Academic Tech Tips

Wolfram Alpha is an online service that distinguishes itself from typical search engines by providing answers to factual queries, rather than answering a question with a listing of Web pages.  Wolfram Alpha functions as an answer engine by retrieving answers from its own internal knowledge base.   To see how Wolfram Alpha works, try entering a city name, date or math formula. You can also check out the Example by Topic page or watch an overview video to learn more.  To add Wolfram Alpha functionality to your Web browser, visit the Downloads page to find plug-ins and toolbars.

If you have a Mac, it can be frustrating when you can’t play a Windows media file. A simple solution to this problem is to download the free media player, Flip4Mac WMV. It offers easy playback of Windows media files in your QuickTime player or in a Web browser. To download or learn about the advanced versions, visit Flip4Mac WMV.