think "hey this would be a problem WA could answer!", I somehow get stuck because WA never seems to have the data I'm looking for (last time, electricity prices are always assumed to be US prices even if I say "in Germany"), or it's unable to present me the data in a way that's helpful to me (last time, a bit longer ago, comparing some demographic statistics between 3 countries--I forgot the details).

There was one time it worked for me, when I had to compute the derivative of a Lennard-Jones potential function. Even though it gave me a lot of different answers of the same formula written in complex different ways. I just remembered Mathematica has a Simplify function, maybe that would have worked in WA too.

Entering one's birthday and finding out how many weeks or days you lived is kind of fun.

For general calculations and unit conversions I prefer to use Google Calculator, for the simple fact that the page loads much quicker.

Re: Planes overhead

#69

Post by tripzilch »

Dobbs wrote: post #30

Just realized wolfram alpha works really well for doing complicated data conversions, particularly data transfer rates. 100 Terabytes a month in megabits a second.

I prefer Google's Calculator feature for that, mostly because it loads so much quicker than WA and (perhaps related) feels slightly more reliable.

Re: Planes overhead

#70

Post by tripzilch »

kalid wrote: post #39
Dobbs wrote: post #30

Just realized wolfram alpha works really well for doing complicated data conversions, particularly data transfer rates. 100 Terabytes a month in megabits a second.

Shameless plug: you might like instacalc which can do these conversions too: http://new.instacalc.com/366 You can even use made-up units ("hits", "people", etc... has a pluralizer). I made it as a personal productivity tool and have a slew of updates in the works =).

Ooh Instacalc! I really liked that app when I first heard of it (must be over a year ago?), thanks for reminding me of its existence, I'll check out how far it's come.

Hope the cross-browser issues got solved, I seem to remember that was my major hurdle (I'm on Opera).

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