6.9.21
Concurrency, State, and Cardano
After months of testing with smaller groups, the Cardano public testnet was recently upgraded to support smart contracts. The surge of activity that followed included many dApp tests and experiments, with developers eager to perform a large-scale test and show off their hard work. This effort has created a ferocious discussion around some of the design decisions behind Cardano. Many critics are using this discussion as an opportunity to point to Cardano, misrepresent the problem, and ultimately underestimate the potential of one of the giants of the crypto industry. Misconceptions are now floating around suggesting that Cardano only supports one transaction per block, only one user can interact with a smart contract at a time, and that cardano is ultimately destined for centralization. All of these are inaccurate, and we present below a new framing and the start of a few solutions that dApp builders might choose.
Labels: Blockchain, Concurrency, Cryptocurrency, IOHK
5.9.21
Reading list
Kevin Doran wrote to me requesting a reading list on logic. He recommends an introductory guide to logic by Peter Smith. Smith's appendix lists several textbooks on logic, but misses my two favourites.
- Jean-Yves Girard, Yves Lafont, and Paul Taylor. Proofs and Types. CUP, 1989. The master logician (discoverer of System F and linear logic), aided by two superb computer scientists, covers the basics. Explains additive and multiplicative proof rules, and the fundamentals of propositions as types.
- Jean van Heijenoort, From Frege to Gödel A Source Book in Mathematical Logic, 1879-1931, Harvard University Press, 1967. My favourite entry is the correspondence between Russell and Frege---it is only a few pages long and so a quick read; don't skip van Heijenoort's introduction. See also Anita Feferman's biography of van Heijenoort, who lived quite a life: he served as Trotsky's secretary and was shot to death by a jealous lover.
Labels: Formal Methods, Logic
29.7.21
Time to say goodbye to our heroes?
Reorienting our focus from the hero model’s “big people” to the consideration of big questions will address many of the challenges plaguing universities today: incremental, derivative, low-risk science; faltering funding; relentless focus on quantity of publication; irreproducible research; ongoing complaints of harassment; lack of diversity; an atmosphere that leaves students struggling with mental health; and (despite enormous funding outlays) an inadequately trained workforce in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.
Labels: Academia, Education, Science, University
26.5.21
Low Code/No Code: Why you should be paying attention
A new trend in programming languages (or in avoiding programming languages). Thanks to Simon Gay for spotting. One summary here.
Labels: Developers, Programming Languages
12.4.21
Vote!
Register by 11:59pm on 19 April to vote in the following elections on 6 May:
- local government elections and referendums in England
- Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales
- Scottish Parliament elections
- Senedd (Welsh Parliament) elections
- Mayor of London and London Assembly elections
Register Online. It usually takes about 5 minutes. Start Now.
Labels: Edinburgh, Green, Independence, Politics, Scotland, UK, Yes!
29.3.21
Conferences after COVID: An Early Career Perspective
We propose that SIGPLAN form a Committee on Conference Data. The committee would be made up of: one organizing-committee representative from each of the flagship SIGPLAN conferences, one early career representative, and, crucially, a professional data collection specialist hired by SIGPLAN. The group would identify and collect key data that is pertinent to conference organization, especially with respect to physical versus virtual conference formats. The committee would make data-driven recommendations to SIGPLAN organizers based on the collected data and guided by core tenets such as community building, inclusivity, research dissemination, and climate responsibility. We realize that this is not a small request, but we are confident that it is both necessary and achievable. If the committee were to form by May 1, 2021, it would be able to start collecting data at PLDI 2021 and continue through the next two years, providing enormous clarity for SIGPLAN organizers at a time when so much is unclear.
Labels: Academia, ACM, Climate Change, Covid-19, SIGPLAN
24.3.21
Mandelbrot Maps --- an invitation
[An open request from three of my students. Please try it out! I'm impressed with what they have achieved.]
We'd like to invite you to take a look at Mandelbrot Maps - an interactive fractal explorer!
https://jmaio.github.io/mandelbrot-maps/ The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered inThis has been my honours project for the past two years, and this year it's also been updated with contributions from Fraser Scott and Georgina Medd. (cheers!)There's a [Help] menu with information about the various available options: hopefully you'll learn something new!If you could take a few minutes to look around, we'd really appreciate it!Feel free to leave feedback either through the button on the website ([Settings] > [Info] > [Feedback]) or directly:
https://forms.office.com/r/uRQwkQvVpL (This study was certified according to the Informatics Research Ethics Process, RT number 2019/22202)Thank you!Joao
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
Labels: Graphics, Mathematics, Recursion, Web
23.3.21
Why Should Anyone use Colours?
Marco Patrignani explains why and how to use colour in your technical papers. The guidelines for making highlighting useful even for colour-blind folk are particularly helpful.
Labels: Academia, Graphics, Programming Languages, Writing
16.3.21
Wealth Shown to Scale and Incarceration in Real Numbers
Wealth Shown to Scale and Incarceration in Real Numbers, two intriguing infographics from Matt Korostoff.
5.3.21
The Pandemic to Come
Maria Stoian muses on how our reaction to Covid-19 predicts our reaction to the Climate Crisis. Simultaneously downbeat and upbeat. Courtesy of the Nib.
Labels: Climate Change, Covid-19, Politics
