Alexa Just Got a Heck of a Lot Smarter

Dec 22, 2018
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Back when I took calculus, what saved me was an SWTPC6800 with a 300 baud acoustically-coupled modem that could dial up a computer on the MIT campus that was running Macsyma. But that was back in the days when men were real men, women were real women, computers were real computers, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.

We worked in 8 bits with a 3.579545MHz TV colorburst crystal, and we were damned glad to do it. Not having to punch holes in a Hollerith card was a major step forward.

And in those days, if you couldn't draw an integral sign using the ASCII symbols that went with 0x2F and 0x7C, you had no business using anything more technologically advanced than a Pez dispenser.
 
Dec 22, 2018
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Learning calculus takes engaging your brain, understanding what, how, and why you are doing it. No computer program can provide a shortcut to that, not even Wolfram Alpha.

Now, it is cool that Alexa is integrated with it so we can ask more pertinent questions.

Is this integration automatic or is it a "SKILL" you have to enable in Alexa?