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whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: D-Wave Lab Tour part 1

I think it is kind of important to point out that there isn't much that was shown in the video, that is different from a traditional low-temperature lab (although I am not an expert). The only differences appear to be the compact casing (with some shielding) of the D-wave box and the D-Wave chip itself (whos "quantumness" is a hot topic). The rest of what was shown in the video was a traditional dilution refrigerator setup. I say this not to make a point about how bad D-wave is (they do some good stuff), but to try and separate what is traditional equipment, versus what they claim to be innovating on. I feel this is necessary as dilution refrigerators can be pretty damn impressive and could cause people to think that was the main part of their invention.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: Ask HN: What are you doing to look after your posture?

I don't specifically target my posture, but I do take a holistic view to health and fitness. I realize that I've taken a career path that will have me sitting 6-8 hours a day for the rest of my life. Therefore I focus on getting at least an hour of fitness everyday. The gym fulfills a lot of my requirements and I go maybe 4-5 days a week. This allows me to build a strong body. I also play organized sports, and run on my off days. I have a bad back, with mild scoliosis and a rib that easily dislocates and staying fit allows me to reduce the pain.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: We're Entering a Golden Era of Quantum Computing Research

Bohmiian mechanics is a non-local hidden variable theory of Quantum Mechanics. Any result from traditional QM should hold with Bohmian Mechanics, including the ability to perform quantum computations. We have a reasonable certainty that QM is possible thanks to a Threshold Thereom http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9702029. Additionally, it is quite easy to run algorithms with a small amount of qubits (5-10) that show that theory holds and should continue to hold as more qubits are added. It has become a scaling problem, which hopefully can be solved with time.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: Can Canada Teach the Rest of Us to Be Nicer?

Of course this is a story filled mostly with anecdotes, but as a Canadian I would like to believe that generally we are a "nice" people as a whole and take pride in it. However, I would not say we are necessarily passive like the movie theatre anecdote suggests in the article, except when it comes to our politics.

As there was no mention of it in the article, I would love to suggest that people check out Atlantic Canada. Full disclaimer, I am an ex-pat from Nova Scotia, but I still love the place and miss the feeling of community and hospitality. Things seen to happen much slower, then the hustle and bustle of Ontario. Although, as Canada is such a spread out nation I have so much more to see!

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: Breakthrough Paves Way for Affordable Quantum Computers

Putting a qubit in a coherent state really isn't a technical challenge anymore. The challenge these days is getting it to stay in a coherent state (ie. avoid decoherence) long enough to be able to perform gates on the qubit and perform computations. I'm about half way through the paper so far and I really think it is quite an interesting approach and result.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: After Prime Proof, an Unlikely Star Rises

When you are an expert in an academic field, you typically have spent many, many years reading about the problems in the field and the main ways to attack them. The same authors, will typically pop up again and again. Through conferences and collaborations one gets to know the main contributors in the field. On top of this, it is very rare for someone to break into a field with a major discovery. Normally people tend to hone their skills on more minor problems over time and obtain a deep understanding of the material. To top all of this off, academics quite regularly receive emails from crackpots claiming to have found a solution to p=np, etc.

I am not saying that Dr. Granville was right to immediately dismiss the concept of an unknown solving such a problem. I am just trying to provide some background for why he may of reacted as he did.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: No bullshit guide to math and physics

Looking at the sample, I agree with you. Condensed ≠ easy to understand. Honestly, a lot of the graduate texts I deal with look easier to understand. In my opinion, every single concept should be introduced with physical analogies if one wishes a reader with no maturity in the subject to actually understand. Then again if the author is going for "no-bullshit" this could serve as a good reference for someone who just needs a quick easy to understand reference.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: Physics in 100 Years

One thing that we have begun using, to simplify some quantum computational analysis are Graphical tensor networks as presented in this http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.6950 paper. Hasn't caught much traction yet, but it and similar ideas could be the way forward.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: Testosterone is the drug of the future

I also notice calming and de-stressing effects from working out as well. I work long hours normally but I would still much rather go to the gym and workout then go home and lie on the couch, as I'd go insane at the lab if I didn't.

whitewhim | 11 years ago | on: Testosterone is the drug of the future

I do agree that the extra attention can be unwanted and negative sometimes. For example, I've worked out the whole time I've dated my girlfriend of around ~5 years. However, at the start we were in high school and I was super lean due to MMA and rugby. Now, that I'm older and lifting has finely started to obtain noticeable results/ having lost a bit of baby-face my girlfriend started to become a bit jealous/insecure with herself. No matter what I said, she wouldn't believe that I found her more attractive then everyone else. She understands its irrational but its hard to fight insecurities. At this point she has started going to the gym and is a much harder worker then me there.

With regards to fitness, I definitely agree that I prefer a practical definition of fitness level. I may not look gigantic compared to some of the guys in the gym, but I can both lift a lot of weight, run fast sprints and long distance runs. Its that type of fitness that is great for rugby.

whitewhim | 12 years ago | on: The New Razer Blade

I'm only 22 and I clicked hoping for better shaving cream tech. Even though I'm not a hairy person shaving is such a pain.

whitewhim | 12 years ago | on: Goodbye Academia

This is one of my biggest fears as a physics student graduating in two months time. I love to learn and from my previous summers work I love to research. I've gotten into one of the top schools to research my dream subject. Despite all of this there is the overwhelming feeling of dread that I will dedicate myself for five years and than not be able to find a career afterwards in something even tangentially related to my research and be able to support a family. Not to mention the large debt I will still have from my undergrad.
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