Friday, February 09, 2007

Quantum Computer to be launched next week

I hope this does not turn out to be another steorm -- The perpetual machine thing remember. Anyway, the brief excitement will do for me today

D-Wave Systems is building a 'quantum' computer to solve intractable real-world problems. The secret: cooling the chip to -269 C with liquid helium.
Technology Review

...a quantum computer next week that can carry out 64,000 calculations at the same time in parallel "universes".
The Inquirer

SlashDot

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Red Had advertisement - Truth Happens

This video started a train of thought. I think I read the following in a magazine called "The Week" some years back. But, am not sure so I may be off on some details. Since, it is quite old try to read it in the "old times" context, not in the current political scenario.

Once a General of some country visited America. The American General showed him around their facilities and even showed him around their research base somewhere in Nevada. The other General asks the American General - "Don't you consider this a security threat. That is me seeing all this". The American General replies "Our openness is our strength".

Open source is no different. "We have nothing to hide" its open. This is how it is. A friend of mine once pointed out - then why do they hide behind the GPL (LGPL, APL etc for that matter... makes you wonder about his intent). Well, there is foolishness and there is strength. Giving away research (and weapons) as charity will eventually lead to those being used against yourself. Without GPL someone can just borrow some open source code make some small changes and claim it to be his own work (and "close source" it). The person who creates it tosses and turns in bed because, now, he is excluded from the growth of his own creation.

The foundation of open source is to bring together honest interest and participation in creating something great. More over, one may not be free enough to show off one's skills on a payroll. There are business models around open source, but the motivation may just be a reward unmatched by any other - Fun (2).



Watch this video. The comments on YouTube are interesting too. Especially the analogy of the cake recipe does a good job.

Is GPL enforceable? Yes, it is. There have been some interesting precedents. I learn't of this during a presentation by Herald Welte in Linux Bangalore. There are couple of interesting cases you can read about at GNU Monks and GPL Violations.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Sexy Lamborghini Gallardo Promo Video



Lord I have sinned , but, I give a damn.

Friday, February 02, 2007

DIY 2: Chemistry: Potassium Permanganate + Glycerine = Exothermic reaction cool (I mean Hot)



Typical military survival kits usually have a vial of potassium permanganate. It can be used to purify water in dilute solutions, as a disinfectant when used in concentrated solutions and a marker for signaling in snow. But, it can serve one more purpose that of a firestarter. When a fine granules of potassium permanganate are rubbed with sugar or glycerine the result is an exothermic reaction. Using it in an actual survival situation, I reckon are slim. If you have access to potassium permanganate in a survival situation. It is most likely that it is, because, it was part of a survival kit. In that case you definitely have other more convenient means of starting a fire. But, sometimes just knowing a possibility exists can be a lifesaver.

14 KMnO4 + 4 C3H5(OH)3 --> 7 K2CO3 + 7 Mn2O3 + 5 CO2 + 16 H2O + Heat

Okay so what does one need to do this:
Potassium Permanganate
glycerine
glass bowl (just for effect ;-))

that's all.