Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
mastodon
4.5.8
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College.
I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
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Joined October 29, 2022
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
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4d ago
@zhcet @tuomas_h It was a dark time for the hardware… on an entry level mac of the era, it might take 10 seconds of dock bouncing to open.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
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4d ago
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
4d ago
@zhcet @tuomas_h I remember iTunes being very slow in that era. The user interface was good, but user perception of bloat is easily triggered when performance is bad.
View full thread on mathstodon.xyz
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
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Apr 07, 2026
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 05, 2026
https://www.inkandswitch.com/slow-software/ An amazing article from Ink & Switch.
The latency measurements are really cool.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@kevin @tml @olynch @albertcardona @elduvelle And you are blocked! It is so nice to be able to block the bozos.
View full thread on mathstodon.xyz
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@olynch @tml @albertcardona @elduvelle Yes, 100%. I never said it was faster. I said it was just something that you could mostly rely on.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@tml @olynch @albertcardona @elduvelle As I commented elsewhere in the thread (feels like you aren't listening to me and are just "interacting"), with an airplane the different carriers all coordinate with each other, as they are required by law. So the problem is less devastating when it inevitably comes to pass.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@olynch @tml @albertcardona @elduvelle I don't have many trips where it is not extremely important that I arrive on time.
I'd take the comment about FUD seriously if it came with a commitment to personally pay for my hotel, taxi, etc. when I end up eating shit.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@tml @olynch @albertcardona @elduvelle I mean, the balkans is one thing.
But it is impossible to get from Cambridge to Oxford for a daytime meeting without staying overnight.
If I wanted to go to Glasgow, I would have to use four different train companies and none of the different train companies coordinate with each other — meaning that what ought to be a simple fix (as in the case of missed flights, where it just gets fixed without your intervention) becomes a huge ordeal that you are fully responsible for.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@tml @olynch @albertcardona @elduvelle I think it's pretty easy to tell by the fact that it is not a major plot point in books and movies of the 20th century that it is impossible to get from one point to another without several missed trains, replacement busses that don't show up, etc. In those days, people made plans that required them to arrive at a certain time, and those plans generally worked.
The 20th Century would have been impossible without functional rail transit. Today, plans that involve travelling by train must necessarily involve arriving a day early and paying for a hotel if you need to guarantee an on-time arrival.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@albertcardona @elduvelle Yeah, it is so crazy. To even contemplate it for a second is hellish and laughable.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Apr 04, 2026
@elduvelle @albertcardona Moreoever, why is it that there are direct flights between cities in the UK that I need eight changes on the train and a dozen little bus trips for?
With each change likely to fail at a rate of 10% that gives me a less than 50% change of reaching my destination…
Airplane it is.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Mar 29, 2026
@chrisamaphone I am a little embarrassed to note that I only realised this from reading your post... But glad to be in good company.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Mar 24, 2026
Professional software engineering is speed-running into a “Great Leap Forward” type scenario... @AmyZenunim@unstable.systems
Things like this make me really really glad I'm an independent programmer.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Mar 10, 2026
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Feb 27, 2026
@Daojoan Agree, but the cultural elite has always been the thing that money could not buy entry into (except after a generation or two)… so I am not sure this is really new.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Feb 19, 2026
amazing. There is a really scary lack of technological literacy in Ars Technica’s journalistic staff. The journalist in question separately gave a statement on social media in which he apologized and portrayed it as a terrible mistake, but it’s just not the kind of mistake that an ethical journalist can make, nor is it the kind of mistake that someone educated enough on AI to be writing about it in a journalistic setting can make.
If I were this guy’s editor, I am sorry to say that he would never work in journalism again.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Feb 17, 2026
@carloangiuli WOW. I did not know about luamml but that sounds amazing.
View full thread on mathstodon.xyz
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Jan 26, 2026
One thing I love about being involved in my College is I get a direct line on what young people are thinking.
In my circle of 30-50-somethings, it's taken for granted that "AI" is changing everything. Some people express caution that we shouldn't even take any position on software engineering education because it will be out of date within a week.
Meanwhile, my students are telling me that in their cohort, everyone is tired of AI and wants to learn proper software engineering.
One lesson here is: do you remember how clueless your boss was about everything? Recognise when you are in the "boss" demographic, and that your breathless enthusiasm and concern may be equally misinformed.
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Jan 15, 2026
@fahrni@curmudgeon.cafe @mattiem@mastodon.social Wow... Yeah, that's pretty scary. I'm on such a tight budget even something like that would be impossible for me to do. (academics in the UK get paid about a half what they do in the US.)
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Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
Jon Sterling
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
I am an Associate Professor in Logical Foundations and Formal Methods at the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, and a Fellow of Clare College. I like categories, domains, and vintage computing.
mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
·
Oct 15, 2025
Pure Type Systems are a Thought-Prevention Framework.
It is not often that I would ever advocate for book-burning...
But this stuff keeps coming up again and again with students, because they Google type theory and still find PTS and the lambda cube. Cubical idealism has become a poison...
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