Four short links: 4 March 2019
Open Source Chat, Assistant Shim, Data Science, and Quantum Computing
- Zulip 2.0 Out — open source chat, a-la Slack. Better support for thread-like multiple conversations in a channel.
- Project Alias — a teachable “parasite” that is designed to give users more control over their smart assistants, both when it comes to customization and privacy. Through a simple app, the user can train Alias to react on a custom wake-word/sound, and once trained, Alias can take control over your home assistant by activating it for you. There’s no problem in technology that can’t be solved by the addition of another layer of indirection. Interesting to see attempts to make third-party improvements to these things in our house that we have no control over except that which The Maker has given us.
- Python Data Science in Jupyter Notebooks — full text.
- When Will Quantum Computing Have Real Commercial Value? — Nobody really knows. The field sits behind a number of difficult science and engineering breakthroughs before we get to the equivalent of a UNIVAC, let alone a PDP-1, Altair 8800, or iPhone. My read is that the military’s hopes and fears for quantum crypto and comms have buoyed VCs’ hopes, so they’re wading in before the fundamental research is done and are just hoping there’ll be a breakthrough within the lifetime of their fund.
