Taylor Smith
@taylorjsmith.bsky.social
🇨🇦 Theoretical computer scientist. Assistant professor at @stfx-university.bsky.social. Website: taylorjsmith.xyz.
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Taylor Smith
@taylorjsmith.bsky.social
· Dec 16
With students writing my theory exam today, I figured it's a good time to share a link to my open textbook with all you current (and future!) theoreticians.
This term was the first time I used it in class, and students loved it. Big plans for future editions, so stay tuned!
taylorjsmith.xyz/tocopen/
This term was the first time I used it in class, and students loved it. Big plans for future editions, so stay tuned!
taylorjsmith.xyz/tocopen/
Reposted by Taylor Smith
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Taylor Smith
This is a really fun problem actually. Given two strings x and y, what is the smallest DFA that accepts x but rejects y?
cs.uwaterloo.ca/~shallit/Tal...
cs.uwaterloo.ca/~shallit/Tal...
Remarks on separating words
The separating words problem asks for the size of the smallest DFA needed to distinguish between two words of length <= n (by accepting one and rejecting the other). In this paper we survey what is kn...
arxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM
This is a really fun problem actually. Given two strings x and y, what is the smallest DFA that accepts x but rejects y?
cs.uwaterloo.ca/~shallit/Tal...
cs.uwaterloo.ca/~shallit/Tal...
Reposted by Taylor Smith
You kids and your six trig functions. Back in my day we had only one, and we used it for everything.
sin(θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(θ)/sin(π/2 - θ)
1/sin(θ)
1/sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)/sin(θ)
sin(θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(θ)/sin(π/2 - θ)
1/sin(θ)
1/sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)/sin(θ)
November 7, 2025 at 12:15 AM
You kids and your six trig functions. Back in my day we had only one, and we used it for everything.
sin(θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(θ)/sin(π/2 - θ)
1/sin(θ)
1/sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)/sin(θ)
sin(θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(θ)/sin(π/2 - θ)
1/sin(θ)
1/sin(π/2 - θ)
sin(π/2 - θ)/sin(θ)
Just added my book, "Theory of Computing: An Open Introduction" to OER Commons, and working on getting it listed in Canadian repositories too. One step closer to making education more open and accessible to everyone!
oercommons.org/courses/theo...
oercommons.org/courses/theo...
Theory of Computing: An Open Introduction
This book is suitable for courses on the theory of computing at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and for self-study. Topics are introduced in a logical order: we begin with the simple finit...
oercommons.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Just added my book, "Theory of Computing: An Open Introduction" to OER Commons, and working on getting it listed in Canadian repositories too. One step closer to making education more open and accessible to everyone!
oercommons.org/courses/theo...
oercommons.org/courses/theo...
Holy legendary thrift store find! I’ve been lusting after this collection of Dickens’ works for some time, but the prices I saw online put me off of buying the set. This weekend, I snagged 19/21 books for $50 total.
November 2, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Holy legendary thrift store find! I’ve been lusting after this collection of Dickens’ works for some time, but the prices I saw online put me off of buying the set. This weekend, I snagged 19/21 books for $50 total.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Well, we lost the World Series, but we gained an extra hour of sleep.
November 2, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Well, we lost the World Series, but we gained an extra hour of sleep.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
The Jays lose the World Series in one of the greatest baseball games ever played
November 2, 2025 at 4:18 AM
The Jays lose the World Series in one of the greatest baseball games ever played
Today in spurious correlations: @blorkatomic.bsky.social discovers the secret to the @torontobluejays.bsky.social winning the World Series.
October 29, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Today in spurious correlations: @blorkatomic.bsky.social discovers the secret to the @torontobluejays.bsky.social winning the World Series.
Perfect timing for this distinguished lecture, given that I just gave my own (un)distinguished lecture on matrix multiplication to my undergrad algorithms students this afternoon!
October 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Perfect timing for this distinguished lecture, given that I just gave my own (un)distinguished lecture on matrix multiplication to my undergrad algorithms students this afternoon!
Reposted by Taylor Smith
It is hard to overstate the stress produced by the incoherence of academic institutions pumping generative AI when they want to play business and then leaving instructors to deal with the results when they want to play school
Cheating with an LLM is the easiest thing in the world for a student to do, but it creates a massive, laborious headache for a prof, if you intend to take it seriously. There’s meetings, emails, discussions, moral dilemmas. It’s just incredibly burdensome, on top of everything else right now.
I had 9 meetings about students using Chat GPT/LLMs on their papers today.
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
October 28, 2025 at 1:45 PM
It is hard to overstate the stress produced by the incoherence of academic institutions pumping generative AI when they want to play business and then leaving instructors to deal with the results when they want to play school
Reposted by Taylor Smith
The simplex algorithm is super efficient. 80 years of experience says it runs in linear time. Nobody can explain _why_ it is so fast.
We invented a new algorithm analysis framework to find out.
We invented a new algorithm analysis framework to find out.
Beyond Smoothed Analysis: Analyzing the Simplex Method by the Book
Narrowing the gap between theory and practice is a longstanding goal of the algorithm analysis community. To further progress our understanding of how algorithms work in practice, we propose a new alg...
arxiv.org
October 27, 2025 at 1:43 AM
The simplex algorithm is super efficient. 80 years of experience says it runs in linear time. Nobody can explain _why_ it is so fast.
We invented a new algorithm analysis framework to find out.
We invented a new algorithm analysis framework to find out.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
This @smbccomics.bsky.social on quantum computing really hits the mark regarding teaching theoretical computer science more broadly―or, I reckon, science.*
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/intuit... by @zachweinersmith.bsky.social
*Hey, how would I know, I'm not a scientist.
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/intuit... by @zachweinersmith.bsky.social
*Hey, how would I know, I'm not a scientist.
October 26, 2025 at 10:39 PM
This @smbccomics.bsky.social on quantum computing really hits the mark regarding teaching theoretical computer science more broadly―or, I reckon, science.*
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/intuit... by @zachweinersmith.bsky.social
*Hey, how would I know, I'm not a scientist.
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/intuit... by @zachweinersmith.bsky.social
*Hey, how would I know, I'm not a scientist.
Get rid of those sideburns
October 26, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Get rid of those sideburns
I'm fully on board with this! *
---
* because my field follows an alphabetical-order-authorship convention and I haven't collaborated yet with anyone having a T-Z last name.
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* because my field follows an alphabetical-order-authorship convention and I haven't collaborated yet with anyone having a T-Z last name.
Google Scholar has introduced a 'Sh-index' metric that scores papers higher if you are first or last author. Apart from the fact metrics are generally bad, this one explicitly punishes PIs who often collaborate, publishing with 2 or 3 equal PIs at the end of the list.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Google Scholar tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I'm fully on board with this! *
---
* because my field follows an alphabetical-order-authorship convention and I haven't collaborated yet with anyone having a T-Z last name.
---
* because my field follows an alphabetical-order-authorship convention and I haven't collaborated yet with anyone having a T-Z last name.
Since I'm marking the midterms of my undergrad theory students this weekend, let's take a trip 12 years back in time to when I wrote MY undergrad theory midterm and earned a 52% (rounded generously up to 66%).
Spoiler alert: you'll wonder how I managed to become a theoretical computer scientist.
Spoiler alert: you'll wonder how I managed to become a theoretical computer scientist.
October 25, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Since I'm marking the midterms of my undergrad theory students this weekend, let's take a trip 12 years back in time to when I wrote MY undergrad theory midterm and earned a 52% (rounded generously up to 66%).
Spoiler alert: you'll wonder how I managed to become a theoretical computer scientist.
Spoiler alert: you'll wonder how I managed to become a theoretical computer scientist.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
there is no one on this earth you should respect less than a politician who claims Canadian cities are terrifying war zones. like awwww, are you afraid of Halifax, Nova Scotia? it's okay, little buddy, that cannon they fire downtown is a show for tourists, it isn't real
October 19, 2025 at 1:44 AM
there is no one on this earth you should respect less than a politician who claims Canadian cities are terrifying war zones. like awwww, are you afraid of Halifax, Nova Scotia? it's okay, little buddy, that cannon they fire downtown is a show for tourists, it isn't real
Reposted by Taylor Smith
On this day in 1921, Beatrice Worsley was born. She was the first woman to work as a computer scientist in Canada. Her PhD was also the first granted to a woman in the field of computer science. She wrote the first program to run on EDSAC.
October 18, 2025 at 11:30 AM
On this day in 1921, Beatrice Worsley was born. She was the first woman to work as a computer scientist in Canada. Her PhD was also the first granted to a woman in the field of computer science. She wrote the first program to run on EDSAC.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
On this day in 1841, Queen's College was established by the Church of Scotland through a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria. The first class had 15 students and two professors. To date, it has produced five Nobel laureates and six Canadian premiers.
October 16, 2025 at 11:15 AM
On this day in 1841, Queen's College was established by the Church of Scotland through a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria. The first class had 15 students and two professors. To date, it has produced five Nobel laureates and six Canadian premiers.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
Lia Schütze, a student at MPI-SWS, presented this poster at our recent retreat. I was blown away. Not only is it a work of art (which she designed herself), but the visuals actually made sense as a structural device for explaining the work.
October 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Lia Schütze, a student at MPI-SWS, presented this poster at our recent retreat. I was blown away. Not only is it a work of art (which she designed herself), but the visuals actually made sense as a structural device for explaining the work.
I’m officially the new moderator for the arXiv cs.FL repository, as evidenced by all the automated emails I got in the past few days about new submissions.
(Not to discourage you from submitting your theory preprints—my inbox will survive!)
(Not to discourage you from submitting your theory preprints—my inbox will survive!)
October 14, 2025 at 2:28 PM
I’m officially the new moderator for the arXiv cs.FL repository, as evidenced by all the automated emails I got in the past few days about new submissions.
(Not to discourage you from submitting your theory preprints—my inbox will survive!)
(Not to discourage you from submitting your theory preprints—my inbox will survive!)
Reposted by Taylor Smith
When I was a kid, the dedicated teachers at St. Rose School in Edmonton showed up every day to set my peers and I up for success.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go back and thank the teachers doing the same for the next generation #WorldTeachersDay.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go back and thank the teachers doing the same for the next generation #WorldTeachersDay.
October 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
When I was a kid, the dedicated teachers at St. Rose School in Edmonton showed up every day to set my peers and I up for success.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go back and thank the teachers doing the same for the next generation #WorldTeachersDay.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go back and thank the teachers doing the same for the next generation #WorldTeachersDay.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
The title of my next paper:
On Whether Beginning a Paper Title with "On" is Acceptable
On Whether Beginning a Paper Title with "On" is Acceptable
October 5, 2025 at 4:32 PM
The title of my next paper:
On Whether Beginning a Paper Title with "On" is Acceptable
On Whether Beginning a Paper Title with "On" is Acceptable
Watching Keeping Up Appearances and other British comedies as a child unquestionably shaped (warped) my sense of humour. This news is terribly sad, but also nice to see Patricia Routledge’s entire career being celebrated.
October 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Watching Keeping Up Appearances and other British comedies as a child unquestionably shaped (warped) my sense of humour. This news is terribly sad, but also nice to see Patricia Routledge’s entire career being celebrated.
Reposted by Taylor Smith
(solemnly) You've had mail.
September 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
(solemnly) You've had mail.
At what point in the fall term is it no longer acceptable to start an email with “Hope your new academic year is off to a great start!” September 30 is still good, right?
September 30, 2025 at 10:02 PM
At what point in the fall term is it no longer acceptable to start an email with “Hope your new academic year is off to a great start!” September 30 is still good, right?