Wolframalpha – Hoax or a dreamy new online search tool?

Today I was reading BBC News about http://www.wolframalpha.com/.

Apparently, this new search tool uses a technique known as natural language processing that will aim to answer questions directly as opposed to just bringing up a bunch of optimized web pages.

The search tool will answer simple questions like, “What is the height of the Empire State Building?” or “Who was the king of England in 1875?”. Much of the content is supposed to be sceintific but there will be some limited cultural information on topics like pop stars and films.

Today I googled, “what is the fatality rate of the swine flu” and I did not find a direct answer. I probably could have found the answer at the CDC site but the answer was not really that important to me to keep searching.

I wonder if this wolframalpha.com site will answer questions like, “what is the fatality rate of the swine flu?”

I guess I’ll have to wait and see. The site goes public in May 2009. I’m a skeptic when it comes to searching for quality information on the Web so I’m hoping this wolframalpha thing isn’t just another let down. Dr. Wolfram, the mastermind of the search tool, claims that the goal of the site is to, “make expert content accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime” according to this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8026331.stm

Well, I hope you reach your goal Dr. Wolfram.

Consumer Education

You can say what you want, but I am glad that the financialstability.gov website has a "decoder" for financial jargon. Education is important.

http://www.financialstability.gov/roadtostability/decoder.htm

On that note, education has long been a tactic (an effective one) for financial institutions. Think about it. If you educate your customers/members on financial literacy what can that do for your bottom line?

Fill in the blanks:
If my customers/members learn to save more, and about the tools our financial institution provides, our deposits will _______.

If our customers/members learn how to invest and grow wealth our deposits will ________.

If our customers/members learn how to use mortgages to their advantage our loan numbers will be _______ today and _______ tomorrow.

If our customers/members learn the importance of credit ratings our loan default rate will _______.

If our customers/members view our financial institution as a resource for financial knowledge they will_____________(let me help on this one: tell a friend, trust us with more money, carry multiple accounts with us, use more products and services, bank with us for life).

Education is a great way to expand value for your customers/members etc. The same applies to other industries (health care, travel, sports, music, etc.).

A Positive Perspective From A Credit Union CEO in Southern Oregon

Today I read a blog post from a CEO of a credit union in Southern Oregon.

The post provides a response to the barrage of bad news and “down-and-out forecasts” regarding the state of our economy. He advocates for supporting local businesses by spending instead of penny pinching the economy to death. In the post he suggests ways to fuel his local economy:

“with one purchase that you were putting off, with one employee that you chose not to layoff, purchasing a new car because the price is lower than you could ever imagine, attending one concert that you thought you couldn’t afford, or supporting one charity that can multiply the value of your donation several times over.”

Link to post: http://askgeneatrogue.blogspot.com/2009/04/rally-caps-on.html

His credit union is building a new branch in Medford, OR. That expansion will create construction jobs in his local market and other jobs related to public relations, marketing, staffing for the branch, etc. It was inspiring to read this CEO’s post, especially when it seems like all I read in the news is that companies are laying people off, budgets are being slashed, and that it will take eons for the nation to recover from this economic crisis.

Organizations across the nation have had the case of the “Chicken Littles” and I believe pessimism has contributed to our falling sky. On the other hand, in some instances the cutbacks of the big corporations are not entirely bad because smaller organizations, like this credit union in Oregon, have the opportunity to grow and increase market share.

I’m still not going to go out and buy a car (On June 10, 2009 I will have been without a car for one year); but in the spirit of putting my “Rally Cap” on as this CEO blogger suggests, I’m off to enjoy a nice dinner at a restaurant. . .

Before I sign off, there was one more thing in his post that got my mind cranking. In the post he writes, “We must look to the future and find ways to create jobs in our community and rally Southern Oregon to economic revival!”. I’m not sure if his credit union hires companies and individuals from other states or not, but I hope they do. If every state in our union chose to only support locals, how would that impact the big picture of our national economy?