DougMerritt (log😅 = 💧log😄)

dougmerritt@mathstodon.xyz

I'm a philomath (many interests; call it polymath-wanna-be) professional computer programmer in Silicon Valley, specializing in operating systems, languages/compilers, sometimes AI, usually non-traditional parallel software and hardware architectures. Also: <a href="https://mathstodon.xyz/tags/computer_science" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#computer_science</a> <a href="https://mathstodon.xyz/tags/unicode" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#unicode</a> <a href="https://mathstodon.xyz/tags/unix" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#unix</a> <a href="https://mathstodon.xyz/tags/linux" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#linux</a> <a href="https://mathstodon.xyz/tags/bsd" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#bsd

Posts

Post #4115061
RE: https://mathstodon.xyz/@sprout/116760372707116149 Control structures in programming languages From goto to algebraic effects Xavier Leroy July 13, 2026 This is a preview of a book to be published by Cambridge University Press. It is distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Contents Preface Introduction Part I Control structures for imperative languages Chapter 1 Early programming languages Chapter 2 Structured programming Chapter 3 Non-local control Chapter 4 Control i...
Post #3620728
RE: https://mstdn.ca/@teledyn/116864715315063072 @aartaka POV coincidentally fits in with your pondering:
Post #3579999
RE: https://infosec.exchange/@tbortels/116852900384279950 Continuity of access is what many of us want, when we&#39;re not just enjoying ownership for its own sake. E.g. we used to buy music. Now we rent access, which has some advantages, but there&#39;s nothing to prevent that access disappearing without forewarning. When we bought music, third parties couldn&#39;t just take it away from us again.
Post #3367567
@johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz > You should call it 'entropy', for two reasons. > > 1. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name, so it already has a name. > > 2. In the second place, and more important, no one really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage. > > -- John von Neumann to Claude Shannon From a post with quoting turned off: https://mathstodon.xyz/@pustam...
Post #3334692
"I’ve been learning and applying math for a long time now, and I’m still learning things that were known hundreds of years ago....You have to do original research to get a PhD, so the aim grad school is to get you to the frontier of some narrow bit of math as quickly as possible, rushing past everything along the way that you won’t need in order to write a dissertation. I learned 20th century math in college, and I’ve been learning 18th and 19th century math ever since." John D. Cook h...
Post #3334674
RE: https://mathstodon.xyz/@paysmaths/116760621857866253 Anyone have pointers to anyone discussing why it can be hard to define mathematics? I find it easier to think of ways to try to succeed in the attempt, but I'm interested in points about difficulties therein.
Post #2009170
@munificent I see that you are mentioned here: &quot;What Async Promised and What it Delivered&quot; &quot;Each wave fixed the last wave&#39;s worst problem and introduced a new one.&quot; April 2026 https://causality.blog/essays/what-async-promised/ At first glance I think I like their overview.
Post #1871756
RE: https://framapiaf.org/@davidrevoy/116488824650404033 This aspect of teleportation was covered in science fiction long, long ago, but it is certainly high impact /shocking in graphical form!
Post #1707885
@regehr Although it&#39;s not exactly about compilers (except perhaps Cobol PIC statements??), somehow this seemed like it was right up your alley: &quot;It&#39;s OK To Use Floating Point for Money&quot; https://suricrasia.online/blog/its-ok-to-use/
Post #1099007
RE: https://masto.ai/@hackaday/116390800090843267 @ColinTheMathmo This story on passive radar is making the rounds. There is nothing in it that appears to be something that would be new to you, but since it keeps popping up, I thought I would at least say &quot;thinking of you&quot;. Every time a venue picks up the story. :)
Post #1099006
&quot;You can log into 28 vintage computer systems in your browser for free, thanks to the Interim Computer Museum — Experience legendary OSes, architectures, programming languages, and games&quot; https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/you-can-log-into-28-vintage-computer-systems-in-your-browser-for-free-thanks-to-the-interim-computer-museum-and-sdf-org-experience-legendary-oses-architectures-programming-languages-and-games
Post #1099005
RE: https://mastodon.social/@jnpn/116392627237663536 &quot;Bring Back Idiomatic Design&quot; John Loeber Feb 26, 2023 &quot;I’m part of the desktop software generation. From Windows 95 to Windows 7, I grew using mostly-offline software on computers operated via mouse and keyboard, well before tablets and smartphones. &quot;Recently, I’ve been missing one particular part of that era: its consistency in design. I want to tell you about idiomatic design, emphasize the importance o...
Post #1035191
RE: https://mastodon.social/@ZachWeinersmith/116375447678097912 Terry Tao on being a (sometimes tortured) mathematician:
Post #932464
The Cathedral, the Bazaar, and the Winchester Mystery House https://www.dbreunig.com/2026/03/26/winchester-mystery-house.html
Post #123164
RE: https://mastodon.social/@bruces/115869158915213819 "Intelligence is not a ladder, with steps along one dimension; it is multidimensional, a radiation. The space of possible intelligences is very large, even vast, with human intelligence occupying a tiny spot at the edge of this galaxy of possible minds. Every other possible mind is alien, and we have begun the very long process of populating this space with thousands of other species of possible minds."