watching cartoons during breakfast. i enjoy it just as much as i did when i was a kid. jetsons just ended, and now i'm starting the wonderful adventures of nils. and to preserve that innocence and those lofty feelings, i am absolutely, not binge-watching. no way, never.

at a gathering, while explaining how anything could become possible if the foundations of mathematics were changed, someone jokingly challenges him to prove that he is god by using 1=2. russell responds with, "put god and me in a room, how many are we? two. but if two equals one, that means there's only one person in the room. so, i must be god."

i think it all starts with the realization that the environment you're in or can access have an intellectual level that's lower than what you need or can tolerate.

it continues with you having to put in way too much effort to be understood and to express your ideas. eventually, you come to realize that you just can't change the stupidity surrounding you, which leads you to silence and to play a role for the sake of your social connections.

as a result, this role will start to wear you down over time, causing you to gradually withdraw and become isolated, but hey, at least you'll be free from all that baggage. a good deal? sometimes it's the best deal one can get, sometimes it's just not. we need socializing, and i'm not sure how long we can keep up like that.

this year's nobel prize in physics is actually going to the masterminds behind chatgpt. john hopfield and geoffrey hinton are the winners for their groundbreaking work in machine learning and neural networks.

these two scientists used fundamental physics principles to develop methods that form the foundation of today's powerful machine learning. john hopfield created an associative memory that can store and recreate patterns like images in data. geoffrey hinton invented a method that can autonomously discover features in data, enabling tasks like identifying specific objects in images.

at a time when ai has become so embedded in our lives, i think it's safe to say this is a well-deserved award.

it's an incredibly educational show. there are many lessons to take away for both kids and adults.

--spoiler--
as mentioned above, the series features many strong female characters. take 'katara,' for instance. she's one of the strongest characters, not just among the women but in the entire show. toward the end of the first season, our heroes travel to the northern water tribe to learn from the great waterbending masters there. but as soon as they arrive, they encounter a backward mindset.

the male masters refuse to teach katara because she's a girl. according to their system, girls can only use waterbending for healing. katara can't stand such a senseless and primitive view, so she stands up to the system on her own, and she's not afraid to challenge one of the tribe's most talented waterbending masters in the process.

the show also doesn't engage in shallow political correctness by just writing strong female characters for the sake of it. for example, through 'azula,' it presents a brilliant female villain, a character type we're only just starting to see these days. it shatters the ridiculously naive idea that 'if women ruled the world, everything would be sunshine and rainbows.' the show bluntly tells us, 'whether you're a man or a woman, unchecked power will eventually corrupt you.' when you think you've got everything under control, all you'll really have is loneliness, with nothing but your insatiable ego and ambitions by your side.

through 'sokka,' the show praises logic and science. in one episode, our heroes come across a village where everyone believes whatever the local fortune-teller says. even though the nearby volcano is showing signs of erupting, no one believes it because the fortune-teller said nothing bad will happen this year. but in the end, they see that sokka's rational warnings were right. with aang's help, the village is saved from being buried under volcanic ash.

'toph' teaches us that our limitations don't have to hold us back. as a blind earthbender, she's incredibly strong in every sense. the fact that she can't see doesn't stop her from becoming the only living metalbender. she's an amazing character who even makes fun of her blindness and is totally at peace with her 'disability.'

'zuko' shows us that we can change. he teaches us that we can't betray evil; we can only fight against it. zuko's transformation isn't a betrayal, it's a redemption. by changing, he saves not just the fire nation but the entire world. his journey is one of the deepest in tv history.

and then we meet one of the greatest characters in tv history, zuko's uncle, iroh. he could command armies, yet his favorite thing in the world is simply making tea. he reminds us that power and authority are overrated lies. to him, nothing compares to the joy of a good cup of tea. he's a man with a heart so big he helps everyone but couldn't save his own son. he holds no one responsible for his son's death, and he bears no grudges. he mourns at his son's grave with a deep, quiet sorrow.

and then we come to our avatar, aang. what can be said about him? despite his extraordinary power, he never uses it for evil. he could make the world bow before him, but that means nothing to him. his purpose is different. he chooses to be with his loved ones over ruling the world.

what makes him happiest is dancing wildly. what makes him laugh is sokka's terrible jokes. what fascinates him in this world is katara, and what matters most to him is soaring freely in the sky on appa. when he faces his greatest enemy, his only concern isn't whether he can defeat him but that he doesn't want to have to kill him. that's all that worries him. even if his enemy is a villain sworn to bring evil to the entire world, aang chooses to preserve life, not take it.
--spoiler--

avatar is an amazing animated series that can make you laugh out loud, move you deeply, and keep you excited at all times. on top of everything, it's such a well-made show that it's one of the few you can watch with your child without getting bored. it's not easy to appeal to people of all ages and genders. so no amount of praise for this series will ever be enough.

can i buy some chestnuts for 10 dollars?
sure, here you go.
how much?
10 dollars.
thanks, have a good night.

these noise-cancelling headphones i bought myself as a birthday gift are seriously top-tier in their league. i was totally torn between the sony wh-1000mx3 and these, i watched so many review videos it was crazy. and here's the breakdown i got from those videos: both headphones are neck and neck in music quality, sony's got a slight edge in noise cancellation, but bose wins hands down on comfort. since i'm all about comfort, i went with bose.

when my bose 35 ii arrived, the first thing i did was spend hours listening to pink floyd's discovery box set. it took me a few days to recover; my dreams were filled with these wild, crazy colors. it didn't just let me listen to the music; it showed it to me in colors too.

i've been using them for about a year now, and i'm like, every single cent i spent was totally worth it. i'm loving these headphones so much.

i absolutely hate shopping. but if i had serious cash, i'm hiring a personal stylist and just living my life without a care. no more stressing about what to wear. i mean, why should i be thinking? i'm literally paying not to think, that's their job. i'm rich, baby. rich!

paul graham is a pretty fascinating guy who's done a lot across different fields. he studied philosophy at cornell, got a phd in computer science from harvard, and even took up painting at the rhode island school of design and the accademia di belle arti in florence. it's not every day you see someone who can write about programming languages and also critique renaissance art.

in 1995, he co-founded viaweb, a service that let people create their own online stores, which was a big deal at the time. they coded it in lisp (of course) and took advantage of its flexibility to iterate quickly.

one of my favorite stories about him comes from this period; graham got the idea for viaweb after hearing a radio segment about netscape's vision of ecommerce. he was low on cash but determined not to return to consulting. instead, he teamed up with his old hacker buddy, robert morris, to build software that ran directly on a web server without needing to be downloaded, an idea no one had tried before. the company eventually sold to yahoo for around 50 million dollars.

in 2005, after a talk he gave at the harvard computer society sparked a strong reaction, he co-founded y combinator. yc has helped launch companies like dropbox, reddit, and airbnb, so it's been incredibly influential in the tech world. the program provides funding, advice, and mentorship to startups.

he's also an incredible writer, publishing essays on topics like programming, startups, art, and even life itself. that's what makes him not just a brilliant mind but also an inspiring figure. if you ever get the chance, dive into his essays, they're as thought-provoking as they are practical.

paul graham's essays
my favorite lecture of paul graham

something i've been experimenting with for quite a while and coming up with the same conclusion. let's say i'm listening to new music to find some gems, yet as expected, i keep coming across a lot of shitty ones * and the more i keep going, the more lower-quality music, based on my taste buds, comes out.

and i just stop the discovery mode when hitting absolute rock bottom. then after i give myself some time to recover, something interesting happens as i get back to listening to one of those songs that made me think "meh" before; suddenly, after being exposed to truly horrible ones, somehow starts to sound actually good! and even i catch myself enjoying them and saving them on my playlist!

i don't think this only applies to music but to all areas of our lives. the thing is, i can't even comprehend how much shit is going through us without being noticed and falling into the acceptable box out of this extremely dangerous thing called comparison that is happening at the back of our heads non-stop, subconsciously, based on what's available to us at the given moment. and that's quite scary.

yet another new experience has just been announced, called "train for gladiator ii glory." among all the other icons, this one is arguably the most iconic. it's set to take place in the actual colosseum in rome, and they've shared a bit about it on their site. it will feature real gladiator fighting. *

i'm not sure if they'll be choosing actual fighters for this, if not, it might be boring to watch. and will there even be a mass audience allowed to attend? so many questions... it's happening on november 27th, so i guess we'll just have to wait and see.

what i like about this entire icon series is how airbnb focuses on individual experiences rather than trying to cater to everyone, yet still manages to capture the attention of a large audience.

there's a lot of heated debate about whether something like this should even be allowed, but honestly, amidst all the crazy, bad things happening in the world, why not let a crazy good thing like this happen? can't we just enjoy something, even for a little while?

aaand here's their promise: (i'm sold!)
"you will feel the adrenaline rush, the sand between your fingers, and the weight of your armor. you will hear the echoes of gladiators past in the colosseum's catacombs and the unmistakable clank of steel in its arena. you will see the moon's reflection off the travertine stone through the sweat dripping down your face. you will become a gladiator."

here i am, writing this entry with teary eyes in the early morning because of this game. i was already loaded with unnecessary emotions tonight. i figured i'd log into the game, do some random quest or whatever, just to distract my mind.

i was rescuing this guy from the dungeons during a mission. after saving him, i noticed there were other prisoners in the same dungeon. since i had rescued him in some random castle in the middle of nowhere, i thought i might as well save the others too. so i killed everyone in the castle, thinking "who's gonna feed these guys anyway?" then i unlocked all the cells, and they scattered everywhere.

i turned around and saw this nord guy - looked kinda scruffy but decent. i'd thrown some useless clothes from my inventory on the ground. suddenly, this dude jumps in front of me and says something like, "bro, sorry. if those clothes aren't important, could i take them? my stuff is a mess."

the screen gave me two dialogue options: "don't you dare touch my stuff" and "sure, bro. no problem." i let him take the clothes, and i swear his eyes just lit up. he immediately bent down, picked up all those crappy clothes i'd thrown away, put them on, and looked totally happy.

i saved the game and quit immediately. damn poverty, man.

even though i have zero interest in computers, technology, or programming, i've read both his book and many of the essays on his website, some of them even twice. he's an investor, programmer, and writer, and i feel like his essays touch on topics that appeal to a wide audience. but what stands out even more than the topics is the flow of logic in his writing. it's like watching a stone rolling downhill in the world of possibilities; every cause-and-effect relationship just falls into place naturally.

i absolutely admire the way this guy thinks. pay attention to how he analyzes problems in his talks. first, there's a "hmm," then he asks a few really simple, almost childlike questions; ones that others might dismiss as overly basic. but that's exactly how he comes up with objective analyses, unclouded by trends of the day. i don't recall him using many buzzwords, probably because he avoids thinking within the limits of meanings and values that people impose on words.

so, i had to attend this client meeting, which i normally wouldn't go to, but they wanted my input on some questions. and there was this client i'd known for ages, super good at his job, but for some weird reason we just never clicked. you know how sometimes you just don't vibe with someone for no apparent reason? that was us.

while we're talking through his questions, his phone keeps ringing. he kept apologizing and either silencing it or declining calls. then when it rang again, he said, "i need to take this one."

as soon as he started talking, it became clear to everyone at the table that it was his daughter on the line... and get this: right there at the meeting table, this guy said "i love you" three times with the most adorable smile on his face. yep, it was a short conversation, just a few seconds, but he said "i love you" three whole times.

from that moment on, i don't know if i managed to hide how impressed i was, but all my prejudices about him just vanished into thin air. on top of the respect i already had for his professional success, a whole bunch of new feelings got added to the mix.

when i left the room, i found myself thinking: when was the last time i told my own kids i loved them out loud? and i'll admit, i couldn't remember. feeling a bit ashamed, i immediately tried to call them both. neither of them picked up (probably in class). but i was determined, i'll tell them when they're out, and i'm not stopping there. from now on, i'm saying it every single day, no matter what.

"i love you" is such a magical phrase - even just hearing someone else say it to someone else makes the world feel more beautiful somehow. loving fathers, loved daughters, loving partners, loved friends, loving mothers, loved sons; what a beautiful little detail in life, amidst all the horrible things going on in the world.

if you love someone, tell them. say it often, while you can. that's what i'll be doing from now on.

heisenberg's life was quite interesting. he was the scientist in charge of the nuclear weapons project in germany during world war ii. by the end of the war, not much progress had been made in this area in germany. the reason, as he later mentioned, was heisenberg's reluctance to build an atomic weapon. the german team could have actually gone much further; in fact, heisenberg knew exactly what needed to be done, as claimed, but his conscience wouldn't allow it.

to make matters even more intense, when the americans found out that heisenberg was working on an atomic bomb in germany, they panicked and attempted to assassinate him while he was teaching in switzerland (1944).

in the class, moe berg (a baseball coach who was hired as an assassin) was listening to heisenberg and concluded that the bomb wouldn't be developed anytime soon, so he left the meeting without killing heisenberg.