ariana's blog

Random Post Generator

Click here to jump to a random post. How to create it? 1 Create the random layout Create file layouts/_default/random.html and use the following code:  {{/* Collect posts (adjust sections if yours differ) */}} {{- $pages := where site.RegularPages "Kind" "page" -}} {{- $pages = where $pages "Section" "in" (slice "posts" "post" "blog") -}} {{- $pages = where $pages "Params.draft" "ne" true -}} {{- $pages = where $pages "Params.private" "ne" true -}} {{- $pages = where $pages "Params.hidden" "ne" true -}} {{- $pages = where $pages "Params.unlisted" "ne" true -}} {{/* Use absolute URLs to avoid GitHub Project Pages repo-path issues */}} {{- $urls := slice -}} {{- range $pages -}} {{- $urls = $urls | append .Permalink -}} {{- end -}} <!doctype html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> <title>Random Post</title> <style> body { font: 16px/1.45 system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; padding: 24px; } #fallback { max-width: 720px; } </style> </head> <body> <div id="fallback"> <h1>Random Post</h1> {{ if eq (len $urls) 0 }} <p>No eligible posts found. Make sure posts are under <code>content/posts/</code> (or <code>post</code>/<code>blog</code>) and not drafts.</p> {{ else }} <p>Picking something for you… if nothing happens, choose one below:</p> <ul> {{- range $urls -}}<li><a href="{{ . }}">{{ . }}</a></li>{{- end -}} </ul> {{ end }} </div>  <script type="application/json" id="random-urls">{{ $urls | jsonify | safeHTML }}</script>  <script src="{{ "js/random.js" | absURL }}"></script> </body> </html> How it works: ...

Ravel and Gershwin and Their Obsession with Jazz

Here’s two excellent source about the Jazz of Gershwin and his influence on Ravel: An article, Fascinatin’ rhythm: When Ravel met Gershwin December 14, 2021 Jack Zimmerman (CSO link) While in New York, Ravel went to see Gershwin’s new musical Funny Face and declared himself “enchanted.” He expressed interest in meeting Gershwin and hearing him play the Rhapsody in Blue and other jazz-influenced works. … At a party held in his honor by mezzo-soprano Éva Gauthier, Ravel celebrated his 53rd birthday on March 7, 1928. One of the guests that evening was Gershwin. During the soirée, the young Broadway songwriter entertained Ravel and the other guests with an impromptu performance of Rhapsody in Blue and a selection of songs including “The Man I Love.” ...

Serenade in Hyde Park

This fall, I’m starting a new chapter as a PhD student at the Booth School of Business. I finished my undergrad in Shanghai — another windy city. Coincidence, perhaps, that I end up here in Chicago, as if the wind insists on pushing a bit for the chapters of my life. Chicago has its grand, confident skyline, but Hyde Park — where I now live — feels like a world of its own. In summer, the streets are lined with lush, green canopies that almost hum with quiet intelligence. ...

Xfinity's Wifi Plan Pricing Assortment Challenges IIA

Some fun observations when I was opening up Wi-Fi service at my apartment.

Lyrical Masterclass of Rampal

Oftentimes, the most beautiful piece is never the most difficult or the flashiest one. Cantabile. Lyrical. Expressive. Jean-Pierre Rampal plays the flute as if he were singing — every phrase shaped like a breath, every note carrying the weight of a spoken word. Camille Saint-Saëns’ Romance, Op. 37 isn’t a technically demanding piece. The notes are simple, the scales predictable, the fingerings familiar. On paper, it looks almost effortless — something any advanced student could easily sight-read. ...

So-called random improvisation

The movie An American in Paris has almost all of its music based on George Gershwin’s compositions and adjustments. Not only in the grand ballet scene or the famous “I got rhythm” dance. It’s a very luxury, abusive application of all Gershwin’s music. For example. where’s a tiny fleeting moments, when Adam Cook (the pianist) playing improvised Jazz, Henri Baurel (a singer) teased him about Jazz’s ‘randomness’ Da da da da da da… that was how you win your scholarship? ...

Gershwin's An American in Paris

Classical music are (almost) defined as those scored to be replayed. Jazz, on the other hand, blew this wall open by improvisation. This makes jazz infinitely more adaptable. For example, if you swap the French horn part in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 to Oboe, purists might want to put you on a murder list. But in jazz, rewriting, embellishing, and reinventing are celebrated. A pianist can take a popular jazz standard and spin it into a dazzling, virtuosic variation, and nobody bats an eye. (If you want to dive deeper into what makes a jazz standard, see my post here.) ...

How to make ANYONE fall in love with you by Leil Lowndes

Masterpiece!!!

The Implicit Barrier — Lightweight Interior-Point Methods for Market Equilibria

I’ve listened to enough of Professor Ye’s talks that my Apple Photos automatically organizes pictures of his slides into a “memory” album (by recognizing Prof Ye of course). Interestingly delightful — I always learn so much from them! Professor Ye: Slay. Another refreshing piece of research on applying OR to game theory: The Implicit Barrier of Utility Maximization: An Interior-Point Approach for Market Equilibria Chuwen Zhang, Chang He, Bo Jiang, Yinyu Ye | ArXiv link ...

Syncing Overleaf with Local Editing

I’m not a LaTeX expert, but after a few papers and too many deadlines, here’s the system I’ve been using to stay sane, and stay synced. TeX was created by Donald Knuth, the legendary computer scientist, while writing the legendary The Art of Computer Programming (He wasn’t happy with the typesetting quality, so he built TeX in 1978). The beauty is that LaTeX’s elegance lies in its logic + automation — like once the stage is set up, the rest is “the creation of beautiful books”. So it’s definitely worth the investment to set it up and manage it well. ...