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Long-form notes on cryptography, machine learning, systems, mechanism design, and the math behind them.
Deep dives with diagrams, worked examples, and the math written out in full — the explanations I wish I'd had while learning. Start with a series below, or use the sidebar to jump to any note.
Series
Applied Cryptography — six-part outline
From what 'secure' even means, through building a secure channel and authenticating the other end, to proving statements without revealing them and computing on data nobody can see. (Outline; posts in progress.)
NLP and LLMs, Part 1 — From One-Hot to BERT
How NLP learned to represent meaning — from one-hot vectors to contextual embeddings. (Full post.)
NLP and LLMs, Part 2 — From Representation to Behavior
The roadmap from a pre-trained transformer to an aligned, reasoning assistant. (Outline; deep-dives in progress.)
Auctions & Mechanism Design
Two views of the same hidden information: how to allocate goods where they create the most value, and how to choose a price when the seller cares about revenue.
VCG Auctions, Gently: Pay for the Harm You Cause
A story-first introduction to welfare, counterfactual payments, and why telling the truth can be the best strategy.
One Equation for Pricing: ψ(p*) = c
A geometry-first walk from a high-school derivative to optimal pricing: virtual value, hazard rates, pass-through, and why cost-plus undercharges by 3–7×. (Draft.)
Standalone posts
Bits, Math, Hashes, Streams
A systems refresher covering bit operations, modular arithmetic, hashing, and streams — written after an AI assistant generated a test with a magic number I could no longer explain.
The Last Worker Problem
How to let many workers finish a batch job while only one advances it—without losing progress or duplicating events.