Improve your game

In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.

–José Raúl Capablanca

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PhD

I have finished my PhD for more than one year. Here are my random thoughts about doing a PhD based on my own experience as well as my recent observations.

• This competitive world is producing PhDs much more than necessary. Many graduated PhDs take job offers which do not require a doctor degree.
• In most cases doing a PhD is very tough, if you want to graduate within a decent amount of time, seriously.

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How to make a picture look like a movie snapshot?

Just follow the steps below:

1. Take a photo with a camera or cell phone;
2. Crop it with a large aspect ratio;
3. Change the tone style (optional);
4. Letterbox the picture and add subtitle.

Original photo:

Final result:

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Au revoir, la France!

I’m going to leave France and return to China tomorrow. I have spent a fantastic 6-month in France. It has been one of the most valuable experiences in my life. I would like to thank INRIA Nancy for hosting me. It is really nice for me to join ALICE team and talk to all you guys. I also want to thank all my friends over the world who provided all kinds of help to make my life in France much easier and happier. I hope I can meet all of you in the future.

 

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Stupidity

In this competitive world, one of the stupidest things is failing to distinguish between real enemies and friends.

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Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

–Steve Jobs

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Stage

Many of my friends like this photo, which was taken by me at a concert to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Tsinghua University. This photo reminds me of an old Chinese saying: the wider your mind is, the larger your stage will be.

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Practice

Yesterday, it took me almost a whole day to get a single piece of paper to certificate when and where I was born, which is required for my upcoming trip abroad. I had to go to different departments in my school, multiple times each, due to the strict policy as well as the temporary absence of the staff.

Currently I’m far from a position to take care of this business, so I decide to consider the process as an opportunity to practice patience and to strengthen the ability to control my emotion.

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Illusion

I have just learned that for some photos, shallow depth of field may create an illusion of looking at a miniature model, although it is actually a life-sized scene. I had a try in Photoshop to fake a shallow depth of field with the photo shown above, which was taken outside the conference building when I was attending SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 in Japan.

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Why Chinese people begin to celebrate X’mas

After I became a teenager, I noticed that the Chinese people surrounding me began to celebrate X’mas. I think there are several reasons for this tendency:

1. Many Chinese people are getting more and more influenced by the western culture, and some of them have begun to embrace Christianity;
2. Most (ordinary) people enjoy having holidays;
3. Christmas Eve has a very nice translation in Chinese, which means a peaceful and restful night.

I like holidays because they mean much freedom to me. If I choose to play, I will certainly have lots of fun with my family and friends; if I choose to work, it is less difficult to find and enjoy a quiet working place on holidays.

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