It’s pretty scary when one signed up for 2 Azure accounts, with student verification failed (no free $100) but credit card information surrenderred. Also, the account sign-up process is tedious. Luckily I’ve taken HPC courses this summer so things are smooth later on - deploying containers and starting to run workloads… Manipulating multiple virtual machines with super capable computing power does feel awesome, until you somehow realized that you’re actually paying for them....

I read an eye-openly impressive paper today - Attention Management by Lipnowski, Mathevet and Wei. TBH, their model is very insightful (well, it’s in AER afterall…) and has potential to shed light on theoretical as well as behavioral econ research.

Well, art is art and everything else is everything else (although some might argue that classifying pop music as art would be problematic. bite me).

On December 22nd during DongZhi, there is the tradition of eating dumplings. Dumplings, once a symbol of warmth and comfort during the deep winter, now seem increasingly commercialized and expensive, particularly in chain stores and food delivery services. This shift reflects less of the cherished tradition and more of a capital-driven venture, stripping away the essence of what made these foods special. An explanation I came across sheds light on this transformation:...

Deciphering the elegance of an algorithm for online LP.

guess what, i got a cool Christmas gift!

Here’s an immensely useful paper on the almost cliché yet rarely studied question how to read a paper, where it outlines a practical and efficient three-pass method for reading research papers. Takeaways (of the three-pass approach): The first pass (5-10 mins): quickly scan to get a bird’s-eye view of the whole paper. Carefully read the title, abstract and introduction. Read the headings while ignore everything else. Read the conclusions. Scan the reference and tick-off the ones you’ve already read....

Here’s Scientific America’s The Biggest Health and Medicine Stories of 2023 by TANYA LEWIS. It’s always thrilling to look into the advances in medical field. These narratives are much more than mere stories—they represent the collective efforts of families, patients, and medical professionals who have integrated centuries of human knowledge to make life possible. In awe I read, as the opening of the article goes In world with so much urgent and depressing news, it can be hard to take a moment and reflect on all of the encouraging scientific and medical progress that has happened....

Music streaming giants like QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and even Apple Music have started rolling out their “annual replay” promotions as the year draws to a close. These platforms leverage a straightforward yet engaging algorithm to craft a personalized “summary” of a user’s musical journey throughout the year. This digital keepsake reflects not just what songs were played, but hints at the emotional and cultural landscapes navigated by each listener....

Game theory presents mindblowingly cute frameworks. Here’s two captivating models that revolve around the concept of - invitation. a market designer’s dilemma Imagine a seller with a valuable item and a crowd of potential buyers. Unlike a typical auction, these buyers have the unique ability to invite others outside the current circle to join in. For the seller, the ideal scenario a highly competitive market with as much participants as possible - where the item fetches the highest price....