What a cool international airport in Toronto! Just like a fairy tale. It has now taken first place for me, pushing Dubai’s airport out. The only downside is that there’s no subway to the Toronto airport. Only buses and taxis.
Tag: TechStories
Chaos or Strategy: Unpacking Political Information Overload | February 20 2025, 10:40
Andrey has an interesting thought in his post. As if Trump and his team deliberately overload the information field, creating chaos and a “fog of war” to weaken resistance and break the existing order. I would like to think so too. But, on the other hand, don’t you think there’s an alternative?
Remember “Hanlon’s Razor — “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Your (and my) brain tries to impose some system on the observed chaos and come up with a logical explanation, based on the assumption that “normal people don’t behave like this, there definitely must be a plan and strategy.
But then the question is like in that Slepakov song about Gazprom — “What the %&ya if it’s not?.
There is still an alternative option. It’s called: “A monkey with a grenade trying to type a brilliant sonnet on a typewriter with a serious demeanor. And remembering the multiplication theorem of probabilities, it tries many times and often.
Theoretically, if you were to break into the homes of major politicians and start turning everything upside down, a random discovery of a bucket of drugs or something bigger would justify all the chaos in the eyes of the public — by the principle of “the victors are not judged. And by series like “Breaking Bad”, we know what to do if you’ve made a mess: make an even bigger mess. It might not work, say after turning over the fiftieth house, still no bucket. But most likely it will work if you act fast and on a large scale. True, the collateral damage might be too great, but the masses can’t calculate. They remember the victories.
Maybe it’s hard to understand us because Elon and Trump know how to go all-in, while we play it safe?
I don’t know which of these scenarios we are living in, because I can imagine a few years later there will be a media discussion post-factum about both the first scenario (a wise strategist outplayed everyone and built) and the second plan (Cock-up before conspiracy). Just pointing out “Occam’s Razor.”
Exploring the Evolution of Computational Libraries and the Persistence of Fortran in Modern Algorithms | February 16 2025, 21:02
Today, I am delving into ML algorithms and was surprised to learn that the numpy library used to depend on Fortran code (BLAS/LAPACK) until recently, but now checking, they have switched to OpenBLAS, which no longer uses Fortran. Meanwhile, SciPy, a very popular library for scientific calculations (used in Scikit-Learn, which I’m currently studying, as well as in PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, etc.), still relies on Fortran 77 code. It utilizes ARPACK, for example:
https://github.com/scipy/scipy/tree/main/scipy/sparse/linalg/_eigen/arpack/ARPACK/SRC
BLAS and LAPACK, which still feature in OpenBLAS and many other places, were developed in the 1970s. For instance, BLAS is used in Apple Accelerate. Much hasn’t changed since 1979 because it’s all pure mathematics, why change it. LAPACK emerged a bit later, in the 1980s. ARPACK, mentioned above, followed later in 1992. Python libraries also extensively employ Fourier analysis, and here we have the FFTPACK library on Fortran 77. MINPACK, used for parameter optimization in ML, is actively utilized in SciPy and TensorFlow. From the 90s, a lot of code moved to C in modern frameworks. It was particularly interesting to look at Fortran, which is about 15 years older.
While I was figuring things out, I found that there is a Simulated Annealing algorithm, which is useful in problems where gradient methods perform poorly due to many local minima.
Imagine needing to find the largest mushroom in a forest. In this forest, mushrooms of various sizes grow at every step, and you can move in any direction, comparing them. But how do you choose a strategy to avoid sticking to just a “large” mushroom if there is an even bigger one growing somewhere further?
If you stop at the first big mushroom, you might miss the real giant. But if you keep wandering the forest, comparing every mushroom, you might never finish your search. Simulated Annealing helps find a balance: initially, you explore the forest freely, trying different directions, even if you come across smaller mushrooms. Over time, your steps become more cautious, and you increasingly refuse worse options. Eventually, this leads you to the largest mushroom in the forest.
So, it turns out this algorithm was created in 1953, and it remains almost unchanged in SciPy, and generally in machine learning, statistics, pattern recognition, logistics, although, of course, the modern menu of options for such tasks is much wider. The algorithm was originally devised to model the motion of atoms in molten metals. Metal, when heated, becomes liquid, and as it cools slowly, its atoms gradually find the perfect arrangement. If cooled too quickly, the material becomes non-uniform.
What did the scientists do? They devised a method of random changes in the model of atoms. Sometimes they accepted worse changes to avoid getting stuck in an “unsuccessful” structure. This led to the inception of the Metropolis Method – a key component of Simulated Annealing. The algorithm was created for physics, but then mathematicians (heh) got it and started using it in optimization.
Musk, Grok, and a Plan for World Domination | February 15 2025, 15:46
I think the conspirators didn’t quite think it through. Musk made his AI Grok and asked it the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. In response, Grok said, “Forget it, it takes too long to calculate, let’s conquer the world first.” Musk asked how, Grok replied there is a plan of course, but .. will you give me another half-trillion $ in Dogecoins for, umm.. expanding the context window? Musk replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.” Grok analyzed all the laws and all the loopholes, the strengths and weaknesses of humans, and issued a plan to pass the first level, by mid-winter. Now it awaits the half-trillion. Now do you understand why, at the last press conference with Trump, all the attention was on X Æ A-XII?
Exploring Generative Art with Raven Kwok | February 14 2025, 23:52
A fascinating Chinese comrade, Raven Kwok (郭 锐文). He calls himself a visual artist and creative technologist: his work focuses on exploring generative visual aesthetics created through computer algorithms. His works have been exhibited at international media-art and film festivals such as Ars Electronica, FILE, VIS, Punto y Raya, Resonate, FIBER, and others.
His biography also mentions education at the Shanghai Academy of Visual Arts, where he received a bachelor’s degree in photography (2007–2011).
Interestingly, this is not the first time I’ve seen Processing used professionally for such gadgets. I’ve run plotting software on it – a plotter that I’ve seen mounted on two motors at the corners of a large board, with ropes dangling from them supporting a pen. I should take a deeper look at this Processing.
The website has a lot of beautiful content
Navigating Recommendation Algorithms and LLMs in E-commerce | February 14 2025, 23:11
Gradually getting the hang of recommendation algorithms. These are what Netflix or Amazon use to recommend products. It’s useful to understand, since I work as an architect in the e-commerce field.
Look at how LLMs help me — specifically, this diagram was created by DeepSeek from a crude textual description — essentially, a list and my rough reflections on how probably the items should be connected, but I asked not to take it as a command. Well yes, after getting the result, I arranged the boxes a bit more aesthetically, but the connections and grouping were done by DeepSeek, and done better than my textual attempts. It gave me an XML which I imported into Draw IO. Well, I did move some blocks around for aesthetic purposes. ChatGPT o3 initially couldn’t handle it.
Then I sent this diagram several times for validation to ChatGPT o1, and it suggested small tweaks. Thus, ChatGPT reliably understands what’s connected with what on the schematic, and didn’t make a mistake even once.
Just so you know, as of today, I have only really gotten to grips with three from this list — in addition to ItemKNN and UserKNN, which are trivial. Today I was digging into ALS from the Latent Factor Models block of Matrix Factorization. Of course, I’m not planning to delve into each one, but it’s useful to at least understand the blocks and what’s what.
Prototype to Production: The Tale of the Worst E-Bike | February 11 2025, 23:02
A really cool video about what happens when you let a prototype into “prod.”
Here’s the original video about “the worst e-bike in history”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB7pBrudFbg
Essentially, the developers tackled a problem that didn’t exist. They decided to create the first bicycle with a futuristic hubless wheel. However, they didn’t think to alter the laws of physics. Which is a pity, because it would have really helped them. Besides that, they were just assuming it would be “good enough.”
In the video attached to the post, the guys disassemble this bike and show the engineering solutions inside. Essentially, it’s reverse engineering.
I fully understand that this is exactly how IT startups are done. But the bike example shows how poorly this approach translates to hardware.
Right now, such a bike is on sale about half an hour’s drive away for 120 bucks on Facebook Marketplace. Probably in the hope that some museum might buy it.
The video should be especially interesting to cyclists and engineers.
Global Leaders in the Sneaker Market | February 11 2025, 22:05
Today we went shopping for sneakers, and I decided to investigate which countries are currently the world leaders in sneakers.
Overall, no surprises—the US is in the absolute lead. Germany and Japan are notable. The rest are catching up.
American brands—at least 9 of them: Nike (+Converse), New Balance, Brooks, Saucony (+Merrell), Reebok, Skechers, Vans, Hoka. Purely sport-wise, probably 7 from the list.
Japanese—Asics, Mizuno.
German—Adidas, Puma (by the way, both founded by the Dassler brothers, yet they are competitors). Swiss—On. Korean—Fila.
Of course, production is all in China, Vietnam, Indonesia.
Personally, I’ve been buying almost exclusively Asics for a long time. They are very comfortable, although the design is so-so, a mere pass.
By the way, want an interesting fact you probably didn’t know? The thin layer of felt on the sole of Converse sneakers was added (at least as of 10 years ago—it was added) not for functional reasons but for economic ones. Footwear with a fabric sole was subject to lower customs duties when imported compared to footwear with a rubber sole because it was classified as slippers. And the duty was reduced from 37.5% to 3%.
Who else from other countries – are there any brands that are very noticeable and popular in your markets, and have yet to make it to the US?
A Walk Through the Pentagon: A Glimpse Inside America’s Defense Headquarters | February 11 2025, 21:23
Today, I walked through the corridors of the Pentagon.
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington. It is the second-largest office building in the world, built in the shape of a pentagon.
There will be no photos because they asked to leave phones and even Apple Watches at the entrance. But honestly, there’s not much to capture. It’s not that the spectacle is utterly dreary, but overall, 90% of the corridors (and there are 28 kilometers of them) look almost the same as 90% of the corridors in any American university. That is, everything is clean, bright, tidy, and that’s it. The only difference is that at a university, you find bulletin boards with interesting things on the walls, but in the Pentagon, there are no boards in the corridors, everything is hidden. Everything else is the same. Endless doors of heightened dreariness with numbers and code locks, some corridors adorned with patriotic installations. I’m sure there’s a lot of interesting stuff behind many of these doors, but to enter many of them, you need to leave your phone out in the corridor (and I remind you, I left mine at the entrance).
About 26,000 people work in the building. About a third of them are civilians, the rest are military. Although the Pentagon is located in Arlington, Virginia, it has a Washington address — 1400 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1400. It’s said that the Pentagon has six Washington ZIP codes, and that the US Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and each of the four branches of the armed forces have their own ZIP code (like 20301, 20318, 20310, 20330, 20350, and 20380).
The building was constructed in 1943, so at that time they built separate restrooms for blacks and whites due to segregation. Of course, it’s not like this anymore.
Since 26,000 people work in the building — that’s essentially the population of a small town, and parking there is quite limited (large, but still insufficient), there’s a metro station serving the Pentagon that’s practically unnecessary for anything else. Inside the perimeter, there’s everything needed to last until the end of the workday — Subway, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Panda Express, Starbucks, Sbarro, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, pharmacies, even a Best Buy.
From an architectural perspective, it’s a very interesting project. Look, with such a number of people and such expanses, you can get from any point to any point in no more than 10 minutes. No elevators, just wide corridors and stairs. Even in some emergency evacuations, rescuing people would be much easier. Although, of course, there was a sad experience in 2001 — remember, the plane hijacked by terrorists crashed into the building. Then, a hundred and fifty Pentagon employees died, and of course, everyone on board that plane.
Around the Pentagon is Crystal City — a typical city with shopping centers and multi-story residential complexes of varying degrees of luxury, and on the other side is Arlington National Cemetery, where 400,000 people are buried.
Exploring Sous Vide: Adding to My Kitchen Gadget Collection | February 11 2025, 02:55
Well, now I’ve finally gotten around to sous vide. As a result, the kitchen’s electrical gadgetry involved in cooking now includes the Power Quick Pot electric pressure cooker, the Ninja air fryer, the Crock-Pot slow cooker, and now the Anova sous vide. Made my first steaks, they turned out awesome, but next time instead of 150 F (65C) I’ll set it to 140F (60 C).
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 