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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 15h

Fortunately I tried the link early in the day, discovered the problem, communicated with the student, and all is well. But WTF is the institution thinking?

Yeah, looking at you, Stanford.

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 15h

Went to fill out a recommendation letter request and THE LINK HAD EXPIRED!

OMG, this is TERRIBLE policy. The link had to be regenerated by the student, and what if it's the day it's due and there's no time for a round-trip? Actually punishes the most responsible students, who send links early.

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 19h

LOL I missed an opportunity there!

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 19h

Now ICE is shooting praying priests with pepper balls. And MAGA is supposed to be pro-Christianity?

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 19d

CW: protester being struck in the head by a pepper ball

Footage I took earlier of the moment Reverend David Black, a regular protester outside of the Broadview Detention Center, was shot in the head with a pepper ball by ICE agents on the roof of the facility.

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 2d

PLP 5.1: The Memory Hierarchy - youtu.be/FD0XVnNE1u0

Also check out the whole Programming Language Pragmatics playlist: tinyurl.com/PLP5vids

PLP 5.1: The Memory Hierarchy

YouTube video by Jonathan Aldrich

youtu.be

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 2d

Language implementers need a solid grounding in processor architecture in order to understand how to generate good code. In my latest Programming Language Pragmatics video, I put on my "architecture hat" to cover the memory hierarchy and explain the implications for code generation.

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 2d

Nice, thanks for the explanation! Now I need to sit down with a couple of linear functions and see how this (matmul = function composition) works. 😀

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 2d

LOL I never got anything BUT the formulaic matmul (at least, nothing that stuck). Is there a nice explanation of this outside the precalc book?

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 4d

Some real Nazi thought policing there: "people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they're law-abiding Americans who love this country."

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Reposted by Jonathan Aldrich

Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 4d

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

250 8K 17K

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 5d

Watch PLP 4.5 - Semantic Properties of Languages: Soundness - youtu.be/UQXVOj9olw4

Also check out the whole Programming Language Pragmatics playlist: tinyurl.com/PLP5vids

And as always, there's even more in the book! amzn.to/4kuKSY2 (Amazon affiliate link)

PLP 4.5 - Semantic Properties of Languages: Soundness

YouTube video by Jonathan Aldrich

youtu.be

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 5d

How do we know that the semantics of a programming language are right?

My latest Programming Language Pragmatics video covers type soundness: the static and dynamic semantics of a language fit together, so that if a program type checks, it will not experience unexpected type errors when it runs.

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 6d

Check out "You Better Know," the latest dance visual by my eldest, Seal Aldrich!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIUh...

You Better Know | A Dance Visual

YouTube video by ALICE Productions

www.youtube.com

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks--ACM is working towards tools that can be run as part of reviewing to check for tortured phrases, as well as other potentially problematic indicators. I agree, it can't come too soon!

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 7d

PLP 4.4 part 3: Code Transformation - youtu.be/RWWeUPuXFk4

Also check out the whole Programming Language Pragmatics playlist: tinyurl.com/PLP5vids

PLP 4.4 part 3: Code Transformation

YouTube video by Jonathan Aldrich

youtu.be

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 7d

In addition to checking for typing and other errors, semantic analysis may transform the representation of the program. In today's Programming Language Pragmatics video, I describe how one such transformation, the constant propagation optimization, can be specified using rewriting rules.

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Reposted by Jonathan Aldrich

Association for Computing Machinery @acm.org · 7d

In celebration of #HispanicHeritageMonth, ACM is highlighting Trilce Estrada.
Trilce Estrada is an Associate Professor and Director of the Data Science Laboratory at the University of New Mexico. Her interests are machine learning, big data and their applications to interdisciplinary problems.

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 7d

I'd definitely invite you to do so! The ACM is far from perfect, but it's become more responsive recently, and a lot of good things are happening: fully Open Access publishing, a strategic AI Summit in the works for next year, support and advocacy for computing research and practice.

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 8d

Is there an obvious Trump real estate angle? Yes, of course. But the big picture is stopping the war and giving Gaza a chance to rebuild and eventually form their own nation. The plan does that, if it succeeds.

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 8d

For what it's worth, ACM is looking at adopting the particular policy you mention. You do have a point that it is a way of increasing public pressure on an organization.

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 8d

Yes, ACM wants to be a part of COPE. Doing so does not require it to follow all of COPE's recommendations. Honestly, I have no idea why you think this is such a big deal. If the problem is with an ACM paper, people can just report it to the ACM!

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 8d

It's *actually* a good plan! I hope, for the sake of Gazans, Israelis, and the world, that it works.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/...

Here’s the full text of Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza

The White House says its proposal would end the war on Gaza immediately if both sides accept.

www.aljazeera.com

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 8d

The "Words Matter" site was put together by ACM volunteers, it was not a staff initiative, so your complaint is misplaced.

Current ACM policy is that issues with ACM publications should be reported directly to ACM. That may change at some point, but it doesn't seem unreasonable.

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Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 8d

Nothing is banned. This page is advisory only. If you disagree with it, you can continue to use the word Byzantine.

Personally, if I ever publish about Byzantine fault tolerance, I'll use the word. But, I've stopped using master for the main branch on github; main works better & doesn't offend.

Jonathan Aldrich @jonathanaldrich.bsky.social · 8d

Many organizations are changing their language and policies surrounding DEI. The ACM has not, we are sticking to our principles.

- Yannis Ioannidis, ACM president, today

I'm proud to be a member & volunteer for the @acm.org!

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