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I use it regularly. Sometimes it’s broken, and maybe nobody notices but me? :) Their natural language queries for things that I know they know about are amazi

I use it regularly. Sometimes it’s broken, and maybe nobody notices but me? :) Their natural language queries for things that I know they know about are amazing. Here are some that I have used recently. You really need to see these results to appreciate them. I wanted to know how tall my daughter might be. 8 year old female 55 lbs http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=8%20year%20old%20female%2055%20lbs http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=8%20year%20old%20female... I wanted to know the nutrition content of an egg sandwich. 1 egg, two slices whole wheat bread, one slice of cheddar, two pieces of bacon http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1%20egg%2C%20two%20slices%20whole%20wheat%20bread%2C%20one%20slice%20of%20cheddar%2C%20two%20pieces%20of%20bacon http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1%20egg%2C%20two%20slic... I was curious about the relative usage of two names over time. Michael, Henry http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Michael%2C%20Henry http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Michael%2C%20Henry

BelenusMordred 5y ago
> You really need to see these results to appreciate them. Seems more like the quality of the queries rather than the results. Many of the complaints I see about google and friends is related to them dumbing down search for the global common denominator.
sliq 5y ago
wow, typing "8 year old female" into a search engine might cause some trouble
- named-user 5y ago
  Why would it?
ISL 5y ago
Yeah; I use it for the occasional repeating specialized query, but have never broadened my usage to anything more-general.
skinkestek 5y ago
The sandwich example was brilliant! I never expected that to be possible (the example of packing smaller circles in a larger one in another comment is also brilliant but less useful for me today I think.)
mike_d 5y ago
Also a frequent WA user. I use it for things I could calculate, but are much faster to just ask in plain text. How much that cloud instance really costs $0.03/hr * 1 month Bandwidth calculations for hosting providers 10 TB per month in Mbps
- vinodkd 5y ago
  or frink [1], which started off as a tool like the others mentiond here, but is now a full fledged units-based programming language. See some examples of them here [2] 1: https://frinklang.org/ https://frinklang.org/ 2: https://frinklang.org/#SampleCalculations https://frinklang.org/#SampleCalculations Its been on HN before.
- maneesh 5y ago
  I use Google for those pretty often.
  - mejutoco 5y ago
    I do the same for basic calculations. I was surprised things like 9:00 EST in CET don‘t work in google search, but do in WA.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - einarvollset 5y ago
      Works for me: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=9%3A00%20EST%20in%20CET https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=9%3A00%20EST%20in%20CE...
      - mejutoco 5y ago
        You are absolutely right. I misremembered. Using GMT does indeed work only on WA: 9:00 GMT-7 in CET https://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&client=ubuntu&q=9%3A00+GMT-7+in+CET https://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&client=ubuntu&q=9%3... https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=9%3A00+GMT-7+in+CET https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=9%3A00+GMT-7+in+CET
thro1 5y ago
Just asked a friend about this: > 1 egg, two slices whole wheat bread, one slice of cheddar, two.. leaves of lettuce .. and he said it's wrong and useless (!) - giving me examples and numbers as: protein assimilability from bread is 40% etc. Is there a way to get correct answers from Wolfram regarding this ? (assimilability of doesn't work) Edit: Excuse me, what's wrong with you downvoters - it's a legit question. Or is there something wrong with assimilability? Are you happy being off with your answers by 60% - or jealous that a human can have better answers?
- onion2k 5y ago
  Wolfram isn't reporting how much protein you'll get from eating something; it's reporting how much there is in the bread. Protein assimilation depends on a huge range of factors, and varies significantly between individuals (based on everything from gut microbiome to health factors to how much you chew your food to your saliva production to... Well, it's a long list). There's no way a website could report the amount of protein you will get from bread. Reporting how much is in the bread makes much more sense. It's a shame your friend didn't explain that. This is something that actually annoys me immensely when people say "you eat too much!" to fat people. Two people can have the exact same diet and the exact same exercise regime, and if one assimilates particular foods more effectively they'll be getting more calories, and put on weight. Food intake is far more complex than many people believe.
  - barabba 5y ago
    So you're saying that "fat people eat too much" is a statistically inaccurate statement?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - rtsil 5y ago
      Not if "too much" is relative to their physiology. How much is too much varies for each person.
    - 5y ago
sixothree 5y ago
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=stars+in+the+observable+universe+%2F+population+of+earth%2F++average+human+lifespan https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=stars+in+the+observabl...
EdwardDiego 5y ago
I really struggled with the "natural" language queries for this: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=+new+south+wales+covid-19+death+rate+per+capita+vs.+new+zealand+covid-19+death+rate+per+capita https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=+new+south+wales+covid... Any advice on rephrasing it to work would be welcomed. Downside to allegedly natural language query systems - there's no concise explanation of syntax it recognises.

BelenusMordred 5y ago

> You really need to see these results to appreciate them. Seems more like the quality of the queries rather than the results. Many of the complaints I see about google and friends is related to them dumbing down search for the global common denominator.

sliq 5y ago

wow, typing "8 year old female" into a search engine might cause some trouble

named-user 5y ago
Why would it?

ISL 5y ago

Yeah; I use it for the occasional repeating specialized query, but have never broadened my usage to anything more-general.

skinkestek 5y ago

The sandwich example was brilliant! I never expected that to be possible (the example of packing smaller circles in a larger one in another comment is also brilliant but less useful for me today I think.)

mike_d 5y ago

Also a frequent WA user. I use it for things I could calculate, but are much faster to just ask in plain text. How much that cloud instance really costs $0.03/hr * 1 month Bandwidth calculations for hosting providers 10 TB per month in Mbps

vinodkd 5y ago
or frink [1], which started off as a tool like the others mentiond here, but is now a full fledged units-based programming language. See some examples of them here [2] 1: https://frinklang.org/ https://frinklang.org/ 2: https://frinklang.org/#SampleCalculations https://frinklang.org/#SampleCalculations Its been on HN before.
maneesh 5y ago
I use Google for those pretty often.
- mejutoco 5y ago
  I do the same for basic calculations. I was surprised things like 9:00 EST in CET don‘t work in google search, but do in WA.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - einarvollset 5y ago
    Works for me: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=9%3A00%20EST%20in%20CET https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=9%3A00%20EST%20in%20CE...
    - mejutoco 5y ago
      You are absolutely right. I misremembered. Using GMT does indeed work only on WA: 9:00 GMT-7 in CET https://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&client=ubuntu&q=9%3A00+GMT-7+in+CET https://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&client=ubuntu&q=9%3... https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=9%3A00+GMT-7+in+CET https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=9%3A00+GMT-7+in+CET

thro1 5y ago

Just asked a friend about this: > 1 egg, two slices whole wheat bread, one slice of cheddar, two.. leaves of lettuce .. and he said it's wrong and useless (!) - giving me examples and numbers as: protein assimilability from bread is 40% etc. Is there a way to get correct answers from Wolfram regarding this ? (assimilability of doesn't work) Edit: Excuse me, what's wrong with you downvoters - it's a legit question. Or is there something wrong with assimilability? Are you happy being off with your answers by 60% - or jealous that a human can have better answers?

onion2k 5y ago
Wolfram isn't reporting how much protein you'll get from eating something; it's reporting how much there is in the bread. Protein assimilation depends on a huge range of factors, and varies significantly between individuals (based on everything from gut microbiome to health factors to how much you chew your food to your saliva production to... Well, it's a long list). There's no way a website could report the amount of protein you will get from bread. Reporting how much is in the bread makes much more sense. It's a shame your friend didn't explain that. This is something that actually annoys me immensely when people say "you eat too much!" to fat people. Two people can have the exact same diet and the exact same exercise regime, and if one assimilates particular foods more effectively they'll be getting more calories, and put on weight. Food intake is far more complex than many people believe.
- barabba 5y ago
  So you're saying that "fat people eat too much" is a statistically inaccurate statement?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - rtsil 5y ago
    Not if "too much" is relative to their physiology. How much is too much varies for each person.
  - 5y ago

sixothree 5y ago

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=stars+in+the+observable+universe+%2F+population+of+earth%2F++average+human+lifespan https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=stars+in+the+observabl...

EdwardDiego 5y ago

I really struggled with the "natural" language queries for this: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=+new+south+wales+covid-19+death+rate+per+capita+vs.+new+zealand+covid-19+death+rate+per+capita https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=+new+south+wales+covid... Any advice on rephrasing it to work would be welcomed. Downside to allegedly natural language query systems - there's no concise explanation of syntax it recognises.