Wisdom I Pondered This Week

• “When the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind.” — African Proverb
• “Words are often seen hunting for an idea, but ideas are never seen hunting for words.” — Josh Billings
• “The best teacher is experience and not through someone’s distorted point of view.” — Jack Kerouac
• “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” — Stephen King
• “The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.” — Carl Rogers

Things I Learned This Week

• Advent of Code is an annual online event held every December, featuring daily programming puzzles themed around a holiday story. Created by Eric Wastl, the event runs from December 1st to 25th, with each day offering a new puzzle composed of two parts. It’s designed to challenge participants’ problem-solving and coding skills, gradually increasing in difficulty. Advent of Code is popular among developers of all skill levels and supports any programming language, making it a fun way to learn, practice, or compete with others during the holiday season.
• Initialism and acronym are both types of abbreviations formed from the first letters of a series of words, but they differ in how they are pronounced. More specifically, an initialism (首字母連寫字) is an abbreviation made from the first letters of words, where each letter is pronounced individually (e.g., FBI, USA, ATM) while an acronym (首字母拼音字) is also formed from initial letters, but it is pronounced as a word (e.g., NASA, SCUBA, RADAR).
• Yarn bombing is a type of street art that involves covering objects—like trees, benches, lamp posts, statues, bike racks, fences, and more—with knitted or crocheted yarn. It is also called wool bombing, yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, kniffiti, urban knitting, or graffiti knitting. Unlike traditional graffiti, which is often seen as destructive or permanent, yarn bombing is non-destructive and usually temporary. It’s often done to add warmth, color, or whimsy to urban spaces and can be playful, political, or purely artistic.
• A maze (迷宮) is a puzzle with multiple paths, dead ends, and choices designed to challenge and confuse, requiring problem-solving to find the correct route from start to finish. In contrast, a labyrinth (迷津) has a single, non-branching path that leads to the center and back out, with no wrong turns or decisions, often used for meditation or spiritual reflection. While mazes are meant to test logic and navigation, labyrinths provide a calming, introspective experience. In short, maze is a multicursal puzzle, while labyrinth is a unicursal path.
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, features the 60-foot-tall granite faces of four U.S. presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln—symbolizing the birth, growth, development, and preservation of the nation. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and completed in 1941, the monument is a symbol of American ideals and attracts over 2 million visitors annually. The site also includes a visitor center, museum, and the Avenue of Flags, showcasing all 50 state flags.