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Alice & Bob vs. AWS: Round 1, fight!

This post isn’t actually combative at all, but I’ve been using “Round 1, fight!” for comparisons for years, and old habits die hard. This is actually a relatively friendly comparison of two different approaches to implementing cat qubits. This link might require a LinkedIn account.

Happy birthday, dear Albert….

Thanks to QuEra Computing for publishing its monthly birthday calendar and reminding us that Prof. Einstein’s birthday is coming up on March 14. If only he had been a dragon, he’d still be quite young at the age of 146. He certainly had the wisdom the species is known for. This link might require a LinkedIn account.

AI’s Predictions for Quantum Commercialization

In Brian Lenahan’s Quantum’s Business, we’re treated to underinformed AIs debating each other. I haven’t used Grok before, but I’m awarding it style points. Nicely done. However, I’m more blown away by the discovery of Coloring Book Hero by ChatGPT, which allows you to “take any idea and turn it into whimsical coloring book pages.”

PennyLane vs. Qiskit

There’s still a little time left to vote! Qiskit used to be the most popular SDK, but is it still? I’m hearing otherwise. Consider how many alternatives there are to IBM backends; some can be accessed through Qiskit, but if you’re choosing to not use IBM, are you choosing to not use Qiskit? This link might require a LinkedIn account.

Inspired by Maxwell’s Demon

This cartoon by Phys.org is brilliant, both for capturing attention in the first place as well as for illustrating the point that is being made. It also made The Quantum Dragon want to meet and befriend who he is calling The Thermodynamic Demon. This link might require a Twitter account.

Quantum Reservoir Dogs

Register for “Science with QuEra: Robust Quantum Reservoir Computing for Molecular Property Prediction,” when Yuval Boger will be hosting Milan Kornjaca (QuEra), Daniel Beaulieu (Deloitte Consulting), Zoran Krunic (Amgen), and Thomas Ehmer (Merck). No word on if they’ll be using aliases for this webinar….

Captain Okoli’s Magnificent Steampunk Quantum Engine

Jerry Seinfeld needs to explain to me someday the deal with posters. I don’t get it. But in this case, these “fabric panels” are beautifully made and will nicely complement Dr. Nicole Yunger Halpern’s quantum engine sculpture. I have read literally every word, which I can’t say about any traditional posters.

Zuchongzhi 3.0 is amazing!

China’s publicly available quantum computers, including a couple of Zuchongzhi 2s, are such hot garbage that we should obviously believe the claims about Zuchongzhi 3 without question. I’m curious what’s Mandarin for “octillions” and “multiverses,” plural. This link might require a Twitter account. Sarcasm does not.

Quantum Fiery Voices: Prof. Chris Ferrie

For aiding and abetting The Quantum Dragon’s relentless assault, Prof. Chris Ferrie is hereby recognized as one of his Quantum Fiery Voices.

Breaking changes? More like annihilating changes!

I’m checking out the early access IBM Quantum Platform, of course, and I could not be more thrilled that alternatives to Big Blue are available. I have access to jack diddly-squat. It doesn’t really matter since I have nothing to migrate anyway; 100% of my Qiskit code is pre-1.x and remains broken as a memorial to what once was.

Noise has never looked so cute.

I try to be funny. I can’t compete with this line by Dr. Nicole Yunger Halpern.

I’ve been looking forward to this day, the Majorana day.

Happy Majorana Day!

Satya Nadella declared September 25, 2017, not February 19, 2025, to be Majorana Day. Since The Quantum Dragon has missed 8 observances in a row, he’ll be spending the next 8 days celebrating belatedly. There’s nothing to actually celebrate yet, but he’s young and impetuous and doesn’t care. Kids… am I right?

Ghost Thermometer

I love this video for HitoMatch so much. I just told my wife, “You are my green ghost,” and she replied, “WHAT?!?!?” I should’ve taken a video. Oh well. But The Quantum Dragon is young, single, and ready to mingle. Would it be vulgar if his profile says he has long coherence? This link might require a LinkedIn account.

You know what else is hilarious? Sad, maybe? If you zoom in, it looks like Copilot put the green ghost’s smartphone on the table during a “romantic date.”

Zapata AI Job Seekers

If you were laid off by Zapata AI and would like a free listing in this newsletter, please reach out and let me know. I’ll maintain a list in The Quantum Dragon until everyone on the list has been gainfully employed elsewhere or is otherwise no longer actively job seeking. I might extend this offer to all job seekers, but I’ll start with these layoffs.

• Shawn Gibford Industrial PHDc: Quantum Applications in the Life Sciences
• Dr. Francesco Benfenati Quantum Solutions Engineer

Quantum Noise Detector

Alan Ho and Prof. Michael Biercuk inspired the Resuscitated Quantum Bullshit Detector, but the original(?) has resurfaced on Bluesky. It’s back to reposting a simple “bullshit” or “not bullshit,” so The Quantum Dragon will continue to monitor for challenges, controversies, and debates under this new name from Dr. Bob Sutor.

• AWS’s Ocelot is bad news for Alice & Bob? Laurent Prost doesn’t see it that way.