This week, I’m giving a presentation on Vlad Țepeș, as part of of the Un-Distinguished Lecture Series, or UDLS, a weekly event hosted by the graduate students of the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia.

Here’s the abstract:

I recently spent several weeks in Romania. I now know more about Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure who (partially) inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula character. This talk contains references to holy sects, sibling rivalry, dragons, Leslie Neilson, cheap paraphernalia, and Russell & Norvig’s AIMA. Like one of my earlier talks, it’ll also feature gory death and mutilation, and the infamous 16th century ‘blood countess’ Elizabeth Bathory.