In this one I go through how Brennan Lee Mulligan hid a secret finale to Game Changer Season 7 behind months of lies, all so Sam Reich finally gets a taste of his own medicine of subjecting improv comedians to twisted little challenges. We’ll discuss every clue piece that was placed throughout Game Changer Season 7, with lots of hidden content most people haven’t seen before involving Jacob Wysocki, Vic Michaelis, and many many more.

via: https://coolthingswefound.com/archive

We further develop the group-theoretic approach to fast matrix multiplication introduced by Cohn and Umans, and for the first time use it to derive algorithms asymptotically faster than the standard algorithm. We describe several families of wreath product groups that achieve matrix multiplication exponent less than 3, the asymptotically fastest of which achieves exponent 2.41. We present two conjectures regarding specific improvements, one combinatorial and the other algebraic. Either one would imply that the exponent of matrix multiplication is 2.

Part of Prof. Cohn’s larger matmul program. Don’t completely have the chops for it yet, but definitely something to hold onto.

Cooties Simulator 2009™

How and why black conservatives sell out.

I went to work to explore this idea of checking if a number is odd or even by only using comparisons to see how well it works in a real world scenario.

What if you could physically transform yourself into whatever you want to be? Support and conduct research to make this dream a reality.

Interesting project. Seems a bit “pie in the sky”-y, though.

The whole episode begged the question: if I didn’t understand the weight that this incredibly influential man carried, what good is it if I spend a ridiculous number of hours online? The algorithmic nature of the internet keeps even the most curious of minds ignorant and that is terrifying.

I think this person has an unhealthy relationship with the news. You cannot literally know everyone of influence. There’s too little time in the world for that.

I worry that the same things that drive me to the fridge at midnight drive others to credit agreements on cars the size of maisonettes. Both coping mechanisms in an increasingly alienating world; immediate individual comfort over long-term collective survival.

A bit doomer-y, but I definitely understand the sentiment.

In 2026, I hope to enjoy a functioning body, not measure it. That would be plenty.

Yeah, I really think I don’t get having children.

A new anonymous essay published every day in December in the countdown to Christmas.

2025 is … was the international year of quantum science and technology. Yes because quantum tech is increasingly important, but especially because quantum mechanics was invented 100 years ago this year. In 1925, our strangest true theory went from being a peculiar set of ideas to describe some funny results from experiments, to a full-blown theoretical framework that overturned how we think reality really works.  So today, as the centenary year approaches its end I want to take you on a little journey through what may be the most paradigm-destroying several months in scientific history.

Interesting idea.

Explore motifs from Hamilton, Wicked, and Les Misérables.

Great piece. Especially liked the last two sections.

PIZZARO: But what I can do is build relationships with people who are members of the groups that I might have a slightly negative implicit bias against. I think in my own life one thing that has been a salve for my own racism, for my own prejudices, is to connect with certain people and actually love those people and actually care for those people. And then I feel my prejudices kind of simmering away. And I think that this way I become a better person.

Viewpoint diversity is great at the level of the intellectual community. But it’s not necessarily something we should aspire to at the local level—in fact, when it comes to hiring faculty, viewpoint homogeneity is often better. Fans of viewpoint diversity should recognize that trade-offs are involved—encouraging diversity involves making difficult, uncomfortable choices.

When I got to be an upper-level PhD student, I would go to conferences, look for the people who were five years or so ahead of me, and ask myself: do they seem happy? Do I want to be like them? Are they pleased to have exited the gauntlet of pain that separates my life and theirs? The answer was an emphatic no. Landing a professor position had not suddenly put all their neuroses into remission. If anything, their success had justified their suffering, thus inviting even more of it. If it took this much self-abnegation, mortification, and degradation to get an academic job, imagine how much you’ll need for tenure!

This is the kind of mathematics I was put on this earth to do. The equation explorer is also just a genuinely useful tool for looking up equations; did so earlier this year as part of preparations for a lecture I gave.