The “Stolen Election”

Wolfram Alpha: First Look

This is just a quick look at a couple of searches types I found interesting in the newly unleashed Wolfram Alpha. This is my first video using ScreenFlow and I must say, I’m impressed.

Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Research has recently made available the limited Beta of its latest project, code-named Wolfram Alpha. Stephen Wolfram, the founder of Wolfram Research, is famed for his work on Mathematica, a powerful application that allows conceptual mathematics to be displayed in an accessible and user-friendly way. Wolfram Alpha is a search engine, thats aim isn’t so much to compete on a one to one basis with the search giants Google and Yahoo, but to complement them as an alternative.

At the moment, a search in Google will only reveal satisfying results if someone has already written about a query you may have. For example, you can only search for “the top ten football stadia by capacity”, if someone has already written an article on the topic. Wolfram Alpha will attempt to compile an answer on the fly, i.e in real time.

Check out the Wolfram Alpha webpage at http://www.wolframalpha.com

According to the Wolfram blog, Alpha will go live tomorrow (15th May 2009)

Exciting! Check out more at the blog here: http://blog.wolframalpha.com/

New PS3 Firmware v2.70 Released!

Playstation 3’s XMB was updated last night, to version 2.70 which brings the following enhancements:

Text Chat feature that enables you to communicate online with your PlayStation Network friends. Now, you’ll be able to chat with up to 15 online friends using the Wireless Keypad, on-screen keyboard, or other compatible keyboard peripherals. Not only can you chat with your friends instantly, but you can also access Text Chat while playing PS3 games and even participate in up to three chat rooms at once.

Friends list on the XMB (XrossMediaBar)

• Sort your friends via their online status
• Attach larger files to the messages you send to your friends (file size will increase from 1MB to 3MB)

Video delivery service on PlayStation Store

• Video files you’ve purchased from the PlayStation Store can be backed up to an external storage device and then restored to PS3’s internal hard drive for playback – so you can clear up space on your hard drive and then restore the video anytime in the future
• Videos you’ve purchased for PSP (PlayStation Portable) system can now be transferred to PS3 for playback