Revisiting an old favorite…
A glass of tea; the moon;
The frogs croak in the weeds.
A bat wriggles down across Gold disk to silver reeds.
The distant light of lamps.
The whirr of winnowing grain.
The peace of loneliness.
The scent of imminent rain.
Abhishek & Soham present “Understanding UMAP,” Abhishek Deshpande, Soham Joshi, Varad Deshmukh and Shrirang Karandikar
Siddharth presents “The View from Above: Getting Started with Satellite Images,” Siddharth Srivastava, Yash Damania, Yash Choudhari, Raghav Gaggar, and Shrirang Karandikar
Presenting our* work on simulating epidemic spreads at the Intel AI Summit
* Soham Joshi, Abhishek Deshpande and Varad Deshmukh
SciFi/fantasy makes for great reading when I’m overwhelmed with too much going on. And something like this is great to just sink into.
The resolution at the end is…. mindblowing! And of course, there can be no better way forward. This works even as a metaphor for life.
Beautifully written, and what an amazing story! And I finally understood what a hedge fund does.
I wish I had read this decades ago. But then, I probably wouldn’t appreciate it at that time.
This was something that we discussed at AlgoAsylum. Depressingly accurate!
The author is (was?) a writer for The New Yorker, and I picked this up more for studying her style of writing. Consider crafting statements such as this:
She has an apartment in Paris and a house in Beverly Hills, a room key in Manhattan, the story of Hollywood of the late sixties and seventies in her head, and no particular plans.
Wow!
There is a beautiful structure to her articles, most end with a poignant, wistful, cliff-hanging quality that leaves the reader wanting more.
Much to learn…
“A (Slightly) Improved Approximation Algorithm for Metric TSP,” Anna R. Karlin, Nathan Klein and Shayan Oveis Gharan presents a 3/2 – $\epsilon$ approximation algorithm, breaking the previous record of 3/2 by $\epsilon \gt 10^{-36}$
Here’s an article about this.
I came across an amazing quote from this book, so picked it up. However, I’m putting it down after a couple of chapters. There was no coherent framework or logic, and what I read just came across as a series of disconnected platitudes. I suppose in a couple of hundred pages, one would accidentally come up with a few sentences that sound like deep philosophy…
I guess I’m being overly critical, but I’m going to stick with the stoics and the Gita.
An old favorite:
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
— Max Ehrmann
