westiseast.co.uk - Taobao's absolutely gigantic day of sales
Two days ago, taobao.com (one of my favourite success stories in China) racked up an unbelievable 19bn RMB of sales.... in a single day.
Hasnain says:
$3.06 billion in sales, in one day. (Yes, billion with a B).
Holy [insert expletives here].
Posted on 2012-11-13T08:03:11+0000
HENRY DAVID THOREAU: On happiness
Henry David Thoreau(1817-1862) was an American writer, poet, philosopher and one of the leading figures of thetranscendentalismmovement. Besides writingCivil Disobedience, which inspired such revolutionaries as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jnr, Thoreau is most well-known for his bookWalden, in whic...
Hasnain says:
Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.
The image illustrates it beautifully.
Posted on 2012-11-13T05:50:07+0000
An Amazon Engineer Had a Little Idea That Turned Into a Billion-Dollar Business
Ten years ago, if asked what company would revolutionize computing, a book merchant with a tech edge probably did not come to mind
Hasnain says:
"(In comparison, Facebook uses a programming language called AJAX that taxes servers less.)"
*facepalm*
Posted on 2012-11-13T05:29:04+0000
The birthday paradox in action: calculating the probability of a hash collision
If you haven't seen this before then I urge you to have a guess now. Is it 180 people? More than that? Fewer than that? What do you think?
Hasnain says:
In the above calculations there were at least three occasions where I recognised things because I was familiar with them, had used them, had played with them, and they were, in a sense, my "friends."
People often ask "Why did you make that approximation?" or "How did you know that would work?" The short answer is often "I didn't, but it felt right."
People often ask why they need to memorise formulas, or why they need to practice solving equations, when they can simply look stuff up whenever they need it, and on-line computer algebra systems can solve equations faster than they can, and more reliably.
But this is an example of why the ability simply to look stuff up is near useless on its own. Searches are deep and wide, and you need intuition to guide you. You need to recognise what might work, things you've seen before, directions to take that are more likely to be fruitful.
Or profitable.
The day probably will come when computers can do all of that better that we can, but that day isn't here yet. We still need human intuition, built from experience and practice, to guide the computer searches, to know what is more likely to work.
If you already know how to do this sort of calculation then you're probably nodding. If you don't, and you can't see how someone can possibly do this kind of stuff, this comment is for you. Practice and experience.
Play.
Once you play with things, the ability to invent and improvise is unleashed.
Posted on 2012-11-07T20:04:42+0000
Why are people so mean to single people?
In a world that celebrates romance and finding The One, people can be rather rude to single people, writes James Friel.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2012-11-07T19:06:31+0000
The Mathematics Behind xkcd: A Conversation with Randall Munroe
MAA publications for students, professors, and anyone interested in math
Rethinking the Computer at 80
Dr. Neumann, an 80-year-old computer scientist at SRI International, is leading an effort to redesign computers and software from a “clean slate” to make them more secure.
Hasnain says:
It's always good to step back, count my blessings, realize how good life is; and realize how lucky I am to have the chance to work in the same department as Dr. Neumann and other extremely smart and wise people.
Posted on 2012-11-03T04:35:45+0000
[hep-th/0310077] A dialog on quantum gravity
arxiv.org
Hasnain says:
I'm no physicist, but this was certainly an enjoyable read. [2003, so it's a bit dated]
Posted on 2012-11-01T04:19:42+0000
The Mysterious, Mutant, Civilizing Power of Milk
To repurpose a handy metaphor, let's call two of the first Homo sapiens Adam and Eve. By the time they welcomed their firstborn, that rascal Cain, into the world, 2 million centuries of evolution had established how his infancy would play out. For the first few years of his life,...
The Island Where People Forget to Die
Unraveling the mystery of why the inhabitants of Ikaria live so long and so well.