Srikumar
@sriku.org
Math, music (@patantara.com), human and computer languages, small data and natural intelligence, visiting prof of computer science at Krea University. Blog - https://sriku.org .
Does the dog have Turing nature?
Does the dog have Turing nature?
Reposted by Srikumar
A reminder that @shriram.bsky.social will be delivering a seminar in @cst.cam.ac.uk today at 2pm (SS03). Shriram is one of those great speakers where I don’t read the talk abstract; I just show up as it’s always something interesting :-) talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/2...
talks.cam.ac.uk
February 20, 2026 at 8:05 AM
A reminder that @shriram.bsky.social will be delivering a seminar in @cst.cam.ac.uk today at 2pm (SS03). Shriram is one of those great speakers where I don’t read the talk abstract; I just show up as it’s always something interesting :-) talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/2...
A tamil movie quote a friend reminded me of that captures the pitfalls of argument by feature comparison - "காத்தாடிக்கு கூட தான் வால் இருக்கு, அதுக்காக குரங்கு பறக்குமா?" Trans: "Even kites have tails, does that mean monkeys can fly?"
February 20, 2026 at 3:45 AM
A tamil movie quote a friend reminded me of that captures the pitfalls of argument by feature comparison - "காத்தாடிக்கு கூட தான் வால் இருக்கு, அதுக்காக குரங்கு பறக்குமா?" Trans: "Even kites have tails, does that mean monkeys can fly?"
Reposted by Srikumar
“When Liu, 20, decided to return to skating, she did so with conditions. She’d wear what she wants. Dance to the music she wants. Eat what she wants. Take breaks when she wants…. [Skating] would be the vehicle through which she displayed the real Alysa.”
she did it! her! way!!
she did it! her! way!!
Alysa Liu’s Olympic run came with terms. Her choreographer helps her express them
Liu is the best U.S. hope for an Olympic medal in women's figure skating, which would be the country's first in the competition since 2006.
www.nytimes.com
February 20, 2026 at 12:22 AM
“When Liu, 20, decided to return to skating, she did so with conditions. She’d wear what she wants. Dance to the music she wants. Eat what she wants. Take breaks when she wants…. [Skating] would be the vehicle through which she displayed the real Alysa.”
she did it! her! way!!
she did it! her! way!!
www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil... Corruption destroys everything. If corruption in edu is not addressed, a scale disaster awaits us in the future. The gov enables this corruption, yes, but the people perpetuate it. Teachers hire cheap unqualified "substitutes" and take off!
Nilgiris DEO arrested for taking bribe to confirm teacher’s job
COIMBATORE: The District Educational Officer (DEO) for primary schools in Nilgiris district was arrested by sleuths of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corrupt
www.newindianexpress.com
February 20, 2026 at 2:23 AM
www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil... Corruption destroys everything. If corruption in edu is not addressed, a scale disaster awaits us in the future. The gov enables this corruption, yes, but the people perpetuate it. Teachers hire cheap unqualified "substitutes" and take off!
"The purpose of a system is what it does."
I appeared as an expert witness before the Joint Committee on AI at the Houses of Oireachtas (parliament of Ireland) to discuss "AI: truth and democracy" this morning. You can read my opening statement here: www.oireachtas.ie/en/publicati...
February 18, 2026 at 1:32 PM
"The purpose of a system is what it does."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventy... - One of the pieces that made me fall in love with Ted Chiang. Touches so many threads relevant to today with brilliant imagination.
Seventy-Two Letters - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 17, 2026 at 2:29 PM
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventy... - One of the pieces that made me fall in love with Ted Chiang. Touches so many threads relevant to today with brilliant imagination.
This is the way.
Developing nations leapfrogging fossil energy systems and going straight to new, now-affordable clean technologies is one of the more hopeful energy stories of the coming decade. Parallels to leapfrogging landlines and going straight to cell phones.
I *love* this ternary chart showing developing economies increasingly go directly for clean electrons (solar plus some wind), bypassing the fossil economy that the US and EU went through.
I expect Africa will take an even more direct route than India.
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
I expect Africa will take an even more direct route than India.
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
February 17, 2026 at 2:25 PM
This is the way.
Reposted by Srikumar
Sounds familiar.
"Under competitive authoritarianism, countries still hold elections, but the ruling party uses various tactics — attacking the press, disenfranchising voters, weaponizing the justice system and threatening critics — to tilt the electoral playing field in its favor."
www.npr.org/2026/02/16/n...
www.npr.org/2026/02/16/n...
Concerns over autocracy in the U.S. continue to grow
Is America still a democracy? Scholars tell NPR that after the last year under President Trump, the country has slid closer to autocracy or may already be there.
www.npr.org
February 17, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Sounds familiar.
Thought this could be fun to try - ran Claude Code on the OpenClaw github repo to produce a security assessment report in typst.app format and converted to PDF - sriku.org/files/opencl... . (PS: Nice that Claude can write decent typst.)
sriku.org
February 17, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Thought this could be fun to try - ran Claude Code on the OpenClaw github repo to produce a security assessment report in typst.app format and converted to PDF - sriku.org/files/opencl... . (PS: Nice that Claude can write decent typst.)
Reposted by Srikumar
My dad used to talk about how much he enjoyed ottamthullal as a kid in the 1940s-50s. It's a satirical recite & dance art from Kerala.
This dark, sharp act sure reminded me of that.
English privilege, Caste, TW, Tagore & more.
#DesiWatch #StandUp
This dark, sharp act sure reminded me of that.
English privilege, Caste, TW, Tagore & more.
#DesiWatch #StandUp
Let's Talk About It - Full Comedy Special | Manjeet Sarkar
This is my debut stand-up comedy special. Watch it till the end to enjoy it to the fullest.
The special consists of three colours representing 3 topics that are not algorithm-friendly. So, like,…
www.youtube.com
February 16, 2026 at 7:00 AM
My dad used to talk about how much he enjoyed ottamthullal as a kid in the 1940s-50s. It's a satirical recite & dance art from Kerala.
This dark, sharp act sure reminded me of that.
English privilege, Caste, TW, Tagore & more.
#DesiWatch #StandUp
This dark, sharp act sure reminded me of that.
English privilege, Caste, TW, Tagore & more.
#DesiWatch #StandUp
Reposted by Srikumar
On the @oxidecomputer and friends podcast last month we (primary credit @ahl) coined the term "Deep Blue" for the sense of psychological ennui leading into existential dread that many software developers are feeling thanks to LLMs right now https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/15/deep-blue/
Deep Blue
We coined a new term on the Oxide and Friends podcast last month (primary credit to Adam Leventhal) covering the sense of psychological ennui leading into existential dread that many …
simonwillison.net
February 15, 2026 at 9:12 PM
On the @oxidecomputer and friends podcast last month we (primary credit @ahl) coined the term "Deep Blue" for the sense of psychological ennui leading into existential dread that many software developers are feeling thanks to LLMs right now https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/15/deep-blue/
Looks like Voyager-1 will cross 1 light day around July 3rd this year? The US administration won't care, but ought to be a great celebration for NASA .. and for the whole of humanity.
February 15, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Looks like Voyager-1 will cross 1 light day around July 3rd this year? The US administration won't care, but ought to be a great celebration for NASA .. and for the whole of humanity.
And yet the profit makers hold no responsibility because they are "just" responding to the market in order to meet their (fictitious) "fiduciary responsibility" no matter how banked they are for lobbying to save lives.
February 13, 2026 at 2:38 AM
And yet the profit makers hold no responsibility because they are "just" responding to the market in order to meet their (fictitious) "fiduciary responsibility" no matter how banked they are for lobbying to save lives.
Reposted by Srikumar
MISLEADING: A new academic paper by @qmul.bsky.social has attracted significant media attention by claiming that EVs & heat pumps deliver no proven carbon savings in UK ahead of 2030 clean power target - and should therefore be postponed.
Here is why this paper should never have been published.🧵
Here is why this paper should never have been published.🧵
February 12, 2026 at 3:10 PM
MISLEADING: A new academic paper by @qmul.bsky.social has attracted significant media attention by claiming that EVs & heat pumps deliver no proven carbon savings in UK ahead of 2030 clean power target - and should therefore be postponed.
Here is why this paper should never have been published.🧵
Here is why this paper should never have been published.🧵
Gentle reminder
P(you are a theoretical physicist | you are Richard Feynman) != P(you are Richard Feynman | you are a theoretical physicist)
P(you are a theoretical physicist | you are Richard Feynman) != P(you are Richard Feynman | you are a theoretical physicist)
The authors’ prior publications are mainly in experimental & theoretical physics & materials science, not in electricity system modelling or decarbonisation studies.
February 13, 2026 at 1:22 AM
Gentle reminder
P(you are a theoretical physicist | you are Richard Feynman) != P(you are Richard Feynman | you are a theoretical physicist)
P(you are a theoretical physicist | you are Richard Feynman) != P(you are Richard Feynman | you are a theoretical physicist)
Got it. Only the super rich get "innocent until proven guilty". For the rest of us, a spelling inconsistency in our id cards can bring our citizenships into question and deny our voting rights and the responsibility of proving we're legit will lie with us. Make questioning citizenship be defamation?
The magistrate said that #RaviNair, as a journalist and public commentator, was expected to be conscious of the reach and impact of the statements made on digital platforms, especially when making categorical allegations that could affect reputations. scroll.in/latest/10906...
February 12, 2026 at 1:56 AM
Got it. Only the super rich get "innocent until proven guilty". For the rest of us, a spelling inconsistency in our id cards can bring our citizenships into question and deny our voting rights and the responsibility of proving we're legit will lie with us. Make questioning citizenship be defamation?
Tried Sailor ink (black) for my #fouuntainpen. Pen dries up easily. Doesn't happen with Pelikan ink. Anyone else find the same with Sailor? Didn't expect it for pricey ink.
February 11, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Tried Sailor ink (black) for my #fouuntainpen. Pen dries up easily. Doesn't happen with Pelikan ink. Anyone else find the same with Sailor? Didn't expect it for pricey ink.
Reposted by Srikumar
one of music’s quiet tricks is that you don’t have to speak the language to feel the weight of it.
free jazz figured that out a long time ago.
free jazz figured that out a long time ago.
February 10, 2026 at 4:48 AM
one of music’s quiet tricks is that you don’t have to speak the language to feel the weight of it.
free jazz figured that out a long time ago.
free jazz figured that out a long time ago.
You cannot setup linguistic moats around your product any more perhaps. For a problem, my CuSparse based training code ran a large problem in 4 minutes (took 4 hours on cpu). Got Claude Code to rewrite it for Metal + iterated on fusing some generated kernels - now 8x that speed on my M4 MacBook pro!
February 10, 2026 at 5:51 AM
You cannot setup linguistic moats around your product any more perhaps. For a problem, my CuSparse based training code ran a large problem in 4 minutes (took 4 hours on cpu). Got Claude Code to rewrite it for Metal + iterated on fusing some generated kernels - now 8x that speed on my M4 MacBook pro!
Kid (general sports enthusiast) puzzled by super bowl viewership .. says "total viewership of superbowl over ten years would still be less than the viewership of one football worldcup." (Referring to the game where people actually kick a ball with their feet)
February 10, 2026 at 4:53 AM
Kid (general sports enthusiast) puzzled by super bowl viewership .. says "total viewership of superbowl over ten years would still be less than the viewership of one football worldcup." (Referring to the game where people actually kick a ball with their feet)
Newly widened pedestrian walkways at Khader Nawaz Khan road in #Chennai. The city will shine if this is emulated all over. Could actually breathe while walking. This is a recent renovation .. so appreciate the thought and planning.
February 7, 2026 at 5:57 AM
Newly widened pedestrian walkways at Khader Nawaz Khan road in #Chennai. The city will shine if this is emulated all over. Could actually breathe while walking. This is a recent renovation .. so appreciate the thought and planning.
Reposted by Srikumar
![Comic. [Person talking to person with black hat.] PERSON 1: Historically, it refers to a ceremony to predict the weather using a rodent. But nowadays people often use it to mean “a time loop experienced by one person.” PERSON 2: …What. [caption] Easily our weirdest holiday.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreidknpywgj44ox6nphuyzs6si6lozn77jyx75nbh7v67wsjr6dssl4@jpeg)
February 4, 2026 at 9:35 PM
"Tomorrow will have its stresses but there's always another bike ride." Is a T-shirtable message! Love it.
Sometimes, only sometimes. The stress of life is worth enduring to feel it melt away during an after work bike ride that’s just aimless. Directionless. Not a-b - like my bikes an uber or an Audi. Of course it’s always temporary. Tomorrow will have its stresses. But there’s always another bike ride🚲♥️
February 5, 2026 at 1:18 PM
"Tomorrow will have its stresses but there's always another bike ride." Is a T-shirtable message! Love it.
