Taylor Smith
@taylorjsmith.bsky.social
🇨🇦 Theoretical computer scientist. Assistant professor at @stfx-university.bsky.social. Website: taylorjsmith.xyz.
Pinned
Taylor Smith
@taylorjsmith.bsky.social
· Dec 16
With students writing my theory exam today, I figured it's a good time to share a link to my open textbook with all you current (and future!) theoreticians.
This term was the first time I used it in class, and students loved it. Big plans for future editions, so stay tuned!
taylorjsmith.xyz/tocopen/
This term was the first time I used it in class, and students loved it. Big plans for future editions, so stay tuned!
taylorjsmith.xyz/tocopen/
Fun fact! 2026 has the special property that it can be written as 2 × 1013. This is the only year in our lifetimes when this will happen. Like and follow for more fun facts in the new year.
December 31, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Fun fact! 2026 has the special property that it can be written as 2 × 1013. This is the only year in our lifetimes when this will happen. Like and follow for more fun facts in the new year.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Semiotic paradox alert!
December 29, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Semiotic paradox alert!
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Some may remember this ACM guidance on inclusive terminology. E.g., as advocated by an anon ICLR reviewer, it recommends against the technical term Byzantine.
It was recently updated, and suggests avoiding "binary classification" and "stable marriage" (incorrectly defined)
It was recently updated, and suggests avoiding "binary classification" and "stable marriage" (incorrectly defined)
December 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Some may remember this ACM guidance on inclusive terminology. E.g., as advocated by an anon ICLR reviewer, it recommends against the technical term Byzantine.
It was recently updated, and suggests avoiding "binary classification" and "stable marriage" (incorrectly defined)
It was recently updated, and suggests avoiding "binary classification" and "stable marriage" (incorrectly defined)
Trying to understand the mindset of a group that takes issue with using the word “Byzantine”, yet completely omits phrases like “traveling salesman problem” from their list.
Words matter: Alternatives for charged terminology in the computing profession
ACM’s efforts to combat exclusion in the computing profession, ACM's Diversity and Inclusion Council has launched "Words Matter," an effort to replace offensive or exclusionary terminology in the comp...
www.acm.org
December 28, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Trying to understand the mindset of a group that takes issue with using the word “Byzantine”, yet completely omits phrases like “traveling salesman problem” from their list.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Thank you for your message. I have unlimited access to email, but my will to access it is profoundly limited. And I’m not gonna get in trouble if I don’t
December 28, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Thank you for your message. I have unlimited access to email, but my will to access it is profoundly limited. And I’m not gonna get in trouble if I don’t
Now that Christmas is over and we’re in the amorphous blob of time that is Dec. 26–Dec. 31, it’s time to pick a folly to pursue in 2026.
- Study wine, eventually take a sommelier exam
- Learn to fly a small plane
- Commission someone to paint a large portrait of me
- Study wine, eventually take a sommelier exam
- Learn to fly a small plane
- Commission someone to paint a large portrait of me
December 26, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Now that Christmas is over and we’re in the amorphous blob of time that is Dec. 26–Dec. 31, it’s time to pick a folly to pursue in 2026.
- Study wine, eventually take a sommelier exam
- Learn to fly a small plane
- Commission someone to paint a large portrait of me
- Study wine, eventually take a sommelier exam
- Learn to fly a small plane
- Commission someone to paint a large portrait of me
Reposted by Taylor Smith
It an’t Christmas in Canada without…
Stuart McLean Christmas stories - YouTube
Vinyl Cafe Christmas
youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 7:22 PM
It an’t Christmas in Canada without…
Merry Christmas to all my family and friends, both near and far. 🎄
December 25, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Merry Christmas to all my family and friends, both near and far. 🎄
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Reading Knuth's pre-fascicle 8A on Hamiltonian paths and cycles, and I just discovered one of my new favourite bits of terminology: "lief", a leaf in a trie. The bottom level of a trie is full of lieves.
www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu
December 24, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Reading Knuth's pre-fascicle 8A on Hamiltonian paths and cycles, and I just discovered one of my new favourite bits of terminology: "lief", a leaf in a trie. The bottom level of a trie is full of lieves.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Nico is taking a break from decorating to wish you all a very merry Christmas.
December 23, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Nico is taking a break from decorating to wish you all a very merry Christmas.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Go big or go home, I guess
December 22, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Go big or go home, I guess
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Announcing the first Workshop on Formal Languages and Neural Networks (FLaNN)!
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
December 19, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Announcing the first Workshop on Formal Languages and Neural Networks (FLaNN)!
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
We invite the submission of abstracts for posters that discuss the formal expressivity, computational properties, and learning behavior of neural network models, including large language models (LLMs).
Got to YHZ this afternoon for an outbound flight to see family, took in some Christmas choir singing before breezing through security, then was handed free cookies and hot chocolate as I waited to board the plane. I hope your holiday travel goes as smoothly as mine!
December 19, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Got to YHZ this afternoon for an outbound flight to see family, took in some Christmas choir singing before breezing through security, then was handed free cookies and hot chocolate as I waited to board the plane. I hope your holiday travel goes as smoothly as mine!
Reposted by Taylor Smith
A university is so much more than its bricks and mortar facilities. It is also an eduroam network with intermittent access
December 15, 2025 at 11:04 PM
A university is so much more than its bricks and mortar facilities. It is also an eduroam network with intermittent access
In the midst of exam season, I'm reminded of the time when, in the first term of my first year of undergrad, I sent a post-exam email to my linear algebra instructor asking if he'd consider applying a square root curve to the exam grades. Sorry, Prof. Denham, I now realize how annoying that was.
December 15, 2025 at 6:58 PM
In the midst of exam season, I'm reminded of the time when, in the first term of my first year of undergrad, I sent a post-exam email to my linear algebra instructor asking if he'd consider applying a square root curve to the exam grades. Sorry, Prof. Denham, I now realize how annoying that was.
Always around this time of year, when I hear the Nutcrackers and the Messiahs on the radio, I wish I lived in a place that had a symphony orchestra I could attend regularly. Just like how if I could somehow afford to live in NYC, I'd spend all my time at the Met Opera, the museums, and the Strand.
December 14, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Always around this time of year, when I hear the Nutcrackers and the Messiahs on the radio, I wish I lived in a place that had a symphony orchestra I could attend regularly. Just like how if I could somehow afford to live in NYC, I'd spend all my time at the Met Opera, the museums, and the Strand.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
You can do this right now:
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
December 11, 2025 at 10:08 PM
You can do this right now:
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
December 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
Please submit your research papers and join us at the 27th International Conference on Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems (DCFS 2026), to be held in Kingston, Canada from August 9 to 11, 2026!
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/dcfs2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/dcfs2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
December 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Please submit your research papers and join us at the 27th International Conference on Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems (DCFS 2026), to be held in Kingston, Canada from August 9 to 11, 2026!
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/dcfs2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/dcfs2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
Please submit your research papers and join us at the 30th International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata (CIAA 2026), to be held in Kingston, Canada from August 5 to 8, 2026!
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/ciaa2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/ciaa2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
December 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Please submit your research papers and join us at the 30th International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata (CIAA 2026), to be held in Kingston, Canada from August 5 to 8, 2026!
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/ciaa2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
Details: research.cs.queensu.ca/ciaa2026/
#tcssky #mathsky
Reposted by Taylor Smith
I’ve posted this before but the light was perfect today- a little Victorian cat paw in a brick at the front of the old Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. As this is on the front-facing corner of the main gates, the bricklayer quite clearly put it there on purpose, at a height where children would spot it.
December 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I’ve posted this before but the light was perfect today- a little Victorian cat paw in a brick at the front of the old Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. As this is on the front-facing corner of the main gates, the bricklayer quite clearly put it there on purpose, at a height where children would spot it.
The folks at the plant-based food company must’ve been high-fiving each other all week when they thought of “chick’n”, but I’ve gotta say, the naming department could’ve worked a bit harder on “be’f”.
December 8, 2025 at 12:10 AM
The folks at the plant-based food company must’ve been high-fiving each other all week when they thought of “chick’n”, but I’ve gotta say, the naming department could’ve worked a bit harder on “be’f”.
My new career goal is to surpass this 1M citation mark by just writing a bunch of slop articles people can use as drop-in citations. Stuff like “An Explication of the Polynomial-Time Reduction from Vertex Cover to Independent Set”.
Computer scientist Yoshua Bengio has become the first person to have their work cited more than one million times on the search engine Google Scholar
go.nature.com/4i1L2Gq
go.nature.com/4i1L2Gq
‘Godfather of AI’ becomes first person to hit one million citations
Nature - The milestone makes machine-learning trailblazer Yoshua Bengio the most cited researcher on Google Scholar.
go.nature.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM
My new career goal is to surpass this 1M citation mark by just writing a bunch of slop articles people can use as drop-in citations. Stuff like “An Explication of the Polynomial-Time Reduction from Vertex Cover to Independent Set”.