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My Google Reader Shared Items Feed – Enjoy Writing Reading Thinking RSS Zoos Take a Step Backward in Pangolin Conservation 05 Jun In mid-May, a group of 20 pangolin experts, scientists and conservation professionals gathered in Washington, D.C. to plan a way forward for further protecting pangolins—the most-trafficked wild mammal on earth. One of the points they agreed upon was that there is no conservation value in taking pangolins from the wild and bringing them to North American zoos, since they typically die very quickly in captivity. Source: Zoos Take a Step Backward in Pangolin Conservation No Comments Posted in Uncategorized 10 cool things you can do with Wolfram Alpha and Siri 28 Oct Steve Sande and I have been collaborating on " Talking to Siri ," an ebook that just recently hit the Kindle store. It’s a how-to that will help you get the most done with your Siri intelligent assistant. We’re sharing some of our favorite tips with TUAW readers. Today, we’re looking at Siri’s Wolfram Alpha integration. You can force Siri to use Wolfram by prefixing your request with "Wolfram." For example, you might say, "Wolfram, what is the square root of 2?" or "Wolfram, graph x-squared plus three." But there’s a lot more that you can do with Wolfram than just math. Here are ten of our favorite Wolfram searches. These highlight the flexibility of this amazing information resource. Roll a Random Number. Say "Wolfram, random integer." Wolfram returns a random value between 0 and 1000. "Wolfram, random number" provides a 0 to 1 floating point value. Look up nature facts. Say, "Wolfram, what is the scientific name of a mountain lion?" It’s Puma concolor. Rabbits are Leporidae, and Peacocks, Galliformes. Check upcoming holidays . Say, "How many days until Thanksgiving?" This returns both the number of days as well as a helpful calendar so you can chart out the time until then. Create a secure password. Say "Wolfram, password." Wolfram generates a difficult-to-crack 8-character password. Scroll down for alternates. If you need a longer password, you can append these together. Convert text to Morse code. Say, "What is Morse code for horsefeathers?" You’ll see the entire sequence laid out for your tapping pleasure. Check your diet . Say, "How many calories in a small apple?" Wolfram will tell you that there are 75. Ask out about time zones . Say, "Wolfram, what is the local time in Jakarta?" Query about your chances . Say, "Wolfram, what is the probability of a full house?" For a random five-card hand, it’s apparently 1 in 694. Have fun with pop culture . Say, "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" or "Wolfram, who shot the sheriff?" Visualize colors . Okay, I’ve saved the best for last. If you work with colors, this can save you a lot of time. Say, "Wolfram pound sign E 9 7 4 5 1" (for Burnt Sienna / Tangerine) or "Wolfram pound sign 2 9 A B 8 7" (for Jungle Green). This will also convert the colors to RGB values and look up closely-matching brand colors from Benjamin Moore. Make sure to scroll down to catch all the helpful information. 10 cool things you can do with Wolfram Alpha and Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Source  | Permalink  | Email this  | Comments No Comments Posted in Google Reader 10 cool things you can do with Wolfram Alpha and Siri 28 Oct Steve Sande and I have been collaborating on " Talking to Siri ," an ebook that just recently hit the Kindle store. It’s a how-to that will help you get the most done with your Siri intelligent assistant. We’re sharing some of our favorite tips with TUAW readers. Today, we’re looking at Siri’s Wolfram Alpha integration. You can force Siri to use Wolfram by prefixing your request with "Wolfram." For example, you might say, "Wolfram, what is the square root of 2?" or "Wolfram, graph x-squared plus three." But there’s a lot more that you can do with Wolfram than just math. Here are ten of our favorite Wolfram searches. These highlight the flexibility of this amazing information resource. Roll a Random Number. Say "Wolfram, random integer." Wolfram returns a random value between 0 and 1000. "Wolfram, random number" provides a 0 to 1 floating point value. Look up nature facts. Say, "Wolfram, what is the scientific name of a mountain lion?" It’s Puma concolor. Rabbits are Leporidae, and Peacocks, Galliformes. Check upcoming holidays . Say, "How many days until Thanksgiving?" This returns both the number of days as well as a helpful calendar so you can chart out the time until then. Create a secure password. Say "Wolfram, password." Wolfram generates a difficult-to-crack 8-character password. Scroll down for alternates. If you need a longer password, you can append these together. Convert text to Morse code. Say, "What is Morse code for horsefeathers?" You’ll see the entire sequence laid out for your tapping pleasure. Check your diet . Say, "How many calories in a small apple?" Wolfram will tell you that there are 75. Ask out about time zones . Say, "Wolfram, what is the local time in Jakarta?" Query about your chances . Say, "Wolfram, what is the probability of a full house?" For a random five-card hand, it’s apparently 1 in 694. Have fun with pop culture . Say, "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" or "Wolfram, who shot the sheriff?" Visualize colors . Okay, I’ve saved the best for last. If you work with colors, this can save you a lot of time. Say, "Wolfram pound sign E 9 7 4 5 1" (for Burnt Sienna / Tangerine) or "Wolfram pound sign 2 9 A B 8 7" (for Jungle Green). This will also convert the colors to RGB values and look up closely-matching brand colors from Benjamin Moore. Make sure to scroll down to catch all the helpful information. 10 cool things you can do with Wolfram Alpha and Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Source  | Permalink  | Email this  | Comments 1 Comment Posted in Google Reader Gil Scott-Heron Was Right 25 Oct The revolution is definitely not going to be televised  That ought to win them a local Emmy. The only thing it was missing was “A-bidi A-bidi A-bidi… That’s all folks!” and some Looney Tunes outro music…  No Comments Posted in Google Reader Gil Scott-Heron Was Right 25 Oct The revolution is definitely not going to be televised  That ought to win them a local Emmy. The only thing it was missing was “A-bidi A-bidi A-bidi… That’s all folks!” and some Looney Tunes outro music…  No Comments Posted in Google Reader Open Your Holocrons to the Book of Qui-Gon” 25 Oct I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this Jedi church video, but I do appreciate the honesty of its tenets. I also like that even if you accepted everything in this video as something people actually believed and had faith in, Jedi-ism would still be significantly less goofy than Scientology. ( Via Geeks Are Sexy ) No Comments Posted in Google Reader , Movies Open Your Holocrons to the Book of Qui-Gon” 25 Oct I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this Jedi church video, but I do appreciate the honesty of its tenets. I also like that even if you accepted everything in this video as something people actually believed and had faith in, Jedi-ism would still be significantly less goofy than Scientology. ( Via Geeks Are Sexy ) No Comments Posted in Google Reader , Movies NewsCorp shareholders revolt against Murdoch family 25 Oct Following up on the contentious NewsCorp shareholder meeting where the independent shareholders were to express their displeasure with the crimes committed on the Murdoch family’s watch: the majority of the independent shareholders voted against continuing James and Lachlan Murdoch (Rupert’s sons) continuing employment as senior execs in the company. Due to NewsCorp’s odd structure the Murdochs get to overrule their shareholders, but if the...