  Quantum information processing (QIP) offers the promise of being able to do
things that we cannot do with conventional technology. Here we present a new
route for distributed optical QIP, based on generalized quantum non-demolition
measurements, providing a unified approach for quantum communication and
computing. Interactions between photons are generated using weak
non-linearities and intense laser fields--the use of such fields provides for
robust distribution of quantum information. Our approach requires only a
practical set of resources, and it uses these very efficiently. Thus it
promises to be extremely useful for the first quantum technologies, based on
scarce resources. Furthermore, in the longer term this approach provides both
options and scalability for efficient many-qubit QIP.
