David Andersen
@daveandersen.bsky.social
Computer Science Professor, CMU;
co-founder and CTO, Enriched Ag
Energy-efficient computing, a dash of security, and a pinch of databases.
Also on Mastodon (https://hachyderm.io/@dave_andersen )
signal: dga.48
he/him
co-founder and CTO, Enriched Ag
Energy-efficient computing, a dash of security, and a pinch of databases.
Also on Mastodon (https://hachyderm.io/@dave_andersen )
signal: dga.48
he/him
You can't read this thread and not believe we'd all be much better off with measures such as speed/light cameras, cannabis decriminalization, and more use of social services to respond to non-criminal emergency calls.
People with guns should be for serious situations, not tickets.
People with guns should be for serious situations, not tickets.
The number of people killed by cops in a given year can be described by two things:
1) The number of interactions between citizens and cops
2) The probability of a cop + citizen interaction resulting in a cop shooting
The cop shooting probability is influenced by many things.
1) The number of interactions between citizens and cops
2) The probability of a cop + citizen interaction resulting in a cop shooting
The cop shooting probability is influenced by many things.
November 26, 2025 at 4:32 PM
You can't read this thread and not believe we'd all be much better off with measures such as speed/light cameras, cannabis decriminalization, and more use of social services to respond to non-criminal emergency calls.
People with guns should be for serious situations, not tickets.
People with guns should be for serious situations, not tickets.
I don't always tell people to listen to the pope, but when I do, it's because he's right about not using AI for your homework.
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I don't always tell people to listen to the pope, but when I do, it's because he's right about not using AI for your homework.
Ugh. Air quality in my part of #pittsburgh is bad enough that I fired up the smellPgh app again to fruitlessly yell about it.
I like many things about Pittsburgh. The air is not one of them.
I like many things about Pittsburgh. The air is not one of them.
November 24, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Ugh. Air quality in my part of #pittsburgh is bad enough that I fired up the smellPgh app again to fruitlessly yell about it.
I like many things about Pittsburgh. The air is not one of them.
I like many things about Pittsburgh. The air is not one of them.
Enron had RAPTORS. Meta has GATORS? ;)
"It seems like a marvel of financial engineering: Meta is building a $27 billion data center in Louisiana, financed with debt, and neither the data center nor the debt will be on its own balance sheet."
AI Meets Aggressive Accounting at Meta’s Gigantic New Data Center
Favorable treatment off the balance sheet hinges on some convenient assumptions.
www.wsj.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Enron had RAPTORS. Meta has GATORS? ;)
Being able to ask when you don't know or understand something is a superpower. (Even if Mamdani may have already known it, in which case he's just an excellent showman. :)
completely outside of politics, this is so charming
November 21, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Being able to ask when you don't know or understand something is a superpower. (Even if Mamdani may have already known it, in which case he's just an excellent showman. :)
This NYT article was lovely. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life (Gift Article)
This is the story of how a man traded steady, grinding corporate security for a dying craft and, in the process, found his soul.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
This NYT article was lovely. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Nothing LLMs have shown me in 2025 has caused me to change my mind about their utility: They're useful if and only if it's decently cheaper to verify the correctness of their output than to generate it yourself.
This can work for code & math (sometimes). It seems to work poorly for facts.
This can work for code & math (sometimes). It seems to work poorly for facts.
Anyway, yet another example of how you should never trust what an LLM says. They can be (and are, as the above examples show) manipulated by their owners — and that's even before you get to the hallucination issues.
November 20, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Nothing LLMs have shown me in 2025 has caused me to change my mind about their utility: They're useful if and only if it's decently cheaper to verify the correctness of their output than to generate it yourself.
This can work for code & math (sometimes). It seems to work poorly for facts.
This can work for code & math (sometimes). It seems to work poorly for facts.
Reposted by David Andersen
Wow! Jesse Welles performed his song “Join ICE” on the Colbert Show last night. 🏆
November 20, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Wow! Jesse Welles performed his song “Join ICE” on the Colbert Show last night. 🏆
At the end of my grad systems class (CMU 15-712), I show some videos from the SOSP History Day, including the panel, "Is achieving security a hopeless quest?". It's now 10 years old, and it's quite interesting to watch.
(1) Margo's talk remains utterly hilarious and on-point
1/13
(1) Margo's talk remains utterly hilarious and on-point
1/13
November 20, 2025 at 4:06 PM
At the end of my grad systems class (CMU 15-712), I show some videos from the SOSP History Day, including the panel, "Is achieving security a hopeless quest?". It's now 10 years old, and it's quite interesting to watch.
(1) Margo's talk remains utterly hilarious and on-point
1/13
(1) Margo's talk remains utterly hilarious and on-point
1/13
When my children don't take their dishes to the sink after dinner
November 20, 2025 at 3:29 PM
When my children don't take their dishes to the sink after dinner
Ditto on all counts
I'm grateful to people with big followings (and good poasts) who chose, and continue to choose, to use Bluesky instead of X even though it may cost them fame, clout, dopamine hits. Appreciate y'all.
November 19, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Ditto on all counts
Reposted by David Andersen
And, also, if you run a business that regularly purchases shipping supplies: ULINE is run by some of the worst people on Earth. Get your boxes and tape elsewhere.
Remember: don't eat the mid tier fast food chicken, don't play the wizard game, don't shop at the hobby store run by the bad guys from Indiana Jones, and don't donate to the bigot bucket.
I know it's a tad early but I know those bitches with the buckets will be out soon. Don't gove them a penny. The volunteers may not know but the salvation army is no ally and actively combative and harmful to many queer minorities especially during the holiday season
November 19, 2025 at 6:12 PM
And, also, if you run a business that regularly purchases shipping supplies: ULINE is run by some of the worst people on Earth. Get your boxes and tape elsewhere.
This is important for the health of folks living near #pittsburgh. Overdue but better late than never. Many thanks to the county council (and GASP).
November 19, 2025 at 12:57 AM
This is important for the health of folks living near #pittsburgh. Overdue but better late than never. Many thanks to the county council (and GASP).
The kids wanted ramen tonight so we're trying Buldak (13yo picked it out and I decided to keep my mouth shut). They're discovering that "spicy" does, in fact, mean spicy sometimes. 🤣
(It's not _that_ hot but it is like eating a serrano pepper.)
(It's not _that_ hot but it is like eating a serrano pepper.)
November 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The kids wanted ramen tonight so we're trying Buldak (13yo picked it out and I decided to keep my mouth shut). They're discovering that "spicy" does, in fact, mean spicy sometimes. 🤣
(It's not _that_ hot but it is like eating a serrano pepper.)
(It's not _that_ hot but it is like eating a serrano pepper.)
Reposted by David Andersen
Sigh. I'm so unmotivated to finish a pile of reviews that I'm procrastinating on my procrastination project.
November 18, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Sigh. I'm so unmotivated to finish a pile of reviews that I'm procrastinating on my procrastination project.
I hate that McSweeny's is telling it better than the NYT.
Q: It’s starting to sound like underage women are children. What’s the difference between underage women and children?
A: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/faq...
A: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/faq...
FAQ: Underage Women
“Many of the headlines have read that [Jeffrey Epstein] is accused of ‘sex with underage women.’ Really? Why are we whitewashing? Why are we not ca...
www.mcsweeneys.net
November 18, 2025 at 12:12 AM
I hate that McSweeny's is telling it better than the NYT.
Throwing nice round pizzas is definitely not my forte, but it's still fun as heck. (Had leftover biga for making bread yesterday so decided to turn it into pizza dough today.)
Mixed greens, mozzarella, and beyond meat hot Italian 'sausage'.
Mixed greens, mozzarella, and beyond meat hot Italian 'sausage'.
November 16, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Throwing nice round pizzas is definitely not my forte, but it's still fun as heck. (Had leftover biga for making bread yesterday so decided to turn it into pizza dough today.)
Mixed greens, mozzarella, and beyond meat hot Italian 'sausage'.
Mixed greens, mozzarella, and beyond meat hot Italian 'sausage'.
Having fun w/13yo, who expressed interest in baking bread.
(The biga-based rustic bread recipe from Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb").
We didn't have bread flour on hand, so the crumb is a little small, but have some for next weekend.
(The biga-based rustic bread recipe from Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb").
We didn't have bread flour on hand, so the crumb is a little small, but have some for next weekend.
November 16, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Having fun w/13yo, who expressed interest in baking bread.
(The biga-based rustic bread recipe from Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb").
We didn't have bread flour on hand, so the crumb is a little small, but have some for next weekend.
(The biga-based rustic bread recipe from Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb").
We didn't have bread flour on hand, so the crumb is a little small, but have some for next weekend.
Farewell to the garden part 3: fried green tomatoes. (They taste better than they look. 🤓)
November 15, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Farewell to the garden part 3: fried green tomatoes. (They taste better than they look. 🤓)
7yo Semi-Seriously said he wanted to learn algebra, because his big sister is in algebra 2 and he wants to do everything they do. So I've decided it would be amusing to try -- we'll just have to dynamically learn all the math leading up to it as we go. 🤣
Fractions will slow us down for a while...
Fractions will slow us down for a while...
November 13, 2025 at 3:43 PM
7yo Semi-Seriously said he wanted to learn algebra, because his big sister is in algebra 2 and he wants to do everything they do. So I've decided it would be amusing to try -- we'll just have to dynamically learn all the math leading up to it as we go. 🤣
Fractions will slow us down for a while...
Fractions will slow us down for a while...
Trying out real lifting shoes for the first time instead of either flat no-sole vibrams or just really stuff heeled shoes. Haven't lifted in them yet, but they feel super weird - it's like the toes are glued to the floor. Very intrigued to do squats on Friday. 🤓
November 12, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Trying out real lifting shoes for the first time instead of either flat no-sole vibrams or just really stuff heeled shoes. Haven't lifted in them yet, but they feel super weird - it's like the toes are glued to the floor. Very intrigued to do squats on Friday. 🤓
For #pittsburgh power stuff: Duquesne Light has released the updated rate schedule starting Dec 1. Overall about a 6.6% increase in prices (more if you just look at supply charge). The percent potential savings from using time-of-use billing stay the same but the absolute amount increases.
November 12, 2025 at 9:46 PM
For #pittsburgh power stuff: Duquesne Light has released the updated rate schedule starting Dec 1. Overall about a 6.6% increase in prices (more if you just look at supply charge). The percent potential savings from using time-of-use billing stay the same but the absolute amount increases.
The garden continues to dictate our meals.
Roasted poblano-pumpkin-black bean enchiladas.
Fortunately, the garden has good taste.
Roasted poblano-pumpkin-black bean enchiladas.
Fortunately, the garden has good taste.
November 12, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The garden continues to dictate our meals.
Roasted poblano-pumpkin-black bean enchiladas.
Fortunately, the garden has good taste.
Roasted poblano-pumpkin-black bean enchiladas.
Fortunately, the garden has good taste.
Please forgive my potty mouth, but "feels like 18f" can fuck right off until December.
Brr.
Brr.
November 11, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Please forgive my potty mouth, but "feels like 18f" can fuck right off until December.
Brr.
Brr.