Get to know the emerging singer-songwriter and musician Katie Pruitt! Her newest single Expectations was written by Pruitt and co-produced by Pruitt and her close friend Michael Robinson. This is the first song unveiled from her highly anticipated full-length debut also called Expectations set for release on Rounder Records later this month on February 21st.

Of the song, Pruitt shares, Feeling crushed by the weight of my own expectations, I realized a shift of perspective was all I needed. We are conditioned from an early age to feel that we need to have our whole lives figured out, right this second. When often times, wed get there quicker if wed only learn to relax. There is wisdom in not knowing, there is freedom in spontaneity and there is courage in letting go. Sometimes you just need to climb a mountain, smoke some pot with your friends, and stop giving so many fucks.

Originally from the Atlanta suburbs and now based in Nashville, Pruitts career has been building to a breakthrough over the past few years following the release of herOurVinyl LiveSessionEP in March 2018.

Connect With Katie Pruitt Online Here-

WEBSITE

Learn more about Katie Pruitt in the following All Access interview-

When it comes to your music, what are you most excited about for 2020?

Besides releasing my first record, Im definitely most excited for my headline tour. Im stoked to play these songs a little different every night. To stretch as a guitar player, change the melodies a little, and rearrange the order of the set lists. Im also excited to write new stuff and play those out too.

Can you recall the moment when you thought you could be a musician?

It was probably in high school. I would always go to my friend Teddys house to jam before school. I remember the first time I played him an original song. His face lit up and kept telling me how good he thought it was. That was all the confidence I needed at the time to keep going. I just kept wanting to relive that feeling of playing someone a brand new song for the first time.

What do you think motivates you day in and day out?

Good question. I have good days and bad days. Id be lying to say Im always motivated. But on the days I am motivated its because I know Ive got something to say. Songs become like a lucid dream I can crawl inside and control. I can finally be safe to say what I think and feel. Thats always the feeling Im looking for.

How do you think your hometown has influenced the kind of music that you make? If not, why is that?

I grew up in the south and lived in Athens, Georgia during my early college years. That is definitely where any roots or folk influence made its way into my songs. I also grew up in a small suburb with very little diversity. Which definitely drove me to want to express myself and speak openly about my experience as a gay girl in the south.

What about your current home in Nashville?

Nashville was the place I started gaining the confidence to actually pursue music. I became extremely inspired by bands and other songwriters that I saw live. It really raises the bar for me as a player and a writer.

Growing up, how important was music in your life?

As a little kid I was always intrigued with performing. I used to host concerts in my garage for my neighbors. In middle school I got really into musical theater and thought I wanted to be on Broadway. The storytelling and the aspect of live performance was what I fell in love with. Then in high school I picked up guitar and started writing songs and it was game over.

Was your family and friends supportive of this career choice?

Definitely. My mom always encouraged me to have a creative outlet. My parents would always come to my open mics and every live performance. They never once told me not to pursue music.

If you werent a musician today, what else could you see yourself doing?

Possibly a journalist? My girlfriend also says Id make a good chiropractor.

What has been the biggest surprise so far about making music your career?

Probably how hard it really is to make a record. The technical side of making music is something I had no clue about until I had a little experience in a studio.

What has been an unexpected or welcome challenge to it all?

A big challenge for me right now is learning how to separate music and the music business. The music business is necessary but when it comes to being creative, youre better off pretending it doesnt exist.

What has been the best part about it all?

Definitely getting to make music with my friends. Also hearing peoples personal stories about their relationship with my music.

Lets talk about your newest single, Expectations which I love! What was the inspiration for this track?

Expectations is about freeing yourself of the pressure others put on us or that we put on ourselves. Its about pushing past personal barriers. I was going through a rough time mentally. I couldnt help but feel stuck. I started reading this book called the subtle art of not giving a fuck and it turned things around for me. I realized the reason I felt stuck was because I was caring too much and trying way too hard.

How would you say that it compares to the rest of your forthcoming debut album also called Expectations?

The whole record is filled with moments of realizations. Every song is a specific personal revelation I had at different points of my life. Some positive and some not so positive. This record is my personal coming of age story.

How creatively involved with the making of the music video for Expectations were you? What was it like shooting it around Nashville?

I was involved in the general idea for the video. I knew I wanted to film it in a high school because the song feels very youthful to me. It has that I dont give a fuck rebellious attitude that I definitely had as a high school student. Which is an attitude that tends to get harder to maintain as you get older so it was really fun to play the role of a younger me

What was it like making this debut collection?

Making this record felt like a very full circle moment. Not only are all these songs so personal but I got to make the record with my friends and collaborators including Mike Robinson (guitar player for my college band turned producer) Having my long time friends be a part of the recording process made it that much more personal

Did anything surprise you about the overall process?

I knew I wanted to capture live performances but I had to learn how to really reign in my live performance for the record. I had to be intentional and specific the way I picked big vocal moments, builds, solos, etc.

Can you recall a favorite memory from recording it in the studio?

There were a lot of beautiful moments while making this record but my favorite was tracking the outro of expectations with my best friend Jess Nolan. We were in the vocal booth together just singing at the top of our lungs and pretty much laughing through the whole take. We eventually had to be separated by my producer because we couldnt get through it without laughing.

Do you have any tour dates scheduled for this year yet?

Yes. Ive got a whole headline tour scheduled during March and April. Dates for that are available at katiepruitt.com

How do you think you have grown as a musician since you first started making music?

I think my confidence is grown most of all. Bearing your soul is a vulnerable thing but its worth it even if only a few people understand. I also think Ive grown as a singer, writer, and performer. I plan to continue growing in any way I can.

What if anything has stayed the same about your music-making process?

I usually just start writing by mumbling over a chord progression. The minute some truth falls out I grab onto it and try to follow it to the end.

How do you feel about social media?

I guess I love it and hate it. On one hand its great at connecting people. Its a great because its a platform you can honestly express yourself with but on the other hand it has a clear impact on peoples mental health. Including mine. There is definitely a competitive aspect of it when it comes to likes and followers. It can unfortunately have an impact on your self worth and self image.

What do you think social media has done for your career so far?

I think its allowed me to find an audience and to know where that audience might live. So I can do my real job and go play for people live.

What musicians would you absolutely love to work with in the future?

Oh wow. There are a lot of them. Wilco, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlisle, Dawes, John Mayer, etc. This list is kind of endless.

If you could design your dream music video right now, what would it look like?

I guess that depends on the song. But if this question is more hypothetical. Probably very dreamy. I would want it to be shot in a beautiful place. In a mountain range or a national park. There would definitely be dancers. I love dancers but I cant dance.

Where would you love to hear a song of yours played?

Id love to be traveling in a foreign country and hear my song come on randomly. That would definitely make me feel like Ive come a long way.

At the end of the day, what do you hope people take away from your music

I guess my main goal is to make people feel less alone. Whether that pertains to a specific struggle or just in general. I just want them to feel like they are listening to a friend give them advice or relating to them. Thats what music does for me anyway.

View original post here:
An Interview With The Rising Singer-Songwriter KATIE PRUITT On Her Soon-To-Be-Released Debut Album and More! | All - All Access Music Group

Everything matched my occupational profile. But nevertheless I received a rejection because of my age. Born 1943, not stout and fat, not lazy and sluggish but instead still energetic and fit. On one hand, people talk about skilled worker shortage and on the other hand, being 65-plus year one has no choice.

This was a little excerpt picked up from an informal conversation between two men where one of them was quite dissatisfied with the rejection in a particular job interview.

This statement manifests features of ageism, still deeply rooted in the dynamics of our so called progressive society. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Ageism as the stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination towards people on the basis of age. Described in 1969 by Gerontologist Robert Neil Butler, it gradually separated itself as an independent construct from racism and sexism. In this article, emphasis will be laid on the ageism directed at the greying population.

There are 600 million people who are 60 and older in the world and the number is expected to double by 2025. While medical science has advanced and is majorly contributing towards extending lifespan, it is sad that not much has been done to study the societal attitude about old age and the process of aging in general. It comes as no surprise that ageism is the most common form of prevalent prejudice. Ageism has diverse implications. It can be felt in a 70-year old ladys words, Depression is a part of the process of ageing or when an old father complains about being a burden to his children. Its impact can be felt in the arenas of employment, health care and various other spheres as well. One sector largely contaminated by ageist views is the employment sector.

The Hollywood comedy The Intern interestingly portrays the story of a retired top executive seeking an internship at a startup company. His daily interactions with his younger colleagues, the initial challenges of not being taken seriously in this new tech-based organisation, coupled with his gradual overcoming of the ageist bias, amazingly captures the movies punch line Experience never gets old. In an era where corporate workforce is so heavily dominated by the youth, it has often become very difficult for the Baby Boomers or Gen-X to make their mark in this realm. Older employees are often looked down upon by the employers even if they are in no way less efficient, productive and healthy than their younger counterparts.

Theyre often shifted or promoted to less important roles of the company just as a way to bide or pass their time until they retire. Ageism manifests itself in very subtle ways but can lead to low self-esteem in older adults. The course of correcting a wrong begins with the realisation that a problem exists. For ageism to be accepted as a real problem, we need to talk about it much like we talk about sexism and any other form of discrimination.

Organisations that sincerely want to reach their full potential and improve retention and productivity must strive to create equitable workplaces where all workers irrespective of age, gender or any other difference, feel valued and respected. Behind this subtle yet powerful discrimination are a series of myths associated with age. Older workers are often perceived to be technologically inept, resistant to change, less innovative and adaptable.

However, what is clearly overlooked is the fact that older workers have much more experience, not just of a particular field but of life in general. This makes them a much-needed pillar of support for any organisation that is looking to create a stable and sustainable future for itself. Older workers are also much more likely to stay in a job. The impact of Ageism is also felt quite intensely in the health services in our country.

Older people are often perceived as bed-blockers, draining our precious resources. Older patients are often seen as frail, ill, dependent and incompetent. This sort of perception has been shown to affect physicians decisions, leading them to be less likely to diagnose a disorder and therefore less likely to treat the older person. This unconscious bias often goes under-recognised. As a result, both the physical and mental health-care needs of older people are not being met. Research has shown only 1 in 6 older people with depression receive a diagnosis.

A lot miss out on the chance of receiving psychological services, even though this type of treatment has been shown to be as effective for them as the younger adults. We recently passed October 1, marked by WHO as the World Elder Day. To combat the issues of ageism, we need to revolutionise attitudes and challenge the negative stereotypes. Within health and social care, there is an exigent need for a more informed workforce, one which recognizes the different ways mental health problems manifests themselves in the older adults and the benefits of treatment. By society, we mean every single one of us. Age is universal and it is high time we initiated the positive change for our collective future. Change begins with us. To quote Butler, Ageism is a preventable but silent and repetitive killer.

(Chehak Gidwani, psychology student at LSR, New Delhi,contributed to the article).

DR. DEBANJAN BANERJEE,Geriatric Psychiatrist,NIMHANS, Bangalore dr.djan88@gmail.com

Original post:
Ageism: a silent but preventable evil - The New Indian Express

The technologies are expected to become an important part of national security, and some worry the United States is behind China in their development.

SAN FRANCISCO White House officials on Monday unveiled plans to increase federal funding for the development of artificial intelligence and quantum computing, two cutting-edge technologies that defense officials say will play a key role in national security.

The funding, part of the Trump administrations $4.8 trillion budget proposal, would direct more money for A.I. research to the Defense Department and the National Science Foundation. The administration also wants to spend $25 million on what it calls a national quantum internet, a network of machines designed to make it much harder to intercept digital communication.

For several years, technologists have urged the Trump administration to back research on artificial intelligence which could affect things as diverse as weapons and transportation and quantum computing, a new way to build super-powerful computers. Chinas government, in particular, has made building these machines a priority, and some national security experts worry that the United States is at risk of falling behind.

The proposed spending follows earlier administration moves. In 2018, President Trump signed a law that earmarked $1.2 billion for quantum research. The Energy Department recently began distributing its portion of that money about $625 million to research labs in industry, academia and government.

The dollars we have put into quantum information science have increased by about fivefold over the last three years, said Paul Dabbar, under secretary for science at the Energy Department, in an interview.

Last year, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that made A.I. research and development a national priority.

The new budget proposal would increase funding for artificial intelligence research at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a research arm of the Defense Department, to $249 million from $50 million, and at the National Science Foundation to $850 million from about $500 million. The administration also vowed to double funding for A.I. and quantum computing research outside the Defense Department by 2022.

Big tech companies have invested heavily in A.I. research over the last decade. But many experts have worried that universities and government labs have lost much of their talent to businesses. Under the new funding plan, the National Science Foundation would apply $50 million to help train A.I. experts.

The worlds biggest technology companies, from Google in the United States to Alibaba in China, are also racing to build a quantum computer, a new kind of machine that could be used to break the encryption that protects digital information. Researchers are using the same scientific principles to create new technology that could withstand such an attack.

In 2017, after four years of planning and construction, China unveiled a dedicated quantum communication network between Beijing and Shanghai. Two Chinese provinces invested $80 million in the project. It has also tested quantum encryption techniques via satellite.

With the $25 million, the Energy Department would build a network connecting its 17 national research labs, which include Los Alamos in New Mexico and Argonne outside Chicago. Using this test network, researchers would explore quantum encryption technologies with an eye toward creating a secure network across the country.

This is a test bed for new technologies, said David Awschalom, a professor at the University of Chicago who oversees much of the universitys quantum research and would play a role in the effort at the national labs. We are using the power of the national labs to fuel the country.

Excerpt from:

White House Earmarks New Money for A.I. and Quantum Computing - The New York Times

Buried within the 13,000-odd words of the Union Budget speech on Saturday was a paragraph that set aside 8,000 crore over five years for the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications. Most commentators seem to have either missed or overlooked this budgetary allocation, but in terms of significance, the implications are well worth considering.

More than two years ago, the department of science and technology launched the Quantum-Enabled Science and Technology (QuEST) programme with an aim to develop technical capacity within the country to build quantum computers and communications systems comparable with the best in the world. The first phase of the project was to build the infrastructure and acquire human resources to develop physical and computation structures for improving precision in quantum measurement. The eventual goal is to build quantum computers domestically.

Though the allocation in this years budget is clearly part of a long-term national strategy, I cannot help wonder whether it is, at least in some small measure, a response to Googles recent announcement that it had achieved quantum supremacy"the ability to perform a calculation on a quantum computer that is impossible on a conventional computer. And the fear that we might, once again, be falling behind.

As much as I enjoy science, quantum mechanics gives me a headache. Quantum computing is an order of magnitude more perplexing. Ordinary computers function using binary logic gates that can be either off or on. This is why classical computers store information in bitseither as a 0 or 1. On the other hand, quantum computers can store information as both a 0 and a 1 at the same time using a quantum property called superposition. This means that with two quantum bits (or qubits), information can be stored in four possible states of superposition, and as more qubits are added, the computational power grows exponentially.

While this gives us more computing power, quantum computers are error-prone. The quantum state is delicate. It lasts for a fraction of a second and is easily disrupted by tiniest of vibrations or variations in temperature. This noise" in calculations causes mistakes to occur, and unless we can make them sufficiently error-free, quantum computing will not be commercially viable. Googles breakthrough was to achieve sufficient control over the process to allow its experimental computer to outperform a traditional computer. As a result, its computer could solve in 200 seconds what would take the worlds fastest supercomputer 10,000 years.

We still have a long way to go before quantum computing becomes commercially viable, but there is reason for urgency. As soon as quantum computing becomes commercially viable, much of what we take for granted today will become irrelevant.

Take encryption, for example. Almost all digital security today is based on the RSA algorithm that encrypts messages by relying on the factorization of two large prime numbers. While it is easy to multiply two prime numbers, it is very difficult to factorize them. RSA encryption exploits this feature, making it impossible for even governments and private actors with near infinite computational resources to decrypt messages. This is why we have the confidence to store valuable information in encrypted archives on the cloud, secure in the knowledge that even the largest corporations and most technologically advanced governments dont have the computational capability to decrypt these databases and access the information stored inside.

Once quantum computers are capable of being used for decryption, the computational hurdles of prime number factorization that we now rely on will become trivial to overcome. Shors algorithm already describes a process by which quantum computers could be used find the prime factors of any integer. In 2001, IBM proved that this algorithm works by using a 7 qubit computer to factorize the number 15 into 5 and 3. Googles Sycamore processor harnessed 53 qubits in its latest experiment, demonstrating that much higher computational capabilities are already within our grasp. Once our quantum computers have reached a sufficiently advanced level of stability, even the highest encryption known to man will be easy to defeat.

When that happens, cyber security as we know it will be a thing of the past. All the secure data services that we rely on will be thrown wide open, allowing anyone with a quantum computer to easily access the information within. Given the imminence of major breakthroughs in quantum computing, it is rumoured that there is already an underground market for encrypted data in anticipation of a time when all this information can be decrypted and the secrets of famous personalities can be exposed.

In the war for quantum supremacy, it is those who can understand and use the fundamental technologies behind quantum computing who will emerge dominant. In the not-so-distant future, the world will be divided into the quantum haves and have-nots. It is imperative that India makes every effort to stay in the game if it is to have any hope of remaining relevant. If we are to retain any measure of technological independence, we will need to ramp up our research in quantum computing and actively invest in the development of indigenous quantum computational capabilities.

Rahul Matthan is a partner at Trilegal and author of Privacy 3.0: Unlocking Our Data Driven Future

Read this article:

Opinion | Prepare for a world of quantum haves and have-nots - Livemint

The White House is pushing to dedicate an additional billion dollars to fund artificial intelligence research, effectively doubling the budget for that purpose outside of Defense Department spending, Reuters reported today, citing people briefed on the plan. Investment in quantum computing would also receive a major boost.

The 2021 budget proposal would reportedly increase AI R&D funding to nearly $2 billion, and quantum to about $860 million, over the next two years.

The U.S. is engaged in what some describe as a race with China in the field of AI, though unlike most races this one has no real finish line. Instead, any serious lead means opportunities in business and military applications that may grow to become the next globe-spanning monopoly, a la Google or Facebook which themselves, as quasi-sovereign powers, invest heavily in the field for their own purposes.

Simply doubling the budget isnt a magic bullet to take the lead, if anyone can be said to have it, but deploying AI to new fields is not without cost and an increase in grants and other direct funding will almost certainly enable the technology to be applied more widely. Machine learning has proven to be useful for a huge variety of purposes and for many researchers and labs is a natural next step but expertise and processing power cost money.

Its not clear how the funds would be disbursed; Its possible existing programs like federal Small Business Innovation Research awards could be expanded with this topic in mind, or direct funding to research centers like the National Labs could be increased.

Research into quantum computing and related fields is likewise costly. Googles milestone last fall of achieving quantum superiority, or so the claim goes, is only the beginning for the science and neither the hardware nor software involved have much in the way of precedents.

Furthermore quantum computers as they exist today and for the foreseeable future have very few valuable applications, meaning pursuing them is only an investment in the most optimistic sense. However, government funding via SBIR and grants like those are intended to de-risk exactly this kind of research.

The proposed budget for NASA is also expected to receive a large increase in order to accelerate and reinforce various efforts within the Artemis Moon landing program. It was not immediately clear how these funds would be raised or from where they would be reallocated.

Read this article:

White House reportedly aims to double AI research budget to $2B - TechCrunch

Lead story - Quantum computing - risks, opportunities and use cases - by Chris Middleton

MyPOV: Master-of-the-edgy-think-piece Chris Middleton unfurled a meaty two-parter on the realities of quantum computing. As a quantum computing fan boy and a proud quantum-changes-everything association member curmudgeon, I was glad to see Chris take this on.

In Quantum tech - big opportunities from (very, very) little things, he reminds us that pigeonholing quantum as "computing" is a mistake:

Quantum technology embraces a host of different systems, each of which could form a fast-expanding sector of its own if investors shift their focus away from computing. These include quantum timing, metrology, and navigation, such as the development of hyper-accurate, portable atomic clocks.

Each use case carries its own risks/opportunities, and need for transparency, particularly when you combine quantum and "AI." However, based on the recent sessions he attended, Chris says we should think of quantum as enhancing our tool kit rather than replacing classic computing outright. He concludes:

In business and technology, we see a world of big objects and quantifiable opportunities, and it is far from clear how the quantum realm relates to it though it is clear that it does. In short, investors, policymakers, and business leaders need something tangible and relatable before they reach for their credit cards.

Translation quantum computing is so 2021 (or maybe 2025). But I find middle ground with the hypesters: we'd better start talking about the implications now. Quantum computing has a far greater inevitability than say, enterprise blockchains.

Diginomica picks - my top stories on diginomica this week

Vendor analysis, diginomica style. Bears might be hibernating, but enterprise software vendors sure aren't napping:

Koch buys Infor: When Infor's CFO Kevin Samuelson took over the CEO role from Charles Phillips, many felt that the pending Infor IPO was in play. Well, many were wrong. Derek was on the case:

Infor to be acquired by Koch Industries - whats the likely impact? and the follow-on: Infor answers questions on Koch acquisition. The big question here, to me, isn't why Koch versus IPO. It's CloudSuite SaaS adoption. And which industries can Infor address via SaaS industry ERP? Derek's pieces give us important clues - and we'll we watching.

Google breaks out cloud earnings: ordinarily, earning reports are not watershed moments. But this was the first time "Alphabet" broke out Google Cloud (and YouTube) numbers. Google is obviously wary of the AWS and Azure comparisons. But it's not easy to break it all out anyhow (Google added GSuite revenues in also). Stuart parses it out inGoogle's 'challenger' cloud business hits $10 billion annual run rate as Alphabet breaks out the numbers for the first time.

SAP extends Business Suite maintenance to 2030 (with caveats): Arguably the biggest SAP story since the leadership change. Den had some questions stuck in his craw things to say, so he unfurled a two-parter:

MyPOV: a smart move - though an expected one - for the SAP new leadership team, with the user groups heavily involved in pushing the case. However, the next smart moves will be a lot tougher.

More vendor analysis:

And if that's not enough, Brian's got a Zoho review, I filed an Acumatica use case on SaaS best-of-breed, and Stuart crunched a landmark Zendesk earnings report.

Jon's grab bag - My annual productivity post is up and out; plus I took gratuitous shots at linkbaity Slack-has-ruined-work headlines (Personal productivity 2020 - Slack and Microsoft Teams didn't ruin work - but they didn't fix work either).

Neil explains the inexplicable in The problem of AI explainability - can we overcome it? Finally, I'm glad Jerry addressed the Clearview AI bottom-feeders in Clearview AI - super crime fighter or the death of privacy as we know it? There's a special place in my personal Hades for greedy entrepreneurs who steal faces, drape their motives in totally bogus 1st amendment claims, and plan to sell said data to authoritarian regimes. These bozos make robocallers look like human rights activists.

Lead story - analyzing the wreckage of the Iowa caucus tech fail

MyPOV: This could probably just be the whiffs section. The Iowa caucus app failure is very much like this: if you and I wrote down a step-by-step plan on how to screw up a mission-critical app launch, with everything from poor user engagement to technical failure to lack of contingencies to hacking vulnerabilities (which fortunately were not exploited), we've have this mess.

Hits/misses reader Clive reckons this is the best post-mortem: Shadow Inc. CEO Iowa Interview: 'We Feel Really Terrible' . First off, don't feel terrible, just go away. Shovel snow, or get involved in a local recycling initiative. Make a pinball app. Just stay away from the future of democracy from now on. Then there's this doozy: An 'Off-the-Shelf, Skeleton Project': Experts Analyze the App That Broke Iowa. Tell me if this sounds like something that would go smoothly:

To properly login and submit results, caucus chairs had to enter a precinct ID number, a PIN code, and a two-factor identification code, each of which were six-digits long.

Then there's the IDP, which was warned not to use the app by at least one party, and went headlong into their own abyss. Fortunately, there are a few lessons we can extract. Such as this one from Greg Miller, co-founder of the Open Source Election Technology Institute, which warned the IDP not to use the app weeks ago:

Our message is that apps like this should be developed in the sunlight and part of an open bug bounty.

An ironic message for an app developer named Shadow...

Honorable mention

I got a terrifying college flashback when I saw this one: Note targeting 'selfish' bongo player at Glastonbury Tor demands he stops playing. This prankster brought us back to the future though: Berlin artist uses 99 phones to trick Google into traffic jam alert.

In my line of work, we joke about PR hacks over-achievers pogo sticks pros "circling back", as if a second blast will somehow polish the turd of a crummy pitch as it slinkers by - well, this takes the noxious act of circling back to another level: Family Gets 55,000 Duplicate Letters from Loan Company. But hey, it's not all crash-and-burn here:

I can't let this slide another week:

I think we all realize by now that "free" services are all about data hucksters gorging themselves on the sweet nectar of our personal lives selling us out to the highest bidder. But when an anti-virus company gets it on the action, surely the Idiocracy has been achieved: "To make matters worse, Avast seems to maintain a lukewarm stance on the issue."

I'd like to invite the Avast team to step into my fiery cauldron. The only thing that's lukewarm is your grasping business model and your mediocre adware, err, I mean, anti-virus protection. Just one question: who protects us from you? As for Liz:

I'm with ya, Ms. Miller. Hopefully this is the next best thing....

If you find an #ensw piece that qualifies for hits and misses - in a good or bad way - let me know in the comments as Clive (almost) always does. Most Enterprise hits and misses articles are selected from my curated @jonerpnewsfeed. 'myPOV' is borrowed with reluctant permission from the ubiquitous Ray Wang.

See more here:

Enterprise hits and misses - quantum gets real, Koch buys Infor, and Shadow's failed app gets lit up - Diginomica

The mysterious quantum realm, or at least a Hollywood version of it, made its way into pop culture via the recent superhero film, Ant-Man. The hero shrinks down to a subatomic level even smaller than atoms and encounters a bizarre world that warps space and time in unpredictable ways.

At such miniscule scales, the fundamental laws of physics simply break down. But scientists have found ways to store information in individual electrons, making quantum communications possible. Or, they can measure the positions of atoms in incredibly precise ways to design navigation systems.

Were working on a navigation system based on quantum physics, that will be so accurate that you dont need any more GPS, explains Marko Erman, the Global Chief Scientific Officer of French defence and aerospace giant, Thales. He shares the real-world potential of this mysterious, but exciting field.

Beyond the electrons

Quantum physics will shape Thales trajectory over the coming years, says Erman. At least two-thirds of their business will be impacted in some way by new quantum devices and systems in the next 5-10 years, he announced in November at the Saclay research and technology cluster in the south of Paris.

Quantum sensors, quantum communications and quantum computing are the three main areas of focus in Thales research collaborations with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Universit Paris-Saclay. It is theoretically possible to build sensors that are ten thousand times more accurate; develop new energy sources; and create ultra-secure communications.

When people built atomic clocks, they never thought about global positioning systems. They didnt make the connection, says Erman. He was referring to quantum positioning, which can determine the position of a moving object with an almost absolute precision. Imagine being able to navigate submarines or underground vehicles without a satellite connection. Its possible, below seawater, Erman continues.

This technology has potential in the air too. If the GPS is not working on a plane, the pilot would be able to land at the destination with an accuracy of up to 20 kilometres, based only on the onboard inertia system, according to Erman. With a quantum positioning system however, it can land with the precision of within a metre. And in the military, quantum sensors within radar systems could help pilots detect suspicious flying objects or drones much more accurately in crowded airspace.

There are also quantum applications in the medical field. Take cancer treatment, for example. Current therapies can be destructive towards healthy cells, and not very targeted. Quantum devices could turn this on its head, and allow doctors to zoom in on individual diseased cells. I think the next phase of bio science is personalisation and going down to the cellular level; this would not be possible without quantum devices, Erman explains.

The burgeoning quantum innovation space holds great potential to transform the world as we know it. Right now, it is not particularly constrained by much regulation, Erman notes. Unlike genetics or artificial intelligence, which have a lot of debate about the societal impact and ethics, quantum escapes from that.

Research in Asia

Besides its huge focus on quantum innovation, Thales is continuing to build on research in its traditional verticals. Singapore is Thales only Asia research hub, where the company works with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on space research such as nanosatellite technology.

The city was chosen as it is very dynamic, is very high tech oriented, according to Erman. Whats more, the government wants to push innovation and there are problems that are unique because of the size, the mission, he continues. Its an interesting place to be.

Singapore is also where you have land, air, sea, and you can basically address all aspects in one place, adds Herve Jarry, Chief Technical Officer of Thales Solutions Asia. I think also with the proximity of people, different agencies, it is quite easy to interact.

In September 2019, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has announced a S$30 million Joint Aviation Innovation Research Lab with Thales to build advanced air traffic management technologies. These are meant to augment air traffic controllers abilities in a stressful environment, Jarry explains.

Weve been doing some work for instance with the ATM Lab in NTU on the interactions with different sensors and heartbeat, ECG, and so on, Jarry continues. The work will also look at how to reduce the cognitive load on air traffic controllers so they can handle more objects, he adds. Other research areas in Singapore include artificial intelligence and digital identity, Jarry goes on to say.

In the lonely spaces between protons and neurons, there exists a strange quantum world which does not always make much sense. But what does make sense is how it can improve communication, health, transport, and more, in ways we cant fathom today. As Erman puts it: Its beyond imagination.

Excerpt from:

Is quantum innovation the future of tech? - GovInsider

Peter Wittek was announced missing on September 29. PHOTO COURTESY OF SRIRAM KRISHNAN/GOFUNDME

On February 3, the Rotman School of Management and the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) held a ceremony in honour of Assistant Professor Peter Wittek, who went missing in India in late September. Wittek was a leading expert in quantum machine learning, and his work at the CDL as a founding academic director sought to lead the charge in the commercialization of these technologies.

An avid mountaineer, Wittek was part of a six-person team that was attempting to summit Mount Trishul, a 7,120 metre-high peak in the Himalaya mountain range of India. On September 29, the Indian National Disaster Response Force received an SOS distress signal that originated from Witteks camp. Search and rescue operations were unsuccessful, and it is believed that Witteks camp was caught in an avalanche. His body has yet to be found.

In a statement to U of T News, Professor Ken Corts, Acting Dean of the Rotman School of Management, said that Peters loss is keenly felt. Wittek is remembered by Corts as an exceptional contributor to Rotman and U of T and a wonderful colleague.

Over a hundred U of T students, staff, and faculty, as well as members of the artificial intelligence (AI) community attended his ceremony on Monday. A number of speakers who were close to Wittek shared stories of his brilliance and generosity of spirit.

Witteks brother, Gergo Oberfrank, came from Hungary to attend the ceremony. He expressed the anguish that he and his family feel at the possibility that they will never find Witteks body. Oberfrank began his speech by saying goodbye to not only a brother for [him], but a father figure too. The two had an 11-year age difference, and Wittek was his biggest role model.

Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Multiverse Computing Samuel Mugel also spoke about looking up to Wittek, even before he met him. Mugel recounted his time starting out in the field of quantum computing, saying, What I found difficult was that I didnt really have many role models [that were both] entrepreneurs and scientists and this is really the position that Peter started to take for me because I saw him as someone that really managed to find the balance between an entrepreneurs career [while] simultaneously [pursuing] fundamental research.

CDL Founder Ajay Agrawal also marvelled at Witteks eagerness to pursue the entrepreneurial side of cutting-edge technologies. I knew that he was a scholar and he had tendencies as a theorist. And I know that theorists can be resistant to thinking about such crass things as commercialization, Agrawal remarked with a bit of wryness in his voice.

This seems to be the crux of what made Wittek such a consequential academic and caused his fame in the field of quantum machine learning to be so enduring. He was both interested in the way nature works, [and] in understanding the underlying science, but also interested in commercialization, noted Agrawal.

Wittek was not only influential for his work in the field as a whole, but also for providing critical advice and guidance to a number of budding researchers and entrepreneurs. Mugel noted that Wittek was the one who had encouraged him to apply for the CDL Quantum Stream.

I think there [are] an awful lot of people here who can tell you something similar that Peter turned up at a key turn in their life and with advice or a push in the right direction, helped us in these really difficult decisions. Multiverse Computing is now a cutting-edge provider of quantum computing and AI software for the financial industry.

Khalid Kurji, a senior venture manager at the CDL, spoke on behalf of the team behind the Quantum Machine Learning Stream, of which Wittek was a crucial part. Kurji spoke on Witteks cosmopolitan outlook, remarking that his teams aspirations to lead globally could only become a reality because our academic director [Wittek] considered the entire planet his neighbourhood and treated every single person as if they grew up next door to him.

To Kurji, Witteks defining characteristic was his generosity. He gave the full of himself of his enthusiasm and intellect into everything he did.

Agrawal also shared this sentiment, and, as evidence, pointed out the surprising number of students who have emailed to express their gratitude for having had Wittek in their lives. I think people have a need to tell somebody how much someone has touched their life, changed the trajectory of their life, Agrawal reflected.

Agrawal also shared the story of how he first met Wittek. After reading Witteks book, Quantum Machine Learning: What Quantum Computing Means to Data Mining, Agrawal sent him an email with a few questions. Very often when I send the author a question about their book, they either dont reply or if they do reply they might send a very quick one-sentence response.

On the screen behind him, Agrawal projected an image of Witteks response to his question. The email was too long to fit on a single slide, and had to be shown in two parts. He had received it 48 minutes after his initial email. Its remarkable how much you can tell about a person from the very first interaction, Agrawal noted.

Im an economist; I was not in his community. And I was surprised that he would take the time to send me such a thorough response and then ask me if I had more questions. And I thought, This is my kind of person.

Tags: memorial, missing, Peter Wittek

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Memorial ceremony held for Peter Wittek, U of T professor who went missing in India - Varsity

Here are a list of the best motivational & inspirational quotes about life and success that will help boost your confidence & uplift your spirit so you believe in yourself, stay positive, keep going, and never give up.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, student, athlete, parent, business person, fitness enthusiast, or just want to improve your life in some way, these super deep quotes and words of encouragement will motivate and inspire you to stay positive so you can become successful and achieve great things in your life.

On this page your will find 100 motivational quotes, lines, phrases, thoughts, and sayings (with images and pictures) that will touch upon success, strength, courage, confidence, happiness, money, goals, hard times, following your dreams, achievement, overcoming adversity, self esteem, positive thinking, fear of failure, hard work, meaning of life, purpose, passion, determination, discipline, focus, self empowerment, greatness, and more!

Tough times dont last. Tough people do. Robert H. Schuller

Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time.

You have to be at your strongest when youre feeling at your weakest.

Never give up. Great things take time. Be patient.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. Confucius

You have to be at your strongest when youre feeling at your weakest.

Courage is one step ahead of fear. Coleman Young

If you feel like giving up, just look back on how far you are already.

Look in the mirror. Thats your competition.

Focus on your goal. Dont look in any direction but ahead.

Everything youve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. George Addair

Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. Lance Armstrong

The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow. Unknown

We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey. Kenji Miyazawa

A problem is a chance for you to do your best. Duke Ellington

Hard times dont create heroes. It is during the hard times when the hero within us is revealed. Bob Riley

Remember its just a bad day, not a bad life.

Whatever is worrying you right now, forget about it. Take a deep breath, stay positive and know that things will get better. Unknown

Its not about perfect. Its about effort. Jillian Michaels

Believe you can and youre halfway there. Theodore Roosevelt

Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes them meaningful.

You are so much more than what you are going through. John Tew

Passion first and everything will fall into place. Holly Holm

You dont gain anything from stressing. Remember that.

You have to be at your strongest when youre feeling at your weakest.

Difficult roads always lead to beautiful destinations. Zig Ziglar

Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out okay. Rather it is knowing that you will be okay no matter how things turn out. Unknown

Success is what happens after you have survived all of your disappointments.

Goals may give focus, but dreams give power. John Maxwell

Dont wish it were easier. Wish you were better. Jim Rohn

Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change.

Hustle until you no longer have to introduce yourself.

Success is what happens after you have survived all of your disappointments.

You dont always get what you wish for. But you always get what you work for.

You dont find will power, you create it.

Once you choose hope, anythings possible. Christopher Reeve

Push yourself because no one else is going to do it.

You cannot fail at being yourself. Wayne Dyer

Dont wait for opportunity. Create it.

You are the only one who can limit your greatness. Unknown

The first and greatest victory is to conquer self. Plato

Results happen over time, not overnight. Work hard, stay consistent, and be patient.

With confidence you have won before you have started. Marcus Garvey

Success is what comes after you stop making excuses. Luis Galarza

You dont want to look back and know you could have done better.

The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it. J.M. Barrie

Be so good they cant ignore you. Steve Martin

You will never always be motivated. You have to learn to be disciplined.

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. Norman Vincent Peale

When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, youll find a way to get it. Jim Rohn

The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do. Swati Sharma

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. Jim Rohn

Never stop trying. Never stop believing. Never give up. Your day will come. Unknown

Results happen over time, not overnight. Work hard, stay consistent, and be patient. Unknown

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. Confucius

Success is what happens after you have survived all of your disappointments. Unknown

Dont try to be perfect. Just try to be better than you were yesterday. Unknown

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Arthur Ashe

Dont stop until youre proud.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. Mahatma Gandhi

Im not telling you it is going to be easy, Im telling you its going to be worth it. Art Williams

If you want it, youll find a way. If you dont, youll find an excuse.

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. Newt Gingrich

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. Aristotle Onassis

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. Vince Lombardi

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. Maya Angelou

Strength doesnt come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldnt. Rikki Rogers

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. Muhammad Ali

We dont develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. Barbara De Angelis

When you fear your struggles, your struggles consume you. When you face your struggles, you overcome them.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson Mandela

Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time.

Set a goal so big that you cant achieve it until you grow into the person who can. Unknown

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney

The path to success is to take massive, determined action. Tony Robbins

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.

Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power. William James

If it doesnt challenge you, it wont change you.

The struggle youre in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow. Unknown

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Charles R. Swindoll

Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine. Roy T. Bennett

Strength is the product of struggle. You must do what others dont to achieve what others wont. Henry Rollins

Dont think about what might go wrong. Think about what might go right. Unknown

Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end. Roy T. Bennett

You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life. Unknown

Make the most of yourself.for that is all there is of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. E.E. Cummings

Every next level of your life will demand a different version of you. Unknown

Dont let your fear decide your future. Shalane Flanagan

Do something today that your future self will thank you for.

You were put on this Earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously. Steve Maraboli

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Dont downgrade your dream just to fit your reality. Upgrade your conviction to match your destiny. John Assaraf

Dont be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart. Roy T. Bennett

Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how youre going to live your life. Joel Osteen

If you believe it will work out, youll see opportunities. If you believe it wont, you will see obstacles. Wayne Dyer

Link:
100 Inspirational Motivational Quotes For Success In Life (2020)

In Georgia Tech's previous outing against Louisville back on January 23rd, Moses Wright didn't have the most efficient outing against the Cardinals. And he knows it.

"Honestly I didn't think I played up to my standard against Louisville," the junior forward admitted. "I felt like there were a couple plays here and there that I could have done differently"

While he did end up finishing with 11 points, it was also coupled by committing 3 turnovers and matching his rebounding season low of 3. He credits a combination of effort and execution as to how he performed against the Cards, and he's vowing to flip the script come Wednesday.

'I'm going to give it my all against Louisville"

With reserve big man Evan Cole's status still listed as "questionable" vs. Louisville per Josh Pastner, they'll need all the effort they can get out of the 4 and 5 spots.

But it's not just against the Cards that he will have the motivation to reverse a prior performance. While the notion of a revenge game against Louisville would be appealing to most, Wright still has loftier goals once the final horn sounds on late Wednesday night.

"We're all playing for that postseason, because we still don't know what's going to happen," Wright said. "We're all still fighting. we're not going to just fold."

Given the circumstances that Tech finds themselves in, throwing in the towel would be a somewhat viable or acceptable option to many. Not only are they 2 games under .500 with just 7 regular season games to go, they also have the ominous NCAA cloud hanging over their heads as well.

This past offseason, the NCAA Committee on Infractions slapped Georgia Tech with a postseason ban for the 2020 season, among other penalties. Georgia Tech filed an appeal, and is eligible for the postseason while the appeals process is ongoing.

Despite the adversities they face, Wright and Co. remain as focused as ever and believe they should be a team to watch out for if they find themselves in the Big Dance or at least the NIT.

"I definitely think that if we get that postseason opportunity, we're definitely gonna make a run. There's not doubt in my mind about that," he said.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

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Twitter - @GeorgiaTechSI and Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp

Excerpt from:
Moses Wright Not Lacking Any Motivation Ahead of Louisville Rematch - Sports Illustrated