Physical, especially boutique, bookstores are a rare species nowadays, and I am glad to walk into one today and serendipitously browsed Impossible is Nothing: China’s Theater of Consumerism.
2021-11-21
2021-11-19
Waiting area after vaccination
Flu shot in one arm
Covid booster another
Still little I felt
2021-11-18
Butterfly effect of small initial unbalance
Part of my body is now made of titanium.
Despite the discipline and care I have maintained, there will always be random deviations that started small but eventually amplified to visible unbalances.
Fortunately, this particular issue could be resolved via mechanical instead of biochemical means.
But something will get me eventually, as nobody lives forever.
2021-11-17
Drawing a pair of boots from memory
The boots in the first drawing look like being made of some hard materials (e.g., wood) so I drew another version (over the previous rough outlines) with softer materials (like leather or cloth).
https://youtu.be/boYggDKQ-kY
2021-11-15
Follow your passion only if you know what it is
I have been using ray tracing as a default introductory exercise for my open mentor program. Probably as a consequence, several recent students decided to focus on rendering when applying for graduate research programs.
When I applied for grad schools 20+ years ago, I only knew that I wanted to program stuff.
I decided to focus on computer graphics after the first year during which I took courses in different topics and attended different research group meetings (not least for the free food).
I figured out my research topic after the third year, after trying out at least 20 different projects which not only greatly helped me figure out my thesis topic but also have a glimpse of what is going on in other potentially related research fields (which in turn helped me expand and transition my research topics many years later).
I guess this relates to the more general discussion about the danger of following your passion (too early); if you only do what you like, you might not try what you might like even more.
The downside of globalization
Listened to this podcast today, which highlighted the importance of help transitioning those left behind by technological and economical upheavals for social and political benefits.
Persistence
Persistence (grit, tenacity) is perhaps the quality that I admired the most from a person, who has a strong desire to achieve something without ever giving up.
(Sometimes I wonder if I have too little desire, like a monk.)
2021-11-14
Advice from my 80-year-old self
I often talk to an imaginary 88-year-old self for advices as a way to elicit answers that I already have in mind.
grassdoor.com
For a split second I thought glassdoor.com started a new line of business.
🙂