I have not been impressed by any piece of software during the last 20 years or so. But now I installed Mathematica 9 and became addicted immediately. Specially, since my own brain got a bit dull in my corporate job, the predictive features are really helpful to shake the rust off my Neocortex. Mathematica 9 proposes after every step what would make sense to do next. And it always makes sense. This includes not just the obvious, but thousands of rules. I am stunned.

By the way, I always found that advanced mathematics is really undervalued as a lifestyle product. And Mathematica 9 really had the potential to be presented in the Financial Times publication How to Spend It. For the professional version which allows you to use it in mission critical Infrastructure, Aeronautics and Nuclear applications, you can spend up about 7 kUS$. And with this you are clearly show that you are a Connoisseur - believe me. If you do want to keep up with smalltalk at the next cocktail party, go to the Wolfram Website and buy your copy.

For example on the farewell party of a colleague last week, there was a cake served called Donauwelle (engl. Danube waves). And when I was asked how the chocolate layer looks like, I said: "A bit like z(x,y)=sin(y+cos(3x))" . There was a bit of silence around me. But if you have a bakery as a supplier for Donauwelle, you need to tell them somehow precisely what you need. And geometry of the inner cake structure is one of the things, right? I am actually quite happy, I am still invited to social events in our company - thank you. But see, now how easy it is to know what I mean:

Donauwelle in Mathematica 9 (Home Edition)