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  Should we make programming languages that are 'easier' for LLMs to write code for? Nope. In fact, we need languages where LLM-generated code can be verified more easily!

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  Still resistant to measles 👍

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  Shrinkflation is finally making portion sizes realistic.

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  Colleague told me SIGMOD is in Bengaluru! However, it is in Whitefield, way way out.

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  In general, and perhaps naively, I believe democratization of technology is a net positive for society over the long run. The democratization of programming by AI LLMs has a better chance of being that if 1) it can be made cheap so it can survive, 2) the technology is not hostage to a few companies but diffuses broadly.

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  At some point after the pandemic, Oak Hall seems to have decided to use hoods featuring national colors for those educated outside America. I don't know how to feel about that given that the Tiranga is younger than the Institute.

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  Google maps is willing to route my bike through the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, but as far as I know, bikes aren't allowed.

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  I've been told one side effect of LLMs is that the number of late assignment submissions goes way down.

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  Had an interesting conversation with a colleague who does multispectral document recovery from ancient/medieval manuscripts, and learnt of MegaVision who provide the 150MP digital back. I only know of Phase One who had a back of that resolution, but there were not many kind words for them.

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  The Kefir C compiler: https://kefir.protopopov.lv/

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  TIL of the LaTeX markdown package that allows you to write markdown and compile it with LaTeX. Student misunderstood what I wanted, but hey, learnt something new. https://ctan.org/pkg/markdown?lang=en

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  Man, not funny.

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  @regehr@mastodon.social I'd agree, the cost of the ISA is probably negligible, especially since x86 is converted to RISC-like uops under the hood anyway. Saying that ARM probably has a more efficient frontend is probably correct, but a more efficient complete processor, probably not, especially on real-world tasks where the processor is unlikely the main power sink.

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  @shom@gts.shom.dev reminiscent of Vermeer's Milkmaid!

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  Bought this interesting book on sale (SALE2026) for about $11: Culinary Herbs and Spices of the world by Ben-Erik van Wyk. It does mention kokum, but only in a single sentence as a west coast alternative to tamarind, but points for that. Mostly a reference, no recipes. The photos are very good. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo16940311.html

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  Week 4 of debugging (without AI) an AI artifact that is not good enough to use, but not so bad enough that it can be thrown away. I guess this is the productivity we deserve.

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  One of AI scientific writing's tells is how hard it tries to be convincing by just arguing about it. Like, don't assert you are right, show me. The scientific method is now half a millenia old if not older.

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  American science is dealt another blow: https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-fires-nsf-s-oversight-board

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  There are em-dashes and spaced en-dashes, with the superior, of course, being spaced en-dashes. I've seen at least one LLM start using spaced em-dashes. I like the attempt, but stick to spaced en-dashes please.

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  A "cyberweapon" that messes with floating point calculation correctness: https://www.sentinelone.com/labs/fast16-mystery-shadowbrokers-reference-reveals-high-precision-software-sabotage-5-years-before-stuxnet/

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  With leaders like these, who needs enemies? "The Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate’s (CISE) would receive a significant reduction to its budget in FY27 under the President’s proposed budget. CISE, located within R&RA and home for most of the computing research support at NSF, would see its budget drop from $933 million in FY25 to $346 million for FY27, a decrease of $586 million or 63 percent. (NSF has not yet released the spend plan for CISE’s FY26 b...

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  The real productivity revolution will be here when we stop emailing each other Excel sheets and PDF files to fill out.

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  TIL Bison grow and shed a winter coat At Antelope Island

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  A bison herd on the Salt Lake (from Antelope Island)

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  San Rafael Swell #1 Zeiss Ikon Ikonta, Ektar 100 120 film. #FilmPhotography #MediumFormat

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  San Rafael Swell #2 Zeiss Ikon Ikonta, Ektar 100 120 film. #FilmPhotography #MediumFormat

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  Another of my attempt to statically analyze C++ code fails.

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  Grandeur Peak (summit!) + East Trail + Pipeline Trail After failing last time, I started off near the west face trail with fresh legs and hiking poles. Although it was unrelenting, I took fewer breaks and only wavered near the last 0.2miles. 3 hrs of climbing in all, 3000ft of climbing, and summit at 8200ft. This trail is hard, nearly every climber I saw was at threshold, though some were impressive. I then descended using the East trail and at this point it is easily my favorite trail in SLC...

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  Millcreek Canyon Road from the Pipeline Trail #SLCHike #SLCPics

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  Mt. Tom Creek Cascade / Hoh River Trail / Olympic National Park (1/4s)