A question that WolframAlpha can NEVER EVER answer!!

[Gucko]

Yesterday I was really excited to test WolframAlpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/) and see what the FUSS is all about! It still needs LOTS of developments.

I bet that WolframAlpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/) will NEVER EVER be able to answer the following question:
How many Oreo cookies are needed to absorb a sea of milk? :)


The story is on my blog:
http://www.rakblog.com/2009/05/a-question-wolframalpha-can-never-ever-answer/


Share your impossible questions ;)
(http://www.rakblog.com/2009/05/a-question-wolframalpha-can-never-ever-answer/)

[Kareeser]

Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?

[dragos240]

Q: Oh really?
A: Ya really.

[chriskin]

Yesterday I was really excited to test WolframAlpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/) and see what the FUSS is all about! It still needs LOTS of developments.

I bet that WolframAlpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/) will NEVER EVER be able to answer the following question:
How many Oreo cookies are needed to absorb a sea of milk? :)


The story is on my blog:
http://www.rakblog.com/2009/05/a-question-wolframalpha-can-never-ever-answer/


Share your impossible questions ;)
(http://www.rakblog.com/2009/05/a-question-wolframalpha-can-never-ever-answer/)

so, oreo cookies are worldwide? they deserve it 100% :)

[TBOL3]

How many licks does it take to get to the centre of a tootsy pop?

[Gucko]

Which came first, the egg or the hen?

[TBOL3]

Did you stop beating your wife?

Edit: I just realized that this looks really bad, umm, sorry, I was just throwing it out there because it is an example of a loaded question.

[myusername]

Did you stop beating your wife?

Edit: I just realized that this looks really bad, umm, sorry, I was just throwing it out there because it is an example of a loaded question.

i LLOL on that one

[Tipped OuT]

how many licks does it take to get to the centre of a tootsy pop?

It's over 9000!!!!

[michaeldt]

none of my questions could be answered. i guess i'll have to solve those past exam paper questions myself...

[issih]

If 42 is the answer, what is the question?

...

[Tipped OuT]

If 42 is the answer, what is the question?

...

41+1= __

:lolflag:

[pwnst*r]

How many licks does it take to get to the centre of a tootsy pop?

probably depends on the length of one's tongue and the pressure applied to said tootsie pop.

[Gucko]

probably depends on the length of one's tongue and the pressure applied to said tootsie pop.

WolframAlpha will NEVER EVER be able to give an answer like that one ;) ):P

[pwnst*r]

except that it's not, nor was it intended to be, a direct answer to said question.

[Sealbhach]

What do women want?


.

[forrestcupp]

WolframAlpha is a crock. I asked it a simple question: What is the speed of light?

It answered: Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.

I could make a web page in five minutes that can do that.

[CJ Master]

WolframAlpha is a crock. I asked it a simple question: What is the speed of light?

It answered: Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.

I could make a web page in five minutes that can do that.

Your doing it wrong. Unfortunantly, questions aren't supported well at all. Type it in like search terms. (Type in "speed of light")

[Gucko]

WolframAlpha is a crock. I asked it a simple question: What is the speed of light?

It answered: Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.

I could make a web page in five minutes that can do that.

The Natural Language processing in WA is stupid and old. You must type "speed of light" to get the answer.

So where is the AI behind this!! This is stupid it uses keywords and tags to parse the questions NOT Artificial Intelligence!!

This is definitely not a RATIONAL AGENT ;)

[forrestcupp]

Your doing it wrong. Unfortunantly, questions aren't supported well at all. Type it in like search terms. (Type in "speed of light")

Yeah, I figured that out. It's actually pretty cool when you do it right. I typed in some equations and it calculated them for me. I couldn't figure out how to get it to calculate a chemical reaction, though. It just gave information about the individual compounds.

Pretty cool, though.

[days_of_ruin]

WolframAlpha: Because the media loves to hype unproven search engines.Remember cuil?

):P

[CJ Master]

WolframAlpha: Because the media loves to hype unproven search engines.Remember cuil?

):P

I don't get it... It is out, you know that, right?

[PacSci]

How many licks does it take to get to the centre of a Tootsie Pop?


3
(according to Tootsie Pop commercials)

Note: You have to use the American spelling, center. Maybe they should have thought of a British-to-American transliterator for it.

[days_of_ruin]

I don't get it... It is out, you know that, right?

Of course. But it doesn't live up to the hype IMNSHO.

[capnthommo]

Which came first, the egg or the hen?
well, can we firstly accept that hens evolved as a sub species of bird, and that birds evolved from certain types of dinosaur?
can we further accept that birds and dinosaurs are(were) egg laying creatures?
clearly, then, eggs were in existence as a means of procreation (even aside from that fact that all the higher orders use the ovum in reproduction, even ourselves - it's just done internally).
so it seems obvious that the egg came first.
or another way, at some point the proto-chicken laid an egg which hatched into the chicken more or less as we know it.
q.e.d the egg came before the chicken.
and regarding whetyher or not i have stopped beating my wife? i have never started beating my wife. neatly side stepped there, i think.
happy sunday
nigel

[HappinessNow]

WolframAlpha is a crock. I asked it a simple question: What is the speed of light?

It answered: Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.

I could make a web page in five minutes that can do that.

...

http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=114133&d=1242589966


WolframAlpha: Because the media loves to hype unproven search engines.Remember cuil?

):P

WolframAlpha is NOT a search engine.


Is Wolfram|Alpha a search engine?

No. It's a computational knowledge engine: it generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links.
http://www08.wolframalpha.com/faqs.html

[pwnst*r]

3 is rubbish. no way can you get to the center.

[gnomeuser]

What is the average speed of an unladden swallow?

[capnthommo]

What is the average speed of an unladden swallow?

African or European?

nigel
;)

[PacSci]

3 is rubbish. no way can you get to the center.
I wasn't talking for myself, I was putting exactly what I got out of Wolfram|Alpha. (By my experience, it takes way more than three.) Since I can't think of any similar questions, I'm guessing that this is an Easter egg the devs at Wolfram put in.

[gnomeuser]

African or European?

nigel
;)

try it ;)

[lisati]

Did you stop beating your wife?Or, "when did you stop beating your wife?"


What do women want?.
What do women mean when you ask "What's wrong?" and they grumpily reply "Nothing :("

Note: You have to use the American spelling, center. Maybe they should have thought of a British-to-American transliterator for it.
Shouldn't be too hard for something basic: if the initial search draws a blank, they could use some trick like "soundex" or "metaphone" which would eliminate many of the differences in spelling.

[Johan!]

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe+and+everythi ng++plus+the+number+of+horns+on+a+unicorn:lolflag:

[Sealbhach]

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe+and+everythi ng++plus+the+number+of+horns+on+a+unicorn:lolflag:

Well, at least they got that one right.

.

[Regenweald]

Yesterday I was really excited to test WolframAlpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/) and see what the FUSS is all about! It still needs LOTS of developments.

I bet that WolframAlpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/) will NEVER EVER be able to answer the following question:
How many Oreo cookies are needed to absorb a sea of milk? :)
(http://www.rakblog.com/2009/05/a-question-wolframalpha-can-never-ever-answer/)

If OREO produces cookies of a standard size, and the average absorption limit of said cookies is tested and your little question provides a sea of fixed volume, then the question could be answered mathematically. I chose not to visit your blog.

[Rubicon_82]

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe+and+everythi ng++plus+the+number+of+horns+on+a+unicorn:lolflag:



To see full output you need to enable Javascript in your browser


Wolfram|Alpha is still a search engine, even if it's not searching the Web. A search engine shouldn't need Javascript in order to operate.

[forrestcupp]

3 is rubbish. no way can you get to the center.It says that because of the commercial. Don't you remember the commercial with the owl. "One, Two, Three. Crunch! Three!"


Wolfram|Alpha is still a search engine, even if it's not searching the Web. A search engine shouldn't need Javascript in order to operate.It's not a search engine. It's a "computational knowledge engine". It doesn't just search through information, it searches through it's knowledge base to recognize individual pieces of a puzzle, then it calculates an original answer for your specific question.

If you're still unimpressed, you probably don't understand how to use it correctly yet. You can enter an advanced equation or formula, and it will figure it out for you.

I seriously recommend that anyone should watch the screencast showing how to use it (http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html).

[pwnst*r]

It says that because of the commercial. Don't you remember the commercial with the owl. "One, Two, Three. Crunch! Three!"



yea, i remember that. unfortunately, it's still rubbish.

[Bodsda]

.. well thats stupid, How does it get this?

Bodsda >> boddah >> Kurt Cobain!!?!?!?!?!?!?

wtf lol

http://www55.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Bodsda

[Rainstride]

try typing this "the meaning of everything" you guys should enjoy the answer.:D

[ssam]

Gödel's theorm should mean that there is always a question that alpha can't answer. i think.

[issih]

try typing this "the meaning of everything" you guys should enjoy the answer.:D

Yeah but thats only as good as deep thought, until its as good as earth I'm not interested...as I implied rather too subtly earlier.

Apologies to the confused non Douglas Adams fans.

[Ms_Angel_D]

How many licks does it take to get to the centre of a tootsy pop?

The World May Never know (crunch)

[forrestcupp]

Yeah but thats only as good as deep thought, until its as good as earth I'm not interested...as I implied rather too subtly earlier.

Apologies to the confused non Douglas Adams fans.

Yeah, but it took Deep Thought millions of years, and it only took WolframAlpha a few seconds.

[Rainstride]

Yeah but thats only as good as deep thought, until its as good as earth I'm not interested...as I implied rather too subtly earlier.

Apologies to the confused non Douglas Adams fans.

hmm... i think i missed that post.... i think hitchhikers guide needs to be required reading in schools;).

[keithpeter]

Hello All

I actually rather like it but then I am a maths teacher.

I'll be teaching 'trial and improvement' solution of equations tomorrow and this is going to be a change from the spreadsheet / graph plotter that I usually use.

I'm thinking up nice search terms for a homework sheet, things that encourage thinking. Any ideas?