Luke
@lukedigi.bsky.social
math/cs undergrad, future software engineer
Guess and check is my favorite coding technique.
May 6, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Guess and check is my favorite coding technique.
Agreeing with North Korean state media was not on my 2024 bingo card.
December 11, 2024 at 4:26 AM
Agreeing with North Korean state media was not on my 2024 bingo card.
Need them to add a "dislike" button to Linkedin
December 7, 2024 at 10:45 PM
Need them to add a "dislike" button to Linkedin
Will never cease to amaze me how humans went from smashing rocks to make little blades to smashing rocks to make literal magic.
December 7, 2024 at 3:47 AM
Will never cease to amaze me how humans went from smashing rocks to make little blades to smashing rocks to make literal magic.
Trying to program things in OCaml feels like being a beginner all over again.
I am solving the first few of last year's AoC and it takes me maybe a few minutes in Python and then over 20 minutes in OCaml.
I am solving the first few of last year's AoC and it takes me maybe a few minutes in Python and then over 20 minutes in OCaml.
November 29, 2024 at 8:18 PM
Trying to program things in OCaml feels like being a beginner all over again.
I am solving the first few of last year's AoC and it takes me maybe a few minutes in Python and then over 20 minutes in OCaml.
I am solving the first few of last year's AoC and it takes me maybe a few minutes in Python and then over 20 minutes in OCaml.
Back to learning OCaml today, I found out there is a difference between `fun` and `function`, where `function` allows you to directly pattern match an input, but this only works for single argument functions.
November 29, 2024 at 7:40 PM
Back to learning OCaml today, I found out there is a difference between `fun` and `function`, where `function` allows you to directly pattern match an input, but this only works for single argument functions.
On the campus of NYU today and noticed panic buttons in their bathroom stalls. Definitely a first for me
November 26, 2024 at 7:36 PM
On the campus of NYU today and noticed panic buttons in their bathroom stalls. Definitely a first for me
When I was a little kid I would have nightmares of being arrested for littering candy wrappers. We should prosecute people for that like they did in my dreams.
November 23, 2024 at 9:06 PM
When I was a little kid I would have nightmares of being arrested for littering candy wrappers. We should prosecute people for that like they did in my dreams.
Today I learned: a genuine understanding of random variables - in my graph theory course of all places (were doing probabilistic graph theory). I always knew how to use them in statistics classes, but never a real intuition for them as mathematical objects.
November 22, 2024 at 7:20 AM
Today I learned: a genuine understanding of random variables - in my graph theory course of all places (were doing probabilistic graph theory). I always knew how to use them in statistics classes, but never a real intuition for them as mathematical objects.
I think most people would come to realize that our modern industrial meat production system is indubitably immoral and simply evil. But most people don't want to think about that because "mmm chicken nugget good".
I'm unfortunately one of those people, but I could foresee changing in the future.
I'm unfortunately one of those people, but I could foresee changing in the future.
November 21, 2024 at 6:17 AM
I think most people would come to realize that our modern industrial meat production system is indubitably immoral and simply evil. But most people don't want to think about that because "mmm chicken nugget good".
I'm unfortunately one of those people, but I could foresee changing in the future.
I'm unfortunately one of those people, but I could foresee changing in the future.
Today I learned: Aluminum used to be a very valuable resource since it was incredibly difficult to extract from the ore (around the early 1880s it was more valuable than silver!) In 1886 the Hall-Heroult process was discovered which efficiently extracts aluminum from the ore, and the rest is history
Hall–Héroult process - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 21, 2024 at 6:04 AM
Today I learned: Aluminum used to be a very valuable resource since it was incredibly difficult to extract from the ore (around the early 1880s it was more valuable than silver!) In 1886 the Hall-Heroult process was discovered which efficiently extracts aluminum from the ore, and the rest is history
I want to get back to learning OCaml 😪
The end of my last semester of college is killing me.
The end of my last semester of college is killing me.
November 21, 2024 at 2:25 AM
I want to get back to learning OCaml 😪
The end of my last semester of college is killing me.
The end of my last semester of college is killing me.
Today I learned: The Euler characteristic (χ = V - E + F for convex polyhedra) can similarly be calculated for arbitrary topological shapes as an alternating sum of Betti numbers and this value is topologically invariant (e.g. for convex polyhedra χ=2, for the torus χ=0)
November 19, 2024 at 4:41 AM
Today I learned: The Euler characteristic (χ = V - E + F for convex polyhedra) can similarly be calculated for arbitrary topological shapes as an alternating sum of Betti numbers and this value is topologically invariant (e.g. for convex polyhedra χ=2, for the torus χ=0)
Today I learned: the fundamental principle of a zero knowledge proof. Basically one party proves to another that something is true (e.g. x = y) without revealing any information about x or y.
November 18, 2024 at 5:30 AM
Today I learned: the fundamental principle of a zero knowledge proof. Basically one party proves to another that something is true (e.g. x = y) without revealing any information about x or y.
Bluesky has been so much more conducive to my curiosity because I’m not barraged with posts saying “immigrants are animals” and “women are property”. X is becoming just a memory
November 17, 2024 at 2:40 AM
Bluesky has been so much more conducive to my curiosity because I’m not barraged with posts saying “immigrants are animals” and “women are property”. X is becoming just a memory
A universal prediction machine can necessarily not exist because the future would diverge from its prediction based on our actions against that prediction. It’s paradoxical
November 17, 2024 at 2:10 AM
A universal prediction machine can necessarily not exist because the future would diverge from its prediction based on our actions against that prediction. It’s paradoxical
Something I hadn't considered before is that if our current cryptosystems are broken in the future (via Quantum algorithms, etc.) then that compromises all of our current data. This is a type of attack called "Harvest now, decrypt later"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest...
Harvest now, decrypt later - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 17, 2024 at 12:16 AM
Something I hadn't considered before is that if our current cryptosystems are broken in the future (via Quantum algorithms, etc.) then that compromises all of our current data. This is a type of attack called "Harvest now, decrypt later"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest...
Today I learned: Bluesky is a "Public Benefit Corporation" which is a designation indicating their objectives are not just profit but the "benefit of society".
November 16, 2024 at 10:56 PM
Today I learned: Bluesky is a "Public Benefit Corporation" which is a designation indicating their objectives are not just profit but the "benefit of society".
Continuing with rewiring my imperative programming brain I decided to write a progressive tax calculator in both Python and OCaml. The procedural version (in Python) is much easier to understand imo, but this may just be because I'm not proficient in FP yet to write good code.
November 16, 2024 at 10:34 PM
Continuing with rewiring my imperative programming brain I decided to write a progressive tax calculator in both Python and OCaml. The procedural version (in Python) is much easier to understand imo, but this may just be because I'm not proficient in FP yet to write good code.
A truly expressive grasp of vocabulary is so important to translate the veracity of one’s experience.
I hate not being able to find the words to encapsulate the intricacy of a feeling or idea I have.
I hate not being able to find the words to encapsulate the intricacy of a feeling or idea I have.
November 16, 2024 at 6:40 AM
A truly expressive grasp of vocabulary is so important to translate the veracity of one’s experience.
I hate not being able to find the words to encapsulate the intricacy of a feeling or idea I have.
I hate not being able to find the words to encapsulate the intricacy of a feeling or idea I have.
“Soaked in wine” is going to be my new term for being drunk.
November 16, 2024 at 6:30 AM
“Soaked in wine” is going to be my new term for being drunk.
“Life is short, art is long”
November 16, 2024 at 6:26 AM
“Life is short, art is long”
Today I learned: OCaml has a built-in optional type to return Some value or None. Pretty basic, but I'm brand new to OCaml.
I've always preferred not to use try/catch workflows - they are so non-idiomatic to me - but it works well here. Rewriting to exploit options is an eyesore (and doesn't work).
I've always preferred not to use try/catch workflows - they are so non-idiomatic to me - but it works well here. Rewriting to exploit options is an eyesore (and doesn't work).
November 16, 2024 at 4:09 AM
Today I learned: OCaml has a built-in optional type to return Some value or None. Pretty basic, but I'm brand new to OCaml.
I've always preferred not to use try/catch workflows - they are so non-idiomatic to me - but it works well here. Rewriting to exploit options is an eyesore (and doesn't work).
I've always preferred not to use try/catch workflows - they are so non-idiomatic to me - but it works well here. Rewriting to exploit options is an eyesore (and doesn't work).
Today I learned: any 2D map of regions can be colored such that adjacent regions are different using no more than 4 colors. This can proved by showing the chromatic number of the dual graph of any planar graph is at most 4. The proof handles so many cases that it’s infeasible without software!
November 15, 2024 at 4:25 AM
Today I learned: any 2D map of regions can be colored such that adjacent regions are different using no more than 4 colors. This can proved by showing the chromatic number of the dual graph of any planar graph is at most 4. The proof handles so many cases that it’s infeasible without software!
Reposted by Luke
Feels like I'm just posting to the void since I'm just getting started here, but why not. I write a weekly newsletter, and this week I write about how far away from reading and critical thinking we’ve come. It's lacking in our education, COVID learning loss, social media attention spans, all of it.
We need to get back to reading and critical thinking
Because 2024 feels different from 2016.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2024 at 6:23 PM
Feels like I'm just posting to the void since I'm just getting started here, but why not. I write a weekly newsletter, and this week I write about how far away from reading and critical thinking we’ve come. It's lacking in our education, COVID learning loss, social media attention spans, all of it.