Sensationalism.
At 12:51 AM -0400 8/19/00, A. Melon wrote:
>(08/18/00, 6:30 p.m. ET) By Ron Copeland, InformationWeek
>
>Scientists at the University of Geneva are collaborating with the
>Swiss Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on an experiment that
>uses quantum computers to run an unbreakable encryption algorithm.
>
>Cryptography could, in fact, be the first commercial application for
>the nascent technology.
>
>Quantum computers can process data millions of times faster than the
>quickest supercomputer.
Really? Have such machines been built?
>
>But being so small, they also can take advantage of the peculiar
>rules of quantum physics.
>
>Conventional computers create bits of information, and each bit is
>either a 0 or a 1. Quantum bits, or qubits, can be both 0 and 1 or
>any combination of the two numbers.
>
>What's more, qubits can't be cloned or copied, making it virtually
>impossible for someone to break code encrypted with a quantum
>computer.
He's confusing quantum computation with the quantum cryptography of
sending photons over some channel.
>
>Before quantum computing goes commercial, many hurdles must be
>cleared, not the least of which will be deciding if the miniscule
>machines will support open-source Linux or Windows from Microsoft
>Corp. (stock: MSFT), Redmond, Wash.
And now I assume the whole article is a joke...or "Information Week"
is a joke for employing him.
--Tim May
--
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Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
"Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.
