Ted Pavlic (he/him/his)
@tedpavlic.bsky.social
ASU Assoc. Prof in SCAI and SOLS.
Decision making and behavior in living and artificial autonomous systems. I ❤️ ants, bees, wasps, robots, and optimal foraging theory.
mastodon: @[email protected]
Twitter/X: @TedPavlic
@TEDx: http://youtu.be/9GWXCRetOjk
Decision making and behavior in living and artificial autonomous systems. I ❤️ ants, bees, wasps, robots, and optimal foraging theory.
mastodon: @[email protected]
Twitter/X: @TedPavlic
@TEDx: http://youtu.be/9GWXCRetOjk
It's surprising that a curling iron is not a good fit for a curling match...
February 7, 2026 at 9:02 PM
It's surprising that a curling iron is not a good fit for a curling match...
Our dog groomer has a special on Fridays -- "nails trimmed, half off."
That seems a little deep!
That seems a little deep!
February 6, 2026 at 2:23 AM
Our dog groomer has a special on Fridays -- "nails trimmed, half off."
That seems a little deep!
That seems a little deep!
Reposted by Ted Pavlic (he/him/his)
Here you go! This lecture (phrased to hopefully be useful to people even outside of the class I'm teaching) goes over the 5–6 GA hyperparameters and hwo they fit on the diagram above.
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
Guide to Tuning the Many Hyperparameters of a Genetic Algorithm (GA)
YouTube video by Ted Pavlic
youtu.be
February 2, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Here you go! This lecture (phrased to hopefully be useful to people even outside of the class I'm teaching) goes over the 5–6 GA hyperparameters and hwo they fit on the diagram above.
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
Here you go! This lecture (phrased to hopefully be useful to people even outside of the class I'm teaching) goes over the 5–6 GA hyperparameters and hwo they fit on the diagram above.
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
Guide to Tuning the Many Hyperparameters of a Genetic Algorithm (GA)
YouTube video by Ted Pavlic
youtu.be
February 2, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Here you go! This lecture (phrased to hopefully be useful to people even outside of the class I'm teaching) goes over the 5–6 GA hyperparameters and hwo they fit on the diagram above.
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
youtu.be/TwZxTuU8LUI
Looks like Facebook is starting to blend its spam together. It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em.
February 2, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Looks like Facebook is starting to blend its spam together. It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em.
Oh -- a key to the quantities:
M: Census population size (N for popgen)
R: Size of parent pool (effective pop size N_E for popgen)
Pc: Crossover fraction
Pm: Mutation rate
E: Number of elites carried over
SP: Selection pressure in selection operator
M: Census population size (N for popgen)
R: Size of parent pool (effective pop size N_E for popgen)
Pc: Crossover fraction
Pm: Mutation rate
E: Number of elites carried over
SP: Selection pressure in selection operator
February 1, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Oh -- a key to the quantities:
M: Census population size (N for popgen)
R: Size of parent pool (effective pop size N_E for popgen)
Pc: Crossover fraction
Pm: Mutation rate
E: Number of elites carried over
SP: Selection pressure in selection operator
M: Census population size (N for popgen)
R: Size of parent pool (effective pop size N_E for popgen)
Pc: Crossover fraction
Pm: Mutation rate
E: Number of elites carried over
SP: Selection pressure in selection operator
/cc: @wcratcliff.bsky.social -- You might have some passing interest in this. An attempt to more seriously use concepts from popgen and artificial selection to better understand and use evolutionary algorithms, and I would argue the hand-drawn diagram applies to artificial sel'n in general.
February 1, 2026 at 10:54 PM
/cc: @wcratcliff.bsky.social -- You might have some passing interest in this. An attempt to more seriously use concepts from popgen and artificial selection to better understand and use evolutionary algorithms, and I would argue the hand-drawn diagram applies to artificial sel'n in general.
I follow that up with this slide, which I put together a while back to help students use ideas from popgen to build high-level intuition about what you're trying to do when changing hyperparameters/designing new operators. The new diagram just makes that more explicit and tailored for a GA.
February 1, 2026 at 10:54 PM
I follow that up with this slide, which I put together a while back to help students use ideas from popgen to build high-level intuition about what you're trying to do when changing hyperparameters/designing new operators. The new diagram just makes that more explicit and tailored for a GA.
In case it's helpful for anyone covering metaheuristics, here is my handy guide for choosing the major hyperparameters of a Genetic Algorithm. I tried to bring in more inspiration from popgen as well as breeding while keeping an engineering (instead of breeder) perspective.
February 1, 2026 at 10:54 PM
In case it's helpful for anyone covering metaheuristics, here is my handy guide for choosing the major hyperparameters of a Genetic Algorithm. I tried to bring in more inspiration from popgen as well as breeding while keeping an engineering (instead of breeder) perspective.
Oh, no! I was really looking forward to getting that pet odor back.
January 28, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Oh, no! I was really looking forward to getting that pet odor back.
Restorative epistasis can occur between 2 complementary loss-of-function mutations (in yeast) if they happen to cooccur in just the right way (2 wrongs making a right).
"Predicting epistasis across proteins by structural logic"
by Tang et al. (2026, PNAS)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Predicting epistasis across proteins by structural logic"
by Tang et al. (2026, PNAS)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
January 19, 2026 at 10:03 AM
Restorative epistasis can occur between 2 complementary loss-of-function mutations (in yeast) if they happen to cooccur in just the right way (2 wrongs making a right).
"Predicting epistasis across proteins by structural logic"
by Tang et al. (2026, PNAS)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Predicting epistasis across proteins by structural logic"
by Tang et al. (2026, PNAS)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Tariffs hit Mars imports.
"Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space-science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet."
"NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space-science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet."
"NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost
A Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space-science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet.
www.nature.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Tariffs hit Mars imports.
"Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space-science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet."
"NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space-science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet."
"NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ted Pavlic (he/him/his)
"Do you think it would be a good idea or a bad idea for the U.S. to use military force to take possession of Greenland from Denmark?"
Good idea: 4%
Bad idea: 71%
(Ipsos)
4%. He did it. He finally hit Lizardman's Constant.
Good idea: 4%
Bad idea: 71%
(Ipsos)
4%. He did it. He finally hit Lizardman's Constant.
January 14, 2026 at 7:03 PM
"Do you think it would be a good idea or a bad idea for the U.S. to use military force to take possession of Greenland from Denmark?"
Good idea: 4%
Bad idea: 71%
(Ipsos)
4%. He did it. He finally hit Lizardman's Constant.
Good idea: 4%
Bad idea: 71%
(Ipsos)
4%. He did it. He finally hit Lizardman's Constant.
Well, the ACM Digital Library Premium is pretty slimy too -- doubling the membership fee just to get access to articles in order to support "Open" access elsewhere -- but at least ACM is much cheaper than IEEE and even gives you an IEEE discount.
libraries.acm.org/subscription...
libraries.acm.org/subscription...
ACM Digital Library: Evolving Access to Support Open Research
DL Pricing
libraries.acm.org
January 14, 2026 at 2:54 AM
Well, the ACM Digital Library Premium is pretty slimy too -- doubling the membership fee just to get access to articles in order to support "Open" access elsewhere -- but at least ACM is much cheaper than IEEE and even gives you an IEEE discount.
libraries.acm.org/subscription...
libraries.acm.org/subscription...
I generally appreciate scientific societies, but the IEEE continues to be a total scam. So, I saved $510 off my membership by being a member? I guess those who specialize in circuits shouldn't be faulted for circular logic...
January 14, 2026 at 2:45 AM
I generally appreciate scientific societies, but the IEEE continues to be a total scam. So, I saved $510 off my membership by being a member? I guess those who specialize in circuits shouldn't be faulted for circular logic...
After trying out Plus for a few days, the on-screen UI downgrade was just too bad. The voice assistant is a bit better, but it's not worth the losses. Fortunately going back to the old version is as easy as:
"Alexa, end early access"
Hopefully they keep working on this product.
"Alexa, end early access"
Hopefully they keep working on this product.
January 12, 2026 at 3:10 AM
After trying out Plus for a few days, the on-screen UI downgrade was just too bad. The voice assistant is a bit better, but it's not worth the losses. Fortunately going back to the old version is as easy as:
"Alexa, end early access"
Hopefully they keep working on this product.
"Alexa, end early access"
Hopefully they keep working on this product.
For anyone with an #Amazon #Echo device without a physical volume ring, you can get early access to #AmazonAlexa's #AlexaPlus. Sadly, the on-screen UI is half baked. Example: Below is the legacy Amazon Alexa with a yellow bar indicating a notification on my Echo Show 5. That bar goes away in "Plus".
January 12, 2026 at 3:10 AM
For anyone with an #Amazon #Echo device without a physical volume ring, you can get early access to #AmazonAlexa's #AlexaPlus. Sadly, the on-screen UI is half baked. Example: Below is the legacy Amazon Alexa with a yellow bar indicating a notification on my Echo Show 5. That bar goes away in "Plus".
"In a profession that already demands enormous sacrifices, precarious positions and geographical flexibility, with work that consumes evenings and weekends more often than we’d like to admit, we owe it to ourselves to at least understand how we’re being compensated."
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Client Challenge
www.nature.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:42 AM
"In a profession that already demands enormous sacrifices, precarious positions and geographical flexibility, with work that consumes evenings and weekends more often than we’d like to admit, we owe it to ourselves to at least understand how we’re being compensated."
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#Science in America right now – Half of the tenure-track jobs in math have been lost between 2024 and 2025 (150 to 70) and the Simons Foundation is funding 1/7 of the remaining jobs. Science is being held together with philanthropy and dental floss. 🧪
issues.org/american-sci...
issues.org/american-sci...
“There Are Two Possible Futures for American Science.”
The Simons Foundation president talks about science philanthropy, the future of the research enterprise, and remaining hopeful.
issues.org
January 9, 2026 at 11:40 PM
#Science in America right now – Half of the tenure-track jobs in math have been lost between 2024 and 2025 (150 to 70) and the Simons Foundation is funding 1/7 of the remaining jobs. Science is being held together with philanthropy and dental floss. 🧪
issues.org/american-sci...
issues.org/american-sci...
I told #AlexaPlus a dad joke about bookstores. She understood the joke and inferred that it probably caused my wife to give me an eye roll that "could shutdown a bookstore faster than Amazon."
I was taken aback a bit by an #Amazon AI joking about killing bookstores!
I was taken aback a bit by an #Amazon AI joking about killing bookstores!
January 9, 2026 at 5:13 AM
I told #AlexaPlus a dad joke about bookstores. She understood the joke and inferred that it probably caused my wife to give me an eye roll that "could shutdown a bookstore faster than Amazon."
I was taken aback a bit by an #Amazon AI joking about killing bookstores!
I was taken aback a bit by an #Amazon AI joking about killing bookstores!
At least three robot vacuums are in development that aim to conquer stairs. #RoboRock already has a robot with an arm that picks up your dog toys, and the stair climber it is testing has two independent *legs* that make it particularly agile.
www.techradar.com/home/robot-v...
www.techradar.com/home/robot-v...
I just saw Roborock's leggy new robovac, and it would make a better dodgeball player than me
It can clean your stairs... but that's not all it can do
www.techradar.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:39 PM
At least three robot vacuums are in development that aim to conquer stairs. #RoboRock already has a robot with an arm that picks up your dog toys, and the stair climber it is testing has two independent *legs* that make it particularly agile.
www.techradar.com/home/robot-v...
www.techradar.com/home/robot-v...
I see! I don't think they're telling the whole story about what happened, but I'm glad they got it fixed!
January 7, 2026 at 4:19 PM
I see! I don't think they're telling the whole story about what happened, but I'm glad they got it fixed!
Reposted by Ted Pavlic (he/him/his)
The fix is out – see link below. I don't think their explanation tells the whole story (otherwise, why would installing an older version fix the issue as well as it did?).
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...
Options+ and G HUB macOS Certificate Issue
Description of the issueA new ‘patch’ installer for Logitech Options+ and G HUB is now available to fix an issue that caused the apps to stop working on macOS.The problem was caused by an expired c...
support.logi.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:18 PM
The fix is out – see link below. I don't think their explanation tells the whole story (otherwise, why would installing an older version fix the issue as well as it did?).
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...
The fix is out – see link below. I don't think their explanation tells the whole story (otherwise, why would installing an older version fix the issue as well as it did?).
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...
Options+ and G HUB macOS Certificate Issue
Description of the issueA new ‘patch’ installer for Logitech Options+ and G HUB is now available to fix an issue that caused the apps to stop working on macOS.The problem was caused by an expired c...
support.logi.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:18 PM
The fix is out – see link below. I don't think their explanation tells the whole story (otherwise, why would installing an older version fix the issue as well as it did?).
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...
Download the fixed version manually (affected computers must have this done manually) from:
support.logi.com/hc/en-us/art...