Deadline: 17th August 2010 at 17:00:00 Brussels local time

A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan.

Reading Dr. Michael A. Nielsen

If you are reading this blog, the odds are high that you are a physicist. Then, you may have probably heard about Dr. Michael A. Nielsen, the Quantum Computation pioneer and coauthor (with Isaac L. Chuang) of the reference book on the subject, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information.

Two years ago, Dr. Nielsen had a permanent position at the University of Queensland. In spring ’07, he moved to Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. In September ’07, he decided to make a change and “shift [his] creative work to a completely new direction”: the “development of new tools for scientific collaboration and publication.” Since Perimeter “was not willing to support” his new activity as a faculty member, he resigned his job in June ’08. Now, he defines himself as a writer. And so he is.

Dr. Nielsen has a blog. He started it in 2003, but now his posts are longer and more frequent. If you are interested in science, research, IT, and progress, it is a must-read.

He’s also writing a book on The Future of Science. There’s a full category about it in his blog (you can, e.g., read a very appealing invited talk on Doing science online he delivered in QIP2009).

I really really encourage you to read Dr. Nielsen writings. I am really looking forward to his book.

Still alive

Good evening

I just wanted to say that I am still alive. Things didn’t go too well last year, so I am taking 6 exams on September. I’ve been studying all summer, so I hope I’ll pass all of them. I really must pass the exams, since I already have a position in a research group as a graduate student, and I should begin all the graduate stuff before October.

I suppose I’ll begin writing on a regular basis some day. When that day will come, nobody knows, but considering I feel busier everyday… it may take some 40 or 50 years . Meanwhile, in case you feel bored, you may consider trying (do ( ) (( ))) (also known as Ruben Berenguel’s blog) or goproblems.com.

February holidays

Sorry for not posting in 3 weeks. There were a lot of things to do, and didn’t have time to write.

The Swedish trip was nothing more than a dream. I would have had to sleep one or two nights in airports or bus stations, and I found this not too much enjoyable – the other option was paying ~490€ with Spanair, and I couldn’t afford this -.

To avoid the disappointment, I tryied many other activities. Car driving by Catalonia was quite entertaining, and I seized the opportunity to visit some familiars and friends . Going shopping was also fun, and now I have some kind of renewed dressing style and I feel more comfortable with the clothes I wear.

I also attended to the Albert Einstein Day at the Facultat de Matemàtiques i Estadística of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. There were up to five conferences related to Einstein’s life and research (2 exciting, 1 good, 1 acceptable and 1 boring scheduled at nap time). During the meal time I even played go with another member of the public! In fact these days I’ve played go a lot, not only at KGS but also with classmates and at IGS.

Finally, my last semester as an undergraduate began on 14th February. I am taking 5 new subjects, so I have a lot of classwork. This was in fact a study break, so… see you soon .

My profile

Beethoven – The Piano Sonatas Nos. 28-29, D. Barenboim (CD 8)

I have just finished writing my personal details in my profile. Here’s the result (with better formatting and completely linked):

I am a 20 years old boy from Barcelona, Spain.

I am in the last year of the Physics degree in the Universitat de Barcelona. I hope to begin doctoral studies next year (if you can offer me a fellowship or a contract, please, contact me xD). I have also applied for being a Summer Student in CERN (Geneva, Switzerland) in Summer 2005 (what a great summer it can be!!).

Concerning my non-academic interests, I enjoy listening to music a lot. I also play the piano and the violin.

My other two great hobbies are books and go. I enjoy reading almost all kinds of books, although these last years I’ve had little time to read non-Physics related literature due to the difficulty of the degree courses. On the other hand, go is a thrilling intellectually-demanding two-player oriental board game.

On personal grounds I am actually living with my parents, but I’d like to stop relying on them next year.

What more can I say?… Well, I also have fun going out with my friends (who doesn’t? :$). Ah, and these days I am not dating anyone: I am single and half looking .

If you want to know more about me, just read my blog (don’t be shy and post or e-mail anything you want to!).

First post

Well, this post is some kind of test of the settings… let’s see if it
works ! Anyway, there is a lot more to come .