Yes, please
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Video Games are a Varsity Sport
Time Magazine did an article about how some colleges treat video games as a varsity sport. And there are scholarships! So now you can tell your mom you are studying while playing League of Legends.How many hours a week do you think these top athletes spend training? How is it comparable to more traditional sports? How is it different?
An App with a Purpose
Pulse Point is a really cool app. People who know CPR and are willing to help others in need can install this app on their smart phone. Then, when 911 gets an emergency call, they send out an alert to those near by who can start CPR while the ambulance is in route.
What other kinds of needs are there that could use this type of response?
How long will we have paper money?
Seems like everyone has a smart phone these days. And with apps like Mint, you can manage all your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and even give money to friends and family. So who needs a paper bill anymore?
Monday, June 1, 2015
Quantum Computers: A Primer
What is a quantum computer and why is it important? This is a complicated topic, but has a huge impact on building faster computers.
You know the famous "Schrodinger's Cat" thought experiment: A cat is sealed in a box with a flask of poison and a radiation source. If the source emits a radioactive particle, a 50-50 chance, the flask shatters, releasing the poison and killing the cat. Quantum mechanics implies that the cat is simultaneously alive and dead, in superposition, until it is observed. The act of opening the box collapses the superposition, returning the cat to a classical state of either alive or dead.
Classical computers process data in the form of binary digits, or bits, that are either 1's or 0's. When you bought a Nintendo-64, it had 64-bits to store data and perform calculations. Because a quantum computer's data exists in multiple states, it can perform multiple operations simultaneously, instead of one by one, making it much faster.
You know the famous "Schrodinger's Cat" thought experiment: A cat is sealed in a box with a flask of poison and a radiation source. If the source emits a radioactive particle, a 50-50 chance, the flask shatters, releasing the poison and killing the cat. Quantum mechanics implies that the cat is simultaneously alive and dead, in superposition, until it is observed. The act of opening the box collapses the superposition, returning the cat to a classical state of either alive or dead.
Classical computers process data in the form of binary digits, or bits, that are either 1's or 0's. When you bought a Nintendo-64, it had 64-bits to store data and perform calculations. Because a quantum computer's data exists in multiple states, it can perform multiple operations simultaneously, instead of one by one, making it much faster.
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