I usually found patent disclosure meetings a bit tedious. But the (remote) one held yesterday afternoon with two patent attorneys on a single-authored patent felt quite reassuring. During upheavals, routines can calm.
March 24, 2020
March 23, 2020
Networked creativity
I used to think that individual creativity is essential to succeed in a research career, either academic or industrial, until I saw people who managed to compensate their lack of creativity (or more general talent/effort) with socializing and networking to leverage up their apparent productivity.
March 21, 2020
Watercolor wet spatter a crabapple tree
I don’t have the skill (or, more importantly, the patience) to draw trees so I just settled for the built-in watercolor wet spatter in Adobe Fresco.
March 20, 2020
Shelter in place
The neighborhood cats came around, probably looking for the recently emerging groundhogs.
I drew these two cats from two separate photos, and found the process a refreshing break from working at home.
March 18, 2020
Life-long learning effects
The best part about attending a top school is not (just) the education, research, and networking, but the constant reminder to be humble and avoid underachieving for the rest of my life.
I can now claim to have a Turing award winner as my thesis co-supervisor and committee member. 😈 https://t.co/kVWFr5nl5Z
— Li-Yi Wei (@liyiwei) March 18, 2020
the official ACM announcement https://t.co/EfWw8qy0D2
— Li-Yi Wei (@liyiwei) March 18, 2020
How to clarify technical writings
There are two ways to clarify writing: modifying existing texts, and rewriting from scratch.
These two can be combined in some way and thus not exclusive.
Sometimes, if the writing has fundamental structure issues, it could help to sketch out a fresh outline aiming for a general audience without deep knowledge of the topic.
This exercise could then provide a roadmap for subsequent steps.
March 14, 2020
Uncertainty
In this podcast from a few days ago, Mervyn King made the point that uncertainty might cause anxiety but ultimately also makes life fun.
Drawing a sweetgum seed pod
I spotted this spiky plant ball on the ground while hiking and brought it back as a drawing subject.
March 13, 2020
COVID-19 induced changes
For about a zodiac round from 2005 to 2017, I have been working and living mostly alone in different parts of the world. So, the recent travel restriction and remote work policy simply put me back in my previous solo mode.
This business quarter (or maybe the next few ones) could shed light on whether and how working away from the office would affect productivity. I guess it depends on the job functions (e.g., research scientists versus sales manager), individual styles (e.g., introvert or extrovert), and family situations (e.g., young kids at home).
Like biology, diversity can be beneficial in political systems as well, shedding lights on how they fare under different scenarios.
It is not clear how much practical benefit the Trump EU travel ban has, but at least he is sending the kind of political message that is expected from him, and probably a less racist one compared to the Mexico border wall.
The team that is hurt the least from the NBA shutdown is the one I supported, which went from 3 championships and 5 straight final appearances until last year to the bottom dweller this year (largely due to a key player injured by a flagrant foul). I am personally not that interested in seeing other teams winning championships.
March 7, 2020
Information flow
Watching the real-time electric power flow among the grid, solar, battery, and home, I like to be able to see similar flow visualizations for our buildings (e.g., heat, water, gas) and bodies (e.g., calorie, cholesterol, blood sugar) so that we can be more informed to take care of our internal health and external environment.