Wolfram Alpha has hit the geek community by storm. I've been hearing about it on a bunch of the podcasts I listen to every week – DiggNation and This Week in Tech. Anyway, the Wolfram Alpha computational knowledge engine is not a Google competitor, like some of the mainstream media, instead it's a way to get statistics at your fingertips. I think it's somehow using the mathematical powerhouse application, Mathmatica. I've only played around with it for only a few minutes but a few things to try with it:
First name — This will give you some stats on the popularity of your name, estimations on ages and totals of your name in the U.S. currently, etc.
Ex. Ryan
City Stats — Stats on population, current weather conditions, close larger cities, etc.
Ex. Durham, NC
Dates — You can get stats on how long ago a date was, notable events on that date, U.S holidays, sunrise and sunset, etc.
Ex. October 29, 1977 (My birthday)
Stock Comparisons — See where two stocks are trading currently, fundamentals and financials, etc.
These examples obviously only scratch the surface, but it seems like the whole thing can be a pretty powerful statistical research tool.
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