Computer Science

Forwarding the quest for quantum computing

NLN — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:44:44 +0000

Research teams from UW-Milwaukee and the University of York investigating the properties of ultra-thin films of new materials are helping bring quantum computing one step closer to reality.

An on-going collaboration between physicists from York and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA, is focusing on understanding, tailoring and tuning the electronic properties of topological insulators (TI) - new materials with surfaces that host a quantum state of matter – at the nanoscale.

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Computer Science

Is Google's quantum computer worth the hype?

NLN — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:28:26 +0000

Google's announcement last week that it plans to launch a new quantum computing laboratory with NASA may have boosted a highly specialized and slightly obscure field of study into a more mainstream light. The search-engine giant says quantum technology will help the company build better, more accurate search engines, and will help advance the field of artificial intelligence.

But don't expect your life to change dramatically — at least not yet, experts say.

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Computer Science

Quantum computer selected for quantum artificial intelligence initiative

NLN — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:50:20 +0000

D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first commercial quantum computing company, today announced that its new 512-qubit quantum computer, the D-Wave Two, will be installed at the new Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, a collaboration among NASA, Google and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The purpose of this effort is to use quantum computing to advance machine learning in order to solve some of the most challenging computer science problems.

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Computer Science

After the breakup in a digital world

NLN — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:58:55 +0000

The era is long gone when a romantic breakup meant ripped-up photos and burned love letters. Today, digital photos and emails can be quickly deleted but the proliferation of social media has made forgetting a bigger chore. What about the ubiquitous digital records of a once beloved that lurk on Facebook, tumblr, and flicker?

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Computer Science

U.S. Senate passes bill to collect Internet sales tax

NLN — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:32:46 +0000

Late Monday evening, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes for state and local governments.

The vote was 69-to-27 in favor, and included senators from both major parties. The vote sends the issue to the House of Representatives, where it must be passed in the same form before it can be presented to the President to be signed into law.

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Computer Science

New supercomputer simulation speed record set

NLN — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:46:55 +0000

Computer scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have set a high performance computing speed record that opens the way to the scientific exploration of complex planetary-scale systems.

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Computer Science

Florida activates its most powerful supercomputer

NLN — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:31:50 +0000

The University of Florida today unveiled the state's most powerful supercomputer, a machine that will help researchers find life-saving drugs, make decades-long weather forecasts and improve armor for troops.

The HiPerGator supercomputer and recent tenfold increase in the size of the university's data pipeline make UF one of the nation's leading public universities in research computing.

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Computer Science

Internet content is looking for you

NLN — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:28:08 +0000

Where you are and what you're doing increasingly play key roles in how you search the Internet. In fact, your search may just conduct itself.

This concept, called "contextual search," is improving so gradually the changes often go unnoticed, and we may soon forget what the world was like without it, according to Brian Proffitt, a technology expert and adjunct instructor of management in the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.

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Computer Science

Bonding with your virtual self may alter your actual perceptions

NLN — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:51:01 +0000

When people create and modify their virtual reality avatars, the hardships faced by their alter egos can influence how they perceive virtual environments, according to researchers.

A group of students who saw that a backpack was attached to an avatar that they had created overestimated the heights of virtual hills, just as people in real life tend to overestimate heights and distances while carrying extra weight, according to Sangseok You, a doctoral student in the school of information, University of Michigan.

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Computer Science

Google Glass is already this broken

NLN — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:10:44 +0000

As the shine wears off the first sparkling new Google Glass headsets out in the wild, the earliest of adopters have started to discover myriad problems with the wearable computers. Beyond aesthetics, professional Glass reviewers and amateur experimenters alike have reported some issues — bad battery life, a bad fit, vulnerability to hackers, and beyond — that might make future buyers reconsider the $1,500 investment when the glasses are available to the masses.

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Computer Science

Back online after a year without the internet

NLN — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:04:39 +0000

One year ago I left the internet. I thought it was making me unproductive. I thought it lacked meaning. I thought it was "corrupting my soul."

I was wrong.

It's a been a year now since I "surfed the web" or "checked my email" or "liked" anything with a figurative rather than literal thumbs up. I've managed to stay disconnected, just like I planned. I'm internet free.

And now I'm supposed to tell you how it solved all my problems. I'm supposed to be enlightened. I'm supposed to be more "real," now. More perfect.

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Computer Science

'Very, very flat'

NLN — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:31:37 +0000

According to multiple people who have either seen or have been briefed on the upcoming iOS 7, the operating system sports a redesigned user-interface that will be attractive to new iOS users, but potentially unsettling for those who are long-accustomed to the platform…

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Computer Science

Further proof for controversial quantum computer

NLN — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:14:35 +0000

Is the world’s only commercial quantum computer really a quantum device, or a just regular computer in disguise? Controversy has long swirled around the computer produced by D-Wave, a company based near Vancouver, Canada. Now a paper published on the arXiv preprint server takes a step forward in showing that it really does operate on a quantum level.

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Computer Science

Stock market tip: use Google Trends

NLN — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:51:28 +0000

What a curious thing the stock market is; so powerful, yet so flighty. Like a school of sardines, it moves as one, changing direction nimbly when danger looms or advantage beckons. What it will do next has always been difficult to predict.

But what if you could now – using nothing more than a free, public online tool?

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Computer Science

It’s Time to Kill the ‘Apple Doesn’t Innovate’ Argument

NLN — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:15:39 +0000

There’s an argument in the platform wars, and also on Wall Street, that goes something like this: “Apple doesn’t innovate anymore. It moves too slowly, and is being taken over by more nimble, more innovative rivals.”

Any success Apple has is the result of slick marketing, rather than the newest technology. But now, Apple is a laggard and is being overtaken by more nimble companies.

Apple has an “innovation problem,” according to Forbes.

Subject:

Computer Science