Millennials aren't saving a dime

Here is the link.

Millennials are struggling in spite of an improving job market, with an unemployment rate that dipped to 5.8% in October as the U.S. economy added 214,000 jobs.

But wages have remained stagnant, barely budging since the 1990s. So even with a low unemployment rate, millennials are having a tough time making ends meet. Many have taken on hefty student debt to attain the skills they need to be competitive in the work force.

Rick Rule: Big Institutions are Positioning Themselves for this Gold Bull Market

Here is the link.

6 Mistakes Traders Make in a Bull Market!

Here is the video.

Ok, so what are the mistakes: - They wait for a correction that never happens. A bull market can continue rising for an extended period and its better to buy and enjoy the ride than waiting for the 'right moment'. - They don't buy the small dips. Dips aren't really that big in a roaring bull market - the market keeps pushing up; often its very methodical and slow. - Bears are always looking at the short side. - Fundamentals will use logic and miss everything. Maybe value is ridiculous on paper but at the end of the day its a supply-demand equation. - When a dip happens they don't buy - traders are scared of a correction and don't buy. - Instead of hopping on the train they look for a crash.

16 firms worth billions despite losing money

Here is the article.

Planning young: a retirement roadmap

Here is the link.

Time - you have time, take a big risk.


20 years - Do not get lost. Start first full time job. Contribute 401 K. Automatically. Raise ..., be aggressive, take big risk.
30 years - keep saving more in 30s. 1 time of your salary
40 years - start to gauge - how much risk you can stomach - in stock -

120 - age = 120 - 40 = 80, that is 80% in stock when you are in 40s.

Apple has mind-boggling $178 billion in cash to spend

Here is the article.

I really like the article.

But what if Apple wanted to do something really bold with all that iMoney? Just for fun, here's a list of companies Apple could buy ... and still have some change left over.

shopping list

Why this tech party isn't like 1999

Here is the article.

The article was written back in Feb. 20, 2015. Now it is 2019 Sept. 8. I was late to read the article.

Back in 2015, I had my first one hour onsite interview in Westin hotel, in the city of Vancouver. I understood that I had problems to advance my data structure and algorithm skills.

Overall I was out-of-date on technology, and also as an investor in general as well. I do not have a lot finance literacy.

Of course, my interest is not related to personal finance, stock market. I did not check stock market at all.

Boom! Nasdaq finally tops 5,000 again

Here is the article.


March 2, 2015

Finally! The Nasdaq topped the 5,000 level Monday for the first time since March 2000.

History lesson: Tech stocks plummeted in 2000 as prices for technology companies, particularly relatively new Internet firms, got way too high in a relatively quick fashion. It was a classic bubble.

Several Internet stocks went out of business because they spent too much and did not have solid business plans. Who could forget the likes of Pets.com and its sock puppet in a Super Bowl ad?

Crisis hangover: Millennials are scared to invest

Here is the article.

financial literacy

Low financial literacy scores also correspond with lower levels of trust, Duncan said.

Retirement crisis looms: All of this suggests millennials may be stuck with smaller nest eggs that will make it more difficult to retire. People who wait too long to invest may not be able to stop working and others who don't understand investing may end up with portfolios that are too risky or not aggressive enough.

Actionable Items

I need to work on my financial literacy. I have to push myself to learn some basics first. 

Andy Roddick: Safe investments can be sexy

Here is the article.

"A lot of people my age are trying to hit a home run in a year or two," Roddick said. "I don't really base investing on the upside. It's more along the lines of: Worst-case scenario, are you still okay?"

"The best piece of advice my dad ever told me was to surround yourself with smart people and ask a lot of questions," Roddick said.

He blamed investors' impatience on today's culture of instant gratification.

"Whether it's Twitter (TWTR), Instagram or Netflix (NFLX), you have everything yesterday. Everything is at your fingertips. It doesn't really work that well" with investing, said Roddick.

The Mindset Behind Hall-Of-Famer Andy Roddick's Business Growth

Sept. 5, 2019

Here is the link.

“Most professional athletes are expected to reap their paydays during their playing years,” Myers says. “The athlete that reacts to this early earning cycle needs to have a long-term view on business investment if he or she wants tomorrow to be better than today.” 

A Car or a million dollars later in 65

Starting in real estate helped keep Roddick grounded early and not divert money to subsidize personal spending. “I know that Andy recognized that the $300,000 that he could have spent on a new Ferrari would lessen his net worth by over $1.4 million when he reached 55 and $3 million by 65,” 

With the real estate side of the business so formulaic and Roddick retiring from the game in 2012, he continued to leverage his business learning into new deals, startup spaces, series Cs and more. “The fun part for me is looking at the deals and new companies,” he says. “Investing in companies is more exciting day to day.”

Tennis legend Andy Roddick says don't be afraid to ask questions when it comes to investing

Here is the link.



Missing 10 days, you miss 80% chance to make money?

So You Think You’re a LinkedIn Profile Expert

Here is the article.

Momentum docusign

Here is the website.

I finished the video around 11:30 PM on Sept. 7, 2019.

Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity

Here is the article.

2. Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? No matter what your current weight is, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol, and it decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Regular exercise helps prevent or manage many health problems and concerns, including:

• Stroke
• Metabolic syndrome
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Many types of cancer
• Arthritis
• Falls

It can also help improve cognitive function and helps lower the risk of death from all causes.

Investing Insights: Retiree Traps, a Wide-Moat Stock Pick, and Indexing Risks

Here is the link.

Retirees: Avoid These Traps in Turbulent Markets

Here is the link.

Bianca Andreescu prepares to face Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final

Here is the link.


Just block out. Focus on myself.

Be the best person I can be.

Date my money - A new date

Sept. 7, 2019

Introduction

It is my personal finance research. I have a busy summer. I need to plan to spend time to work on notarized letter from TD bank with free service, and then mail the letter to the city of Boca Raton New York community bank, and then ask to close my CD account, mail a check to my Canada address.

My date

I need to draft a letter, and ask TD bank to notarize the letter.
I need to mail the letter to New York community bank in the city of Boca Raton.

I already called the customer service and then figure out how to close the account, and transfer the balance.

Case study: 33 Search rotated sorted array

Sept. 7, 2019

Introduction

It is one hour mock interview. I interviewed a very talent engineer and I like to learn something from his performance. I like to write a case study on this interview.

Case study

The interview was on Sept. 7, 2019. 

Case study: 33 Search rotated sorted array

Sept. 7, 2019

Introduction

It is one hour mock interview I spent with an anonymous programmer in the city of Vancouver. I enjoyed to work with the engineer and discussed so many issues in learning binary search. I like to write a case study on this interview.

Case study

The interview was on Sept. 4, 2019

IEnumerable Interface

Sept. 7, 2019

Introduction

It is time for me to memorize IEnumerable all APIs. Recently I need to write a minimum heap using SortedDictionary, one of API is First(). But I did not notice that it is from interface IEnumerable.

Case study

Here is the folder to contain my study of minimum heap using SortedDictionary. I also need to figure out using SortedDictionary, K most closest point actually is maximum heap, I should use negative distance to make maximum heap to a minimum heap.

Here is the folder.

IEnumerable Interface

Aggregate
All
Any
Append
AsEnumerable
Average
Cast
Concat
Contains
Count
DefaultEmpty
Distinct
ElementAt
ElementAtOrDefault
Empty
Except
First
FirstOrDefault
GroupBy

Intuit CEO Conversations with Brad Smith and Bill Campbell

Here is the link.

Campbell, a 30-year tech industry veteran, has been called a guru, advisor, mentor and coach. He has inspired and influenced some of the Valley's best and brightest companies including Apple and Google. A former head football coach for Columbia University, he has been known to lead effectively both on the field and in the boardroom.

The Secret Coach

Here is the article published in 2008. I like to read the article and take some notes.

My most favorite learning is from the following paragraph, since I never think about those four areas:

1. Financial goals - The first is traditional: performing against expectations
2. Management skills
3. Working with peers
4. Innovating


An important element of Campbell’s teachings is the system he’s developed for reviewing employees, which many of the executives he mentors now use. Rather than simply focusing on whether a manager has achieved his financial goals—which can lead to short-term thinking—Campbell gives equal weight to four areas. The first is traditional: performing against expectations. But then he looks at management skills, working with peers, and innovating. If you aren’t good at all those things, you aren’t good. “He taught me that you can increase operating earnings but not fund R&D,” says Opsware’s Horowitz. “You may meet your goals, but you may be such a jackass that none of the people that depend on you can meet your objectives. Bill figured out a way around this.”

Steve Job's coach Bill Campbell

Here is the link.

Coach of Silicon Valley

Here is the link.

Bill Campbell - former CEO of the Intuit is a remarkable business coach. Among top CEOs that he has coached are; Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt Google's President. He was interviewed by Fox Business Video on Dec 28, 2009. Learn a great wisdom from a great coach.

Top scholar athletes

- leader, care about community
- academic side very honored ?

Andreescu came back from 'rough start' to get to U.S. Open final: coach

Here is the link.

Bianca Andreescu: "It's just crazy what a year can do!" | US Open 2019 SF Press Conference

Here is the link.

8:00

I used to play 20K or 60K tournament.

9:20 / 14:17
Play different sport? helpful?

I think I have better idea than this one

Sept. 6, 2019

Introduction

It is part of mental training. I like to adopt some good thoughts to lead myself in problem solving. One statement I like to say is that "I think I have better idea than this one". I like to push myself to come out optimal solution, even less space, sometimes it means a quick and easy solution to write as well.

Case study

I wrote C# code for one algorithm this Friday. I was so surprised to write the code and it took me less than 30 minute. The life as a software programmer is so interesting journey.

I will write down more content to share on this topic. Stay tuned.

Here is the folder to contain my practice.

3 Leadership Lessons from Coach Bill Campbell on How to Build Trust on Your Team

Here is the article I like to read.

CHM Live | Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell

Here is the link.

Though Bill Campbell passed away in 2016, his belief that to be a great manager you have to be a great coach lives on through those he mentored. Self-effacing and delightfully profane, Bill was a former football player and coach at Columbia University. He moved west in 1983 to apply the fundamentals of human relationships to business that he learned on the gridiron. Bill put these fundamentals into practice by establishing trust, treating everyone the same, and listening. He taught that “the path to success in a fast-moving, highly competitive, technology-driven business world is to form high-performing teams and give them the resources and freedom to do great things.” His results were spectacular. Learn more about this Valley legend and how you can apply Bill’s key insights to your organization.

Eric Schmidt - Trillion Dollar Coach

Here is the link.

Dr. Julia Coronado - founder of MacroPolicy Perspectives

Here is the linkedin profile with activities.

The market is a buy because of the yield it offers, strategist says

Here is the link to watch six minutes video. I like to learn a few concepts and then understand what I should look into.

The Ax Is Falling Again At The Big Banks: Citigroup Announces Hundreds Of Job Cuts

Here is the article.

The revenue from trading for the five largest U.S. banks fell 8% in the second quarter and had previously declined 14% the first three months of the year. This looks like the worst first half in over a decade for the big banks. 

To highlight the disruption of technology on trading, back in 2000, according to Marty Chavez, Goldman Sachs’ deputy chief financial officer and former chief information officer, the firm’s equities trading desk employed 600 traders. Fast forward to today and Goldman has merely two equity traders left.

How to value the time I have as a software programmer?

Sept. 5, 2019

Introduction

It is my personal finance research. I really think that I should find a lot of ways to build wealth and grow rich. How to find those ideas and then make one of them work in 2019?

Leslie Picker - CNBC reporter

Here is the page.

I like to spend time to watch some videos from the above link.

Here's why layoffs are on the rise in the financial services industry

Here is the link.

11 Fitness Principles That Will Improve Your Tennis Game

Here is the article I like to read.

My friend Dr. Jin told me that I have to pay attention to my weight issue. I have to put it high priority to lose weight. I met Dr. Jin on August 19, 2019. I like to appreciate my friendship with Dr. Jin, and also I like to work on fitness research and figure out how to lose another 10 lbs from 182 lb to 172 lb.

I used to complain the issue with my knee, I used to talk to my roommate Emma back in 2017. I should work on fitness, and keep my weight around 176 lb instead of 186 lb.

Welcome to Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management

Here is 30 minutes video I like to watch.

10 things I learn to do - Morning walk 20 minutes

Sept. 5, 2019

Introduction

It is my routine to take a walk from the place  I park to my office every morning. It takes me 20 minutes to walk. I like to build some good habit to do things in those 20 minutes.

10 things I learn to do

Management Development Program – Gaining an Enterprise Perspective

Here is the link.

The rise of Canadian tennis sensation Bianca Andreescu | The National Interview

Here is the link.

DocuSign Developer: API Integration from Basic to Advanced

Here is the video I plan to watch.

DocuSign Developer: PowerForm Integration Demo

Here is the video I like to watch.

Broken Toe

Here is the article. I like to read carefully since I just got my broken toe fixed today.

“度牙根”后仍疼痛很有可能因为根管变异

Here is the article.

根管治疗俗称“抽神经”或“度牙根”，就是将有病变的牙齿髓腔打开，用各种治疗器械清除牙齿髓腔和根管内发炎或坏死的牙髓组织，将髓腔和根管消毒后，用牙胶等材料把抽除牙神经的根管严密封填起来，避免牙齿根管的再感染。根管治疗是目前国际公认的治疗牙髓病和根尖周病的有效方法，但由于根管遗漏、根管钙化等原因，根管治疗时根管清理不彻底，根管内仍残留有活力的牙髓或病原微生物，导致根管治疗失败。

Kudo to Dr. David Yap, Burnaby hospital

Sept. 4, 2019

Introduction

It is my sick day. I decided to write a blog to document my experience. Two days ago I cleaned my room, I hit the suitcase wheel in my room and my left smallest toe got swollen. Today I went to emergency room in Burnaby hospital after X-ray.

What I learned

This Monday I hurted my left toe smallest one, after a few hours, I took a nap, and then at 7:00 pm, I went out to play tennis, I felt that the toe was painful and swollen.

Tuesday I went to work, after work, I went to walk-in clinic, and then I was told to take X-ray; if there is dislocated bone, after X-ray, I should go to emergency room, some one knows how to correct it.

Wednesday morning I went to X-ray, after x- ray, and I was told to take CD with me, and then I should go to emergency room to get help.

This is the first time I went to Burnaby hospital emergency room as a walk-in. I learned a few things by the visit.

I just could not believe that Dr. yap is a quick-problem solver, he pulled out my toe, and I heard the pop sound of bone came out socket. I was told to do X-ray after his work. The nurse did buddy tape my smallest toe. I need to body tape my smallest toe with fourth one, four days.

I like to learn more about Dr. Yap.

Here is the page I like to read.

I heard the conversation in emergency room about my neighbor 92 years old fell, and asked her neighbor to help her to hospital, and in X-ray I saw 92 years old lady. It is a totally different person compared to my neighbor, a retired physician, 92 years old Chinese, UBC graduate. Canada is a totally different country compared to China, USA.

Kudo to walk-in clinic physician as well

I also like to take a look linkedin profile of physician Olga Cyganik. She was the doctor I visited, and she advised me to do X-ray first, and what to do next.

Designing Data Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann - Book review from a Google manager

Sept. 2, 2019

Introduction

It is a challenging job to read the book, I already spent over 10 hours to read the book; I start to learn different ways to read the book. One of ideas is to read the book first, and then find some video on youtube.com and spend one hour to learn more from presentation. I just could not believe that the book can be a very good textbook as well.

Book review from a Google manager

I like to share the book review from a Google manager. I just came cross his post this afternoon. It is so interesting to come cross the post.

Here is the article. I just copy the book review from the article.


This book is helping me to build connections between various patches of knowledge I had about distributed applications, approaches and latest trends in the way I never thought was possible. It's almost like, without this book I had the pieces scattered all over the place, most of them missing, now I have an index I can re-read and reference. For algorithms I already had "The Algorithm Design Manual" by Steven S. Skiena, and now this book is my manual for system design."

Designing Data Intensive Applications" gives concise vocabulary to talk about storage and retrieval models, encoding formats, replication and sharding. It connects the world of traditional relational databases, ACID and leader-follower replication to the modern approaches of non-relational and leaderless, provides a language to reason about tradeoffs way beyond "the unhelpful CAP theorem", as it calls it.

Overall I know that if I manage to remember the key concepts covering at least a third of the material in this book, I'll save myself and others countless hours at design discussions.

Book review from Alex B.

Case study: 33 Search rotated sorted array

Sept. 2, 2019

Introduction

I had 10:00 PM mock interview today. I met an engineer and he surprised me with his super good performance. I think that it really makes me grounded, I understand that I have to be humble, and learn from each mock interview as an interviewer.

Case study

I will implement the idea using C# code and share on Leetcode discuss as well.

Actionable Items

I should learn from the interviewee. He has over 10 years experience in Silicon Valley. He worked very hard to test the code, go through all possible test cases.

I need to figure out how to motivate myself to test my own code.

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs

LinkedIn Top Startups 2018: The 25 most sought-after startups in Canada

Here is the link.

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels

19 minutes video is here.

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels

4 minutes on video is here.

Books I read last year: August 2019

Here is the article.

The S&P 500 has already met its average return for a full year, but don’t expect it to stay here

Here is the article.

Key points:

• The average annualized total return for the S&P 500 index over the past 90 years is 9.8 percent.
• Yet from 1928 to 2016, only six years finished with a gain within 5 and 10 percent, according to LPL Financial.

Predict next few months - good argument!

And since 1950, when the S&P 500 has made at least 15 new all-time highs through May, it was far more likely to keep rising through December, and the average further gain over the final seven months was 7.7 percent, far better than the 4.5 percent average for June-December in all years.

Cramer: The magic of compounding—how to double your $ in 7 years

Here is the link.

How to retire at 50

Here is the link.

well-written article. I like to take some notes.

Assuming a hypothetical, though historically reasonable 7% annual rate of return on an investment, a 25 year-old who manages to put $20,000 away every year will end up with almost $1.38 million by age 50. Put in that same $20,000 beginning at age 35, and she’ll only end up with $531,000 by 50. In fact, in order for that 35 year-old to end up with the identical $1.38 million by 50, she’d have to put away more than $50,000 a year to catch up to the early bird who started at 25.

John C. Bogle - The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism

Here is the link.

The founder of The Vanguard group and legendary investor Jack Bogle talks about everything from mutual funds to index funds with Dean Lawrence R Velvel , Dean of the Massachusetts Schoool of Law. Bogle is the founder of the Vanguard Group, Inc. president of the Bogle Financial Markets Research Center, and the author of The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism.

Jack Bogle on Index Funds, Vanguard, and Investing Advice

Here is the link.

I like to spend time to think about words from Jack bogle.

In investing, you get what you don't pay for

Despite Vanguard's incredible success, Bogle didn't become fantastically rich. Instead, Jack passed on as much savings as possible to Vanguard investors, bringing fees for his funds to razor-thin levels (and dragging the rest of the fund market with him). As a result, Bogle helped all investors get better returns on their retirement savings, drastically reducing underperformance caused by high management fees. As Bogle said in 2012, "My ideas are very simple. In investing, you get what you don't pay for."

Susan Cain: "Quiet" | Talks at Google

Here is the link.

Harvard law graduate, here is Susan Cain's linkedin profile.

I found out the topic is so interesting and she did very good job in her presentation using a few stories to explain things. It is very exciting to see how she can present good topic.

Ex-Google career coach reveals the biggest mistake she sees people make

Here is the link.

Jenny Blake: "Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One" | Talks at Google

This is 42 minutes video I like to watch. Here is the link.

Jenny Blake, author of Life After College and former career development program manager at Google, reveals how to methodically make your next career move by doubling down on what is already working. Careers are not linear, predictable ladders any longer; they are fluid trajectories. No matter our age, life stage, bank account balance, or seniority, we are all being asked to navigate career changes much more frequently than in years past. The average employee tenure in America is just four to five years, and even those roles change dramatically within that time. Our economy now demands that we create businesses and careers based on creativity, growth, and impact. In this dynamic world of work, the only move that matters is your next one. Headshots and such are available at jennyblake.me


High net worth -

High net impact -


25:32/ 42:22
Plant

What are you currently enjoying most? What is working best?

What does success look like one year from now?

29:17/ 42:22

Who do you admire? who can you talk to ?
What new skills interest you?

33:17/ 42:22
What experiments could you run in the next month?
In the next 6 months?

38:00 - 40:30 Open to uncertainty
Open to ...

Google Career Coach Jenny Blake Explains Secret Strengths Of Introverts | CNBC Make It.

Here is the link.

Pivot with Jenny Blake - career coach

Here is the link.

Google exec shares his No. 1 strategy for mapping out your career

Here is the link.

Google Exec Peter Roper On The Most Important Characteristic For Young Professionals | CNBC Make It.

Here is the link.

Peter Roper Google Head of Mobile Brand Strategy | MSCW 2017

Here is the link.

150 times a day. Search for shops nearby, meet customers etc.

If you invested $1,000 in Google 10 years ago, here’s how much you’d have now

My friend told me that he purchased some Google stock yesterday, so I like to look into this topic.

Here is the link.

Google exec shares two easy tricks to boost your career

Here is the link.

List of companies

Google
Amazon
Facebook
Apple
Microsoft


Skill sets:

Mobile development
user interface design
Social media management

peter  - head of mobile strategies Google

Who is hiring manager? Go for it.

Have your map perfectly mapped out.

40 minutes chat with a friend

Sept. 2, 2019

Introduction

I have to think about my five close friends. I like to determine if it is true that five close friends will determine how good you are in terms of wealth.

40 minutes chat

Yesterday I also spent 40 minutes to talk to my friend back in Florida. He is a retired engineer, he retired over 10 years ago in 2010.

Greeting to my 182 lb weight

Sept. 2, 2019

Introduction

It is most challenging job to reduce weight and play more tennis this summer. I also experience some  headache early in the morning before I wake up, since I like to reduce the weight and I do not enough food after I play some tennis in the evening.

182 lb milestone

I like to reduce my weight to 176 lb, same as my favorite tennis player Bianca.

10 minute exercise - find longest common prefix and suffix in the string

Sept. 2, 2019

Introduction

It is a drill for hard level algorithm 214 shortest palindrome. What I like to do is to write  a blog to calculate longest common prefix and suffix for a string.

My drill 

a b c d a b c a
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 <- Lps Array (longest prefix suffix array)

For example, string a b c d a b c 
prefix: abc
suffix: abc

"abc" is longest common prefix and suffix, so the table should be updated

a b c d a b c 
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 <- index 
0 0 0 0 1 2 3 <- longest prefix and suffix 

Actionable Items

I think that it is important for me to practice more often the simple drills and therefore I can prepare to work on hard level algorithm. 

Evaluate my 10 year experience compared to those five years in Microsoft

Sept. 2, 2019

Introduction

It is my 20 minutes research. I like to compare me with those people with five years in Microsoft as senior developer or SDE II, how they compete the next job, which maybe is a position in Facebook or Google or high title in Microsoft.

My 10th years experience

I still remembered that in January 2015, I asked for 45 minutes onsite interview with Facebook in the city of Vancouver, and then I started to write a coding blog call juliacodingblog.com. I was so shy and so close, it is so hard for me to write down my thoughts and demonstrate good will to share and enjoy the hard working of writing.

Three friends I met last three years.

One was senior engineer in Microsoft and he joined Facebook recently.
One is PH.D. with 5 years in Microsoft, not senior yet, working on Google interview.
One is senior engineer in Microsoft, and practice interview all the time.

My question is this:
How to manage the career?

A person chose to finish 800 Leetcode algorithms, and he could show me the solution in less than 20 minutes to solve a hard level algorithm. He failed me using long common subsequence, we did one mock interview together. I finished 420 algorithms on Leetcode.com. I do think that it is talent to solve over 800 algorithms, in other words, he can solve problems much more quickly since he knows how to solve them, or it takes less time for him to solve, or he has very good foundation and know how to solve problems.

I do think that a person who can get computer science Ph.D., and also five year experience in Microsoft, he will definitely have challenge time to determine what is next step. He chose to solve 800 algorithms and well-prepared for next job.

He also showed me how to solve the algorithm using binary search for the algorithm longest common subsequence.

S & P Index 500 one month study

Sept. 1, 2019

Introduction

It is my personal finance research. I learn that emotion is the biggest enemy of investment. I like to do a case study of S & P Index 500.

One month chart

Here is one month chart.

I purchased ETF and built my portfolio 3 month ago, S & P Index is around 2800. Last 30 days three times my profit went down less than $100 dollars except dividend.

Here is Key largo portfolio on Sept. 1, 2019.

Here is Victoria portfolio on Sept. 1, 2019.

My understanding is that I should not play like a day trader. But those fluctuations are so interesting for me to watch my portfolio. If I play with the market, then I may get addicted and affect my daily work and life.

August 5, 2019

Sept 2, 2019

Portfolio Key Largo profit is $554.13.

August 5, 2019

My Victoria portfolio profit $9.43

Sept. 2, 2019

My Victoria portfolio profit $683.53

Actionable Items

I like to learn how to invest long term. It is very hard to push myself invest all my 10 years savings in Canada into TFSA. So I should stay on the track on 3 year recession plan in worst case, I should target 10% return in 3 years, that is $4300 dollars profit.

If the market will not crash in 12 months, then I should get 10% return which is also $4300 dollars.

I may think about selling all my S & P index fund when S & P index is around 1900, and then purchase back when it is 1800. I can have 3 buy and sell in last one month.

Yes, median pay at Facebook really is about $240,000 a year

Here is the article.

A law that requires public companies to disclose the median pay of their employees and compare it with their CEO’s compensation is producing some eye-popping numbers that spotlight income inequality in America.

Among the 40 largest Bay Area companies that have reported, median employee pay last year ranged from $5,375 at Gap to $240,430 at Facebook.

At Facebook, spokesman Anthony Harrison said $240,430 “is absolutely representative” of employee pay. It includes restricted stock units, which almost all employees get. It does not include the pay of shuttle drivers, security guards, janitors or other outsourced workers that “handle services that are not core to our business.”

Investors and entrepreneurs need to address the mental health crisis in startups

Here is the article.

Self-selection: Most founders are smart, driven and skilled people whose résumé could almost certainly land them a job with a higher lifetime expected value (the median salary at Facebook is now $240,000), but they still choose the grueling, uncertain and more creative founder journey. Founders are almost certainly pre-disposed toward certain conditions (like ADHD) for example. In his book The Da Vinci Method, Garret LoPorto cites Fortune Magazine as claiming that people with ADHD are 300 percent more likely to start their own company than others.

How to chose five close friends?

Sept. 1, 2019

Introduction

It is hard for me to work on my personal finance research since I run out of ideas to build wealth. I cannot make instant wealth on stock market because I do not choose to invest in short term. I had this argument called five close friends determine your wealth. Here is the talk. I like to look into this idea - five close friends.

How to innovate! 

9:50 - 11:00/ 21:00
How to manage career and wealth?

It is hard to get out of poverty. How to think about and what is in their mind?

When the wheels fall off?
Rules above goals  cut-free ...

Actionable Items

I am too emotional and also impulsive to handle my money in past 10 years. I like to make changes. One thing is to learn more about Canada as a country, my home country.

How to Become an Iconic Speaker

Here is the link. I like the talk.

Case study: Trip to Facebook onsite coding interview

Sept. 1, 2019

Introduction

It takes a lot of practice to be good at interview as an interviewer, I have practiced over 150 times as an interviewer starting Jan. 2018. But as an interviewee, I have a long road to train myself and work on improvements. I like to write a case study on Facebook onsite coding interview.

How to get rid of anxiety?

2:00 PM - 4:30 PM flight from Vancouver to San Francisco
rental a car, go to meeting place - Sichun restaurant, San Mateo

6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
I booked the meeting Sunday and met all my friends working in Silicon Valley area. They are very experienced managers. One of them coached me how to do product design for Facebook onsite. She told me that she applied so many jobs in Hong Kong, and she likes to write top down or bottom up, draw a lot of diagrams.

9:30 PM - 11:00 PM
Swimming and thinking about how to prepare for interviews.

I came out ideas to write down outline of system design:
  1. Functional requirement
  2. Non functional requirement
  3. Requirement not specified

...

I exhausted myself and went to sleep.

Overall, get connected to friends, and learn things important in industry, and get some coaching from friends.

Understand what I can control

I decided to spend two hours in gym and did some work out. And then spent one hour to write a post on Leetcode.com for an algorithm. Here is the blog, and here is discussion post.

I gave up ideas to review 170 algorithms and tried to memorize all kinds of ideas to solve those algorithms.

I understood that it is time for me to be tested how good I did my practice last two years.

Understand the challenging position

On August 19, I walked 200 meters to my friend and project manager Dr. Jin. We talked about work and life in Silicon Valley one hour. I understood that it is so challenging for me to compete a position from Facebook.

I understood that I am a underdog as an interviewee. But I like to learn something from my friend since she works as a project manager last 10 years and she just started a new job as a project manager as well.

Education is so important for both of us. She worked on Ph.D. and she got in less than five years. I did try to get it, but I did not make it happen from 2001 to 2010.

Three hours to study

I spent three hours to study from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on April 19, 2019. I decided to go out to visit Stanford university campus and enjoyed my trip of California.

Those three algorithms I reviewed another tree algorithm called serialization of tree, copy of tree.

How to Become an Iconic Speaker

Here is the link.

Personality  and knowledge - meeting of those two things

Is Your Thinking Keeping You Poor? Douglas Kruger Broadband

Here is the link.

callous on hand
labor work every day

mental finding - blessings and curse

work ethnics
Work hard - noble thing
curse - middle class - how to generate wealth?

My son gets trade, he will never starve to death.

His orientation - such as a place - talk to earn wheel burrow way

Discover at the end of day, make more points. How hard you work.

Money is embarrassing topic. (spell difficulty: embarrass)

How to Innovate! Inspiring business presentation - professional speaker Douglas Kruger

Here is the link.

8 Things Keeping Your from FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE

Here is the link.

Stanford university campus visit

Sept. 1, 2019

Introduction

It is the second visit to Stanford university campus. My first campus visit is twenty years ago, in 1999.  I visited second time on Feb. 19, 2019, the day before my onsite interview. It is less than three hour road trip.

Campus visit

I spent time to walk around the campus, and had dinner in bookstore. It is so nice a road trip.

How to hack a haircut in 10 minutes?

Sept. 1, 2019

Introduction

I cut my hair last 12 months. Now I can cut my hair in less than 15 minutes when I take a shower.

How to hack a haircut?

I started to take a haircut when I apply hair shampoo on my hair, and then cut my hair. It is easy to cut since all hair ...

It is hard for me to manage so many things. I like to spend more time to work on algorithm and data structure practice. So I also learn how to cut time on wechat and monitor how to keep up with other friends.

A haircut may take one hour if I ask other to cut my hair instead. Since I talk to marketing and design girls in the company, if they think that my hair looks normal, I should not worry too much about the style etc.

$10.00 dollars can be saved. Also I like to do work on other interesting project.

- Thanks for Facebook onsite interview for hotel stay in Pullman redwood city.

Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams

Here is the link.

Our research shows that team members collaborate more easily and naturally if they perceive themselves as being alike.

We have found that the higher the proportion of strangers on the team and the greater the diversity of background and experience, the less likely the team members are to share knowledge or exhibit other collaborative behaviors.

This is really good article with a lot of cases related to the companies I know. Will continue to read.