Links for 2010-04-19

"The topic of quantum noise has become extremely timely due to the rise of quantum information physics and the resulting interchange of ideas between the condensed matter and atomic, molecular, optical-quantum optics communities. This review gives a pedagogical introduction to the physics of quantum noise and its connections to quantum measurement and quantum amplification. After introducing quantum noise spectra and methods for their detection, the basics of weak continuous measurements are described. Particular attention is given to the treatment of the standard quantum limit on linear amplifiers and position detectors within a general linear-response framework. This approach is shown how it relates to the standard Haus-Caves quantum limit for a bosonic amplifier known in quantum optics and its application to the case of electrical circuits is illustrated, including mesoscopic detectors and resonant cavity detectors."

"A forthcoming paper by Michael Kraus and Dacher Keltner at UC-Berkeley investigates the correlation between "tactile communication" and success in the NBA. In essence, the paper demonstrates that "touchier" teams - and this includes everything from pats on the ass to high-fives - are also more likely to win. "

"Farmville is not a good game. While Caillois tells us that games offer a break from responsibility and routine, Farmville is defined by responsibility and routine. Users advance through the game by harvesting crops at scheduled intervals; if you plant a field of pumpkins at noon, for example, you must return to harvest at eight o'clock that evening or risk losing the crop. Each pumpkin costs thirty coins and occupies one square of your farm, so if you own a fourteen by fourteen farm a field of pumpkins costs nearly six thousand coins to plant. Planting requires the user to click on each square three times: once to harvest the previous crop, once to re-plow the square of land, and once to plant the new seeds. This means that a fourteen by fourteen plot of land--which is relatively small for Farmville--takes almost six hundred mouse-clicks to farm, and obligates you to return in a few hours to do it again. This doesn't sound like much fun, Mr. Caillois. Why would anyone do this?"