The Wiener Philharmonic’s new year concert IS one of the world’s most famous classical concerts—correct me if I’m wrong, the only rival that stands is the Berlin Wall Concert, in 1989 when Leonard Bernstein conducting German National Opera, played Beethoven Symphony No.9 (Ode to Freedom, or Joy?). It’s special because The program every year largely remains the same, consisting a lot of waltz and polkas composed by the Stauß family. The concert was first performed in 1939 conducted by Clemens Krauss, who is also the discoverer of Stauß’s mastery. Since 1987, the musicians made the decision to select a different conductor every year: Herbert von Karajan (1987), Seiji Ozawa (2002), Andris Nelsons (2020) etc.—almost like a Nobel Prize for classical music composers. The television broadcast is augmented by ballet performances in selected pieces. Interestingly, tickets are allocated to overflow demand via lottery: ...

January is the busiest month full of deadlines—application (review), conference and grant submission, etc. Meanwhile, all the top classical groups release their New Year Concert recordings during this time. For some relax and motivation during workouts, let me share a series of 2025 New Year Concerts in the following days.

The Chinese (almost-)monopoly search engine Baidu is famed for its innovative approach to low-quality search results and extensive ads. While Google limits itself to a mere four ads per query, Baidu sometimes offers up to seven for hot keywords like “cosmetic surgery. Moreover, Baidu ensures its “sponsored” tags are so understated they’re easily neglected, while relegating organic results to a cramped corner of mediocrity. But here’s the pièce de résistance: you can enjoy ad-free, high-quality search results on Baidu simply by invoking the safeword “李彦宏”—the name of Baidu’s CEO. It has been loudly whispered that, Baidu has an unwritten rule to shield their leader’s eminent visage from association with anything negative. For example, search “Intense Pulse Light” (a cosmetic surgery) on Baidu with and without the safeword, and behold two parallel universes: ...

Or two dancers?

Notes of listens to the two-part series by Freakonomics: Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped? (Update) Episode website. Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? (Update) Episode website. The podcast focused on discussing academic misconduct particularly in the field of social psychology. It looked at the prevalence of fraudulent behavior, the whistle blower “Data Colada” by three professors and anonymous helpers, the fragile academic system that builds on trust and self-discipline that is vulnerable to incentives and cheating behavior. ...

I recently came across two interesting podcasts that I plan to summarize and comment on. Today has been busy so let me mark them here: Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped? (Update). Jan 1 2025, Freakonomics. Link. Voting Mechanisms. Aug 31 2020, Data Skeptics. Link. Also updated in the procrastination bulletin :D

The old saying goes “而或长烟一空，皓月千里，浮光跃金，静影沉璧” (GPT translates) The vast mist disperses, unveiling a radiant moon that spans the heavens. Golden ripples dance upon the lake, while the still reflections sink like jade into the depths. A serene dusk lingers, cradling both the boundless beauty of nature and the quiet mind. Jan. 5, 2025. Hangzhou, West Lake. Jan. 5, 2025. Hangzhou, West Lake. ...

The paper Test-Optimal Admissions by Dessein, Alex Frankel, and Navin Kartik has lingered on my desktop—and the Procrastination Bulletin—for over a year now. It’s time to give it the attention it deserves. ABSTRACT (from the authors) | Many U.S. colleges now use test-optional admissions. A frequent claim is that by not seeing standardized test scores, a college can admit a student body it prefers, say with more diversity. But how can observing less information improve decisions? This paper proposes that test-optional policies are a response to social pressure on admission decisions. We model a college that bears disutility when it makes admission decisions that “society” dislikes. Going test optional allows the college to reduce its “disagreement cost”. We analyze how missing scores are imputed and the consequences for the college, students, and society. (arXiv here) ...

The final thesis topics for the 2024 Fall E-Commerce course were quite intriguing (see it archived here). As market design requires detail and I found these logistic anecdotes—of characterizing different categories of product flows quite interesting and important. One of the most important operational considerations in e-commerce is how products flow. We can distinguish several logistics models based on the time it takes from when a customer pays for a product to the moment it arrives at their doorstep. ...

As I’m rushing through my final week, let me share about the E-commerce course I took this semester—our instructor commissioned two optional topics for its final thesis. Thinking about them is some fun exercise: Analyze the difference between e-commerce and traditional commerce in terms of product flow mechanisms—discuss your understanding of e-commerce risk management specific measures. How to solve problems when (i) platforms abuse the use of big data technology, for example, to conduct price discrimination; and (ii) platforms abuse their market power to limit seller’s multi-homing behavior and force exclusive commitment. How will the innovation of the third-party logistics models solve the problem of “the last kilometer fulfillment”? How does the development of e-commerce circulation promote the solution of the problem of insufficient and unbalanced development in China? Please elaborate via examples. Enjoy🤯.