I've been working on some important research on the forefront of physics: why do my cat's toys end up under the couch so fast?? youtu.be/JMNQ-Y5efGM
07.03.2026 17:19
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I've been working on some important research on the forefront of physics: why do my cat's toys end up under the couch so fast?? youtu.be/JMNQ-Y5efGM
"Great question, Croesus! While my status as a delphic model prevents me from elaborating further, I can affirm that by going to war with Persia you *will* destroy a mighty empire. Would you like me to write this up as a set of daily affirmations, or perhaps you'd like a list of mighty empires?"
I've been thinking a lot recently about what programming languages and environments might look like if freed entirely from the shackles of productivity, but I don't have any exciting new answers. See, e.g., esolangs, visual languages, livecoding languages for music, etc.
Agreed. We didn't stop playing chess just because computers are much better at it than we are—it's a pleasurable activity. Similarly, coding will never go away, even if a lot of industry code is written in a soul-crushing LLM-dominated way.
Wait you can just do that instead of talking about it for decades?
I can see how it might streamline tasks that have well understood answers (e.g., snippets of code from SO, or @rms80.bsky.social's Bastard Son of 100 Geometry Libraries). I'm more skeptical/wary of its ability to generate novel research code.
I'm generally against vibecoding. But I saw some examples this morning from a friend that made me wonder if I should throw my current coding problems into an LLM and see if it can outperform me. Sigh.
I confess I wasn't aware of any of Simmons' latter-day delirium. Sigh. I still have some nostalgia for the Hyperion novels. I also like the novella "Muse of Fire".
Only a few days left to submit a short paper or a workshop paper. I'm workshop chair and looking forward to seeing what is submitted!
I'm guessing this is what you're experiencing. I considered the question of "French songs with mediocre lyrics" and here's the first thing that popped into my head. Bonus: casual 80s racism! www.youtube.com/watch?v=aauk...
“Literally doesn’t understand that other people exist” is the skeleton key to understanding Trump
ok folks we are adding compute shaders to p5! the bouncing balls in this test sketch have their state updated in a compute shader.
My doomer-worry about AI is not that the LLMs become omnipotent and take over the world but that the wealthy and powerful use it as a means to consolidate power and marginalize or lay off skilled workers and also everything about our technological and political and social life gets worse
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
I'm happy to be just one of a team of maintainers on p5
You can test new tech ideas using the Seinfeld Test
Would the product eliminate the plot of an episode? (Google maps, cell phones, paypal, battery packs)
Good tech.
Would the product inspire new Seinfeld plots? (NFTs, AI chatbots, crypto currency, blindboxes, metaverse land sales)
Bad tech.
A single-line drawing that is simultaneously an open knight's tour of a 99x99 chessboard and a 3x3 Latin square.
If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.
The WIP is tempting. But I'm absolutely holding out for a (signed!) paper copy, whenever one is available. In the meantime, I enjoyed the podcast.
Breaking: Sir Demis Hassabis becomes the latest to say that ChatGPT is a dead-end and that we must turn our focus to world models - Gary Marcus
garymarcus.substack.com/p/breaking-s...
I'm excited to share that I'm going to be a TEDxWinnipeg speaker in May! I will be talking about digital legacy and the lack of tools and policy to support digital end-of-life planning.
tedxwinnipeg.ca/speakers/
#winnipeg #tedx
Some seem surprised that one can hold the following three beliefs simultaneously.
1. The October 7th attacks were appalling.
2. Israel's response has been appalling.
3. The Iranian regime is appalling and it would be great if it were overthrown (assuming something worse didn't replace it).
Ex-Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun has Lunch with the FT and in one of those instances so rare that you know he didn't sign an NDA, says exactly why as.ft.com/r/e503690d-8...
If you are a senior researcher (i.e., associate prof level or later), and you're interested in moving to the University of Waterloo (best CS program in Canada) for the Canada Impact+ Research Chair (biggest chair position in Canada, $$$$$), email me. Discretion guaranteed.
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
People mistakenly think prototypes are for discovering the right answer. They are most effective when used to find the right question.
Can someone please respond to Stephen Miller with this message from Frank Sinatra?
The days between December 25 and January 1 are the Lanthanides and Actinides of the Gregorian calendar
I encourage you to do as we do each year: at the start of the Sacred Observance (i.e., watching the movie), drink a sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist.
And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, was present at the end of the universe, having witnessed every black hole evaporate and every proton decay. Even so, Death would not come.
