Next month, I will write entries about...

• The death of Thunder Bay


• The cusp of change


• Return of the Jet-eye


• Location, Location, Location


• Humourous Interlude

I promise.

My brain got this before I even read the story

I wanted to make note of a very interesting qbit of news from the Quantum realm that I stumbled across today:

Quantum computing without computing

I'm still trying to fully comprehend this - without running the algorithm, you can determine it's results due to quantum mechanics (counterfactual computation). If I understand this correctly, basically you cna eliminate all of the values that cannot be the answer beore running the algorithm, which leaves you with only those values that *can* be the answer.

My favourite quote from the article:

In a sense, it is the possibility that the algorithm could run which prevents the algorithm from running -- Paul Kwiat

I was about to write something very interesting...

...but then I decided not to.

The spin cycle

I just can't believe the differences in these two things.

1. Wayne Gretzky's wife may have placed a bet with a bookie handled by Rick Tocchet (More coverage here). This is a relatively minor event, and yet it has been given huge headlines over the last few days, and the media here in Canada seems to be utterly obsessed with this story even though there doesn't actually appear to be one at all.

2. United States Vice President Dick Cheney practically BLEW SOMEONE'S FACE OFF while hunting on Saturday. The guy's 78, a millionaire lawyer, and he just had a bloody heart attack when some of the pellets started interfering with his heart. I've been seeing things like 'very stable' condition and 'silent heart attack' used, and I think this is the first time in a while I've seen this kind of restraint used by so many media outlets. As well, nobody's making much noise about the fact that they didn't even have the proper permit and Cheney obviously didn't follow the cardinal rule of hunting - DON'T SHOOT PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY NOT PEOPLE IN NEON ORANGE. Republican editors, anyone?

It astounds me that the media thinks that #1 is huge news and #2 is something to be quieted down and smoothed over. I'm definitely reminded of why I like to get my news from at least 15 different websites - best chance of getting true facts and not editorial spin.

Happy Valentine's Day, with a big heart (attack) from Cheney.

Transfigurations

[Entry originally written at 5:40 p.m., Feb. 7th]

In 10 minutes, I leave to begin the ceremonies involved in putting my grandmother (Nonna) into the ground for her final rest. It's a difficult time for me, and I can now appreciate how comforting the imagery of Christianity can be at a time like this. I really want to believe that there is more, that my Nonna is now living a new life free of pain and reunited with her own parents and husband. I want to believe that there's someone looking out for her, and that with all the mindlessness and cruelty of this world, that there really is something good behind it all. I want to believe that there is something greater, and that when my time ends that there will be a throng of friends and family awaiting me on the other side of the darkness. I want to believe that the essence of my Nonna is preserved, and that only the physical shell that trapped her spirit is being buried tomorrow in the freezing ground.

No wonder I'm having such a hard time of all of this. I want to believe, but can't.

Nonna

My grandmother died yesterday. She had been sick for a very long time, so it's not really a surprise - after years of cancer and Alzheimers disease, it's not even necessarily a completely sad event.

Nonna (Italian term for grandmother) had a very strong spirit, and she was able to survive with the cancer for significantly longer than the doctors expected (several years instead of a few months). Throughout that time, whenever I saw her she had a smile on her face, and she loved to hear stories, and to laugh. Even when she could no longer remember who someone was, she considered them a friend and would greet them with a warm smile. Over the last little while, I've been wondering how I would deal with such a condition, and I'm very uncertain that I could remain as spirited as she did for so long. To realize that you are dying and that the future holds nothing but weakening and pain seems almost unbearable to me, however she kept smiling and laughing to the end.

To one of the strongest women that I ever knew, I wish a peaceful, and pain-free, rest.

Maria Delorenzi, June 9th, 1922 - February 4th, 2006

States and Bladders

I was a bit amused by the State of the Union address yesterday - particularly the part where George Bush, lover of oil and champion of the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge oil drilling, declared that the US had an oil addiction and needed to break it. It's quite a volte-face, and it'll be interesting to see whether it's genuine or a distraction tactic.

Thankfully the rhetoric around Iran wasn't as bad as the whole "Axis of Evil" thing, but it's still something to watch - there may be some fireworks there in the next couple of years (there's a massive American military presence right over the border, after all).