TIL why we use the word "oracle" in theoretical CS for blackbox abstractions. Because of some joke from the seventies! We were absurd before it was cool. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interne... #TCSSky

Spread the word! 📢 The FATE (Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics) group at @msftresearch.bsky.social in NYC is hiring interns and postdocs to start in summer 2026! 🎉 Apply by *December 15* for full consideration.

I think international places are going to be even more competitive. I advise them to apply as broadly as possible. Ask for fee waivers if needed to make that possible. Be tactical (include “safety” schools) but follow your heart and make sure that passion shines through.

#hivemind what advice are you giving to undergrad researchers these days in the funding landscape? someone's list of schools is quite long (!) but it seems that just adding more US schools doesn't really hedge against much.

What we expect to see soon: A proposed rule that would gut broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE), a longstanding policy 40+ states have adopted that allows people to earn slightly more & build modest savings without immediately being cut off SNAP.

In 2024, we convened a group of 25 workers and organizers across the transportation supply chain. They traveled over 3 days and 600+ miles across Nevada to tour the frontlines of new lithium mining in the US. Watch our new documentary that follows their journey. climateandcommunity.org/nvfilm

It's been an absolute pleasure working with Ellen, Madeleine, and their amazing PhD students for the past year on making optimization more accessible with generative AI! I am on the job market this year - check out my website (conlaw.github.io) for more details on what I've been up to.

wondering, where is the policy & government appetite for pay-for-performance, pay-for-success contracting when it comes to procuring and developing AI tools and performance?

What're some nice third places in new york city to write and coffice these days (ie in the cold and dark & around the holidays) usually I would say brookfield place but what's new!

I’m recruiting students this upcoming cycle at UIUC! I’m excited about Qs on societal impact of AI, especially human-AI collaboration, multi-agent interactions, incentives in data sharing, and AI policy/regulation (all from both a theoretical and applied lens). Apply through CS & select my name!

time and time again operational hurdles are being exploited to materialize policy by another name - it doesn't have to be this way!

What are the effects of the shutdown on SNAP users? Propel provides an app to SNAP users to allow them to track their spending and so can offer real-time estimates of needs. About 70% of SNAP households have a $10 or less balance on their SNAP card accounts. www.propel.app/shutdown-fun...

paying rent in new york radicalizes you

on top of the actual election wins, I think tonight is great because so many people needed the boost. every day since January 20 has been a fucking horror show in one way or another if you're online and paying attention, and everyone was in need of this injection of energy and hope.

Victory party feeds:

if you have loved zohran’s campaign videos and/or are interested in the intersections of film and politics, this is a great piece featuring my pal @boringstein.bsky.social. donald is responsible for a lot of the funniest, sweetest moments, and their camera truly loves the city

It seems fitting that a @!%%# year ends with me trying to teach on crutches (dw im sitting down) and the school denying reimbursements for collaborators w school funds (while the uni cancels grants for DEI)

Interesting episode in politics of data sharing in state welfare programs. Efforts to reduce administrative burdens & increase access led to unanticipated challenges. www.latimes.com/california/s...

The blog post is available: blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...

“Generative AI / large language models have added to this flood by making papers – especially papers not introducing new research results – fast and easy to write. While categories across arXiv have all seen a major increase in submissions, it’s particularly pronounced in arXiv’s CS category‘’

Exciting to join in a new initiative coming out of @utexaslaw.bsky.social: the AI Opportunity inventory 👉 law.utexas.edu/ai/ai-opport... Read on for more about this and how to participate. 1/n

If you’ve had issues of this kind with cs.CY, you should always feel free to appeal. Mods for the categories are, from my experience, both well-trained and read widely in their areas, and understand the norms of relevant disciplines pretty well!

blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a... FYI the blog post for the updated policy is out. Our llm future is dire:/

Seafood city plays songs about itself over the loudspeakers and has a killer 12.99 pork sisig

ok

NEW: The Trump admin just ended the practice of automatically extending work permits when people file to renew them — meaning that if USCIS takes too long to process a renewal the applicant loses their authorization to work legally. The interim final rule applies to renewals filed after tomorrow.

Started a thread in the other place and bringing it over here - I really think we should be more vocal about the opportunities that lay at the intersection of these two options! So I'm starting a live thread of new roles as I become aware of them - feel free to add / extend / share :

i want to extend to a higher plane of faculty existence by just responding to emails with "ok"

I receive so many questions about what research in civil society is like -- Join our virtual panel to hear more about exactly that! @cdt.org @datasociety.bsky.social @aclu.org With @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social @alicetiara.bsky.social and @mkgerchick.bsky.social To register: cdt.org/event/advoca...

Through some recent projects about social services/admin burden/exploring impacts of targeted outreach I've learned a lot about how great of a program SNAP is! Really everyone wins Slides on from a talk yesterday on optimal encouragement designs/auditing: drive.google.com/file/d/1iZYb...

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 8: 'They're entitled to something better' This week, research group that helped get LA's $15 minimum wage closes, LA Fed backing caps to rent hikes, and bigger fine sought for candidate's ethics violation. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

”SNAP.” The program is called SNAP, and has been called SNAP since 2008. “Food stamps” is significantly less popular than “SNAP” www.huffpost.com/entry/snap-f...

there is no infrastructure that can be built up in a few days’ time to replace SNAP and you all simply must let that sink in, fast

Must read -- Dr. Oz's claims that they are working on an app that will solve all of the reporting problems related to Medicaid work requirements are largely a fantasy. When piloted the app had a 7% response rate and does nothing to address key issues like exemptions. www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/h...

Folks if you usually do end-of-year/holiday charity giving, consider moving it up to the beginning of November instead and hit up however many local food pantries you can afford to give to. (Check if you or a spouse/partner's employer does charity matching, too.)

saw darkside's late show last night at lodge room. It was really good! Live is good! Life is too short to consume slop. I think we're headed for a culture war between slop and slop vegetarian/veganism (we may already be living it)

Competitor enters a major AI competition (RNA folding) GPU poor so can't train an AI Builds a "classic" eng pipeline instead. (90s tech) Wins and beat everyone using DL 💀 Their winning "hybrid" model had an AI in it. Their original one did not and had a higher score So they won despite the AI 😂

Cut 7.5 pages from something today 😩🙃 still so much more to do 😩

damn it turns out a whole year of being on rapid response fries yr nerves! pls stop bringing out the horses !!!

Great piece on academic shero labor economist Claudua Goldin picking WNBA advising as a post-Nobel venture. She estimates players should earn 1/3 of what NBA men earn (It’s currently 1/80)

Hello Bluesky! We rate DAGs. Some are great. Some are... not so great. But we rate them all. Let's start with a famous powerpoint hairball a.k.a. "the Afghanisdag", presented to Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal around 2010. His own rating? 1/10 "When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war"

This may just be the best CS paper I’ve read this year. Just read the abstract and first para of the intro! The rest of the intro is really wild too, but very very good: dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

NHANES is an invaluable tool that many researchers including myself use to report on conditions in the general population. Like the fact that ~40% of 12-21yo females are iron deficient. Tinyurl.com/JAMAFe And so much more important work. But they’re destroying it all.

Rapid RL experimentation is great. But how do you catch silent errors before they slip by? In this post, I share tools and habits that help me move quickly from idea to result without sacrificing reliability.

More constant but lower-stakes formative assessments. My course has short (3 q) pass/fail, multiple choice, in-person quizzes every week. But students can retake (another version of) them some weeks later to get the credit back upon fail.

Hey teaching folks are you seeing this trend to: - anything submitted online is fair game for AI usage and quizzes online might as well be hws (aka ai) - only in person exams will get folks to look at course materials-> 4 midterms in a course - too many midterms -> always overwhelmed -> use AI