@jessemichel.bsky.social
Reposted
Relatedly: maybe also a good time to question our assumptions about why peer review is helpful in the first place.
www.experimental-history.com/p/the-rise-a...
www.experimental-history.com/p/the-rise-a...
The rise and fall of peer review
Why the greatest scientific experiment in history failed, and why that's a great thing
www.experimental-history.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Relatedly: maybe also a good time to question our assumptions about why peer review is helpful in the first place.
www.experimental-history.com/p/the-rise-a...
www.experimental-history.com/p/the-rise-a...
Thanks to the community and advances in type-hinting, it should be possible to improve `Tap` a lot.
`Annotated` allows the programmer to annotate a type (e.g., height: Annotated[int, "in inches"]), which we can use to pass options to `argparse`.
github.com/swansonk14/t...
`Annotated` allows the programmer to annotate a type (e.g., height: Annotated[int, "in inches"]), which we can use to pass options to `argparse`.
github.com/swansonk14/t...
Feature request: Positional argument with default value · Issue #169 · swansonk14/typed-argument-parser
Would it be possible to add support for default values for positional arguments, similarly to the standard Python argparse? class Args(Tap): config_path: str = "config.yaml" force_update: bool = Fa...
github.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Thanks to the community and advances in type-hinting, it should be possible to improve `Tap` a lot.
`Annotated` allows the programmer to annotate a type (e.g., height: Annotated[int, "in inches"]), which we can use to pass options to `argparse`.
github.com/swansonk14/t...
`Annotated` allows the programmer to annotate a type (e.g., height: Annotated[int, "in inches"]), which we can use to pass options to `argparse`.
github.com/swansonk14/t...
Why is flow matching implemented with the differential form of the ODEs and not the integral equation version?
A discretization scheme for solving the integral equation would look like simulating the dynamics all at once.
A discretization scheme for solving the integral equation would look like simulating the dynamics all at once.
November 17, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Why is flow matching implemented with the differential form of the ODEs and not the integral equation version?
A discretization scheme for solving the integral equation would look like simulating the dynamics all at once.
A discretization scheme for solving the integral equation would look like simulating the dynamics all at once.
Social media posting on research is rife with
vagueposting - attention seeking posts by people who want to act as if they're not seeking attention
I just want technical content :(
vagueposting - attention seeking posts by people who want to act as if they're not seeking attention
I just want technical content :(
November 16, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Social media posting on research is rife with
vagueposting - attention seeking posts by people who want to act as if they're not seeking attention
I just want technical content :(
vagueposting - attention seeking posts by people who want to act as if they're not seeking attention
I just want technical content :(
Appending "do not use defensive programming" to the end of my queries makes AI generated code much more terse and useful. I can handle weird edge cases after, but I want to start by getting the core functionality in place.
October 29, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Appending "do not use defensive programming" to the end of my queries makes AI generated code much more terse and useful. I can handle weird edge cases after, but I want to start by getting the core functionality in place.
I've been surprised by how much I like OpenAI Atlas. It's so fast and it's the best AI-based search engine I've used. UX is amazing.
I reserve the right to dislike it in the future when it presumably tries to bake ADs into LLM outputs in a mublock-proof way :'(.
I reserve the right to dislike it in the future when it presumably tries to bake ADs into LLM outputs in a mublock-proof way :'(.
October 22, 2025 at 4:56 AM
I've been surprised by how much I like OpenAI Atlas. It's so fast and it's the best AI-based search engine I've used. UX is amazing.
I reserve the right to dislike it in the future when it presumably tries to bake ADs into LLM outputs in a mublock-proof way :'(.
I reserve the right to dislike it in the future when it presumably tries to bake ADs into LLM outputs in a mublock-proof way :'(.
LLMs I've used have been almost completely useless at formalizing anything to do with denotational or operational semantics.
I find it so shocking how good models are at advanced math and coding, and then how bad they are at the intersection of the two.
I find it so shocking how good models are at advanced math and coding, and then how bad they are at the intersection of the two.
October 4, 2025 at 4:38 PM
LLMs I've used have been almost completely useless at formalizing anything to do with denotational or operational semantics.
I find it so shocking how good models are at advanced math and coding, and then how bad they are at the intersection of the two.
I find it so shocking how good models are at advanced math and coding, and then how bad they are at the intersection of the two.
I can't get any LLM to make a type system :(. PL folks have to write more papers to train the LLMs.
October 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I can't get any LLM to make a type system :(. PL folks have to write more papers to train the LLMs.
I remember when Windows added ads to the start menu. I think apple turned on a default to show ads (at least it can be toggled off for now). I left Linux because of the driver bugs, but Linux is looking pretty good now.
October 1, 2025 at 5:08 PM
I remember when Windows added ads to the start menu. I think apple turned on a default to show ads (at least it can be toggled off for now). I left Linux because of the driver bugs, but Linux is looking pretty good now.
Successfully defended my thesis:
Distribution Programming for Physics-Based Computations
Distribution Programming for Physics-Based Computations
September 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Successfully defended my thesis:
Distribution Programming for Physics-Based Computations
Distribution Programming for Physics-Based Computations
I'd love a good biking route from Cambridge to Logan Airport and a safe place to park the bike at the airport 🚲 ✈️ .
I know this isn't exclusively in Cambridge, but is this possible @realBurhanAzeem @Marc_C_McGovern? Thanks for all you've done for bikers!
I know this isn't exclusively in Cambridge, but is this possible @realBurhanAzeem @Marc_C_McGovern? Thanks for all you've done for bikers!
September 17, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I'd love a good biking route from Cambridge to Logan Airport and a safe place to park the bike at the airport 🚲 ✈️ .
I know this isn't exclusively in Cambridge, but is this possible @realBurhanAzeem @Marc_C_McGovern? Thanks for all you've done for bikers!
I know this isn't exclusively in Cambridge, but is this possible @realBurhanAzeem @Marc_C_McGovern? Thanks for all you've done for bikers!
I got an email that was clearly automated but had a personalized tag line about my research in it. Something of the form: "I was interested in your research on ..."
I'm just bracing for a new wave of spam like this. I need an AI to screen my emails from this slop.
I'm just bracing for a new wave of spam like this. I need an AI to screen my emails from this slop.
September 12, 2025 at 8:03 PM
I got an email that was clearly automated but had a personalized tag line about my research in it. Something of the form: "I was interested in your research on ..."
I'm just bracing for a new wave of spam like this. I need an AI to screen my emails from this slop.
I'm just bracing for a new wave of spam like this. I need an AI to screen my emails from this slop.
My defense talk is completely hopeless. There is nothing anyone can do for it.
September 9, 2025 at 3:46 PM
My defense talk is completely hopeless. There is nothing anyone can do for it.
Plotting workflow: prototype in Desmos, use chat to write matplotlib code, and do by-hand checking and tuning.
I want more of this workflow.
I want more of this workflow.
September 5, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Plotting workflow: prototype in Desmos, use chat to write matplotlib code, and do by-hand checking and tuning.
I want more of this workflow.
I want more of this workflow.
Does Meta stand for metadata because they store all your data and sell it to advertisers?
September 2, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Does Meta stand for metadata because they store all your data and sell it to advertisers?
I just randomly joined a member of the MIT admin for lunch. He's part of the office that helps students reserve space at MIT. It was a great reminder of all the wonderful staff at MIT who made helped make my days at MIT better. Thanks Aaron!
August 27, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I just randomly joined a member of the MIT admin for lunch. He's part of the office that helps students reserve space at MIT. It was a great reminder of all the wonderful staff at MIT who made helped make my days at MIT better. Thanks Aaron!
Russ Tedrake's recent talk about the robotics/AI work at TRI is soooo good www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN1M...
Stanford Seminar - Multitask Transfer in TRI’s Large Behavior Models for Dexterous Manipulation
April 25, 2025Russ Tedrake, MITTitle: A Careful Examination of Multitask Transfer in TRI’s Large Behavior Models for Dexterous ManipulationAbstract: Many of ...
www.youtube.com
July 6, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Russ Tedrake's recent talk about the robotics/AI work at TRI is soooo good www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN1M...
It would be so nice if there was more competition for WiFi.
Unfortunately, there's a monopoly in Cambridge. Xfinity is the only fast WiFi. They have these random price hikes (a high baseline price with "promotions" that randomly expire). Their customer support is terrible.
Unfortunately, there's a monopoly in Cambridge. Xfinity is the only fast WiFi. They have these random price hikes (a high baseline price with "promotions" that randomly expire). Their customer support is terrible.
June 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
It would be so nice if there was more competition for WiFi.
Unfortunately, there's a monopoly in Cambridge. Xfinity is the only fast WiFi. They have these random price hikes (a high baseline price with "promotions" that randomly expire). Their customer support is terrible.
Unfortunately, there's a monopoly in Cambridge. Xfinity is the only fast WiFi. They have these random price hikes (a high baseline price with "promotions" that randomly expire). Their customer support is terrible.
Today marks the second time that Faà di Bruno's formula was super useful to me.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%C3%A...
It expresses a higher-order derivative of a composition of functions and uses the Bell polynomials. It came up in a distribution theory proof for my dissertation.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%C3%A...
It expresses a higher-order derivative of a composition of functions and uses the Bell polynomials. It came up in a distribution theory proof for my dissertation.
June 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Today marks the second time that Faà di Bruno's formula was super useful to me.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%C3%A...
It expresses a higher-order derivative of a composition of functions and uses the Bell polynomials. It came up in a distribution theory proof for my dissertation.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%C3%A...
It expresses a higher-order derivative of a composition of functions and uses the Bell polynomials. It came up in a distribution theory proof for my dissertation.
Cursor tab needs to stop repeatedly trying to modify the same line. If I rejected the last three recommendations, the fourth isn't going to change my mind...
June 3, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Cursor tab needs to stop repeatedly trying to modify the same line. If I rejected the last three recommendations, the fourth isn't going to change my mind...
Screw theory, differential kinematics, and singularities.
These are all topics that I'm interested in.
These are all topics that I'm interested in.
May 8, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Screw theory, differential kinematics, and singularities.
These are all topics that I'm interested in.
These are all topics that I'm interested in.
Cursor repeated tries to delete everything in my dissertation. It really understands me.
April 25, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Cursor repeated tries to delete everything in my dissertation. It really understands me.
LLMs are excellent at choosing notation for math. They tend to be very concise and elegant.
Unfortunately, they also commonly make many mistakes in distribution theory :(.
Unfortunately, they also commonly make many mistakes in distribution theory :(.
April 24, 2025 at 9:33 PM
LLMs are excellent at choosing notation for math. They tend to be very concise and elegant.
Unfortunately, they also commonly make many mistakes in distribution theory :(.
Unfortunately, they also commonly make many mistakes in distribution theory :(.
Not to brag, but Elon has lost orders of magnitude more money than I have.
April 23, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Not to brag, but Elon has lost orders of magnitude more money than I have.
I found a recording of my talk on differentiating parametric discontinuities from OOPSLA:
www.youtube.com/live/ltA6hQA...
I explain some of the math techniques (e.g., distribution theory) and PL tools (e.g., formal semantics) behind developing a language for differentiable rendering.
www.youtube.com/live/ltA6hQA...
I explain some of the math techniques (e.g., distribution theory) and PL tools (e.g., formal semantics) behind developing a language for differentiable rendering.
[SPLASH'24] San Gabriel - OOPSLA (Oct 24th)
Full Program: https://2024.splashcon.org/program/program-splash-2024/
www.youtube.com
April 18, 2025 at 2:05 AM
I found a recording of my talk on differentiating parametric discontinuities from OOPSLA:
www.youtube.com/live/ltA6hQA...
I explain some of the math techniques (e.g., distribution theory) and PL tools (e.g., formal semantics) behind developing a language for differentiable rendering.
www.youtube.com/live/ltA6hQA...
I explain some of the math techniques (e.g., distribution theory) and PL tools (e.g., formal semantics) behind developing a language for differentiable rendering.