The classic coupon collector's problem asks: There are \(n\) distinct coupons, and we wish to collect each coupon at least once. We may draw a random coupon uniformly in each iteration. How many iteration does it take, in expectation, to complete a full collection? The problem attracted significant…
I've been following the personal knowledge management (PKM) space for a while now. The promises of a second brain that helps you make novel connections and organize the haphazard pile of primary, secondary and original text, is appealing to an academic like me. Yet, I had trouble finding…
Some time ago, I was able to visit the exhibition "Charles Darwin's Letters" at the New York Public Library. Darwin is my original idol; it was the next best thing to meeting him in person!…
Growing up in the digital era, I've always been fascinated by emerging technologies. I've tried incorporating various apps and devices to organize my life and research, from zettelkasten apps and e-ink notepads to plain text. However, time and time again, I find myself reaching for the…
I listen to a wide range of music, from rock and metal to some synthwave, hiphop and and K-pop. So while I'm not a genre purist, there is a common "vibe" among my favorite artists in that they put a lot of attention into the lyrics…
Some time ago, I dropped my Macbook Pro into water, causing unrepairable damage. I am on a tight budget, so I bought a $200 refurbished Thinkpad off of Amazon which was all I could afford. I installed a minimal Linux distro, and threw on the lightweight XFCE desktop environment. It…
Given recent technological breakthroughs in AI, everyone seems to be conversing about technological advancement and its societal implications. A particularly thorny topic is the ethics of popular models, which were trained on copyrighted data, and is capable of reproducing the style of human creators with much less effort. Given this…
A month ago, I expressed a desire to live without optional websites as infinite feeds were making me feel overwhelmed. It's been a month and the experiment was largely a failure. These addictive websites prey upon my lowest moments. If I am having a great day, then abstaining…