nuria – Page 3 – LCS & GBML Central

The mysterious world of the quantum physics

Three weeks ago I read the post Prof. Cirac interviewed about quantum physics and theory information, where you can find the link to the video of the Cirac’s interview by a Catalan TV. It is amazing how Prof. Cirac introduces some basics of the quantum physics by using easy words and a couple of dices. Basically, he explains the existence of two worlds: the macroscopic world (the real-world, as we know it) and the microscopic world (the world of tiny things, such as the particles). The quantum physics lives in the latter; a tailored world governed by its own laws which open the doors to parallel universes that allow paradoxical phenomena. The interest of the interview was the development of quantum computers and a revealing cryptography method to transmit information in an indecipherable way. How to ensure the reliability of such a secured transmission? Because there is no transmission by a channel, information just appears in the right place at the right moment.

This nice introduction helped me to follow the exciting talk Quantum computer compilers, performed by Prof. Al Aho, a computer science celebrity and one of the authors of the AWK programming language and of the so-called Dragon Book, Compilers: Principles, techniques, and tools.

The talk focused on the following six questions:

1. Why is there so much excitement about quantum computing?
2. How is a quantum computer different from a classical computer?
3. What is a good programming model for a quantum computer?
4. What would make a good quantum programming language?
5. What are the issues in making quantum computer compilers?
6. When are we likely to see scalable quantum computers?

Prof. Aho presented, with a clear explanation and a touch of humor, the fascinating field of the quantum computers by describing how “computation is just a particle dancing around others”, enumerating the four postulates of the quantum mechanics, mentioning that quantum teleportation is information transmission based on changes that take place instantly, envisaging programming without copy operation… However, despite the wonders of the quantum computers, it seems that we should wait a little bit more for being able to solve NP-hard problem.

Finally, take a glance at The Blog of Scott Aaronson. This is an unusual and interesting blog about this topic.

HAIS 2009

The special session Knowledge extraction based on evolutionary learning, organized by Salvador García, Albert Orriols, and José Otero, was one of the opening sessions of the 4th international conference on hybrid artificial intelligent systems (HAIS 2009). Its program, full of interesting talks that discussed the new trends for knowledge extraction processes by means of evolutionary […]

The special session Knowledge extraction based on evolutionary learning, organized by Salvador García, Albert Orriols, and José Otero, was one of the opening sessions of the 4th international conference on hybrid artificial intelligent systems (HAIS 2009).

Its program, full of interesting talks that discussed the new trends for knowledge extraction processes by means of evolutionary algorithms, included two contributions from the GRSI entitled: Multiobjective evolutionary clustering approach to security vulnerability assessments and Beyond homemade artificial data sets, presented by Guiomar Corral and Albert Orriols respectively.

Guiomar Corral introduced an evolutionary multiobjective approach to cluster the devices of a network with similar vulnerabilities. This technique provides analysts with a map which is helpful to detect malicious attacks or unauthorized changes in the network.

Albert Orriols, in turn, addressed a hot topic in machine learning: the artificial data sets generation. He explained the importance to work under a controlled experimental framework and pointed some ideas to build it.

Salamanca will be for one more day a forum to exchange new ideas and present recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence.

HAIS 2009

Salamanca will be for one more day a forum to exchange new ideas and present recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence.

Everything must go

Manny’s Music, a classic among the guitar stores founded in 1935, has been definitely closed. I just visited this place twice, but the first time I already felt a unique vibe coming from the stories that it enclosed. This store, which walls were covered by pictures of legendary stars and real gems of guitars, had […]

Manny's Music, New York (USA)

Its last day was really sad. Some people came to recall old and happy memories and see off this small museum. Many others were bargain hunters looking for a great discount. There were also visitors that became part of this “everything must go” by chance since this institution was one of the main attractions around Times Square. However, they did not expect to witness the end of the tale.

Although nothing lasts forever, I do not like losing this kind of places because of money troubles and hope that, at the same time and in another place, a future legend with more luck is ready to take Manny’s Music baton.

Manny's Music, New York (USA)

Squared Sun

May said goodbye with two magic moments. On Saturday 30 and Sunday 31, the so-called Manhattanhenge, an astronomical event in which the Sun is perfectly aligned with the Manhattan’s grid, took place. The connoisseurs were ready in the strategic points, along the 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, and 57th streets, with their cameras, to hunt the perfect framing, the alignment between the Sun and the streets and buildings of the City. Those who didn’t know anything about the event could even feel that something unusual was happening since the rays of sunlight that filtered through the streets flooded them with an intense bright orange light. For all of us, it was the gift of the day. Simply impressive.

Here you have some shots of these gorgeous sunsets. Just for your information, there are two more opportunities on July 11 and July 12.

34th Street Manhattan, New York (USA) {Raw picture}

34th Street Manhattan, New York (USA) {Treatment suggested by FX}

34th Street Manhattan, New York (USA) {Raw picture}

42nd Street Manhattan, New York (USA) {Raw picture}

Sullivan Street Bakery

The Sullivan St Bakery, located in the 47th Street between the 10th and 11th Avenues, bakes every morning the famous bombolinis. What is that? It is a spongy full doughnut with vanilla cream or raspberry jam filling and sugar on the top of its outer crust. Mmm… Delicious! This breakfast is one of the petits […]

Two delicious bombolinis from the Sullivan St Bakery

Free hugs

Union Square, New York (USA)

It is good for your health! This is the slogan to get or give hugs in Union Square. Scientifically proved, hugs have beneficial effects on blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart diseases. Besides, they make feel good and get a smile out of anyone. Such happiness led Juan Mann to give free hugs to strangers, which quickly became an international movement. If you want to know more, see the official web page of the Free Hug Campaign
I agree with the positive benefits of hugs but, with the swine flu floating in the atmosphere, it is not really prudent to give hugs at will to everybody.
Anyway, I confess that, in my case, curiosity was stronger than caution and I hug the girl of the picture. I felt happy for a long while thinking of what a fun situation was.

Dirty place

It is well known that New York is a dirty place and, unfortunately, it is true. Despite good intentions of people, something else is necessary to keep clean the City.

Manhattan, New York (USA)

It is well known that New York is a dirty place and, unfortunately, it is true. Despite good intentions of people, something else is necessary to keep clean the City.