Jekyll2023-05-18T01:23:52+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/feed.xmlAndrew Dai’s BlogMusings, Updates, and Ongoing Work. Irregularly Updated.Andrew DaiApplying Textbook Data Structures for Real Life Wins2021-02-16T00:00:00+00:002021-02-16T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/heap-blog-post-union-find<p>A couple months ago I wrote and published my first public blog post for work! It took a lot of effort to
massage my <strong>rough</strong> draft into the final piece and I’m super grateful for the editing, proofreading,
and general writing tips and feedback from <a href="https://joe.schafer.dev/">Joe</a>,
<a href="https://www.philosophicalhacker.com/">Matt</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/danlovesproofs">Dan</a>.</p>
<p>In the blog post, I cover <del>one of</del> my favorite data structure/algorithm, union-find! (aka disjoint-set).
I walk through the computer science-y details of the union-find and how Heap uses it to solve a unique
challenge core to our product. There’s even a bit of novel-ish heuristics and some big real-world
performance wins.</p>
<p>Without further ado… <a href="https://heap.io/blog/engineering/applying-textbook-data-structures-for-real-life-wins">Applying Textbook Data Structures for Real Life Wins</a></p>Andrew DaiA couple months ago I wrote and published my first public blog post for work! It took a lot of effort to massage my rough draft into the final piece and I’m super grateful for the editing, proofreading, and general writing tips and feedback from Joe, Matt, and Dan.2018 Update: May2018-05-18T00:00:00+00:002018-05-18T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/2018-update-may<p><strong>I graduated!!!</strong></p>
<p>Having recently graduated from Georgia Tech (diploma coming soon in the mail), I am currently in the process of <del>oversleeping and watching YouTube, literally doing nothing, worryingly looking over available San Francisco apartment rentals</del> spending time with friends and family, resting and reflecting, and traveling before making the big move out West to San Francisco in mid-June.</p>
<p>I wanted to write up a quick update in general and provide some specific responses to plans and goals I outlined in the <a href="/changelog-2017.html">2017 Changelog</a>. In doing so I found (and published) the <a href="/2018-update-jan.html">update</a> I was writing at the end of January. Rather bury another incomplete bulletted list in my “drafts” folder for another 5 months, I’ve decided to go for it and post this ASAP.</p>
<h2 id="random-updates">Random updates</h2>
<p>In no particular order:</p>
<ul>
<li>I should (eventually) do a (minor) redesign of my website. Areas to improve include:
<ul>
<li>Blog page (quotes are large and take up a large portion of the page)</li>
<li>Projects page (~4 years out of date)</li>
<li>General styling things? maybe?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Following up on the “update blog page” idea, I’ve also been using this blog is a public diary or journal. I’ve noted before that I want to (re)-start writing technical content so if/when I do so, I should also consider separating or otherwise distinguishing between the purely-for-me-journalling and technical content.</li>
<li>Right before my Amazon Prime Student trial expired, I paid for a year. (Valid through next May)</li>
<li>I got 2 shiny new credit cards! (danger!)</li>
<li>I’ve definitely “written” more “blog posts” after making the quote feature for my blog.</li>
<li>My sleep schedule did get better (and then a lot worse after coming home)</li>
<li>I ran semi-regularly for a couple months and then fell off the wagon. Restarted recently and it’s going pretty well.
<ul>
<li>Target for 10k is no longer emphasized or considered, just trying to get running regularly again first</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Made sauerkraut, got kinda scared, let it ferment, put it in the back of the fridge and forgot about it until the end of the semester and threw it all out</li>
<li>Didn’t really cook that much more or that many new things - definitely went out to eat <em>a lot</em> and I don’t really regret it!
<ul>
<li>Frequented Babalu, Yalla, Cypress Pint and Plate</li>
<li>Returned to Cooks and Soliders!</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Did not write during the semester at all</li>
<li>Read a couple chapters from <em>Designing Data Intensive Applications</em> - very good and excellent read, planning on continuing/finishing it right after I commit this blog post.</li>
</ul>
<p>I had an amazing final semester at Georgia Tech. Full of a lot of fun, quality time with great people, amazing adventures and traveling.</p>
<h2 id="travelingthis-summerwhere-is-andrew">Traveling/This summer/Where is Andrew?</h2>
<p>With regards to my travel plans, I do have several updates from my plans at the end of 2017. In the middle of January, we drove up to Nashville on a 3 day weekend trip (in the middle of a snowstorm!). For spring break, we roadtripped from Atlanta to New Orleans to Houston to Austin (and flew back). I did <em>not</em> run in the Publix Half Marathon or anything remotely similar to what I naively outlined in the 2017 Changelog. And most recently, I successfully graduated from Georgia Tech on May 5th 2018 (diploma coming soon in the mail) and flew back to Boston and was home less than 10 hours later.</p>
<p>Instead of a big trip to and through Europe, I decided to come home to sleepy suburban Massaschusetts and instead take shorter trips. This was in no small part due to a laziness and unfamiliarity with traveling abroad.</p>
<p>As such, next week, I will be going on a roadtrip with some friends from high school (and college) up through Maine and onwards to Prince Edward Island, Canada. I’m looking forward to some good lobster (and other food) as well as scenic hiking and general spontaneity.</p>
<p>A couple weeks later I’m flying down to Puerto Rico which will be my first trip down to the Carribean! Hopefully with more of these trips (especially abroad - Canada kinda counts), it will be even easier for me to travel. I think I mostly need to get better at and put more effort into looking for things to do or at least figuring out what I want to do. When trying to plan a trip to various destinations in Europe or South America, I found myself running into a paralysis of indecisiveness in both what I should and what I want to do while I’m there. Traveling inside foreign countries is also a bit of a mystery.</p>
<p>I currently have plans to visit Seattle at the end of July - looking forward to visiting a lot of people and seeing more of the city. I’m also planning on going to China and Taiwan at the end of year, finalized plans (and <em>adult with job needing to schedule vacation time</em>) to come.</p>
<p>In list form, my plans (real and hopeful) for traveling in the next 6.5 months include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Roadtrip to Maine and PEI, Canada
<ul>
<li>Maybe Nova Scotia?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Day trip to hike around Massachusetts, maybe Vermont or New Hampshire</li>
<li>Cape Cod?</li>
<li>Weeklong trip to Puerto Rico
<ul>
<li>San Juan, ???</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Seattle</li>
<li>Denver? Los Angeles? Lake Tahoe? The areas directly north and south of San Francisco along the coast that is breathtakingly beautiful and drive-able with such amazing variation in climate and environment?<sup id="fnref:1" role="doc-noteref"><a href="#fn:1" class="footnote" rel="footnote">1</a></sup></li>
<li>Back to Atlanta for HackGT 5!!!</li>
<li>~3 week trip to China and Taiwan <sup id="fnref:2" role="doc-noteref"><a href="#fn:2" class="footnote" rel="footnote">2</a></sup>
<ul>
<li>Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu (where my family is from!), Taipei</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="work-adult-life">Work? Adult life?</h2>
<p>I will be flying out to San Francisco in mid-June (moving my timetable for <em>starting adult life</em> forward by one month). I’m looking forward to so many things. In no order, they include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Meeting new people</li>
<li>Finding a proper <del>reasonably priced</del> “I am an adult signing a real lease” apartment
<ul>
<li>Restarting/building/stocking a kitchen and using it! I am super looking forward to cooking and trying out new things.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Heap! Actually super-seriously-for-sure starting my career as a software/infrastructure engineer. This includes and is not even close to limited to: learning new things, meeting people (repeat), making and seeing an impact, contributing</li>
<li>Exploring San Francisco more (food!)</li>
<li>Traveling more! Similar to my (recent) strategy of traveling close to where I live (roadtrip through the South, roadtrip to Canada), I am looking forward to traveling up and down the West Coast (and inland as well!).</li>
</ul>
<p>This list is by no means exhaustive or well-thought out. I should write down what I expect or think my experience working and living in San Francisco and as an adult human will be like before I fully make that transition. <sup id="fnref:3" role="doc-noteref"><a href="#fn:3" class="footnote" rel="footnote">3</a></sup></p>
<div class="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<ol>
<li id="fn:1" role="doc-endnote">
<p>FWIW I am a total sucker for the “car ownership is a symbol of (American) freedom” idea. (Thankfully) I have a very limited, although still painful, experience of driving through traffic for my commute to work. Currently, I strongly associate driving with roadtrips and travel. Hopefully this lasts and is true. The only difference is that I do not have plans to buy a car (especially not the dingy project car I mentioned in the Changelog) and instead plan on renting. <a href="#fnref:1" class="reversefootnote" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2" role="doc-endnote">
<p>One China Policy??? <a href="#fnref:2" class="reversefootnote" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3" role="doc-endnote">
<p>Inspired by a series of YouTube videos I found yesterday which discussed expectation vs. reality of being a software engineer <a href="#fnref:3" class="reversefootnote" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Andrew DaiI graduated!!!2018 Update: January, published late and incomplete2018-05-17T00:00:00+00:002018-05-17T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/2018-update-jan<p><em>Published wayyyy too late, I forgot about this a long time ago (January 23 to be precise) and rediscovered it recently and thought it would be worth (for me) to post it for posterity (for me, later)</em></p>
<p>“Days are slow, weeks fly by” - Nick</p>
<h2 id="general-updates">General updates</h2>
<ul>
<li>Ended part-time position at Square</li>
<li>Started working part-time at Heap</li>
<li>Hendrick’s Gin in great!</li>
</ul>
<p>More updates outlined in next section about my progress on goals and plans
outlined in 2017 Changelog.</p>
<h2 id="progress-on-goalsplans">Progress on goals/plans</h2>
<ul>
<li>Volunteering - None
<ul>
<li>TODO: plans?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Lifestyle improvements
<ul>
<li>Better/more consistent sleep schedule</li>
<li>Running regularly, ~3 runs/~6 miles/week</li>
<li>Cooking and eating mostly vegetables (and pasta). Canned tomatoes (paste, crushed, whole, puree) are great! So are eggplants, cabbages, and squash.</li>
<li>Plans:
<ul>
<li>More running - build up to 10k (no longer aiming for 1/2 marathon in March)</li>
<li>TODO more</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Cooking more regularly and starting making sauerkraut
<ul>
<li>Plans:
<ul>
<li>More fermentation! (Kvass?)</li>
<li>Lox!</li>
<li>Add pancakes/crepes to regular rotation</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Technical goals
<ul>
<li>Starting to use/learn emacs orgmode</li>
<li>Physics 2 homework is a lot easier with Jupyter Notebooks</li>
<li>TODO: plan to start on a project (adding to Orgzly?, quantified self with orgmode?)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Travel! - weekend trip to Nashville, planning spring break roadtrip across the South</li>
<li>Read more!
<ul>
<li>Finished <em>Fahrenheit 451</em></li>
<li>TODO: Plans?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Write more!
<ul>
<li>Posted some quotes from readings and my thoughts about them</li>
<li>Writing this blog post in long form</li>
<li>Plans:
<ul>
<li>Submit an application to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/jobs/nyt-job-theedit-young-writers.html">NYTimes The Edit</a>?</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>Andrew DaiPublished wayyyy too late, I forgot about this a long time ago (January 23 to be precise) and rediscovered it recently and thought it would be worth (for me) to post it for posterity (for me, later)Cooking Goals2018-05-12T00:00:00+00:002018-05-12T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/cooking-goals<p>Ideas for cooking and baking and related projects in a living document. More for of a personal inspiration list for me than real, worthwhile content for you.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015987-classic-marinara-sauce">Classic Marinara Sauce, NYTimes Cooking</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12579-bread-and-butter-pickles">Bread and Butter Pickles, NYTimes Cooking</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016231-pizza-margherita">Pizza Margherita, NYTimes Cooking</a> and pizza in general (including <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough">pizza dough</a>)</li>
<li><a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12577-grainy-mustard">Grainy Mustard, NYTimes Cooking</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016206-cultured-butter">Cultured Butter, NYTimes Cooking</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/02/how-to-make-creme-fraiche-in-1-easy-step.html">Crème Fraîche, Serious Eats</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Things I want to buy for my (yet-to-be-established aka totally empty) kitchen, foolish and otherwise</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-skillet/">All-Clad Fry Pan</a></li>
<li>dutch oven</li>
<li>cast iron pan</li>
<li>something something sous-vide</li>
<li>assorted jars and bottles</li>
<li>cocktail shaker</li>
<li>dutch oven</li>
<li>immersion blender</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Sources</em></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/68861692-nyt-cooking/369703-things-you-should-make-not-buy">NYTimes Cooking “Things You Should Make, Not Buy”</a></li>
</ul>Andrew DaiIdeas for cooking and baking and related projects in a living document. More for of a personal inspiration list for me than real, worthwhile content for you.Timothy Bella: The Most Unlikely D.A. In America2018-05-11T00:00:00+00:002018-05-11T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/quote/politico-unlikely-da-texas<p>This was a feel-good inspiring profile on a lower-profile (to me at least) member
of the reform movement that is happening in America and also an early part
(elected in 2016) of the proported “blue-wave” that is happening in response to the
2016 election. I am very interested to see how Gonzalez’s career continues and how
he makes an impact in his community.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Democrat and self-described “Mexican biker lawyer covered in tattoos.” … [he] specialized in getting accused criminals off the hook—working most closely with low-income, mostly minority offenders, fighting low-level charges for marijuana and other substances. His pride in his work is expressed in a spectacular tattoo that he had inked across his chest a few years ago, reading, in colorful gothic type, “Not Guilty.”</p>
</blockquote>Andrew DaiThis was a feel-good inspiring profile on a lower-profile (to me at least) member of the reform movement that is happening in America and also an early part (elected in 2016) of the proported “blue-wave” that is happening in response to the 2016 election. I am very interested to see how Gonzalez’s career continues and how he makes an impact in his community.Elizabeth Flock: After a week of Russian propaganda, I was questioning everything2018-05-08T00:00:00+00:002018-05-08T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/quote/pbs-radio-sputnik-propagandaAndrew DaiJessica Nordell: How Slack Got Ahead in Diversity2018-04-30T00:00:00+00:002018-04-30T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/quote/atlantic-slack-diversityAndrew DaiAlex Cranz: Inside AMD’s Quest to Build Chips That Can Beat Intel2018-04-28T00:00:00+00:002018-04-28T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/quote/gizmodo-amd-zen-ryzen-chipAndrew DaiThe Last One2018-04-27T00:00:00+00:002018-04-27T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/the-last-one<p>8:00pm on Monday, April 30th, 2018.</p>
<p>The usual place, one last time.</p>
<p>RSVP for yourself and +n guests the usual way.</p>
<p>Party starts and ends earlier than normal because of finals and because we are old.
Thank you for your continued patronage of NAN528 and we wish you the best.</p>NAN5288:00pm on Monday, April 30th, 2018.The 26th of January2018-01-22T00:00:00+00:002018-01-22T00:00:00+00:00https://andrewdai.co/blog/26th-party<p>9:30pm on Friday, January 26, 2018. The usual place.</p>
<p>Featuring special guests! Including yourself. And +n guests.</p>
<p>RSVP the usual way.</p>NAN5289:30pm on Friday, January 26, 2018. The usual place.