the edge of where we can go with information. The semantic nature of the we=
b along with the synergistic interactions of information will lead to some =
amazing tools to assist us in making meaning. One of the characteristics of=
expertise is the ability to spot patterns. As the volume of information we=
need to process to make meaning grows, the ability to visualize informatio=
n in meaningful ways to allow us to see emerging patterns resulting in the =
creation of new knowledge. This is going to be fun to watch and even more f=
un to experience.
Chris Bigenho
Director of Educational Technology
Greenhill School
4141 Spring Valley Road
Addison, TX 75001
Ph. 972-628-5479
Fx. 972-628-5279
bigenhoc@greenhill.org
www.greenhill.org
AIM: chris bigenho
Yahoo: chris_bigenho
Skype: chris_bigenho
Tapped In: ChrisWB
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators [mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.=
EDU] On Behalf Of Peter Gow
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 11:20 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: An early web 3.0 search engine is out
Funny you should mention this. Having not played with Wolfram Alpha since
last week when it was overloaded, I was curious. Having now spent 10
quality minutes, I think it will be great in ways we can't predict--that's
my slippery way out of the question.
Funnier still is that this past weekend the family pizza-and-movie night
film was DESK SET (Tracy and Hepburn), only because my spouse had finally
scored a copy at a library's used-DVD sale. The premise is that the
research department at a giant television network is (perhaps) in danger
of being replaced by an "electronic brain"--a giant, flashing,
card-eating, paper-spewing monster that responds to natural language
queries--type in the question, it whirrs and groans and churns out the
answer.
Of course the human brains of the research department turn out to be yet
quicker and more supple than the computer, Spencer and Kate get together,
and the computer stays on only to do the kind of statistical drudge work
that Wolfram Alpha appears to be extra good at, too.
Just for fun I dropped some of the queries from the film into the Alpha
box, but it came up stumped. (Google did a little better on a couple, but
I still had to choose the recommended source with the correct information.)
The film was made in 1957. I think the real lesson is that getting
"difference engines" to respond to natural language questions of even the
mildest complexity is a whole lot harder even now than anyone thought it
would be at the dawn of the Computer Age. However, if I were a scientist
of almost any kind and probably a more clever secondary school educator
than I am, I think I would find the possibilities of Wolfram Alpha pretty
amazing. Heck, it seems pretty amazing, anyway.
Even Miss Watson (the Hepburn character in DESK SET) would be all over it.
Cheers--Peter Gow
Peter Gow
Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
Beaver Country Day School
791 Hammond Street
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
www.bcdschool.org
617-738-2755 (O)
617-738-2747 (F)
petergow3 (Skype)
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