Random Thoughts Thread

[MrPopo]

is quantum computing a technology that is eventually going to happen or is it a theory kind of thing like time travel?

That technology is likely quite a ways away from practical application, though. I think the prototype that was done at UC Berkley (I want to say it was) back in 2012 or 2013 was only able to find the prime factors of 15 half of the time. (The half of the time part is actually consistent, since that includes results of 1 and 15.)

The more recent test was a 52 qubit computer that did in 200 seconds what would take a standard computer 10000 years. But, like you said, it's really only beneficial for a certain subset of problems.

[pierrot]

Thanks for the update on that. I haven't been keeping up with quantum computing as much, for a while, but that's some pretty impressive progress.

[opa]

The Jedi fighting in any war seems to contradict the neutral-party, hippy vibe they've got going on.

[Ack]

The Jedi fighting in any war seems to contradict the neutral-party, hippy vibe they've got going on.

Nah, their main inspiration was from samurai cinema. They can pick and fight on a side if they consider it justified in its actions. And with a wide possibility and translation of beliefs, even Buddhist sects have started uprisings and violent revolts.

[MrPopo]

The Jedi fighting in any war seems to contradict the neutral-party, hippy vibe they've got going on.

Nah, their main inspiration was from samurai cinema. They can pick and fight on a side if they consider it justified in its actions. And with a wide possibility and translation of beliefs, even Buddhist sects have started uprisings and violent revolts.

The Jedi have never been presented as neutral, just extragovernmental. The closest you can say is they don't like killing for killing's sake, but that's not what a soldier in a war does.

[marurun]

The Jedi are more (and obviously) an order of ascetics. I think of them like the Shaolin monks in kung fu movies. They can fight and will pick sides for a cause. They aren’t as much neutral as they are outside.

[Ack]

Bladerunner takes place November 2019.

[pierrot]

You all been watching the 2011 movie, Shaolin, or something? I love that movie.

Bladerunner takes place November 2019.

At least we still have 30 years before things get irreparably bad.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Bladerunner takes place November 2019.

At least we still have 30 years before things get irreparably bad.

I think there’s an argument that our current society is at least as dystopian as the one depicted in Blade Runner...At least they’re have androids and flying cars. What did we actually get? Smart phones and Instagram “influencers.” They also get a lot of rain in California. We get planned power outages and wildfires. The dystopia in Blade Runner was at least pretty cool, and really stylish. I often feel like we’re living in something more akin to Brave New World, Robocop, and Idiocracy, with just a touch of Starship Troopers (the movie, not the book). It’s humiliating.

[marurun]

This is not the dystopian future I was promised. So much more mundane.