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. Objective: to answer the five Cs (Category, Context, Correctness, Contribution, Clarity) and decide whether to dive in second pass. ...

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. But looking back at 2023, there was plenty on the health beat to be awed by. ...

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. However, the buyers’ incentives are misaligned, like, what if the new invitee values the item more highly and outbids the existing buyers? This risk creates a strategic tension, where buyers might be inclined to ’throw away the invitation’ to protect their own chances. ...

The frenzy and messy cloud of synthesizers are pretty much the state that I’m pushing myself to be in right now - a little bit more stress to push productivity.

ArguGPT is an algorithmic tool that is designed to differentiate GPT-generated argumentative essays. But it seems that at least for now, it’s accuracy is doubtful.

At times, I resonate with Sisyphus. Yet, although my life involves its share of repetition, I don’t always perceive these experiences as suffering or a “struggle”, nor do I believe they need to be.

one of the best memories of 2023

Think I’ve kind of learned that the more authentic and genuine it is, the better it will work for you.