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  • To Apple's 50th Anniversary
    50-years-of-thinking-different.png

    Over the years, I made a full circle through phone operating systems: tinkering with MIUI and Flyme, and using HarmonyOS from NEXT Beta through 6.0. Every time, I thought I had found a better system.

    But in the end, I came back to the iPhone.

    After going around in circles, it feels as though I have returned to where I began.

    Maybe not tinkering is its own kind of smoothness.

    I turned 20 this year, and Apple turned 50.

    Many years have passed, and many people and things have changed, but I still remember Steve’s words:

    Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

    Happy 50th Birthday, Apple. 🍎

  • A Chinese Aesthetic Film List

    Young man, your sword is too heavy. It is not iron that weighs upon it, but the grudges and debts of your past, and your fear of life and death to come. You keep looking back at the ties you have severed, and looking up at the stronger opponents you have yet to meet, yet you forget to look at the sword in your hand. When the wind stirs, ripples rise and all things distort. When it stops, the water calms, and the reflection becomes its own peak. It is not the jianghu that unsettles you, but your heart. When the heart is still as water, this one sword is the world.

    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon poster
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
    Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.
    7.4Adventure / Drama / Action120 min
    Hero poster
    Hero (2002)
    During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who had made an attempt on the king's life three years ago.
    7.5Drama / Adventure / Action99 min
    Shadow poster
    Shadow (2018)
    In a kingdom ruled by a young and unpredictable king, the military commander has a secret weapon: a shadow, a look-alike who can fool both his enemies and the King himself. Now he must use this weapon in an intricate plan that will lead his people to victory in a war that the King does not want.
    6.7Action / War116 min
    House of Flying Daggers poster
    House of Flying Daggers (2004)
    In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
    7.3Adventure / Drama / Action119 min
    The Promise poster
    The Promise (2005)
    An orphaned girl, driven by poverty at such a young age, makes a promise with an enchantress. In return for beauty and the admiration of every man, she will never be with the man she loves. This spell cannot be broken unless the impossible happens: snow falling in spring and the dead coming back to life. Now a grown and beautiful princess, she regrets her promise, for all of the men she's loved has always been met with tragedy.
    5.6Fantasy / Drama / Action121 min
    The Grandmaster poster
    The Grandmaster (2013)
    Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.
    6.6Action / Drama / History130 min
  • Tencent EdgeOne, Another Vercel?

    Tencent Cloud’s EdgeOne Pages recently published an announcement on its official website.

    Its official documentation has also been updated, and it even includes migration guides for Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, and Netlify.

    Tencent’s ambitions are hard to miss.

    If you need serverless capabilities, give EdgeOne a try!

  • Loose Thoughts

    Since GPT-3.5 entered my view in 2020, AI, including LLMs and agents, has changed many parts of my life. For me, overcoming my overreliance on AI is the problem I need to solve now. With AI, I can create a blog without learning JavaScript. That is nice, but it also means I still do not really know anything. So I want to spend the time ahead improving myself and studying more deeply.

  • April Reflections

    One third of 2024 has already passed. These past months have not exactly been full, but lately I have been restless. So many things sit in front of me, yet I do not feel like doing any of them. In the first few weeks of the semester, I spent almost every day studying in the library. Thinking about how much there was to learn in my major, and how complicated it all was, then remembering that I would soon take the CET-4, made me anxious. Yet I still could not settle down and study properly. I became more and more impatient. Surrounded by fraught relationships, I kept finding excuses to be lazy.

    A line keeps returning to my mind: “A full inner life makes even solitude remarkable.” I asked myself: Is my inner life full? The answer was only silence.

    When I am alone, I lie in bed and think about this small life of mine. I think about how to face studying with more passion, reduce my inner friction, and adjust my mindset.

    I should make myself a to-do list, find a direction, and not lose my way while I am walking.

  • February Reflections

    The Lantern Festival passes, and the new year begins. That is how a new year starts. I spent 2024 in a fulfilling way, but facing the approaching 2025, I feel a little lost.

    Maybe I am not ready yet.

    At the beginning of January, right after winter break began, I flew to Xiamen. Those days were wonderful. Driving along the coastal highway, feeling the sea breeze, watching violet sunset skies, even the air seemed fresher.

    After returning, I did not stay home all day. I went out with my classmates every day. Since finishing the college entrance examination, I had never felt so relaxed.

    Even now, with school about to start, my heart has not quite returned. Perhaps those days were simply too beautiful to forget…

    My first year of university is already half over, and the new term is about to begin. As usual, I will write down my goals here.

    1. Pass the CET-6

    2. Keep working hard at advanced mathematics

    3. Adapt to paperless study

    Chase the moon and ride the wind without stopping. Beyond the open plain, spring mountains wait.

  • Reflections on Guardian: The Lonely and Great God
    Guardian: The Lonely and Great God poster
    Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016)
    In his quest for a bride to break his immortal curse, a 939-year-old guardian of souls meets a grim reaper and a sprightly student with a tragic past.
    8.6Drama / Sci-Fi & Fantasy / Comedy77 min

    I have to say that, of all the Korean dramas I have watched, Goblin is the best.

    Unlike conventional Korean dramas, it has neither a passionate revenge plot nor romance between powerful executives. Its fresh premise would still stand out today.

    I love the way its setting is designed: the ancient kingdom of Goryeo and present-day South Korea, a general stationed at the border, and a girl he saved by chance.

    The show feels so immersive because of its cultural background, its broad span of time, and the effect of myth.

    They bring the character of the Goblin to life.

    The places in the show, the bench in Canada, the lighthouse, the countryside, the palace, and the tea room for the dead.

    The director’s attention to detail is truly worthy of applause.

    From the theme song to the background music, from maple leaves to the first snowfall, everything is so absorbing…