Today, I drove on the road for the first time by myself. Though my instructor was in the passenger seat, I felt nervous from the start. Every lane change, turn, or U-turn made me panic, forget to check my surroundings, or freeze. The two-hour session was tense, but also rewarding. I realized that, beyond my mindset, my driving skills need a lot of improvement. I’ll keep practicing to get better.

In the morning, Hamer was doing her homework when I left for driving practice. She and Xiao Yan later went to Pop Mart and the mall, returning in the evening.

After lunch, I lay down on the sofa to rest and watched a movie until around six in the evening, when the exhaustion finally started to fade away.

2024-12-15 TIL: A Map Rap

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A Map Rap

This rap is absolutely brilliant for GIS day! For the list of Inspiration From Other Famous Mappa Rappas, each name combines rap artists with GIS terms for a fun crossover:

1. Mapplemoore: Based on Macklemore, with a mapping twist.
2. Way-Z: A play on Jay-Z, referencing way (map data term).
3. Lil' Pane: Refers to Lil' Wayne, with “Pane” for map window.
4. Cardi-(graphic)-I: Based on Cardi B, adding “graphic” for mapping interfaces.
5. Post ma-layer: A play on Post Malone, with “layer” for map layers.
6. Known Bugz ‘N’ Symbology: A twist on The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls, referencing bugs and map symbology.
7. Fat Geo: Based on Fat Joe, with “Geo” for geography or GIS.
8. The Notorious G.D.B.: A play on The Notorious B.I.G., with G.D.B. for Geospatial Data Base.
9. Ludaclips: Refers to Ludacris, with “clips” for map sections.
10. Snoop Catalogg: A twist on Snoop Dogg, with “Catalogg” for map data catalogs.
11. MXD: A reference to Max B, with a nod to the MXD file format in ArcGIS.

Yesterday, Hamer woke up exceptionally early and was ready for school by 7 AM, but arriving too early prompted her teacher to ask us not to repeat it. I reassured Hamer that I’d keep her company in the mornings if she wanted to wake up early. Later, our product’s new version was released, marking the end of one phase of work.

Today, after a late start due to a midnight meeting, Hamer made a toast breakfast. In the afternoon, we met her best friend after dance class, enjoying a park stroll and roast duck. Meanwhile, I explored building iOS apps with Cursor, gaining insights after initial challenges.

2024-12-12 TIL: Web-to-App Linking and Situational Awareness

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Web-to-App Linking

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Situational Awareness

This morning, Hamer had a mild nosebleed but quickly recovered with Xiao Yan’s help. She got ready for school, and I started my day listening to an English news podcast, Up First, which has become a refreshing morning habit.

At work, I focused on the App Link, identifying potential bugs and improvement areas, which fueled my motivation.

On the way to the gym, I had the idea for an app to help parents and children learn Chinese characters. After returning home, I dove into building a prototype, using Cursor to write code, and got fully immersed in the project.

2024-12-11 TIL: Snapdrop, Sora Technology & Driving Instructors

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Snapdrop

A local file-sharing tool in your browser, inspired by Apple’s AirDrop.

• Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript
• P2P connection: WebRTC/WebSockets
• Backend: NodeJS
• Clients: Progressive Web App

中学生能看懂：Sora 原理解读

Key steps and technology behind Sora video generation:

1. Input Data Processing: Using a video compression network to compress images or videos into low-dimensional representations, simplifying processing while retaining rich visual data.
2. Spatiotemporal Patch Generation: Sora breaks down the compressed data into spatiotemporal patches, capturing both spatial and temporal information for complex video content.
3. Text-conditioned Diffusion Model: Sora uses text prompts to guide a Diffusion model that progressively denoises and generates visual content matching the text description.

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Driving Instructors

• 易通行汽车陪练
• 雷厉风行汽车陪练
• 手把手汽车陪练

This morning, Hamer woke up early, getting herself dressed and packed with a joyful energy that warmed my heart while I enjoyed some extra sleep. On the way to school, the soft pink glow of the rising sun made the morning feel particularly gentle.

At work, I finished the Popup content, though I felt fatigued in the afternoon from missing a nap. In the evening, after shopping at Hema, we ended up making noodles at home.

Hamer’s upper left incisor started to loosen, and I looked into finding a driving instructor, planning to schedule a trial session this weekend.

2024-12-10 TIL: Interview Success Strategies & Top Podcasts of 2024

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Interview Success in SV

I interviewed at six top companies in Silicon Valley in six days, and stumbled into six job offers

• Structured Preparation: Focus on coding problems, system design, and company-specific technologies. Use resources like LeetCode and HackerRank to practice.
• Daily Consistency: Dedicate regular time to solve problems and review core concepts.
• Mock Interviews: Simulate interviews to build confidence and refine communication.

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Top Charts of 2024

• Apple shares the most popular podcasts of 2024
• The above list of podcasts is available as an OPML file for your podcast player

After dropping Hamer at school, I felt guilty reading an article about programmers preparing for interviews—something I’d aspired to but never pursued. I later browsed Apple’s 2024 U.S. podcast rankings, adding episodes to Overcast for future listening.

I discovered my passport had expired and applied for renewal online, but the initial review failed. Concerned about needing to apply at my registered residence, I rushed to the Beijing Exit-Entry Administration Bureau. Thankfully, the staff resolved the issue on-site without an appointment and eased my anxiety.

In the afternoon, I worked on PopupManager issues. In the evening, I played badminton and admired Hamer’s self-motivation to study, a remarkable change from her younger years.

2024-12-09 TIL: Genie 2, Conventional Commits, and Playful Tech Terms

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Genie 2

• A revolutionary foundation world model by DeepMind that transforms single images into fully interactive 3D environments.
• Enables unlimited training scenarios for AI agents by generating diverse virtual worlds.

Large-Scale Foundation World Models vs. Large Language Models (LLMs)

• Purpose: Generate and simulate 3D environments vs. Understand and produce human-like text
• Training Data: Visual data like images and videos vs. Extensive text data
• Applications: Gaming, simulations, AI agent training vs. Chatbots, translation, content generation

Genie 2 vs. World Labs' AI System

• Functionality: Transforms text or images into interactive 3D environments vs. Creates editable 3D scenes in a web browser.
• Technology: Latent diffusion model simulating physics and interactions vs. AI estimating 3D geometry for coherent, plausible scenes.
• Use Cases: AI training and rapid game prototyping vs. Immersive environment design for gaming and film.

Conventional Commits

A commit message standard that integrates seamlessly with SemVer.

• Types:
  • fix: Bug fix → triggers a PATCH version bump.
  • feat: New feature → triggers a MINOR version bump.
• Footer:
  • BREAKING CHANGE: API incompatibility → triggers a MAJOR version bump.

Cursor AI Review (Beta)

• The AI Review feature has transitioned to a “Bug Finder” tab, designed to identify potential bugs in your codebase.
• No longer included in subscriptions; costs may be high.

Mintlify

• A modern standard for creating beautiful, user-friendly public-facing documentation.
• Built to convert users while being easy to maintain.

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h-api

• A playful alteration of “happy” with a focus on APIs, expressing joy or enthusiasm about API development. Example: “I’m feeling h-api today!”

Fayre

• Fayre: An old English term for a fun gathering featuring local goods, akin to a fair or bazaar.

Lately, the sun has been rising later and later. This morning, Hamer didn’t wake up as early as she usually does. When I went to wake her, I noticed five or six little birds perched on the tree outside the window. The scene was so peaceful.

After dropping Hamer off at school, I stopped by Nanchengxiang to buy breakfast. Today’s breakfast was especially hearty, but in the end, we couldn’t finish it all. Later, I practiced English with Speak and tried out a theme I had created myself—it felt pretty effective.

I spent the day working efficiently using the Pomodoro method, and I completed the task of saving a Layer as a KmlTrack. It’s now basically done.

In the evening, I came home early. Although I didn’t do anything particularly special, just relaxing and spending time with my family made the simple moments feel especially fulfilling.

2024-12-08 TIL: Notre Dame and Bullpen

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Notre Dame

巴黎圣母院

• “Each day we have 20 difficulties. But it’s different when you work on a building that has a soul. Beauty makes everything easier.”

Bullpen

牛棚

• In baseball, the bullpen refers to the area where pitchers warm up before entering the game. It also symbolizes the team’s group of relief pitchers.
• Origin: The term comes from Major League Baseball, where a Bull Durham tobacco advertisement hung near the pitcher’s practice area.

Today, Xiaoyan took Hamer to Pop Land, fulfilling Hamer’s wish to visit again after getting a stamp there yesterday.

While they were out, I stayed home, finishing the 2023 World Baseball Classic final and watching highlights from other games. Feeling restless after spending most of the day indoors, I went for a refreshing walk.

In the evening, I picked them up and stopped by a crowded Christmas market at FLO. On the way home, the cold night air made the scooter ride feel especially freezing.

2024-12-07 TIL: Dental Health and Baseball Basics

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How do you make a great recruiting video?

Dia

• Your personal insertion cursor

🏡

「六龄齿」

The first permanent molar, also known as the six-year molar, is the earliest permanent tooth to erupt, usually around age six.

• Located as the sixth tooth from the midline, it grows behind the last baby tooth.
• Importance of the First Permanent Molar: Longest-lasting tooth in life. Takes on the majority of chewing functions. Plays a key role in aligning the upper and lower dental arches and guiding other permanent teeth. Requires early protection through fissure sealant application to prevent damage.

Fissure Sealants

A highly effective method to prevent decay in the grooves of young permanent teeth.

• Involves applying a sealing material on the biting surface and grooves of molars to protect against bacteria and food buildup.
• Non-invasive, painless, and preserves natural tooth structure.
• The material hardens to form a protective barrier over deep grooves, preventing decay.

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A Pro Player Explains The Rules Of Baseball

The count matters

• Hitters don’t want to strike out
• Pitchers don’t want to walk hitters

Baseball Rules for Beginners

strike, ball, hit, foul ball, and fair ball

• 3 strike = out
• 4 ball = walk (batter advances to first base)
• 1 hit = walk
• foul ball, 0 or 1 strike counts as a strike, 2 strikes do not count as a strike.
• 1st base loaded fair play: Caught (Runner must return) or Dropped (Runner advances)

This morning, Hamer had a nosebleed, so I stayed with her until she felt calm. Later, we went to the basketball court, where she excitedly practiced her shots.

At noon, she cooked her favorite scallion oil noodles. After lunch and a quick nap, she attended dance class, then got a dental sealant, earning praise for her healthy teeth.

In the evening, Hamer cooked an upgraded noodle dish with sausage and shrimp, enjoying it immensely. Meanwhile, I reviewed baseball rules and watched the 2023 World Baseball Classic finals.

Excitingly, I also learned I’ll be speaking at the DS session—a thrilling first for me!

2024-12-06 TIL: DevToys, Cline

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DevToys

How DevToys became cross-platform and extensible

• The development of DevToys 2.0 involved exploring technologies like Uno Platform, .NET MAUI, and Avalonia, but issues with keyboard input and lack of Linux support led to choosing Blazor Hybrid.
• Blazor Hybrid framework allows a web-based UI with native .NET logic, reducing memory consumption and improving performance.
• The team aimed to maintain a native-like UI across platforms using CSS and Blazor web components, emulating Fluent UI on Windows, Aqua on macOS, and Yaru on Linux.

Cline

Cline vs Cursor

• As an IDE extension, Cline excels in deeply integrating with existing development environments. It functions as a versatile AI assistant, offering features such as file manipulation, terminal command execution, and browser automation.
• Cursor focuses on simplifying code writing and editing through natural language processing. It stands out with its predictive editing capabilities and unique support for backend code iteration.

Last night, Hamer wet the bed, something she hadn’t done in a long time. She woke up calmly, got ready efficiently, and we even arrived at school early. The sunrise was beautiful, with clouds looking like casual brushstrokes across the sky.

In the morning, I had an idea for an ArcGIS Earth-themed project and brainstormed with ChatGPT. At work, I continued experimenting with the Cursor editor, trying its useful features, and worked on enhancing my Python project.

After work, I went out for dinner and drinks with colleagues, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation.

2024-12-05 TIL: Cursor, MAUI Challenges, and Quotation Mark Rules

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Cursor

Cursor, The AI Code Editor.

• Tab: Multi-Line Edits, Smart Rewrites, Cursor Prediction
• Chat: Instant Apply, Codebase Answers, Reference your Code with @
• Ctrl+K: Fast Edits, Terminal Ctrl+K

Switching to MAUI?

Development effort is more than double compared to Native. And the output or quality of apps you get is inferior.

• Lack of UI libraries
• Buggy framework
• Platform-specific bugs
• Lack of proper tools
• Performance issue

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Quote placement

• For American English, place the comma or period inside the closing quotation marks. This is a convention, regardless of logic.
• For British English, the rule is more logical—punctuation is placed inside the quotation marks only if it belongs to the quoted material.
• In Chinese, the punctuation at the end of a sentence typically goes outside the quotation marks, unless the quoted text is a complete sentence.

Today, Hamer slept in and woke up upset about missing her early start. She cried to Grandma, but I stayed calm, giving her space to work through her emotions. Later, we talked, and she felt better.

At work, I explored the Cursor AI code editor. Initially unimpressed, I changed my mind after using it with a real project. Its smart predictions, editing capabilities, and context handling significantly boosted my coding efficiency.

At noon, I followed my fitness routine. In the evening, Xiaoyan arrived back. Hamer and I cooked noodles and discussed ways to improve her morning routine.

2024-12-04 TIL: P/Invoke, C# Iterators, Cross-Platform WPF, and ‘Dulce Domum’

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P/Invoke

Ever needed to call native functions from a DLL in your .NET app? P/Invoke (Platform Invoke) bridges the gap between managed and unmanaged code.

• Managed Code: Runs under the control of the .NET runtime (e.g., C#).
• Unmanaged Code: Runs outside the .NET runtime (e.g., C/C++ native libraries).

Key Ingredients for P/Invoke:

1. DllImport Attribute: Declares the external method and specifies the DLL.
2. Marshaling: Automatically converts between managed (C#) and unmanaged (native) types.
3. System.Runtime.InteropServices: Provides tools for defining P/Invoke signatures and managing interop behavior.

yield

In C#, the yield keyword simplifies the creation of iterators, enabling methods to return elements of a collection one at a time without the overhead of creating temporary collections or implementing complex iterator logic.

• Deferred Execution: Using yield return, a method can produce each element only when it’s needed during iteration.
• State Preservation: The method retains its execution state between yield return calls, allowing it to resume from where it left off in subsequent iterations.

LINQPad

The Ultimate Scratchpad for C#

• LINQPad comes with an integrated tutorial/reference, comprising interactive sample queries.

Avalonia XPF

A cross-platform WPF that enables you to reuse your code and extend your app’s reach.

• Avalonia XPF enables WPF apps to run on macOS and Linux with Avalonia’s Fork of WPF, which allows Avalonia to maintain both API and binary compatibility with WPF. Avalonia XPF replaces the low-level WPF code (MilCore) with Avalonia.
• Avalonia XPF is based on WPF shipped with .NET 6.0 SDK. Currently, unsupported WPF features include Visual3D, Viewport3D, InkCanvas, Win32 interop, and custom Window chromes.

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趿

tā, walk in slippers.

• 趿拉：把鞋后帮踩在脚后跟下
• 趿拉板儿：wooden slippers

Dulce Domum

Dulce Domum (lit. Sweetly Homeward) is a tune composed by Robert Ambrose in 1876. This phrase is used as the title of chapter 5 of the 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows.

• lit. is an abbreviation for “literal” or “literally”.

This morning, Hamer woke up before the alarm, got ready on her own, and we admired a beautiful sunrise as we headed to school. On my way back, I stopped to buy a fried dough stick for my mother-in-law, and we enjoyed a long breakfast, talking about family and her past.

I spent the day fixing bugs and learning about P/Invoke, yield, and LINQPad. Xiaoyan shared a photo of her birthday noodles, which inspired me to cook her something similar.

In the evening, Hamer helped serve dinner from Hema, and we stayed within budget. Later, we enjoyed watching baseball highlights of Chinese Taipei’s games in the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 baseball tournament.