3 Tips for Good Theory Slides & Talks

Here are three immensely useful tips my advisors gave me: Word Upperbound per Slide Aim for no more than three bullet points per slide, with six words per point. This isn’t a strict rule, but it’s a great standard and minimalistic ethos to follow whenever possible. Structure: Readability + Math This is a more advanced technique, but incredibly helpful for theoretical econ talks. Try to layer your slides with two different levels of information....

June 27, 2025

Grande Valse Brillante (Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat, Op.18)

another episode of Youtube waltz watch

June 26, 2025

In Memory of 蔡澜 (Chua Lam)

挥一挥衣袖,不带走一片云彩 (I wave my sleeves. Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away) Chua Lam, the beloved food critic and cultural icon based in Hong Kong, passed away today. His deep love for food went beyond appetite—it shaped a way of living. A philosophy that was unique, profound, popular, and deeply worth remembering. Rest in peace. Wish heaven (or anywhere you’re in) have great food. I don’t think I can explain the essence of this wise man’s worldview in a single paragraph....

June 25, 2025

A pink, minimalistic beamer latex template on overleaf

I designed a beamer latex template. Here’s the overleaf link and here’s the demo pdf. See the pdf for other pages of the demo. Design idea: Use the Poppins typeface — it’s a round, sans-serif font. (an open-source substitute for Google’s beautiful proprietary font Product Sans). (See Google Fonts: Poppins for details. Color: black text with pink accent on light-beige background. Minimalistic functions: I disabled navigation toolbar and the page that list references....

June 24, 2025

Tchaikovsky's Swan Coda from the Appendix

I’m graduating tmrw :) For this coda chapter, I really want to play this music for myself: Vivacious tempo, sparkling technique, bursting with joy, somewhat hidden, and adds a little bit obsession over details and perfection — this piece really best summarize my undergrad journey. What piece would you choose as your graduation day bgm?

June 23, 2025

Approximation Algorithm for RMAB

The paper “Approximation Algorithms for Restless Bandit Problems” by Guha, Munagala, Shi (2009) designed a $2 + \epsilon$-approximation algorithm for a special class of RMAB (“Feedback MAB”, and generalized to “Monotone MAB”). The algorithm is fundamentally different to the classical Whittle Index. The paper’s analysis uses a duality-based algorithmic technique—it is vastly different compared with Weber (1988)’s proof for RMAB’s asymptotic optimality, hence the $2 + \epsilon$ approximation outcome doesn’t requires asymptotic....

June 22, 2025

Gattaca (1997), and Schubert's Impromptu No.3

There’s no gene for the human spirit. — Gattaca (1997) Vincent Freeman is born into a genetically engineered society but conceived naturally, deemed ‘in-valid’ due to a heart condition. Determined to defy his genetic fate and reach space, Vincent assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a former elite athlete, to join Gattaca’s space program. Gattaca is the stunning directorial debut of Andrew Niccol, who also wrote The Truman Show (1998)....

June 21, 2025

Cool Paper | Sparse Stochastic Bandits

The visible world is no longer a reality and the unseen world no longer a dream (Kandinsky)

June 20, 2025

MAB UCB1 No-Regret Proof

This is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

June 19, 2025

Barcarolle Battle | Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and Offenbach

Evoking the rush of water, the stroke of oars and the motion of the ocean, the Barcarolle was a folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers (the word comes from “Barca” meaning “boat”). Characterised by a rocking rhythm, suggestive of the movement of the gondola, a Barcarolle is usually of moderate tempo scored in compound time (often 6/8, 9/8 or 12/8). The genre has been used by many composers to great expressive effect....

June 18, 2025