Concrete numbers and data can help rational discussion of issues, including the trade-off between lives and jobs in the current lock-down situation.
2020-04-16
2020-04-01
Peak Asian American
This is the best time to be an Asian American.
Half a century before, it was better to be an American.
Half a century after, it would better to be an Asian.
2020-03-30
The influence we have
Both this NPR hidden brain podcast on the influence you have and this book on confessions of a sociopath point to the interesting aspects on how we know (and don’t know) about the psychological influences we can have on other people.
2020-03-24
Calming routines
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.
2020-03-18
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.
https://twitter.com/liyiwei/status/1240321335110164480
the official ACM announcement https://t.co/EfWw8qy0D2
— Li-Yi Wei (@liyiwei) March 18, 2020
2020-03-14
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.
2020-03-13
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.
2020-03-07
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.
2020-02-21
When you feel like killing someone or something
Just remember that it might be of use to you in the future.