Why Ballet? Maybe it comes down to personal taste—I’d say most girls and women, at some point in their lives, fall in love with ballet for its captivating femininity and artistry. But beyond that, ballet is a great way to invest your time—whether through practice, watching live performances in a theater, or even just playing YouTube videos in the background while doing laundry. Because ballet is both art and fun. It originated in Italian Renaissance in the 15th century, and developed into structured art by the passionate dancer King Louis XIV of France through establishing the Académie Royale de Danse in 1661....

I’d love to keep track of all the classical pieces and composers I’ve written about—whether from concert reflections or deep-dive listening sessions that make me curious about a piece’s background. Music taste is hard to align, but I hope this list offers a practical glimpse into mine. Maybe you’ll find some insight—or even a new favorite piece. I usually prioritize academic posts over musical ones, but when things get hectic, I turn to music....

The song Part of Your World is a song from the movie The Litte Mermaid (1989). Interestingly I think it fits so close to the state of mind where an undergrad aspiring for a PhD: “Even if we aren’t literally mermaids/mermen wanting to be human, there are some goals or things we want in life that are just as seemingly impossible. So while the song is specific to Ariel’s situation, it’s incredibly accessible to every audience member” (Howard Ashman, lyric writer who collaborated with Alen Menken to write the song)....

I went to a movie-soundtrack concert, and here’s the notes. Music has been a critical component of movie experience since its very beginning (1985). In the silent film era, live music was essential, with pianists and small ensembles performing alongside screenings. improvising and enhancing the on-screen action. Fun fact: Dmitri Shostakovich, before becoming a legendary composer, worked as a silent film pianist in Soviet Russia. With the arrival of synchronized sound, film scores became pre-recorded, often performed by full orchestras....

Stylistic choices when writing an academic document — by Jordan Boyd-Graber. While I don’t agree 100% with one of the author’s advice—using Beamer for creating poster—all others are remarkable cool and makes perfect sense. Whoever organized these advices is wise, generous and has really good taste!

Bike sharing is a great topic, it’s green and has lots of data. A relevant study: Understanding intra-urban human mobility through an exploratory spatiotemporal analysis of bike-sharing trajectories Wenwen Li et al. (shortened abstract) This paper presents a data-driven framework analyzing bike-sharing trips in Shanghai, the world’s largest bike-share city. It integrates multiple data sources—transport networks, road characteristics, and urban land use—to study short-trip mobility patterns. Findings highlight usage trends, trip distribution, and route choice factors, offering insights for city planning, bike-sharing operations, and sustainable transportation development....

Adobe Flash Player was retired by Adobe and major browser vendors since the beginning of 2021. By the time of 2025, major browsers (Chrome, Edge that works on Chromium core, and Safari) all DON’T support Flash. Which makes some interactive operations inapplicable. But if you ever have the misfortune to still need the Flash function. Here’s how to do it (works on Mac, guess similarly you can make it work on Windows too)....

The courier job in China has long been regarded as a tough, low-paying, and insecure occupation. With limited benefits and high risks, it’s a job that many take on for part-time hours or as a side hustle. In our previous posts, we’ve touched on the struggles of delivery riders before: Blowing in the wind—perhaps because I’m no stranger to ordering takeout and shopping online too often! However, JD.com, one of China’s largest e-commerce giants, has recently announced a groundbreaking decision: starting March 1, 2025, they will provide full social security benefits—the complete “five insurances and one fund”—for its full-time food delivery riders....

An interesting paper recommended by Professor Kimon Drakopoulos: Strategic Experimentation with Exponential Bandits Abstract This paper studies a game of strategic experimentation with two-armed bandits whose risky arm might yield a payoff only after some exponentially distributed random time. Because of free-riding, there is an inefficiently low level of experimentation in any equilibrium where the players use stationary Markovian strategies with posterior beliefs as the state variable. After characterizing the unique symmetric Markovian equilibrium of the game, which is in mixed strategies, we construct a variety of pure-strategy equilibria....

The food rescue project has officially come to an end, so I’m now looking forward to a series of joyful months leading up til graduation. I have a mix of delightful tasks ahead—tidying up both the physical and digital clutter, organizing books and papers, and even enjoying a few indulgences: concerts, ballet classes, and some long-overdue shopping. Among the tasks on my list is a thorough clean-up of the RMAB project....