If there were 100 people in the worldOctober 17, 2009
Very nicely doneFitbitOctober 4, 2009
Nicely done FitbitStarting at Wolfram ResearchSeptember 7, 2009
Here I am in Boston, on Labour Day, and tomorrow I start working for Wolfram Research. When I first read about
Wolfram Alpha last spring, I never imagined that something like this would have worked out. What a neat opportunity!
Speaking about opportunity, my team has it's work cut out for it. As I've read what the press has had to say about W|A this summer, one thing is clear: The part of the system that most limits it's ability to answer people's questions is it's ability to understand user input. Much of the time, the system has the data and algorithms it needs to answer a question, but is unable to map a question to those data and algorithms.
And of course, this isn't surprising, since it is really the language parsing layer of W|A that is the most difficult. Ever since computers were invented, people have dreamed about creating a computer that could understand questions -- and after several decades of trying, people become disillusioned with this vision. As of 2009, there are still decades of work to be done. It is a very difficult problem!
In a recent report written by Stephen Wolfram, it is stated that the team has been able to reduce the "fall through" rate by 10%, which is fantastic progress for only 1 summer of work! Hopefully this trend continues, and I look forward to helping make that happen.
Today we did a "duck tour" of Boston, which involved an amphibious vehicle... first driving around, and then boating down the Charles river. I even got to drive the boat, and let it be known that I was the only person out of about a dozen that could keep the boat going straight! What a hero.
We also took a tour of Fenway Park. One of the tour guides said that we were the first group in about six months to be allowed onto the field. And when I say "field", I mean the warning track. They wouldn't let us on the grass. Think he was telling the truth, or just trying to make us feel special?! Eli has been fantastic for the most part, but he was pretty upset when we made it back to the hotel this afternoon... apparently, disrupting a baby's nap schedule is a recipe for one very angry baby! Poor guy.
It will be fun getting up tomorrow, navigating the subways, and then arriving to meet the folks of Wolfram Cambridge!
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