Wolfram|Alpha Launch

You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this video.
Download it from Adobe
Link - Email or IM this link to your friends
Embed - Copy this code to your website
More Videos
Wolfram|Alpha

Join us for a live webcast as we document our first attempt to go live with Wolfram|Alpha this... more

174,218 views  | 

Post a Comment
6:48 a.m. May 16, 2009 stephanwolframjr says:
It helps if we know the limits of WA's powers. This way we don't waste time with queries that WA doesn't understand.
6:49 a.m. May 16, 2009 stephanwolframjr says:
Query for "help" gets no answer.
6:51 a.m. May 16, 2009 stephanwolframjr says:
It's calling me "Dave" but that's not my name.
7:07 a.m. May 16, 2009 dlopw says:
to many assumsion on http://www.wolframalpha.com another american idea that the wolrd starts there and not here
7:09 a.m. May 16, 2009 dlopw says:
it can´t even calculate 1 cup water 4 tee spoons sugar 1 cup beetroot juice ginger 1 cup apple juice
7:24 a.m. May 16, 2009 lo_gin says:
query: recursion definition == I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that ... == Wolfram/Alpha has temporarily exceeded its current maximum test load
7:27 a.m. May 16, 2009 potentiallygood says:
yeah it only let me test a few things til i got the "sorry dave" thing but.... i'm sure it'll be pretty helpful, especially for us college students
7:24 a.m. May 16, 2009 potentiallygood says:
it has potential "Dave"?? definitely not live
9:01 a.m. May 16, 2009 rayj99 says:
doesn't do well on q's about geosynchronous satellites '91W' for instance
8:59 a.m. May 16, 2009 rayj99 says:
the system handles simple queries but not complex should be able to answer basic almanac questions, such as '10 largest cities in usa'
9:05 a.m. May 16, 2009 rayj99 says:
complex calculation such as: 'look angle {40N, 76W} to geosynchronous satellite at 91W' doesn't work
9:07 a.m. May 16, 2009 rayj99 says:
Steve: You are VERY brave to do this 'live'
9:19 a.m. May 16, 2009 peterstirike says:
Hey guys, very impressed by the first results, allready added you as a favourite, Greeting from Peter from The Netherlands
10:17 a.m. May 16, 2009 kski says:
I have a link to Wolfram on my site since six months already! so u know Im a fan,its my birthday today and just did my first try out: damn, max.test load..ah well, i know it is a daunting task but im ver confident!.Btw, I wanna buy shares in Wolfram right now.http://koenski-beterweter.blogspot.com/
9:47 a.m. May 16, 2009 andrewjost says:
I want Alpha to calculate the largest prime less than 2^64 but I can't find a way to ask that question in a way it understands.
12:08 p.m. May 16, 2009 mpgenius says:
Excellent! - a new breakthrough in Search Engine Technology! Follow Wolfram Alpha and more at http://pcpartspcparts.blogspot.com
12:50 p.m. May 16, 2009 jptollenboom says:
I am very happy to be able to witness this launch. This is more important than the first man on the moon. Congratulations to Stephen Wolfram and team.
12:14 p.m. May 16, 2009 mrgnome says:
WA misses bilingual-wise with city names. Looking for Jakobstad (Finland) returns Pietarsaari (fin) even though Jakobstad is the international name because a majority of ppl in Jakobstad are swedishspeaking. A mathematical fact WA misses
12:25 p.m. May 16, 2009 johnhwyman says:
2**64 works
12:31 p.m. May 16, 2009 beastage says:
This is a great site and project , but it needs more processing power!
1:30 p.m. May 16, 2009 woodmike says:
It would be lots easier to read if you used black instead of light grey in the text
1:44 p.m. May 16, 2009 tattors says:
providing access to knowledge to the Proliterian class will jeopardize the ivory castles! stop it before your obsolete!
2:43 p.m. May 16, 2009 farmerj1 says:
Simple question...number of protons in a gram of water...and no answer!
4:30 p.m. May 16, 2009 joseph43 says:
Really exciting. Especially the openness and easy communication depicted in the live video. The "sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" is humorous and just a little scary.
4:35 p.m. May 16, 2009 abulufia says:
This surely marks the transformation from the Information Age to the Knowlege Age. Wolfram will in time be recognised as important as Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and I am proud he is also a Brit, and from my home town of Oxford!
4:36 p.m. May 16, 2009 abulufia says:
Now, Stephen if you can create Wolfram|Alfa + as a Wisdom Computational Engine ...!
4:55 p.m. May 16, 2009 stanleyturing says:
a little dissapointed to see all these slovenly guys walking around in HAL's brain !
5:59 p.m. May 16, 2009 dbigham says:
Getting messages about maximum load having been reached :)
6:01 p.m. May 16, 2009 jacobt says:
I do think this marks the beginning of a new age of Computing. And, it's really quite neat to see the brain center of the operations.
6:01 p.m. May 16, 2009 cxxfxxh says:
hahah "sorry dave..." the hubris...OH the hubris!
6:19 p.m. May 16, 2009 theone2009 says:
WHATS THE DEAL with the guy standing there doing nothing but scratching his back?! HE's been there for like 5 hours straight!!! wt f man!?
6:35 p.m. May 16, 2009 luv2dobusiness says:
I'm rooting for you Wolfram!
7:01 p.m. May 16, 2009 bloggerish says:
php=philipine peso
7:07 p.m. May 16, 2009 schmedly says:
I wonder about the video feeds near the ceiling..
7:09 p.m. May 16, 2009 bloggerish says:
now unavailable. wondering the ans to html? How To Make Love
7:27 p.m. May 16, 2009 dbigham says:
Here are queries that I've tried: http://www.danielbigham.ca/wolfram.htm Overall I'm very impressed! Obviously, as has been said, this is a long term project and I'm sure the language parsing of the system will be vastly improved over a few years.
8:28 p.m. May 16, 2009 keys261 says:
It would be cool if they release this project as open source
8:15 p.m. May 16, 2009 christopherburns says:
This is fantastic
8:45 p.m. May 16, 2009 jjpulczinski says:
Pay no attention to those men behind the curtain!
9:31 p.m. May 16, 2009 calgaryguru says:
Hmmm... the engine gives info. about "Maple Creek, Saskatchewan" with a population of just over 2,000 but it doesn't know about Markham, Ontario which has over 1/4 MILLION people... Looks like a number of holes in the data still!
9:23 p.m. May 16, 2009 avantalis says:
I used it for my Birthday-Date and it feeled like i touched the future. This is a first small step, that computers can interact with human in a more personal way. i wish you all guys the best for the future. I feel that this is something really big, congratulations from a very impressed guy.
12:37 a.m. May 17, 2009 bubfranks says:
dumb...drop the pretense of 'going live' on Monday...you ARE live! It's great that you're learning about how to serve a googolplex of qps. Learn from this: under-promise and over-deliver. Use invites or something to build a user-base gradually.
2:21 a.m. May 17, 2009 masterjam77 says:
i'm sorry dave, i'm afraid i can't do that. love it
5:09 a.m. May 17, 2009 exis_czar says:
The guy who is standing occasionally scratches his butt.
6:53 a.m. May 17, 2009 grundum says:
what stats/real-time metrics apps are they using? any idea?
8:08 a.m. May 17, 2009 goooglemonster says:
cool stuff no matter what it has some promise
1:24 p.m. May 17, 2009 wblitzkrieg says:
Oh,Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! It's the best team I have ever seen! The team of Wolfram Alpha!!! One day,I hope I could be the one who are like you! Clever and ... yea! just one word ... Cool Right?! LOL
1:25 p.m. May 17, 2009 wblitzkrieg says:
Also I have one question... How can we use Wolfram | Alpha in Wolfram mathematica 7 ?
5:49 p.m. May 17, 2009 refugedesign says:
I hear the director while the other guy is talking.
5:33 p.m. May 17, 2009 connor20 says:
My dad is co-founder of mathmatica
6:31 p.m. May 17, 2009 sszkonvict says:
i need a free(haxd) copy of mathematica plz, send it bitches
7:08 p.m. May 17, 2009 antouns says:
MAC Leopard SAFARI ver 4(552816) HANGS UP ON YOUR complete that form once one tries to complete your login form inorder 2 leave u a comment
8:07 p.m. May 17, 2009 skunch says:
MOAR SERVERS PLOX
2:22 a.m. May 18, 2009 merrily says:
Exciting to watch and test on your pre-launch weekend. I'll send data and help in other ways. Bravo!
4:45 a.m. May 18, 2009 kalera says:
I love this! You guys are awesome!
6:30 a.m. May 16, 2009 jeffmcneill says:
Nice to see the humans behind the computers, thanks!
6:49 a.m. May 16, 2009 stephanwolframjr says:
What time is Stephen Wolfram going to bed?
6:53 a.m. May 16, 2009 stephanwolframjr says:
WA can't tell me the [longest word in English] 8-{
6:58 a.m. May 16, 2009 micsjcl says:
can i get an unpaid internship foreal
7:05 a.m. May 16, 2009 dlopw says:
nice with the arab sound aesthetics
7:05 a.m. May 16, 2009 dlopw says:
i assume sound is not science
7:06 a.m. May 16, 2009 dlopw says:
this is not live
7:11 a.m. May 16, 2009 dlopw says:
nice with a film maker there uses a logictech usb 1.0 camera, and whats up with the hairdue, is the reversed mohawk trendy
10:12 a.m. May 16, 2009 shric says:
andrewjost: That's easy, it's 18446744073709551557. I don't know how to ask it either.
11:06 a.m. May 16, 2009 davidcarraher says:
Interesting idea...stringing out the launch over the weekend. This should let you work out the inevitable glitches under real-time conditions. Geekdom also appreciates listening in on the technical issues....
11:30 a.m. May 16, 2009 chrisjk says:
NextPrime[2^64,-1]
11:55 a.m. May 16, 2009 spookingdorf says:
doesn't do well on 'Wales' or 'Wales population'. I want the country, not the cities. 'Cymru' didn't cut it either (was asking a lot though, with cymru). 'Welsh' is OK.
12:52 p.m. May 16, 2009 orlebeke says:
I have graet admiration for this immense enterprise which I thought was impossible. Feel like Lalande - the French atronomer - confronted with the Montgolfiers-balloon flight in 1783 which he had prdedicted as totally impossible in 1782. Jacob Orlebeke
1:45 p.m. May 16, 2009 jennyroseanne says:
W|A, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship!
1:59 p.m. May 16, 2009 rickjulian says:
congratulations on your launch–a grand and remarkable accomplishment.
2:25 p.m. May 16, 2009 ginsbergwright says:
"who wrote your song" works, but "who wrote bennie and the jets" shits the bed
2:37 p.m. May 16, 2009 danielgardner says:
Too bad the servers are overloaded...that must suck on opening day. Good luck, anyway, WA guys!!
3:24 p.m. May 16, 2009 finfin82 says:
congratulations, you have made a very good job so far. its unbelivable what you have done. you did what is the dream of human mandkind, you made it possible to access the combinated knowlegde of the internet thats pretty cool ;-)
4:04 p.m. May 16, 2009 sixpackistan says:
i expected better. i think it sucks.
4:22 p.m. May 16, 2009 lalokillo says:
everiting start whit science, but nobody knows everiting yet, hope you will for us!! tanx
5:03 p.m. May 16, 2009 haljab says:
The alpha+ job is already taken lol
5:04 p.m. May 16, 2009 canveyboy says:
good to see a search engine that will give us facts/answers to our questions instead of other search engines giving us countless recomended pages by picking out key words and then still hunting for an answer that could still be the wrong info/answer. good luck.
5:04 p.m. May 16, 2009 gnormb says:
good answer to the meaning of life :)
5:40 p.m. May 16, 2009 buttcrack1 says:
Surely this NORAD-style setting won't be easily forgotten. I wish Google had done some G-live day, to honour us with lots of screens and ballistic query listings from all around the world ... Plus a bald, shy, scientist unveiling his creature to the world: "Behold the Wolfram" ... "It's alive!!!"
5:51 p.m. May 16, 2009 lunxer says:
http://wolframalphaqueries.com/
6:50 p.m. May 16, 2009 moonfairy says:
What time is it coming online ,UK time? anyone?
6:56 p.m. May 16, 2009 moonfairy says:
has that guy stood up got nits or fleas or summat? ?He`s still scratching his head and back!!!
11:53 p.m. May 16, 2009 greflex says:
Not ready for prime time
12:16 a.m. May 17, 2009 duhsveti says:
A lot of loopholes in the data. Can we, the users, provide some assistance in filling up these holes?
12:39 a.m. May 17, 2009 cogentx says:
In "Tips for good results", Searching for "Only what is known to Wolfram|Alpha" is suggested. Shouldn't this, if it is a computational system, use data sets to "compute" for unknown information?
1:03 a.m. May 17, 2009 nophonies says:
Room director needs sleek outfit. Better yet, we need a sexy 7 of 9 type. Just for show.
4:06 a.m. May 17, 2009 alfa123456 says:
WTF !! what has this thing to do with open source ??? Get some sleep guys.
4:10 p.m. May 17, 2009 chugarland says:
Desde Costa Rica muy buena suerte en el lanzamiento de mañana!
6:37 p.m. May 17, 2009 jasonspalace says:
i imagine what rate this internet machine is learning at...
7:18 p.m. May 17, 2009 antouns says:
Pharos used to worship Mathimatics and worshiped Ra. Now we use Solar POWER and the internet is finally mathematically based - Bravo Mathimatica. It only took 10,000 years !!!
10:01 p.m. May 18, 2009 waddler says:
Very impressive. Actually felt honoured to have my 30th birthday coincide with Wolfram|Alpha's first introduction to the world. Congrats guys.
4:37 a.m. July 14, 2010 profkprabhakar says:
Provides a good understanding of what goes on in data visualization.