IBM Wants Everyone to Try a Quantum Computer
想試用量子電腦 IBM幫你圓夢
By John Markoff

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada grabbed international headlines recently with a simple explanation of a cutting-edge technology called quantum computing. Now IBM is trying to do something similar by making a research-oriented quantum computer and a – relatively – simple tutorial available online for anyone to try.
不久前，加拿大總理杜魯多對於稱為量子計算的尖端技術做了番簡單的解釋，並因而登上了全球媒體的頭條。而現在，IBM也想做類似的事，方法則是把一部研究導向的量子電腦，以及一個相對簡單的教程放在網路上，讓任何人都可拿來試用。

The idea of a new class of computers able to exploit the most basic properties of energy and matter to speed calculations beyond what is possible with today’s digital systems has long held both promise and controversy. The systems are based on the notion of a “qubit,” or quantum bit – a basic value capable of encompassing more information than the 1’s and 0’s that are the basis of classical digital computing.
研製一種能夠利用能量與物質的最基本性質加快計算速度，超越今日數位系統極限的新類型電腦的想法，長久以來一直既令人期待，又引發爭議。該系統以「qubit」的概念為基礎，「qubit」即量子位元，是個能夠比傳統數位計算基礎的1跟0包含更多資訊的基礎數值。

A computing system composed of just five qubits, which is what IBM built, would not be able to replace current personal computers. However, the IBM Quantum Experience will allow students, hobbyists and even serious researchers to experiment with algorithms that are radically different from the ones now used for everything from word processing to speech recognition.
IBM所打造、僅由5個量子位元組成的計算系統無法取代目前的個人電腦。然而，「IBM量子經驗」將讓學生、愛好者，甚至嚴肅的研究人員，以另一種演算法來進行實驗，而這種演算法與當前用於從文字處理到語音識別等一切事物上的演算法截然不同。

“It’s meant to be educational but also to be the beginnings of a larger framework,” said Jerry M. Chow, manager of the Experimental Quantum Computing Group at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, in Yorktown Heights, New York.
紐約州約克城高地IBM華生研究中心的「實驗性量子計算團隊」經理傑瑞．周說：「這是要用在教育上的，但同時也是更大框架的開始。」

IBM researchers have recently demonstrated a quantum computer that they believe will one day be scaled up to a machine that might have hundreds of qubits and be able to run a wide range of algorithms more quickly than today’s computers.
IBM研究人員最近展示了一台量子電腦，他們相信有朝一日它可擴充為一部可能有數百個量子位元的機器，而且與目前的電腦相比，能讓許多種演算法跑得更快。

Some quantum computing theorists believe that such a computer might be designed as a “universal” computer capable of performing any task much faster than machines now in use.
一些量子計算理論家認為，這樣子的電腦可能被設計成一台執行任何工作的速度，都比目前使用中電腦更快的「通用型」電腦。

IBM has been gradually enhancing the power of its quantum computer, which is assembled from a network of qubits made from metals that become superconducting when they are cooled to near absolute zero.
IBM一直在逐步提高其量子電腦的能力，而該電腦則是由溫度被冷卻至接近絕對零度的超導金屬所製成的量子位元網路組成。

Company researchers announced the construction of a four-bit quantum computer last year, and in February they reported they had added a fifth qubit and were making progress in refining certain error-correcting methods that are important for quantum computing.
該公司研究人員去年宣布建造了一部4位元的量子電腦，而他們今年2月說又新增了第5個量子位元，並在改進某個對量子計算很重要的糾錯方法上正取得進展。

The IBM quantum computer will offer visually oriented online tutorials that are intended to help people and companies understand how programming such a computer will be different from programming a digital computer.
IBM量子電腦將提供視覺導向的線上教程，用來幫助人們和企業了解，這種電腦的程式設計跟數位電腦有何不同。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/04/technology/ibm-wants-everyone-to-try-a-quantum-computer.html

2016-05-22．聯合報．D2．紐約時報賞析．陳韋廷譯

說文解字看新聞 陳韋廷

即便IBM此次開放給大眾體驗的量子電腦尚處於實驗階段，但卻是「電腦科學」（computer science）發展邁向量子電腦時代的重要一步。該電腦有別於我們日常所使用的「電子電腦」（electronic computer），是個使用量子邏輯進行運算的裝置，而量子則是宇宙中能量的最小單位。

而演算法（algorithm）在中國古代文獻中稱為「術」，屬於數學與電腦科學中的計算基礎步驟，常用在計算及數據推理之中，而歐幾里得演算法（Euclidean algorithm，亦稱輾轉相除法）則被人們認為是史上首個演算法。

quantum此字由表示「多少、數量」的字根quant-與表示「狀態」或「地方」的名詞字尾-um所組成，而其他以字根quant開頭的英文單字還有quantify（以數量表示）、quantitative（數量的、量化的）、quantity（數量）等等。

此外，文中片語scale up指的是「放大、增加」的意思，與enlarge、maximize、magnify、amplify、augment等單字同義，而scale down則是反義詞。例句：The government pledged to scale up investments in the Information Communication Technology （ICT）industry.（政府承諾將增加對資訊與通訊科技產業的投資。）

An Atlantic Archipelago’s Main Export: Music
大西洋迷你島國 外銷音樂拚經濟
By Saskia de Rothschild

Some countries have oil, diamonds or cocoa beans. Cape Verde, a tiny archipelago about 385 miles off the west coast of Senegal, has music, and it is betting on that resource to help bolster its fragile economy.
有些國家出產石油、鑽石或可可豆。塞內加爾西海岸外約385英里（620公里）的迷你群島國家「維德角」出產音樂，並在這個資源上押寶，靠它振興脆弱的經濟。

This month, music promoters and producers from the United States, Europe and some African nations landed in Praia, the country’s capital, for the Atlantic Music Expo, a four-day talent showcase that the government bills as a “music professionals meeting.” They attended seminars, networked and hopped from one stage to another, joining crowds of giggling teenagers, dancing elders and excited children to watch aspiring local and international singers.
這個月，美國、歐洲和一些非洲國家的演唱會主辦人和製作人紛紛來到維德角首都培亞，參加「大西洋音樂博覽會」，這是高手一展長才的機會，為期四天，維德角政府標榜為「專業音樂人大會」。這些音樂人參加研討會，拓展人脈，並從一個舞台跳到另一個舞台，加入一群群咯咯笑的青少年、手舞足蹈的老年人和興奮的孩童，一起欣賞渴望成名的當地和各國歌手演出。

The Atlantic expo, which ran from April 11-14, was followed by the privately sponsored Kriol Jazz Festival, now in its eighth year, which promotes creole-inspired island music.
4月11日到14日的大西洋博覽會結束後，接著就是民間贊助的「克里歐爵士音樂節」，開辦至今已八年，旨在推廣受克里歐文化影響的維德角音樂。

“It’s essential to see people perform live before you book them, and there is nothing better than experiencing a music culture where it’s actually from,” said Paula Abreu, the director of programming for SummerStage, an annual New York City music festival. “You immediately know if an artist has what it takes to entertain a public of thousands.”
紐約市年度音樂節SummerStage節目總監寶拉．艾伯魯說：「在簽下藝人之前，先看他們現場表演很重要，而且，沒有什麼比在音樂文化發源處體驗音樂文化更好了，你馬上就能知道這個藝人有沒有取悅幾千人的能耐。」

Abreu booked the musicians Mayra Andrade, Dino D’Santiago and the Cesária Évora Orchestra for last year’s SummerStage after seeing them at the Atlantic expo.
艾伯魯就是先在大西洋博覽會上看到梅拉安德拉黛、迪諾聖地亞哥和西莎莉雅艾芙拉樂團，才安排他們在去年的SummerStage中演出。

The model for many Cape Verdean artists is international star Cesária Évora, who put Cape Verde on the map of the music world with her renditions of mornas, the islands’ ballads of love and longing.
國際知名歌手西莎莉雅艾芙拉是許多維德角藝人的典範，她演繹維德角情歌，把維德角帶上全球音樂舞台。

“Here, from the rural areas to the breezy beach towns, everyone sings and has a beautiful voice,” said José Da Silva, who developed the Kriol festival and is the producer of the Atlantic Music Expo. “What matters is who works hard enough to be discovered.”
開發出克里歐音樂節、同時也是大西洋音樂博覽會製作人的達席爾瓦說：「在這裡，從偏鄉到微風吹拂的海灘城鎮，人人唱歌，也都有副好歌喉，夠努力的人才會被發掘。」

Da Silva, a music producer who helped to relaunch the career of Évora in the 1980s, worked with the Cape Verde Ministry of Culture to create the Atlantic Music Expo, now in its fourth year. This year, the government spent about $227,000 to finance the expo, which also had corporate sponsors.
音樂製作人達席爾瓦曾在1980年代協助西莎莉雅艾芙拉復出，他跟維德角文化部合作創辦大西洋音樂博覽會，至今邁入第四年，今年維德角政府撥出22萬7000美元補助博覽會，另有企業贊助。

Together, the two events attract thousands of fans and music professionals each year and pump more than $1 million into the islands’ economy each year, officials said.
官方說，這兩場活動每年吸引成千上萬粉絲和專業音樂人，每年為維德角經濟注入超過100萬美元。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/05/arts/music/tiny-atlantic-archipelago-has-but-one-export-music.html

2016-05-22．聯合報．D2．紐約時報賞析．李京倫譯