Tim Ng
@timng.bsky.social
I teach computer science https://cs.uchicago.edu/~timng/
Reposted by Tim Ng
![Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago on 14 September 1955, the son of Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martínez.[4] His father, who was a United States Navy veteran of World War II and school administrator,[5] was of French and Italian descent, and his mother of Spanish descent.[6] As a child, Prevost served as an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption Church on the far South Side of Chicago.[7] He completed his secondary studies at the minor seminary of the Order of St. Augustine in 1973. Prevost earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Villanova University in 1977.[8]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wvexgwndckqyszwviyuoeibi/bafkreiab6e3zx37wlvxtahxnpfjpgngci34k3l2o27vr2bhiniiglkydtm@jpeg)
![ABSTRACT
Most computer Science faculty members look forward to teaching a course in Theory of Computation. [...]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:56ymemf436dj5xwjig6nlnfo/bafkreigi7kdfcwbnvwjxeftxk4zet6hi6uumv4tbaryxz4eo2y7ez3lhsq@jpeg)
Reposted by Tim Ng
I love uniqueness proofs that go:
"Assume a,b satisfy P. Then stuff happens. Therefore a=b."
It's like you're saying to the reader: Ha! Fool that you are, you unconsciously assumed that a and b were distinct. But they were the same the whole time! How can you ever show your face in public again?
"Assume a,b satisfy P. Then stuff happens. Therefore a=b."
It's like you're saying to the reader: Ha! Fool that you are, you unconsciously assumed that a and b were distinct. But they were the same the whole time! How can you ever show your face in public again?
April 28, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I love uniqueness proofs that go:
"Assume a,b satisfy P. Then stuff happens. Therefore a=b."
It's like you're saying to the reader: Ha! Fool that you are, you unconsciously assumed that a and b were distinct. But they were the same the whole time! How can you ever show your face in public again?
"Assume a,b satisfy P. Then stuff happens. Therefore a=b."
It's like you're saying to the reader: Ha! Fool that you are, you unconsciously assumed that a and b were distinct. But they were the same the whole time! How can you ever show your face in public again?
Reposted by Tim Ng
A human postdoctoral fellow costs $50,000 a year.
March 5, 2025 at 7:10 PM
A human postdoctoral fellow costs $50,000 a year.
Reposted by Tim Ng
Canadian politics immediately before tariffs and immediately after
March 4, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Canadian politics immediately before tariffs and immediately after
Reposted by Tim Ng
New paper: Simulating Time With Square-Root Space
people.csail.mit.edu/rrw/time-vs-...
It's still hard for me to believe it myself, but I seem to have shown that TIME[t] is contained in SPACE[sqrt{t log t}].
To appear in STOC. Comments are very welcome!
people.csail.mit.edu/rrw/time-vs-...
It's still hard for me to believe it myself, but I seem to have shown that TIME[t] is contained in SPACE[sqrt{t log t}].
To appear in STOC. Comments are very welcome!
people.csail.mit.edu
February 21, 2025 at 10:19 PM
New paper: Simulating Time With Square-Root Space
people.csail.mit.edu/rrw/time-vs-...
It's still hard for me to believe it myself, but I seem to have shown that TIME[t] is contained in SPACE[sqrt{t log t}].
To appear in STOC. Comments are very welcome!
people.csail.mit.edu/rrw/time-vs-...
It's still hard for me to believe it myself, but I seem to have shown that TIME[t] is contained in SPACE[sqrt{t log t}].
To appear in STOC. Comments are very welcome!
Reposted by Tim Ng
heraldic blazon is an english DSL send tweet
February 20, 2025 at 10:11 PM
heraldic blazon is an english DSL send tweet
printing out source code is surprisingly challenging to get looking good
February 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
printing out source code is surprisingly challenging to get looking good
Reposted by Tim Ng
What The Actual Fuck?
February 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
What The Actual Fuck?
Reposted by Tim Ng
Here's a blog post on the new OEIS sequence I accidentally stumbled upon. Nothing terribly remarkable finding a new one, they're a dime a dozen, but I really wasn't looking for one at all:
www.vikramsaraph.com/blog/2025/01...
www.vikramsaraph.com/blog/2025/01...
An OEIS Sequence | Vikram Saraph
www.vikramsaraph.com
January 30, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Here's a blog post on the new OEIS sequence I accidentally stumbled upon. Nothing terribly remarkable finding a new one, they're a dime a dozen, but I really wasn't looking for one at all:
www.vikramsaraph.com/blog/2025/01...
www.vikramsaraph.com/blog/2025/01...
Reposted by Tim Ng
I'm truly saddened to hear of the passing of Arto Salomaa, a giant in formal languages and automata theory. I was a student of his son, Kai, and I was honoured to co-author a recent paper with the two Salomaas. Arto formed the foundations of our field and his work influences mine every day.
Arto Salomaa, Academician of Science, dies at 90
Academician of Science Arto Salomaa (b. 1934), a pioneer in the mathematical theory of computer science, has passed away. During his long and distinguished research career, Salomaa engaged in scientif...
www.aka.fi
January 28, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I'm truly saddened to hear of the passing of Arto Salomaa, a giant in formal languages and automata theory. I was a student of his son, Kai, and I was honoured to co-author a recent paper with the two Salomaas. Arto formed the foundations of our field and his work influences mine every day.
I really like Fira Code but I switched to IBM Plex Mono on my teaching laptop when I remembered trying to teach intro CS with code ligatures is probably a bad idea
January 20, 2025 at 4:03 AM
I really like Fira Code but I switched to IBM Plex Mono on my teaching laptop when I remembered trying to teach intro CS with code ligatures is probably a bad idea
Reposted by Tim Ng
The best part of writing an essay about my love of small regional art museums is that now everyone is recommending their own favorite small regional art museums in the comments. 🥲
The Wonder Of The Regional Art Museum | Defector
A 24-hour business trip to Cleveland four days before Christmas was a bad idea; I see that now. There wasn’t even that much snow, by Lake Erie standards, but Delta Airlines didn’t seem to care that I ...
defector.com
January 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
The best part of writing an essay about my love of small regional art museums is that now everyone is recommending their own favorite small regional art museums in the comments. 🥲
using OBS in lecture
pros: window management is really convenient
cons: terminal lags because of 400% cpu usage on my 2019 i5 macbook air
pros: window management is really convenient
cons: terminal lags because of 400% cpu usage on my 2019 i5 macbook air
January 11, 2025 at 4:35 AM
using OBS in lecture
pros: window management is really convenient
cons: terminal lags because of 400% cpu usage on my 2019 i5 macbook air
pros: window management is really convenient
cons: terminal lags because of 400% cpu usage on my 2019 i5 macbook air
How to download a csv roster in Canvas:
1. Link a Gradescope course to Canvas
2. Sync the Canvas roster to Gradescope
3. Download the roster in Gradescope
1. Link a Gradescope course to Canvas
2. Sync the Canvas roster to Gradescope
3. Download the roster in Gradescope
January 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
How to download a csv roster in Canvas:
1. Link a Gradescope course to Canvas
2. Sync the Canvas roster to Gradescope
3. Download the roster in Gradescope
1. Link a Gradescope course to Canvas
2. Sync the Canvas roster to Gradescope
3. Download the roster in Gradescope
Reposted by Tim Ng
I've recently been talking a bit about how difficult it is to carefully check even well-written mathematics. I want to try to explain something about this by telling the story of some errors in the literature that (in part) led to the two papers below. 1/n
January 1, 2025 at 10:28 PM
I've recently been talking a bit about how difficult it is to carefully check even well-written mathematics. I want to try to explain something about this by telling the story of some errors in the literature that (in part) led to the two papers below. 1/n
Reposted by Tim Ng
I find the "cars=freedom" thing so funny because the history is actually very clear that the advent of mass motorism substantially weakened privacy rights and empowered the police.
Contemporary policing relies on roadside stops for a reason, the threshold for warrantless searches is much lower!
Contemporary policing relies on roadside stops for a reason, the threshold for warrantless searches is much lower!
no surprise seeing NRO take a stand against property rights because they have no real ideology other than reflexive opposition to anything coded as liberal. the image says everything. if libs want to make it easier to build homes then obviously it must be opposed. a child’s worldviews.
Trump Must End the War on Cars | National Review
He should lead the resistance to EV mandates and strike a blow for liberty.
www.nationalreview.com
December 27, 2024 at 11:58 PM
I find the "cars=freedom" thing so funny because the history is actually very clear that the advent of mass motorism substantially weakened privacy rights and empowered the police.
Contemporary policing relies on roadside stops for a reason, the threshold for warrantless searches is much lower!
Contemporary policing relies on roadside stops for a reason, the threshold for warrantless searches is much lower!
Reposted by Tim Ng
You’re still arguing about tabs vs. spaces? May I present…
December 25, 2024 at 6:37 PM
You’re still arguing about tabs vs. spaces? May I present…
Reposted by Tim Ng
Small screens continue to be the bane of my existence. Realised that it's quite common to not be able to see all of what's going on with my Turing tape, so implemented the ability to scroll the tape.
December 11, 2024 at 6:10 PM
Small screens continue to be the bane of my existence. Realised that it's quite common to not be able to see all of what's going on with my Turing tape, so implemented the ability to scroll the tape.
it's great that the registrar schedules final exams at 7:30 am, which is before most buildings are "open" so students can't get in via keycard and they need a guy to hold the door open while it is -13ºC outside
December 12, 2024 at 2:01 PM
it's great that the registrar schedules final exams at 7:30 am, which is before most buildings are "open" so students can't get in via keycard and they need a guy to hold the door open while it is -13ºC outside
Reposted by Tim Ng
6 hours under martial law: a drunk scene report from Seoul www.theverge.com/24312920/mar...
6 hours under martial law in Seoul
On the ground from the protests outside the National Assembly building
www.theverge.com
December 4, 2024 at 10:04 AM
6 hours under martial law: a drunk scene report from Seoul www.theverge.com/24312920/mar...
really appreciate that the university gave us a week off for catching up on writing letters
December 4, 2024 at 3:36 AM
really appreciate that the university gave us a week off for catching up on writing letters