The Wretched Google Interview Experience

I would like to describe my experience interviewing with Google, and specifically outline why I thought the experience was poor by way of telling my story. As you shall see, this will be especially difficult to convey because you, the reader, will likely be convinced my poor experience is likely only a result of . . . → Read More: The Wretched Google Interview Experience

Lisp Types Demystified (Part II: Linear Random Access Sequences)

This is the Part II in the series of Lisp Types Demystified. There is no logical dependence on the retroactively dubbed Part I, but it sets the stage a bit.

In this post, I will briefly outline a framework for type equivalence and subtyping, describe a range of compound types, and then focus on . . . → Read More: Lisp Types Demystified (Part II: Linear Random Access Sequences)

Lisp Types Demystified (Part I: The Span of Common Lisp Types)

A friend of mine sent me an email today about types in programming languages, and discussed how types can alleviate certain kinds of errors. One interesting part of the email was on two orthogonal points of type systems:

I now realise that there are several issues conflated into a false dichotomy of static/dynamic.

. . . → Read More: Lisp Types Demystified (Part I: The Span of Common Lisp Types)

$\pi$ Is Not a Good PRNG

This post claims that calculating $\pi$ using either a common spigot algorithm or the Chudnovsky algorithm is the state-of-the-art in pseudo-random number generation. This is false.

It should be obvious why $\pi$ is not a good candidate for cryptographic work. It is a common, noticeable sequence, and easily repeatable. So, this leaves us with . . . → Read More: $\pi$ Is Not a Good PRNG

$m$-of-$n$ Boolean Circuits

(This post contains code. For a complete code listing, see the very end of this post.)

The Problem

Given a set of boolean variables $X=\{x_1, \ldots, x_n\}$, construct a boolean circuit that determines if at least $0\le m\le n$ elements of $X$ are true.

Let’s call it the $m$-of-$n$ boolean circuit problem. (Also known . . . → Read More: $m$-of-$n$ Boolean Circuits