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....

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. 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?...

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....

Here’s a gift to all for 2025’s beginning. It’s going to be a fun year. Will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time. What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where to start from. — T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding.

Snippet from the press conference of National Health Commission of China, Dec. 25, 2024 (full transcript in Chinese available here). The reporter inquired the credibility of data related to mental psychology circulating on the Internet. (Xie Bin, Party Secretary of Shanghai Mental Health Centre) [There has been] rumours that the prevalence of depression among teenagers has reached 15%-20%. According to the results of epidemiological surveys by authoritative institutions, in fact, the prevalence of depression among adolescents in China is only about 2%....