Ask WA to factorise 40! [i.e., forty factorial] and it can do it in a 
split second. Ask it what Euler's gamma function applied to 9 3/4 is and 
it can instantly produce a result. Want to know what the DNA sequence 
for the human homeobox gene HOX2 is? No problem. (And it'll also compare 
it to the homologues in half a dozen standard model species too.) Ask 
how many litres there are in one gallon and instantly get an answer.

Now ask, if petrol costs 132.7 pence per litre, and my car does 30 miles 
per gallon, how much does it cost to drive 1 mile?

I just spent approximately 1 hour trying to make WA answer this trivial 
question. In the end, the only way I could get it to work is to do all 
the computation steps myself, one at a time. (I.e., ask WA to convert 
this unit to that unit, ask WA to multiply this value by the conversion 
figure it just gave me, etc. You can't even stuff all the queries into 
one block of text. You have to run them as separate queries, or it fails.)

WA is hailed [BY ITS CREATORS] as the ultimate computational knowledge 
tool. They show all sorts of [dubious] examples of real-world 
calculations that you might want to do with it. But in solemn truth, if 
you want something utterly nerdy, WA can probably do it in a heartbeat. 
If math isn't your strong point and you just want WA to do a tricky 
conversion for you... forget it.

[Don't even get me started on the fact that WA deliberately rejects 
certain queries, because its creators still want to charge you money for 
Mathematica, and nobody would ever buy that if they could do the same 
stuff for free with WA...]

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Le 25/05/2011 13:58, Invisible nous fit lire :
> 
> Now ask, if petrol costs 132.7 pence per litre, and my car does 30 miles
> per gallon, how much does it cost to drive 1 mile?

An European or an African swallow ?
Huh ? I... I don't know that.

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On 25/05/2011 07:44 PM, Le_Forgeron wrote:

> An European or an African swallow ?
> Huh ? I... I don't know that.

Laughably, WA *does* know the answer to this...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Ask WA to factorise 40! [i.e., forty factorial] and it can do it in a 
> split second.

  40! is very easy to factorize (using common fast factorization methods
such as the elliptic curve method) because it has, by its very definition,
very small factors.

  Now try to make it factorize a number that is the product of two primes
in the order of magnitude of 40!, and you could wait for the Sun to die
before it happens.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On 28/05/2011 13:19, Warp wrote:
> Invisible<voi### [at] devnull>  wrote:
>> Ask WA to factorise 40! [i.e., forty factorial] and it can do it in a
>> split second.
>
>    40! is very easy to factorize (using common fast factorization methods
> such as the elliptic curve method) because it has, by its very definition,
> very small factors.
>
>    Now try to make it factorize a number that is the product of two primes
> in the order of magnitude of 40!, and you could wait for the Sun to die
> before it happens.

Nah. Wolfram Alpha gives up after only a few seconds. (Yet another 
reason to spend money on a copy of Mathematica.) But sure, I take your 
point.

*My* point was that geeky, nerdy stuff that nobody actually needs in the 
real world works great in WA, but mundane real-world stuff (like the 
sorts of things they constantly advertise that WA is fantastic for) tend 
to fail miserably.

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