Wolfram Alpha is intriguing, but will people use it?

The much hyped “computational knowledge engine” Wolfram Alpha launched over the weekend to what can only be described as a mixed reaction.  I played with it for a few hours and came away with two primary thoughts:

1. Wolfram Alpha is something completely new, and that is fascinating.
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Putting a Price on Experience

Those of us familiar with rat race involved in nabbing a coveted internship at a well-known news organization know all too well the pressure of stacking your best clips, skills and assets against a sea of competitors.

Those who do get through are usually more than grateful to be working for that news organization for free,...

Mizzou J-School Mandates Mobile Devices for Incoming Freshman

Incoming freshman at the University of Missouri’s journalism program need to come armed with either an iPod Touch or an iPhone, based on new requirements by the school’s dean.

A statement from the University says the main purpose of the requiring the device is to give students access to downloadable lectures,...

A Scientific-ish Study of Bacon in Social Media

Cross post from the media measurement team at the ImpactWatch Blog

Hypothesis:

IF bacon is great THEN it will rule social media.

Experiment:

Bacon in the Social Media News

1. Bacon explosion – a heart-warming (burning?) recipe involving 2 pounds of bacon wrapped around 2 pounds of sausage....

The perfect is the enemy of the good

Entrepeneur Mark Goldenson wrote a great article in Venturebeat last week on the lessons he learned working on his failed startup, PlayCafe.  This passage resonated with me:

3. Know when to value speed vs. stability. Another reason PlayCafe’s complexity hurt us is that developing good content and technology simultaneously required too much time....