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Quantum Cryptography In Action
Whitney Wyatt writes: "Discover magazine outlines the first successful laser photon communication utilizing Quantum Cryptography. Called 'Perfect Encryption,' quantum encryption sends the key with the message, however it is impossible for an eavesdropper to intercept the message without changing it. One can only wonder what the FBI will do."
First, I'd like to point out that quantum computation and quantum encryption are two almost completely separate concepts. Quantum encryption is based on the fact that quantum states cannot be measured without altering. The most common example is the polarization of a photon, but it will work for any quantum state, so long as there exist, effectively, two unique states that can transmit the data.
Quantum computation, however, is much more complex and much more interesting. Quantum computers are based on the concept of quantum entanglement, the ability of a quantum state to exist in a superposition of all of its mutually exclusive states: It's a 1 and a 0. However, this is not as easy to use as one might think. While it's true that if you have n quantum logic gates you have the ability to input 2^n data values simultaneously (as opposed to only 1 piece of data if you have n digital logic gates), this is not going to be the end of classical computing for a few reasons. First, quantum computers have to be perfectly reversible. That means for every output there's an input and vice versa. And there has to be no way of knowing the initial states of the data. You don't process data, you process probabilities in a quantum computer; if you know exactly what any one value is throughout the computation, you can find out all of the values: the superposition ends and you're stuck with a useless chunk of machinery. This means YOU CAN ONLY GET ONE RESULT FROM ANY QUANTUM COMPUTATION, THE END RESULT. You can't see what the data in the middle is or the computer becomes useless. (Landauer's principle makes heat loss data loss. When your processor gets hot, it's losing data. If the same thing happened to a quantum computer, it wouldn't be quantum anymore.) Decoherence is what happens when you randomly lose data to the environment by design, not by choice, and the superposition ends. This is bad for Q.C. Oh, and quantum computers can only do *some* things faster, like prime factorization and discrete logarithms. Not multiplication or addition. Plus, the circuits that would do basic arithmetic would be bigger and slower than what you've currently got.
So what does this all mean? It means that quantum computers are going to provide some advantages (real quick big number factorization), and some disadvantages (that whole RSA standard). The most realistic initial use of quantum computers will be as add-ons to existing super-computers to resolve certain types of NP-Complete headaches that regular math can't simplify yet. At best they will someday be an add-on to your PC; but they will never replace the digital computer.~
If you want more info, check out http://www.qubit.org, it's got some decent tutorials.
SLASHDOT MODERAORS, THE TRUTH REVEALED
by osm
Rob Malda has barely made any effort to fully describe the process of selecting Slashdot moderators. What little information that has been supplied is an outright lie. The story of Malda's moderation system is far more insidious than
merely separating wheat from chaff.
Last night, as I leaned over to give my Natalie Portman poster a tender kiss goodnight, I was psychically cast into a hypnotic trance. While entranced, my spirit guides delivered unto me the tale of the Slashdot moderators. Prepare to have your faith in Mr. Malda and moderation shaken to the core.
Difficult as it is to believe, Rob Malda was an outcast teenager. He did well in some of his classes, but was terrible with English. As is so often the tragic case today, his teachers passed him anyway, just to get rid of him. Since Malda
had no real life, he spent much of his time on the computer (of course), and watching the public-access cable channel. It was there that Malda heard of the mysterious Mongolian Monks.
Malda was watching his favorite talk show, "Elizabeth Claire Prophet." The guests that night were a group of monks based in Mongolia. The monks described how they had been travelling to China to trade some of their cute teen daughters for Natalie Portman memorabilia. The monks had travelled no more than three days when they noticed a brilliant light in the daytime sky. The light grew larger. And larger. And larger. Soon the sky was completely hidden, from horizon to horizon, by a giant metallic disk.
The monks were taken aboard the craft and placed under some sort of alien mind-control. There, they were given the deepest possible insights into the nature of man, the universe and God. A week later, the alien beings returned the monks to the Earth and vanished forever.
The monks considered the area holy ground and constructed a new temple there, not bothering to return to their old monastery. They took their daughters as wives and began their own commune of worship, based on the teachings of the aliens. The monks practiced meditations which unleashed powerful spiritual forces within them. As the wives bore children, the community grew.
Malda was intrigued by the spiritual insights received by the monks and excited by the idea of incestuous pleasures. Unfortunately, the monks had no internet connection and so Malda could not email them. Without hesitation, Malda booked a flight and left for Mongolia. The plane ride was long and tiring, but his curiosity kept him driven.
After a month of searching, Malda finally located the commune. Initially, he, kept a safe distance, for fear of rejection. He studied the monks from afar. Malda had heard stories of the monks' bizarre meditations, which gave them extraordinary powers. Malda was somewhat skeptical of these stories at first, until he saw the truth first-hand.
In the week that Malda studied the monks, he witnessed the breaking of every natural law. He was astonished as he watched the monks levitate, create pockets of lush weather within the commune and communicated with spirit forces. Malda grew more and more excited and he devised a plan for meeting them.
Malda knew the monks would respect him if he could display his own "magical" powers. He was determined to win their confidence, and he had with him all of the necessary tools. He approached the commune confidently. The monks greeted him with skepticism at the gate. Malda took a deep breath and began his show.
Using an AIBO, a can of Jolt Cola and an inflatable sex doll, Malda shocked the monks with his display of magical powers. The monks accepted him into the commune. Malda's head was shaved and he was given a robe and a room. The monks warned Malda to stay away from their daughters-wives.
The monks methodically taught Malda the word of the great messengers. He learned eagerly at first, but soon grew bored with his life in the commune. Malda's life was further stressed when his blow-up doll suffered a puncture-wound and became useless. A few days later, his AIBO's power dried up. With no pet and no woman, Malda slowly grew crazed.
Malda had hit rock-bottom. His penis chafed from dry-hand masturbation and the cold, dry climate. One dark night, he snuck into the kitchen and convinced one of the daughter-wives to join him in his room. Malda was quite relieved that he would finally get some female tenderness... for the first time in his life. He was so excited, he almost closed the deal prematurely.
Unluckily for Malda, the daughter-wife's father-husband was expecting her in bed at that particular moment. The women were expected to be with the monks at a very specific time for retirement. The monk went on a violen rampage throughout the temple, ending with Malda's room. He flung open the door to behold his daughter-wife half disrobed and laying on top of Malda. Malda looked up at the monk and gasped. The daughter-wife giggled.
The monk unsheathed his sword and the aughter-wife was beheaded on the spot. Malda kicked the unviable head away from him and jumped out of the bed. He backed himself into a corner, terrified. The monk approached him the with sword raised. Just as he reached striking distance he dropped the sword and collapsed, crying for the loss of his daughter and the betrayal of his adopted son. Malda was dishonorably discharged from the commune.
Malda wandered into the forest and took shelter in a cave. He spent the next five days curled up in a fetal position, feeding on bat guano and insects. The bitterness and hatred consumed Malda. once again, he was an outsider. He decided that this time, he would not be trampled on.
Malda wandered for three days until he came upon a small village. He entered the shop of the local blacksmith and killed the iron-worker by bashing him in the head with the AIBO. Malda crafted himself a massive machete. He took apart the AIBO and used its quality Sony components to enhance the machete with a nuclear driven flaming mechanism.
Malda returned to the commune. He took one last look at the peaceful community, then hit the ignition switch on his machete. The weapon screamed like a thousand tortured souls as it ignited with flame. Malda then inserted the
rechargeable battery from the AIBO into his rectum. Malda stormed the compound, beheading all of the monks and devouring their brains, thus capturing their souls into the battery in his anus.
The sky turned the color of blood and a great storm of pestilence swept over the village. Malda barely escaped before the commune was decimated by the hand of God, thus purging the terrible evil that had been committed. His face stained with blood and his heart stained with the forces of evil, Malda returned to the United States.
Malda was crazed with power. He devised another insidious plan. He would build an army of mindless followers, which he would use to bring the world to its knees. He would use an online site for the tech-savvy elite to build this army. But he needed a way to control the chaotic masses that would come flocking to his new site. He needed his
generals.
Malda prowled the streets of his hometown, enticing male prostitutes with promises of cheap crack cocaine and sexual favors. Once the prostitutes agreed to join Malda in his basement, he would tie them up and place the AIBO battery, upside down, in their rectum. He would then abuse the hapless victim with words of derision and samples of his writing.
The abuse was so severe, that the spirit of the victim would be broken and the soul of one monk would be absorbed from the battery. The resultant creature was not a man, nor a zombie. It was some pathetic monstrosity. The beaten souls of the monks were enslaved to Malda's terrible evil. They depended upon his evil powers for sustenance. Malda labelled his terrible, elite guard the "moderators."
Malda's site grew quickly in popularity and the moderators enforced blandness and conformance with a heavy hand. No good army has room for an individual. The moderators are psychically connected to Malda and know his word. That word is enforced on Slashdot. The subtle moderations effectively warped the minds of those who visited the site and grew addicted, due to the powerful evil force exuded by its words.
Today, Malda sits in his office, strumming his electric guitar, waiting for his army of darkness to ripen.