ariana's blog

Skills to Succeed as an Applied Scientist

The July 2025 Sigecom Exchanges Newsletter has this really interesting article that our advisor reposted in our WeChat group: EconCS in Industry: Skills to Succeed as an Applied Scientist Devanur, Paes Leme and Schrijvers link It applies more to EconCS students from the CS side, but the key points are universal for anyone wishing for industry I guess. Some key takeaways: Exploratory Data Analysis Exploratory Data Analysis is the iterative process of learning properties of the data that you’re working with. Typically, you start with a question or hypothesis (e.g. “the bids in an auction come from a Myerson-regular distribution”), then summarize, visualize, or model your data, and finally use what you learn to ask new questions. ...

The Cello as a Voice of the Human Soul

The cello’s range overlaps closely with the human voice. Its size, timbre, and resonance make it one of the most human of instruments — intimate, lyrical, and capable of expressing conversations, inner thoughts, growth, and epiphanies. Here are three pieces where the cello doesn’t just play fancy cadenzas: Awakening Back when I was with the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra, we performed Duo by composer 赵麟. It was a piece commissioned by our orchestra, and we were lucky to have the composer around during some rehearsals, which made the work feel even more alive. ...

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!!!