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⚠️ This article is about suicide. If you have suicidal thoughts, please seek help immediately from services such as Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) of DKU US’s National Suicide Prevention chat or hotline UK’s Samaritan hotline Someone I know recently committed suicide. I was shocked, saddened, and confused. It is one thing to know that many people die of suicide each year around the world. It is another to be personally affected by it. So I read and thought a bit on this topic. Here are some resources which I found helpful for understanding suicide. ...

I have been staying at home and teaching online for nearly a month and half now. During this time, I picked up my old hobby of listening to podcasts. Don’t get me wrong. I never stopped listening to news. But recent global events made me feel that it is probably not a good idea to consume too much news. So I switched to listening to some more educational and entertaining podcasts. Here are what I am listening to. ...

I just taught Linear Algebra, which means I need to give exams with a lot of questions about computations. I would like to have the numbers in this problems to be random, and I like to solve them with computers. (Sorry, students. Only you need to compute by hand. 😆) I have tried to use Mathematica to do so. The math parts works well. But the typesetting of Mathematica looks quite ugly. ...

In the past two months when I taught Linear Algebra, I used the Q&A website Ed (edstem.org) to answer questions from students. My main motivation for using Ed is to avoid answering the same questions repeatedly. If a student post a question on Ed and I reply, everyone else can see my answers. This goal is mostly achieved. However, I also want to train students to write about mathematics formally, and to foster a sense of a community among students. These goals turned out to be a bit more difficult. ...

I came across an interesting article A behavioral scientist’s advice for changing your life. Here’s an excerpt If you’re trying to develop a habit like working out regularly or writing each day, letting yourself have a little leeway is the way to make that habit stick. If you know when you might procrastinate, impose a fine on your future self and commit to paying if you don’t follow through with your goals. ...

I procrastinate, a lot. And when I think about all the things I could have done had I not procrastinated so much, e.g., all the papers I could have written, I am really regretful 😢. One of the books which I found very helpful is How to Beat Procrastination by Nils Salzgeber. Here are some tips from the book and some of my own thoughts. Hope it help you to not to have the same regret which I have. ...

In this year I moved from Sweden to Canada, and the back to Kunshan, China, where I started working at Duke Kunshan University. I also got a girlfriend recently. 😄 (2022 Update – The relationship didn’t last long. 😢) Although occasionally I had a bit egg or diary products when there is no choice, this year I am still mostly a vegan. This has been one of the best decisions of my entire life. ...

Here are some things which I wish I had been told when I first went to college. Sleep well should be your top priority. (Why lack of sleep is bad for your health and Why Bill Gates thinks sleep is important.) Exercise regularly for the sake of both your mind and your body. Learn how to beat procrastination. Avoid getting addicted to tech by practising digital minimalism. Get some tips for socialising successfully. Fail-safe your important plans. Ask yourself some life-changing questions. Don’t feel ashamed for asking for help when you need.

Whatever your life plan is, being able to use English smoothly will offer you many practical benefits, such as studying abroad, travelling around the world, making friends from another country, etc. But more importantly, it opens up an intellectual gateway which, if you choose to take it, will profoundly change how you see the world. Learning English is one of the best ways that you can invest in yourself. How I learned English When I moved to Canada, my English was so bad that I had trouble to order food in restaurants. But I was already there and I planned to go to graduate school in half a year. So I had no choice but to get over English. ...

Some students asked me why I decided to leave IT industry and become an academic. I think the real question is whether I think it is a good idea to try to become a professor. And the answer is a firm no. I must emphasize that I am not advocating for abolishing PhD programs. It is important for a society to push for advancement in science and humanity. What I meant is that for the vast majority of people, a career in academic is not a good choice. ...