I’ve been intrigued by the world of quantitative trading for many years, so when ex-Jane Street trader Ricki Heicklen ran a trading bootcamp at Manifest recently, I jumped at the opportunity! The bootcamp was a two-day intensive program designed to teach the fundamentals of quantitative trading and provide a glimpse into the experience of being a professional trader. Using a play currency, we went through various hands-on exercises to solidify concepts taught in energetically-delivered lectures. I learned a lot and made friends, and had so much fun that I’m considering a career pivot to quant trading. So, this post has two purposes: to give interested readers some background in trading concepts and a sense of my bootcamp experience, and to serve as a proof of work showing potential employers what I learned. ...

In my life, I have spent three years working full-time as a software engineer. Before that, I spent almost twenty as a student in formal education. My education prepared me in many ways for my life and career, and on the whole has been a great advantage. However, the structure of formal education taught me a pattern of thinking that I realized has held me back as a professional. In this post, I’ll examine this pattern, which I name “school mindset”, and how it can be a hindrance in the professional world. I’ll delve into my personal experiences and offer my insights on how to transition from a school mindset to a more effective professional mindset. ...

Inspired by some other blogs I like, I decided I wanted to add hovering previews to the footnotes on my own site1. This turned out to be surprisingly complex! First, I asked ChatGPT for a simple plug-and-play solution. When it didn’t have one and the code it suggested didn’t work, I turned to Manicode. Sadly for me, Manicode also struggled; despite several iterations of prompting and troubleshooting, Manicode couldn’t find a solution that worked. I was going to have to dive into the issue myself. ...

My mom asked me to make a way to generate her own Connections puzzles, so I did! It’s bare bones, but I’m still pretty happy with it, so this is a link post for Connections Maker.

I’ve been making fried rice for several years, and it’s gotten a lot better since I started. Here are my tips for a delicious fried rice. 1. Use a Wok: The high edges of a wok make vigorous stirring easier and reducing spillage. 2. High Heat: In Asian kitchens, chefs use special high-heat burners for cooking, so use the maximum heat on your home stove. 3. Lots of Butter: Butter gives a better flavor than oil, as well as keeping the wok greased. Add butter before most ingredients and more whenever you feel like it. ...

This blog is built with Hugo and hosted on Netlify (free tier). I also bought the domain name from Netlify for $13, the only monetary expense in the process. I’m using Abricotine to write this post.