👋 Hey there! I'm TJ. I write about data products, technology, software, and economics.
I'm a husband and father, living in Singapore, and from the Philippines. I explore data engineering and accounting at Titanium Birch.
On Graphs: Finals Week
This finals week was definitely the most gruelling of my college life. Here are a few visualizations that sum up my sentiments:
aliases: - 2012/04/on-graphs-finals-week.html - content/thoughts/2012-04-20-on-graphs-finals-week/on-graphs-finals-week.html - posts/2012-04-20-on-graphs-finals-week - thoughts/on-graphs-finals-week
On Trial, Error and the God Complex
Tim Harford, who writes one of my favorite blogs, The Undercover Economist, speaks at TED about the merits of trial and error, the failures of the God complex, and the importance of making good mistakes. It seems so obvious when you listen to him, but it’s when you look around and see everyone trying to fix the world’s problems with their own preconceived master plans that you see how few people grasp the beautiful heuristic process of variation and selection.
- 2012/04/on-video-trial-error-and-god-complex.html - content/thoughts/2012-04-19-on-video-trial-error-and-god-complex/on-video-trial-error-and-god-complex.html - posts/2012-04-19-on-video-trial-error-and-god-complex - thoughts/on-video-trial-error-and-god-complex
On the Concorde
The Concorde’s elegant delta-wing design enabled it to fly supersonic speeds, yet unmatched by the commercial jets of today that still rely on the traditional fuselage and wing design.
The Concorde. It’s a beauty; it’s just about the most beautiful man-made thing in the world.
What a shame that it guzzled gas, made so much noise, and was eventually put out of service.
Still, its elegant silhouette, as well as the fact that it can travel at twice the speed of sound, inspires me to no end.
I remember from a documentary that New Yorkers who were protesting on the noise of the plane stopped in hushed awe when the Concorde was wheeled in.
It was just that stunning.
aliases: - /2012/04/on-the-concorde.html - /content/thoughts/2012-04-19-on-the-concorde/on-concorde.html - /posts/2012-04-19-on-the-concorde - /thoughts/on-the-concorde
On Quotes from F.A. Hayek
What a glorious mustache
Here are some interesting quotes I dug up from Friedrich A. Hayek:
On the inherent conceit of top-down approaches:
“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they know about what they can imagine they can design.”
It’s amazing how the simple yet powerful price mechanism coordinates and optimizes the structure of production in the economy, and how plans by the many and not plans by the few allow this mechanism to operate well.
On redistributory mechanisms:
There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal.
Only what one deserves.
aliases: - /2012/04/on-quotes-from-fa-hayek.html - /content/thoughts/2012-04-19-on-quotes-from-fa-hayek/on-quotes-from-fa-hayek.html - /posts/2012-04-19-on-quotes-from-fa-hayek - /thoughts/on-quotes-from-fa-hayek
On Man's Insignificance
Yes that’s the earth right there.
This is a passage from Carl Sagan, noted astronomer, commenting on the photo below, which is a view of the Earth from the Voyager spacecraft, four billion miles away (6.4 trillion kilometers, down with the cursed English system). It’s a beautiful description of man’s insignificance in the true sense of the cosmos.
On Interest Rates and Mortality
A limited time on this earth makes time precious.
I’ve always been puzzled by interest rates. They say it’s the price that relates future goods to present goods. Simply put, it’s a price tag on the ability to consume goods now rather than later (for example, a saver who defers the purchase of his marshmallows will get an interest on his savings for more marshmallows in the future.)
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