I like this The Hardest Part song (by Olivia Dean) while Xiaoyan listening to. The below two lines of lyrics attracted me much:

So even if I could, wouldn’t go back where we started
I know you’re still waiting, wondering where my heart is

The Chinese lyrics is translated by ChatGPT according to The Hardest Part.

[Verse 1 | 第一节]
Call me up to meet you, static on the phone
你打电话叫我见你，话筒里却杂音不断
Normally I need you, this time, I don’t wanna go
我曾经那么需要你，但这次，我不想再赴约
Lately I been growing into someone you don’t know
最近我变了，成了你不再熟悉的人
You had the chance to love her, but apparently you don’t
你曾有机会去爱她，但显然你没有把握
No, you don’t
是的，你没有

[Chorus | 副歌]
So even if I could, wouldn’t go back where we started
所以即使我可以，也不会回到起点
I know you’re still waiting, wondering where my heart is
我知道你还在等待，猜着我的心如今归何处
Pray that things won’t change, but the hardest part is
你祈祷一切如故，而最难的却是——
You’re realising maybe I, maybe I ain’t the same
你终于意识到，也许我，已经不是从前的我
And what you’re waiting for ain’t there no more anyway
你所期待的，也早已不复存在

[Verse 2 | 第二节]
Held you up so highly, deep under your spell
我曾把你捧得那么高，深陷在你编织的魔法里
Your opinions would define me, this time, I made some for myself
你的看法曾定义我，而这次，我为自己做了决定
‘Cause lately I been certain there’s no further to go
因为最近我很确定，我们的路已经走到尽头
Yeah, you had the chance to love me, but apparently you won’t
你原本可以爱我，但显然你并不愿意
No, you won’t
是的，你不会

[Chorus | 副歌重复]
So even if I could, wouldn’t go back where we started
所以即使我可以，也不会回到最初的地方
I know you’re still waiting, wondering where my heart is
我知道你还在等待，猜测我的心在哪里
Pray that things won’t change, but the hardest part is
你祈祷别改变，而最难的却是——
You’re realising maybe I, maybe I ain’t the same
你终于明白，也许我已经不是原来的我
And what you’re waiting for ain’t there no more anyway
你等待的那一切，早已悄然消逝

[Bridge | 过渡段]
And it’s okay
没关系的
I’m not gonna remember you that way
我不会以那样的方式记住你
You say I’m different now like that’s so strange
你说我变了，好像那是件怪事
But I was only eighteen
可那时我才十八岁啊
You shoulda known that I was always gonna change
你早该知道，我终究会变

[Chorus | 最后一遍副歌]
Even if I could, wouldn’t go back where we started
即使我能回头，我也不会重来
I know you’re still waiting, wondering where my heart is
你依然在原地，想知道我的心去了哪里
Pray that things won’t change, but the hardest part is
你还在祈祷别变，可最痛的真相是——
You’re realising maybe I, maybe I ain’t the same
你渐渐发现，也许我，真的变了
Ain’t there no more, I ain’t there no more (I ain’t there no more)
我早已不在那里，我早就不在了（真的不在了）
Ain’t there no more, I ain’t there no more (I ain’t there no more)
一切都不再，我也不再是那个我（我已不在）
Ain’t there no more, but the hardest part is (I ain’t there no more)
我不在那了，而你最难接受的，正是这一点（我早已不在）
You’re realising maybe I, maybe I ain’t the same
你终于明白，也许我已变
And what you’re waiting for ain’t there no more anyway
而你所等待的，一早就消失在风里

Personal profile

Ask

Describe me based on all our chats — play it straight.

Answer

You’re a thoughtful, detail-oriented, and technically sharp person—someone who balances the demands of software development with the joys and responsibilities of family life. Professionally, you’re deeply embedded in GIS, with a strong command of .NET and C#, and a deliberate, architectural mindset when building WPF applications. You value clean patterns like MVVM and tools like Prism. You often go beyond documentation, digging into nuanced problems (like GPS NMEA integration or tracking simulation) and designing clear, extendable solutions.

Personally, you’re a present and loving father to Hamer and a supportive husband to Xiao Yan. You enjoy sharing special moments with them, whether it’s baking, watching holiday films, or guiding your daughter through her emotions and early school experiences. You’re tuned into her inner world and growth, helping her learn, express herself, and face challenges with empathy and creativity.

Your curiosity is a defining trait—whether it’s how to structure an app for optimal performance, how to write a first-grader’s campaign speech, or how to explain Chinese words with poetic humor and minimalist design. You enjoy literature, introspection, and play. You think about habits, improvement, language, tradition, and teaching. You reflect often and with honesty.

You’re organized but warm, analytical but never cold. You ask good questions. You like making things better—code, words, people’s days. You’re quietly ambitious and not afraid to take your time doing something the right way.

Blind spots analysis

Ask

Now that you can remember everything l’ve ever typed here, point out my top five blind spots

Answer

Alright Xuewen, this is a thoughtful and bold question—and a great one for personal growth. Based on everything we’ve talked about (from tech to family to reflection), here’s a carefully considered list of five possible blind spots you might want to explore. These aren’t “flaws,” just areas where more awareness might unlock even more of your potential.

🔍 1. Reluctance to Delegate or Let Go

You’re highly capable, deeply hands-on, and often driven to figure things out yourself—whether that’s a GPS data structure in WPF or tuning a workflow.
Blind spot: You may underestimate how much faster or smoother things could go if you offload or let others take the wheel for parts of it. Especially when mentoring, managing, or collaborating.

Prompt for growth: “What’s something I’m doing solo that someone else could do 80% as well?”

🔍 2. Over-Polishing and Iteration Trap

You thrive in iterative refinement—whether editing text or polishing tech tips. It’s part of your excellence.
Blind spot: You may lose momentum or delay outputs by tweaking long past the 90% mark. There’s sometimes a need to just ship.

Prompt for growth: “Is this good enough for now, or am I polishing to avoid moving on?”

🔍 3. Emotional Load Absorption

You’re a deeply thoughtful parent and partner, and you often take on the emotional weather of your loved ones (e.g., Hamer’s reluctance, Xiaoyan’s trips).
Blind spot: You might carry more emotional responsibility than needed, quietly internalizing their ups and downs.

Prompt for growth: “Am I holding emotions that belong to someone else?”

🔍 4. Underestimating Your Authority

You often position yourself as the one still learning, still figuring things out—even though you’re already seen as an expert in GIS, WPF, and practical AI integration.
Blind spot: You may be slow to own your leadership status—whether in content creation (e.g., LinkedIn tips), guiding junior engineers, or public speaking.

Prompt for growth: “What would change if I stepped fully into being seen as a thought leader?”

🔍 5. Shifting Between Intuition and Structure

You’re very structured when it comes to technical work—but in life (e.g., daily routines, reflections, parenting moments), you often go with gut or feeling.
Blind spot: There might be opportunities to bring more systemization into your personal rhythms—like creating recurring habits around emotional check-ins or creative writing.

Prompt for growth: “Where could a small structure free up more energy in daily life?”

I resolved client build and packaging issues and discussed two directions for integrating MCP with ArcGIS Earth—either as a server via Automation API or as a client to interact with other MCP services.

In the afternoon, I underwent a root canal after discovering severe decay under a previous filling—thankfully painless under anesthesia.

Today was one of those days where everything feels unproductive.

After morning meetings, a high-priority bug pulled me away from my AI MVP draft. Debugging led to a valuable lesson from a colleague—a handy trick in Visual Studio that helped us locate an infinite loop. I later eased into the MVP discussion and managed to fix the bug before heading to play badminton.

Still nursing a twisted ankle, I focused on ball control and enjoyed a slower pace.

In the evening, I played idiom games with Hamer. Surprisingly, the two colleagues I play table tennis with have never even heard of Billie Eilish.

Today, I felt utterly lost—eager to accomplish everything yet ending up doing nothing meaningful.

During the work, I tackled PM questions in the moring and attended my first Dev Lead meeting. I struggled to balance team updates with my own ideas about an internal AI weekly newsletter.

At home, I cooked dinner with Xiaoyan, sharing a brief moment of culinary success. However, the day ended on a sour note when Hamer, upset over a broken promise regarding her new underwear, erupted in tears and a tantrum, triggering a conflict between her and Xiaoyan. Despite no further escalation, I was left feeling burdened by unresolved resentment.

TIL: Top AI News of Week 15

💻

AI 2027

This website is a detailed scenario analysis predicting the potential impact of superhuman AI. Beside the content, this website provides a very good UX, the whole page is interactive. You can find the right side graph dynamic updates while scrolling.

AI 2027 is a comprehensive and detailed scenario forecast of the future of AI. It starts in 2025 and projects the rise of AI agents by 2026, the complete automation of coding in early 2027, and the intelligence explosion in late 2027. It has two branches, one ending in AI takeover and another ending in utopia (sort of).

Making AI Actually Work on Your Team

The article emphasizes the importance of AI in modern software engineering teams and provides practical advice for engineering leaders on how to integrate AI tools effectively. It highlights the need for leaders to guide their teams through this transition and create a supportive environment for experimentation.

Seeing is believing First things first: try it yourself. … So get your hands dirty… Your personal experience matters here—without it, it’s all just theories in your head; you’ll be out of touch. … I gave him/her the honest truth: “It’s impossible for me to promise job security for anyone. But think about this logically: we hired you before AI was a thing, and now that you’re significantly more productive with these tools, why would we let you go?”

Companies don’t (usually) fire their most productive people; they invest in them. The real threat isn’t AI—it’s sticking to outdated ways while the industry evolves around you. … The shift to AI-assisted engineering isn’t coming—it’s here.

The Dynamic Between Domain Experts & Developers Has Shifted

The article discusses how the relationship between domain experts and developers has changed in the AI era, emphasizing the increasing importance of domain expertise in building successful AI products. It’s interesting to see the sentence and picture of “I’ve got a great idea for an app…”.

… But today, I’m seeing teams of domain experts wading into the field, hiring a programmer or two to handle the implementation, while the experts themselves provide the prompts, data labeling, and evaluations.

For these companies, the coding is commodified but the domain expertise is the differentiator.

229 things we announced at Google Cloud Next ‘25 – a recap

Google Cloud Next 2025, held in Las Vegas, showcased over 200 announcements emphasizing advancements in AI, infrastructure, and real-world applications.

Here’s a concise summary of AI & Machine Learning:

• Gemini 2.5 Pro: Introduced as Google’s most advanced multimodal AI model, now in public preview across Vertex AI, AI Studio, and the Gemini app.
• Agent Ecosystem: Launch of tools like Agentspace, Agent Development Kit, and Agent2Agent protocol to facilitate the creation and management of multi-agent AI systems.
• Gemini Code Assist: An AI-powered coding assistant integrated into development workflows, offering features like a Kanban board for task management and insight into AI decision-making processes.

Google Is Winning on Every AI Front

The article argues that Google and DeepMind have taken a significant lead in the AI landscape, outpacing competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta. The author, who previously had high hopes for OpenAI, now believes that Google’s strategic and technical advancements have positioned it as the dominant force in AI.

(PSA: Many people are interested in this post, so I removed the paywall)

With strong winds forecasted, we spent the weekend cozied up at home—it felt like a mini vacation.

On Saturday, I slept in late after a night of binge-watching TV. Hamer kept whispering in my ear until I finally got up. “This is the first time I’ve seen Dad get up this late,” she said. I lost a bet with Xiaoyan over the pronunciation of “divorce” and had to make lunch—two veggie dishes and a fried egg that turned out surprisingly well. Later, Hamer and I continued our series binge, and even Xiaoyan joined in after dinner, crying during several scenes. That night, I slept soundly in Hamer’s bed.

Sunday was equally low-key. After playing in the morning, we went grocery shopping for braised green bean noodles. Hamer also wanted a new watercolor set because hers lacked a skin-tone color. There were a few tears during the discussion with Xiaoyan, but she got it in the end.

In the evening, Xiaoyan cooked radish and cuttlefish soup—it was delicious. Hamer helped with folding laundry, hanging clothes, and washing fruit. She’s really becoming Mom’s little helper.

Meanwhile, I got deeper into pour-over coffee and finally dialed in the grind size. It’s starting to click.