Quantum Computing - A New Frontier

My previous article laid the foundation of how data is represented with current technology and that at its most granular level it is represented by a “bit” which is simply an electronic state that is either on or off. Much like a light switch can only have two states, so too can the bit only have two possible values. Last month’s article can be found here: Quantum Computing Primer - Understanding Bits and Bytes and is a basis for this month’s article

A bit is stored and manipulated at the electrical level and is represented by current flowing to that circuit. There is no middle ground, nor is it possible, for the current to be on and off at the same time. A bit can only have one of two states – on or off.

The concept of quantum computing is not new – it has been around since the early 1980’s but it’s only been recently that there have been advances which suggest that quantum computing is more than a theory and is possible in the real world, although for now, it’s on a very small scale. However, where this technology has being considered a new frontier, is that it is moving out of the realm of the theoretical and recent experiments suggest that it is possible.

In 2012, two scientists were awarded a Nobel Prize for an experiment in which they were able to demonstrate that they could have the same light particle at two different spots at the same time.

As the “bit” is the most granular level with conventional technology, quantum computing introduces its own version of the bit called a “qubit” (quantum bit). 

The following is admittedly a bit mind-blowing, especially for someone like me who is not a science major as there’s a revolutionary approach to data storage with the qubit.

The entire technology of quantum computing which makes it so intriguing is that the qubit can also be on or off like the traditional bit, but it can also be on and off at the same time.   What makes the quantum computing qubit so powerful is not only does it have these three states (on, off, on AND off), but it can also be any state BETWEEN on and off all at the same time.

Quantum computing is not based on electrical signals and current but instead, data is stored and manipulated at the atomic level.

How exactly does this benefit technology?  Well, recall in the previous article that stated that each character we type is comprised of 8 bits.  The word “Hello” uses 5 bytes and since there are 8 bits per byte, the most that can be done with 40 bits of information is to store a five character word.  The generally accepted theory is that a quantum computer which contains “only” 30 qubits (the equivalent to the word “hello” in existing bit technology) will be literally millions of times more powerful than today’s computer thanks to a concept called “Inherent parallelism” which suggests that the quantum computer can work on millions of operations simultaneously instead of just one at a time. 

Even though this technology is primarily theoretical, this is laying the groundwork for a technological revolution that none of us have experienced.    In 1812, Charles Babbage conceived of the first programmable machine, the precursor to the computer.  I consider the quantum computer to have the same impact.

How long it will take this technology to become mainstream is difficult to say.  From the little that I’ve read, it’s probably going to take at least 5 years to move this technology out of the labs and into a personal computer prototype and then perhaps another 5 years before the technology matures to the extent that it could be mass produced.  As always, these new technologies are very expensive as there is so much Research and Development cost that they need to recoup up front but I’m still excited at the thought of what this will mean to the computing world.

Quantum Computing Primer - Understanding Bits and Bytes

I've been some reading on the next true evolution of computers, that being quantum computing.  In the current digital world all of the data, all of the application, everything we do with computers can be broken down in it's simplest at the "bit" level - that a bit being a two state "switch" that is either on or off.

Before I can continue to write about quantum computing and what it's implications and impact may be on our technology and lives, it is important to understand how computers work and store data now.  This will be the first in a series of articles which attempts to explain the fundamentals.  For many of you, these articles may not be as relevant as you already understand these fundamentals..

The bit - and the inherent on/off - is a fundamental tenet of our technology.  Each character that we type or read is comprised of 8 bits and it's referred to a more familiar term - the byte (and it's distant relations, megabytes and gigabytes - millions and billions of bytes respectively.  A byte is made of 8 bits, each of which is either on or off which gives us a possibility of up to 256 different combinations of the 8 bits within a given byte which can be demonstrated as below (with 0 representing a bit being off and 1 with the bit being on).




Bit #        0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7
Bit Value  128 64 32 16  8  4  2  1  Byte Value
             0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
             0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
             0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  2
             0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  3 (2 + 1)
             0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  4 
             0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  5 (4 + 1)
repeating the pattern up to the state where all bits are turned on as follows:
             1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  255 (128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1) 

Each character that we see on the screen is one byte and each letter of the alphabet is assigned one particular byte value.  When we see the word "cat" on screen, it is represented by bytes with the following three values 99 (c), 97 (a) and 116 (t).  If you were able to look so see physically how it is stored at the bit level, it would look something like this.

Bit Value  128 64 32 16  8  4  2  1  Byte Value
c  (#99)                   0       1     1      0      0     0     1      1     64 + 32 + 2 + 1 = 99

a  (#97)                   0       1     1      0      0     0     0      1     64 + 32 + 1  = 97

t  (#116)                  0       1     1      1      1     1     0      0     64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 = 116

A Freeware Alternative to Microsoft Office

One of the most common applications used in business and at home are one of the various configurations of the Microsoft Office Suite. I’m a big fan of Microsoft Office and I’ve used it for many years. However, what I’m not a fan of is the cost of it, especially when a new PC is purchased.

I’ve recently looked into an alternative to Microsoft Office that is free to use. Free, totally. Not a limited time offer, nor a crippled version of the software. OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) has been around for many years and it’s only in the past few months that I’ve installed it and used it to see if I can avoid purchasing another Microsoft Office license.

My first reaction is that of frustration as the interface isn’t the same, nor are menu options grouped the same. Where I am so comfortable with knowing exactly where to find an item in Microsoft Office, I struggle and vent (and sometimes swear!) when I can’t figure out how to do the same function in Open Office. That having been said, I’m learning gradually and my frustration is somewhat reduced.

I would expect that there are some features and advanced functionality that is in Microsoft Office that perhaps isn’t available in Open Office, but to date, I’ve managed to muddle my way around and eventually have figured out how it’s done with Open Office.

Electronic Tollbooths and the Myth of the Free Ride

The plethora of websites that provide services out there is an incredible resource for all of us, and there’s no question that many of them enrich our lives – or at the very least, allow us to establish and enrich connections with friends and family.

What is important to consider though is that the vast majority of them are not in business for altruistic reasons. Websites cost money to build, host, support and enhance. Not all websites are developed for monetary gain but it should be assumed that it is not offering their services and resources out of the goodness of their hearts.

Why does this matter?

It matters because this makes us an educated consumer and by understanding this principle, we can decide if we want to agree with the terms of service of the website and use whatever “currency” is required to avail ourselves of the service.

I have made mention of this in a previous article, but there are many websites that when you sign-up, you are giving them the rights to use your uploaded content as they desire. In this case, your consent to share your content is the currency.

In other cases, the website provides basic functionality for free in the hopes that you become dependent on the website and services at which point in time, you may decide to become a paid subscriber in order to receive additional functionality.

Sometimes, your list of contacts can also be a valuable resource to a third party. Many applications such as Linked In (in addition to some other sites such as dating sites) will present a screen when you sign up that offers to invite your friends. By providing your email address and password, you are giving explicit consent for the website to mine your address book which allows them to grow their potential subscribers exponentially. This is fine if that is what you wanted to do, but many times it’s not clear that’s what will be involved with the sign-up process.

In other cases, the currency is your personal profile and your web surfing habits. Advertisements can be specifically directed to you based on your surfing history. As an example, late last year, I was researching digital picture frames from Staples. Within an hour of looking at specific products on their website, I was on a different website and noticed that the ads being delivered were from Staples and that the products displayed was the same ones that I had been viewing.

This last type of currency to me is the most dangerous and nefarious. We’re not necessarily aware of how we are tracked, and how the information is used – or possibly sold to third parties. This may seem like it’s not a big deal, but many times the marketing data that is gleaned isn’t anonymous – it could be – and probably is – stored in a database. Since many of us use the same user ids for websites, it wouldn’t be that difficult for an organization to start putting together a profile of what products you like, where you shop, and how much money you make and where you bank. In any of these cases, there’s nothing wrong with trading off your “currency” to access their site and services but as long as you’re aware of how you fit into the revenue stream and you’re making a conscious decision to do so, then that’s all part of being an educated consumer.

Digital Terrorism

It’s no big news that I've always had a bit of a concern over our dependence on technology. In a lot of respects, I think that this has become a very common theme in my blog. From the earliest conceptions with this blog, I've had this fundamental worry that as we become more dependent on this wonderful technology, what this means is that once we no longer have access to it, problems will ensue.

Recent events in the world have reaffirmed this as being an issue in my mind. More-so, having technology yanked out from under our collective feet won’t just be an inconvenience, but depending on that the what, why, how and how long, it can be devastating to our society. I don’t think that I’m over-reacting on this issue either.

In war torn Syrian, the government for all intents and purposes shut down all electronic communications (including of course the Internet) for the entire country. The primary rationale was to disable or severely inhibit those trying to actively destabilize the government and to make communications between them much more difficult.

As I read this article, it really made me wonder not if, but how, our society will be impacted by this type of a global outage. This will be more than just an inconvenience that we can’t tweet, can’t update our Facebook feeds or we can’t send a few emails. This technology is that the very core of just about everything that we do. The majority of traffic lights are controlled by remote computers. Medical records, although still stored manually, are most easily referenced and checked electronically. Power grids go – hospitals just run on generators, banking systems are down and the list goes on.

Not that long ago, the Bank of Montreal banking system was down totally for a few hours. These BMO customers had a first-hand experience of what happened when the magic carpet of technology goes limp and falls to the ground. Tweets were frequent and vocal. This was one bank – for a few hours.

A former director of a national security agency in the United States went on record as saying that the electronic world will be the next target for terrorism – and I think he is absolutely right. As devastating as 9/11 was, it will be nothing compared to the potentially severe withdraw of electronic services in a country, the impact of this type of an attack will be far greater than people realize. With a properly planned and executed electronic terrorist attack, a country can be crippled as long as we remain so dependent on electricity.

The hacker group “Anonymous” has recently attacked Israeli websites over the current and ongoing conflict in the Middle East. I’m sure that it’s not the first time that an organized group has attacked entities for political reasons, but I can’t think of any other instances where this group has brazenly and openly admitted to the attack without any apparent remorse.

The biggest problem is that there’s no easy way to reduce the dependence on technology. Society evolves and their technology evolves along with it. Much the same as when the automobile went main-stream, it just wouldn’t be possible to disavow a technology just because we don’t want to become so dependent on it. Probably the best thing that we can do as a society is to ensure that our infrastructure is protected as best as possible, but numerous fail-safes, contingencies and backup systems so that if access point is cut off, that the redundant connection can be substituted quickly.

A few years ago there were concerns about major sun flares and how they can disrupt and sometimes even damage electronic equipment. When I read that article, it started to percolate a story in my own mind where there is a solar flare of immense magnitude that literally disable any and all electronic devices. The premise of the story would be to try to figure out how society could reinvent itself in such a catastrophe. As I think through the plot and how society would be affected by this – I can’t imagine it being even remotely the same.

Letters From The Heart

One of my favourite independent musicians is Glen Hansard of Swell Season.   The first CD of his that I purchased has recordings from a live concert in Milwaukee.  He’s the type of artist that likes to talk to his audience between songs and I remember clearly listening to one of the things he was saying.  It resonated with me so much then but even more-so now for reasons that I will explain.

Glen was talking to the audience about how wonderful letters were and that while email had its advantages – he then went on to list the reasons why he preferred an actual letter.  I wish that I had could listen to the song right now to give a direct quote but basically he says that you can tear up a letter, kiss it, put it under your pillow, frame it…I think that his general mindset is clear, that the letter has a tangible and physical presence.

I recently inherited an old chest that belonged to my father’s uncle.  This chest remained locked and no-one had the key so for the longest time, the contents were a mystery; I liked to joke with my daughter that it surely contained a pirate’s booty and there must be gold and jewels inside.

Well, my daughter isn’t much of one for letting things go.  For months, the mystery was driving her crazy and she wanted to know if we could figure out how to get the chest open.  A couple of weeks ago, she kept on bugging me asking if she could try to pick the lock.  I eventually relented to her badgering and went into my room.  No more than 15 seconds later, I hear “Dad! It’s open!”  Yes, she had picked the lock with one of her hairclips!

As we spent the next little while going through the contents, I found many interesting documents, but none more-so than some letters between who I believe to be my great-uncle and some woman – a relative, I believe.  To see these letters and the time that was invested in writing them, Hansard’s comments became more meaningful to me as I understood completely.

Now, I’m not the type of person to write letters, and I never will be.  There is something about physically writing that is very difficult for me. It’s time consuming and writing things by hand is not something that I do well.  I’m a very keyboard-ish kind of guy as it frees my mind to think of the content without having to think of how to physically write.  I looked at these letters though and it occurred to me that when someone has taken the time to write a letter, it must be so much more meaningful than a quick email or a text message.

It’s not even the fact that writing by letter would be slower but it would have needed to be done moreh more methodically as one would need to compose the contents in their mind and then write it down on paper.  When I write my articles on a word processer, it is free form – no holds barred – damn the torpedoes, just get what is on my mind on the paper and fix and edit later.

I read those letters and I was completely charmed by the eloquence and the clarity of the letters, although trying to decipher handwriting wasn’t my favourite thing to do. 

In a lot of ways, Mr. Hansard had this bang on, there’s something very romantic about having a physical letter.  The emails that we send have their uses and their places and in a lot of respects they can be a more effective method of communications.  At the end of the day though, they have no presence, there’s no physical aspect of them other than the bits and bytes. 

What I type in these articles will always look the same as long as I’ve used the same font and format of the characters; you have no way to derive my state of mind or emotions.  A T is a T regardless of how I’m feeling or how tired I am and I think that this is the true beauty of a letter from the heart -- that there is a message beyond just the words that is being delivered.

OtherInbox Now Organizing...

Love seeing this notification from OtherInbox (http://www.otherinbox.com/).

Yeah, I know that I can emulate this functionality by setting up filters or rules or what-not but it's just very intuitive and easy for me that when I get incoming mail from a new source,  I can move it into a newly created folder with the OIB name prefix and from there on out, it will automatically move emails into that folder from that particular doman.  It's just really handy, dependable and easy to use :)