Wisdom I Pondered This Week
- “The beginning is mostly luck. The end is mostly choices.” — James Clear
- “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
- “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” — Isaac Asimov
- I think there’s a misguided belief that self-development makes us better people. But if we want to be better people we have to focus on others, not ourselves. At some point, I realized this and changed tack. Rather than ask what I needed, I asked what my community needed.
- “If you’re to choose to paint your life today… What will it be? Remember, you’re the artist, not the canvas.” — Val Uchendu
Things I Learned This Week
- Hotlinking is the practice of embedding media—typically images—from one website into another without permission or consent. Instead of hosting the content itself, the second website loads it directly from the original source, effectively using the host site’s resources and bandwidth to display the content.
- A truism is a statement that is so obviously true and doesn’t offer new or meaningful insight. It often sounds wise or profound but simply states what everyone already knows—like saying “If you don’t sleep, you’ll get tired.” or “Everyone dies eventually.” Truisms are commonly used in everyday language, speeches, or writing to appear thoughtful, but they tend to lack depth or usefulness because they state the obvious.
- Hour of Code is a global initiative by Code.org aimed at introducing people, especially K-12 students, to computer science through fun, one-hour tutorials. Held annually during Computer Science Education Week in December, it offers beginner-friendly coding activities with both drag-and-drop and text-based options. The goal is to demystify coding, show that anyone can learn the basics, and promote digital literacy for learners of all ages. It also encourages computational thinking, inspires future interest in STEM fields, and helps bridge equity gaps by making coding accessible to everyone.
- PLG (Product-Led Growth) is a go-to-market strategy where the product itself drives user acquisition, conversion, expansion, and retention. It emphasizes a self-service model with easy onboarding (e.g., free trials or freemium), helping users quickly reach value without relying on sales teams. Growth is often fueled by user-driven adoption, sharing, or collaboration features that encourage virality. Companies like Slack, Zoom, and Notion exemplify PLG by making their products easy to try and scale. Key benefits include lower acquisition costs, faster growth, and a tight feedback loop, with metrics like Product Qualified Leads (PQLs), Time to Value (TTV), and DAU/MAU helping track success.
- 大乘佛教與小乘佛教是佛教兩大主要傳承。小乘佛教強調個人解脫，修行目標是成為阿羅漢，注重自利後才利他，強調出家僧侶持戒清淨的修行方式，主要流行於南傳佛教國家如泰國、斯里蘭卡等，經典以巴利文為主。大乘佛教則提倡菩薩道，強調利他精神，發願成佛以利益眾生，鼓勵在家與出家修行者共同修行，流行於中國、日本、韓國、西藏等地，經典多以梵文與漢文為主，核心教義包含空性、如來藏、慈悲利他等理念。現代學界多以「上座部佛教」代替「小乘」以避免貶義。
