Our weekly selected links to the tech reading the TechRadar team has found interesting. Enjoy, and add your own below!
Inside the launch of Stephen Wolfram's new "computational knowledge engine"
(Technology Review) So have you looked again at Wolfram Alpha since the launch? Thought not. This article reports from the front line in the run up to the launch and gives a sense of what was and wasn't intended to be in it.
Even better for fans of Stephen Wolfram's galactic ego, it's got some juicy quotes we hadn't seen before, including this definition of 'Wolframian', meaning 'taking something that everyone knows and presenting it as this astounding discovery about the nature of reality'
and
"To Wolfram, Alpha now joins A New Kind of Science as one of the great scientific endeavors in human history. He distributed a two-page list placing it at the end of a continuum that begins with the invention of arithmetic and written language and goes on to mention the Library of Alexandria, Isaac Newton, and the creation of the Encyclopedia Britannica." You have to love confidence like that.
Shorten this! Do we really need link-shortening services like Bit.ly?
(Slate.com) The likes of TinyURL, Bit.ly and so on have been a godsend for Twitterers, but how do these services ever expect to make any money, and aren't they exposed to some technological innovation that makes their service redundant - like RealNames? This article provides a useful history, explaining Bit.ly's links to Twitter and its advantages to other services. An interesting look at a service we all use but hardly think about.
The architecture of computer games
(Architects Journal) An amusing feature on the finest examples of architecture from computer and video games, as judged by architects, including Castle Wolfenstein in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and The House from Spectrum classic Jet Set Willy. Obviously not meant to be taken seriously, it's a fun and nostalgic read. And it has pictures.
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Seen interesting reading we've not covered this week? Post your links below or email them for inclusion in next Sunday's Hot Links.
