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Google Demonstrates Quantum Computer Image Search
An anonymous reader sends along this quote from New Scientist:
"Google's web services may be considered cutting edge, but they run in warehouses filled with conventional computers. Now the search giant has revealed it is investigating the use of quantum computers to run its next generation of faster applications. Writing on Google's research blog this week, Hartmut Neven, head of its image recognition team, reveals that the Californian firm has for three years been quietly developing a quantum computer that can identify particular objects in a database of stills or video (PDF). Google has been doing this, Neven says, with D-Wave, a Canadian firm that has developed an on-chip array of quantum bits — or qubits — encoded in magnetically coupled superconducting loops."
http://royal.pingdom.com/2008/04/11/map-of-all-google-data-center-locations/
"Google secrecy
Google has made it difficult both to find out where they keep their data centers and how many they have. One big reason for this is that almost all IP addresses that Google uses (and there are a lot of them) are listed to their Mountain View, California address, so just looking at IP addresses (with IP WHOIS or IP-to-location databases) won’t help you figure out where their data centers are or how many they have.
In addition to this, Google usually seeks permits for their data center projects using companies (LLCs) that don’t mention Google at all, for example Lapis LLC in North Carolina and Tetra LLC in Iowa.
Since Google tends to be quite secretive about their data centers in general, the information we have presented here most likely isn’t 100% complete"
This is my sig.
Sorry to reply to my own comment but I should add a link. It covers, in non technical language, the some of the objections to D-Waves claims, what kind of dubious science their people do and what is bull**** that the marketing people flat out invent. It is only one person's perspective but the guy is very, very capable of evaluating statements made by D-Wave.
So if this is the future...where's my jet pack?
What would be really useful is if the software can "recognize" details about an image without a human doing so. E.g. Is a car, with red paint, certain model. Is a girl, white tshirt, nipples are showing, hair is in a bun, looks like a dancer, recognized as "this" individual, Then searchers can really search for images that fit patterns and find them.
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
Hi, there are some excellent introductory lectures as an introduction to quantum computing here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I56UugZ_8DI
Given by Hartmut Neven with a guest appearance from D-Wave on day 2. Watch all of the them including day 3!
Fascinating topic, though quickly delivered and worth further study and above all experimentation.
It awesome that google supports work like this.
I'm sure, before paterning with them, google googled "d-wave tech +bullshit"
If Google is capable of this what do you think the NSA and friends are capable of?
Just out of interest - who is competing against D-Wave in this space?
No one, really --- at least, none that I am aware of. Most of the technology is still very much in its infancy, so nobody else is making a big push to turn it into a product yet. Having said that, I suppose it is possible that the NSA has a secret quantum computer and is using it to break our codes even as we speak, though I don't know if that counts as an economic competitor.
Snarkiness is inversely proportional to wisdom because it emphasizes feeling right rather than being right.