I’m not exactly stupid. If IQ tests are to be trusted, mine is over 135.

I’ve known some really smart people.

One of them graduated from university at 17. (In China, the University of Science and Technology of China admits exceptionally gifted kids directly, after a brutally difficult entrance exam.)

But I never felt he was that much smarter than me.

At the very least, we were playing in the same league.

Still, the most intelligent person I’ve ever met in my life was a classmate in college.

He was a quiet, delicate-looking young man — slim, soft-spoken.

He lived like a monk.

Every morning at 6 a.m., he’d get up, head to the cafeteria, buy six steamed buns, fill a military-style canteen with water, and go straight to class.

（At that time, China used military kettles, but in fact almost everyone was using them because they were cheap.）

If there were no lectures, he’d be in the library studying. He wouldn’t return to the dorm until midnight.

I remember noticing in math and physics lectures, he looked like he was paying attention and taking notes, but in reality, he was scribbling down things of his own — stuff I couldn’t begin to understand.

Later, once we got to know each other, he told me that by the time he finished high school, he’d already self-studied math and physics at a graduate level.

His favorite pastime in those three years? Repeatedly working through all seven thick volumes of the “Problems in Mathematical Analysis” by Demidovich.

But is that why I thought he was brilliant?

No. That wasn’t it.

It was because he made the difficult look easy.

Back then, I was a total slacker in college. I rarely studied. But when exams approached, even I had to open a textbook — only to find I couldn’t understand even the worked examples.

Eventually, I realized the most efficient way to study was to ask him for help.

No matter how hard the problem, no matter how lost I was, he could always break it down in a way so simple and clear, even someone like me could instantly get it.

That feeling — I’ll never forget it.

It was… humbling.

It felt like being intellectually crushed.

Like he was gently guiding me: “Now look, kid — I have three candies in my left hand, five in my right. How many candies do I have altogether?”

Solving a tough problem is one thing. But explaining it to someone with very little understanding — someone like me — in a way that makes it click instantly? That takes real brilliance.

(Thirty years later, in a highly specialized field, he’s now a world-leading professor.)

Just for context: the way he looks up to people like Newton, von Neumann, Qian Xuesen, or Gauss — I imagine it’s about the same way I look up to him.

You see, the gap between people can be that huge.

The mass line is one of CPC’s three magic weapons.

The mass line is a method in which theory is refined by practice, with leadership flowing “to the masses – from the masses – to the masses”. In doing this, a line of feedback is formed between leaders and masses, representing the aggregate interests of ordinary people on their behalf, in a Maoist political line. It is governments role to listen to the scattered ideas of the masses, turn them into systemic ones, and return them back to the people as a guide for action.

The legacy of mass line principles is also reflected in the interpersonal relationships between party officials in local party branches and the people in their jurisdictions. In many localities, county and township-level officials are required to visit villages in their jurisdictions to personally acquaint themselves with residents and their needs.

Let me give you an example.

I have had red Papaver rhoeas growing in my yard for three years and they are very colourful.

In those three years, I was approached by the police a cumulative total of 17 times because my neighbor reported that I had planted Papaver somniferum in my yard.

To avoid any misunderstanding, the police helped me clean up all the Papaver rhoeas in my yard.

Then I switched to Hollyhock in my yard , and then my neighbor reported me for growing marijuana again …… 😅

Even the owners of some small hot pot restaurants in China have been reported countless times by customers because they often mistake the “lanxangia tsaoko” used in hot pot base for “poppy fruit”.

火锅好吃是罂粟壳作祟？专家辟谣：网传照片错把草果当罂粟壳_绿政公署_澎湃新闻-The Paper

天冷加衣，身冷吃火锅。在气温日渐走低的初冬，与三五好友围坐一团，来一顿热气蒸腾、香气四溢的火锅，边涮边聊再来点小酒，那种从胃到心的幸福感别提有多惬意。 虽然关于“久煮的火锅汤会致癌”的谣言早已糊弄不了我们，但是又有一些新的关于火锅的谣言，让“火锅控”们在大快朵颐的同时也心生疑虑。比如，走红网络的自然火锅发热包对人体健康有害；好吃到让人停不下来的火锅竟然是因为加入了罂粟壳；吃完火锅衣服味道越重就说明火锅里添加剂越多……这些是真的吗？ 罂粟壳 草果 谣言一 自热火锅发热包对人体健康有害 如今，一款号称懒人必备的自热火锅迅速蹿红网络，不少有名的火锅品牌都纷纷推出了这种产品。它不用火、不用电，也不用锅，只需加入一杯冷水等上十几分钟，无论在郊游还是在火车上，都能让你吃上一餐热气腾腾的火锅。但是最近却有传言称，这种自热火锅的发热包可能对人体健康有害。 “自热火锅的加热包与我们常用的暖宝宝类似。发热包不直接与食物接触，如果盛放食物的器皿不会在高温下迁移释放有毒物质，那么对食物而言，就是安全的。”中国农业大学食品科学与营养工程学院副教授朱毅说。 自热火锅的原理，是通过发热包内的生石灰、碳酸钠和水反应快速放热，提供最初的热量，再通过铁粉、铝粉、镁粉持续氧化放出热量。发热包会使水的温度达到90摄氏度以上，并通过其产生的高温水蒸气来加热食材。 虽然这种自热食品的发热包对人体健康无害，但却会因使用不当导致爆裂。如果大量水蒸气在封闭环境下囤积，可能会变成“小型炸弹”，发生爆炸。所以，在食用自热火锅时千万不能把盖子的透气口堵住，并要注意环境通风。 不仅如此，朱毅还提醒消费者：“自热式火锅目前缺乏行业规范，产品也良莠不齐，火锅调料、配菜等的食品安全问题也在所难免。”因此，消费者最好通过正规渠道购买大品牌产品，以便尽可能减少风险。同时，食用时也要防止高温引起的烫伤。 谣言二 衣服残留火锅味越重则添加剂越多 大冷的天儿，没有什么比来一顿火锅更实在的了。如果说“火锅控”们还有一丝顾虑的话，那就是吃完火锅后，衣服上的味道浓郁而且久久不散。 “吃完火锅衣服上味道越浓，留得时间越久，说明汤底的添加剂就越多”。最近，这套判断火锅店汤底添加剂的“民间土法”，在网上传得沸沸扬扬。 真的是这样吗？吃完火锅后,衣服上的味道是从哪里来的呢？朱毅告诉科技日报记者：“麻辣火锅里香辛料的味道被水蒸气带到空气中，就会附着在衣服上，而且油滴里的香味分子在衣服上不容易挥发。而味道持久度和浓烈度又与通风情况、衣服材质有关，清油火锅就不会有太大味道，牛油火锅的味道就会很重。” 细心者不难发现，在火锅店吃火锅后衣服上的味道，要比我们自己买火锅底料在家吃火锅后衣服上的味道大。于是，有人怀疑，这是火锅店的火锅加了传说中的“一滴香”导致的。 “在食用火锅的过程中，可以观察火锅的油。如果火锅油量不是很大，但是味道却特别香，那就比较可疑。”朱毅表示，但用衣服上气味的残留时间和浓烈程度，来判断火锅是否用了“一滴香”并不科学。即便火锅汤底使用了“一滴香”等添加剂，也不存在加入的添加剂越多，衣服上的味道就越大的情况。 西南大学食品安全学院教师刘文宗认为，某些人群可能对气味比较敏感，某些衣物材质也可能更容易被气味附着，加之其他外界因素，不能仅凭衣服上残留的味道，来估算添加剂的加入量。至于添加剂含量的检测，应通过专业人员使用专业仪器进行。 值得注意的是，毛衣、羽绒服之类的衣服更容易吸附味道，冬天吃完火锅后，这些衣物上的味道会比其他衣物更加明显。想要去除衣物上的火锅味道，可以在洗澡时将衣服挂在浴室，次日再通风晾晒即可；还可以把柠檬水直接喷在衣服上，挂在通风处。 谣言三 火锅好吃到停不下来是罂粟壳在作祟 近来，有一则消息在朋友圈流传。消息称有的火锅店在汤里加入了罂粟壳，使得味道更好，让人越吃越想吃，最终上瘾，还附上了所谓的“罂粟壳”的照片。 但经证实，该照片上的罂粟壳，其实只是我们做牛羊肉时常用的合法香料草果。说白了，错把草果当罂粟壳，是因为二者在外形上略有相似。但其实，稍加辨识就能看到两者的差异，罂粟壳的顶部有一个像放射线一样的圆盘，而草果没有。此外，罂粟壳的表面相对比较光滑，样子也比草果要好看一点，而草果的表面不怎么光滑，沟壑也比较深。 罂粟壳中有吗啡、可待因、罂粟碱等。1985年起，它就作为特殊药品被特殊管制起来，严禁流入非药用渠道。可惜重典之下，并未令行禁止。 那么，问题来了，加了罂粟壳的火锅，是不是就会好吃到让人停不下来？针对这个话题，朱毅曾做了一个简单的小样本双盲实验，将罂粟壳和草果，分别以相同份量，加入一样底料的麻辣火锅和清水火锅中烧煮半小时。结果，吃货和非吃货们瞎蒙一番，并没吃出味道上的差异。 “双盲试验中吃不出区别，这是一个事实。但看到加了罂粟壳，你会觉得更好吃，是因为这种好吃是心理上的，就像医生给你开的安慰剂一样。”朱毅笑言，罂粟壳提味增香是个幌子，最多是心理暗示。 那么，如果火锅店不惜铤而走险，把被放大的传说当现实，在火锅中加入罂粟壳吸引顾客，常吃的人们会不会上瘾？朱毅解释说，罂粟壳中的阿片类生物碱含量很少，吗啡含量也只在0.05%—0.5%。而鸦片中是10%左右，药用吗啡是30%以上。况且罂粟壳中这个数量级的吗啡，还要加入火锅汤中，再通过涮菜吸附的汤汁部分进入人体。 “除非敏感体质，对大多数人而言，即便吃了有罂粟壳的火锅变成瘾君子的可能性也不大。”朱毅强调，不良商家在火锅中非法添加罂粟壳，含有的吗啡即便微量也逃不脱如今检测仪器的法眼。 （原题为：《火锅也堵不住谣言的嘴 拿起科学之箸，踏实吃吧》） (本文来自澎湃新闻，更多原创资讯请下载“澎湃新闻”APP)

In short, In China, newborn babies are aware of the dangers of drugs, and the fight against drugs is a national consensus.

By the way, China has a very magical grassroots mass self-governing organization, which is more powerful than the FBI, commonly known as the “community neighborhood committee auntie”.

I’m a notorious cheapskate. Don’t get me wrong. I would never deny anyone anything. Never shirk responsibility. I just don’t like overpaying.

Why? I’ve been really poor in the past. I’ve been really well off too.

Here’s and example of penny pinching.

My monthly bills are about $1000 a month. No mortgage. An equity account invested in bonds does auto pay on my property tax. My total monthly housing costs are zero.

No car payment . I outright buy them. Dealers hate that.

My income is waaaaaay higher than that.

I was at JC Penney the other day. They were having a 70% off sale. So I bought some towels. A toaster oven. A nice leather belt. On top of that 70% I had a coupon for $30 dollars. “Can be combined with any other offer.” Some had an additional 10% off.

My original total was $310. After 70% off. It was close to $100. Minus the $30 coupon. Plus another $15 off. With tax my end total was $62.

I do that at the supermarket too.

I can’t do that with gas or taxes.

So being I saved over $200 I took my friend Bobby to the all you can eat Chinese buffet. It was $25 each. I hit it on two for one night so he was actually free.

Sushi, ribs, chicken, boy did we pig out.

Then I used my senior discount at the movies. That was damned near free.

I have health insurance as part of my retirement package. Plus Medicare part B. All I ever here out of the doctors is, “No bill, you’re good. It’s covered “ . No copay either. I get one free eye exam and a free pair of glasses every year.

I’m that cheap. Yeah. I could up to a six bedroom house. Drive a Massarati. Go on three cruises a year. Stay in France for a month.

With the veteran endorsement on my license there are no beach fees here. It’s free for me. I have a train station near my house. I hate beach traffic and tolls. So I take the train. Using my senior discount that’s like $3. No gas, tolls or parking costs.

Cheap cheap cheap.

My heirs are probably going to be happy when I kick.

My gf likes it. She thinks it’s hilarious. Like I said. I never deny anybody anything. She just thinks it’s funny when we had a nice dinner with drinks and the whole bill came out to $14. So I give the waiter a nice tip.

My credit card company hates me. It’s got Cash Rewards on it. I use that card for bill pay and everything else. Then I pay off the entire balance.

My statement says I paid $11.32 in interest last year. I got all kinds of free stuff and discounts for using that card.

My health insurance pays my gym membership. So that’s free too.

It’s a game to me. I never do anything illegal or even unethical. I just like to see how low I can get everything. I eat really well. Dress nice. Drive a nice car. Live in a really nice neighborhood.

If you pay attention and do it long enough it becomes a habit.

How to go from Zero to Hero?

Lego came back from nearly bankrupt to becoming one of the most powerful brands in the world.

“We are on a burning platform”

Jorgen Vig Knudstorp (former CEO of Lego) told his colleagues. Just a few hours earlier, Knudstorp woke up to the not-so-sweet smell of being the CEO of a company with $800 million in debt.

In the mid-2000s, Knudstorp could see failure. He could hear failure. He could taste failure. But…

Lego had put themselves in this position

Lego had failed to compete against other types of entertainment like video games, smartphone apps, and movies. They had failed to innovate into the right markets. They had failed to realise that they innovated too much into markets that their core customers had little interest in.

To top it off, Lego Designer Mark Stafford explains

“The Lego company at that stage had no idea how much it cost to manufacture the majority of their bricks, they had no idea how much certain sets made.”

The management was a disaster. It was the true definition of a crisis; both internally and externally.

Knudstorp had a fight ahead of him, but he was ready. Lego’s innovation can be described by one simple quote

“If you can’t beat them, join them.”

Lego couldn’t beat the movie industry but… they could make their own movies.

This was innovation. This was genius.

If people liked the movies then they would buy Lego. If people bought Lego, then the company would make a profit and clear its debt.

The Lego Movie was one big advertisement

There’s more too! They could charge people for watching the advertisement. The Lego Movie isn’t free to watch (at least legally) which means that the company would also profit from the movie itself.

This makes the Lego movies the best advertisements in the history of all advertisements and Lego’s innovation has been called

“The greatest turnaround in corporate history.”

If you are interested I will leave a few interesting facts about Lego and their movies in the comments. I hope you enjoyed the story!!

Naah not on Quora

I admit I collaborate with youngsters in China, Singapore and Malaysia and provide content to 7–8 YouTube Channels now which use voiceover AI effects in English

The pay is quite good

I use my quora answers that are broken down into 6–9 minute video content with suitable editing by AI tools and converted into a Basic Video and uploaded by my business mates 😁

My son suggested this venue for me to actually make some money and reduce the Blood pressure and tension I was having earlier in December

4 channels are now behind Paywalls and there is a steady stream of US Dollars thanks to North American, European and even Indian audiences

Now on Quora, I stick primarily to China and Trade and avoid Modi, Elections or India which I generally share on Youtube where

A. My partners can filter out troll comments easily using a bit of algorithm tweaking

B. Traffic is better

C. I don’t need to actually do anything but send the content and maintain the account in Singapore, even for Chinese

D. The videos are uploaded from Belarus and other servers where it’s impossible to find any link to me

I found that writing my opinions on Quora was a huge headache and not getting me anything much

Now I write non controversial stuff (Before Pahlgam) like China, US China trade, the Canton Fair on Quora while saving the real criticism of India for YouTube where I ACTUALLY GET PAID

However neither am I employing several people to do research nor is China paying me

Adsense and YT are paying us and research is done by these guys pasting my answers on Chatgpt and saying “Which parts are inaccurate. Which parts have been substantiated”

It’s awkward, the broccoli season is hardly over, we had broccoli at least twice a week for four months, and yet, the mere question made me drool.

Gently boil your broccoli and set the vegetable apart, leaving the water because you need it to boil your pasta in. Heat some olive oil in a pan, add a clove of garlic, some chili pepper and a couple of anchovy fillets. Remove the garlic and add the broccoli. Transfer your fresh boiled pasta in the pan, add a cup of water it boiled in and stir. No more, no less. Yes, that is definitely my favourite.

For people who don’t know what the HackRF One is, it’s basically a programmable radio receiver and transmitter.

You just need to connect it to your computer, install the right program and get to work.

This said, the possible ways to use the HackRF One are numerous and opening car doors is by far not the most interesting one.

I got myself a HackRF because I was looking for a signal generator to test my TSCM (Technical Surveillance Countermeasures) equipment. A normal signal generator costs about USD 50 which is much cheaper than the HackRF but it’s also less fun.

My HackRF One has a so-called “Portapack” attached which allows you to use it without a computer (it runs on a 5W power bank). The program I installed on the Portapack is called “Mayhem” and has some interesting applications. In the picture, the HackRF is in the “transmit” menu.

Here’s a short (and incomplete) list of what the HackRF One can do. Some things aren’t exactly legal, but this device has a very weak transmission output (1 to 3 milliwatt), and unless you’re amplifying the transmitted signal, you won’t be bothered by the police:

• Signal Generator. Like I stated before, it can transmit a Radio Signal anywhere from 1 MHZ to 6 Gigahertz.
• Spectrum Analyzer. You can also scan the same frequency spectrum to detect all kinds of radiofrequency (RF) signals.
• Radio receiver. AM/FM radio, Ham radio, police and military radio traffic, airplane communication, etc.
• Analog TV receiver. You can watch analog TV with it.
• Satellite signal receiver. You can also receive signals from satellites, for example, pictures (from weather satellites) or messages.
• Jammer (illegal!). The Hack RF is able to jam selected frequencies, for example, cell phones.

A jamming signal from the HackRF is picked up by my Spectrum Analyzer.

• GPS spoofing (illegal!). You can transmit your own GPS signal (with any coordinate you want) which may confuse GPS locators nearby.
• Morse Code transmitter. Just put in your text message and the frequency you want to broadcast your message.
• Record and replay radio signals. This is how people open car doors, garage doors, and other RF controlled devices with the HackRF. Just record the signal, save it in the HackRF’s micro SD, and replay it whenever you want to. Needless to say, some of this stuff might be illegal.
• Airplane and ship transponders. You can also receive aircraft transponder data (flight number, location, etc.) and even create your own transponder data and transmit them. Don’t do the latter, you’ll end up in jail!

There are hundreds of more applications, ranging from reading tire pressure data or weather balloon signals to interfering with traffic lights.

Short: the HackRF One is a really interesting device.

I think that Trump does not think that Tariffs work that way. He does not care about what the world thinks or buys. He wants the American people to stop buying imported goods, and he wants American corporations stop to produce abroad. They shall make their things in America. In order to achieve that, he increases prices of imported goods.

If you look at this with a sober view, you see how stupid that is. Let’s assume that it costs 20% less to assemble a Chevrolet in Mexico than it costs to assemble it in the U.S.. Now Trump puts a 45% tariff on imported cars from Mexico. This increases cost for Chevrolets from Mexico by 45% at once. To shift production from Mexico to the U.S. takes at least two years, if not longer – and costs GM lots of money. So, first thing to happen: Cars become more expensive in the U.S.. Everybody who buys a car in the U.S. starts to pay additional taxes to the government. So the Republican Party is increasing taxes for about everybody – this isn’t what they were elected for, don’t you think. And even when all U.S. car makers have started making their cars in the U.S., they stay expensive, because that is the reason why they are not made in the U.S. anymore.

And putting high tariffs on everything vandalizes supply chains. When the Ukraine war broke out, BMW suddenly faced problems, because it seems that they were sourcing most of their harnesses for their cars in Ukraine. So they had problems to make their cars and were desperately searching for alternative sources. This is difficult, because these harnesses were tailor made for BMW, you cannot simply buy other parts elsewhere. So, the U.S. car industry not only needs to relocate, they also need to significantly increase their production depth. Make everything in the US instead of buying it elsewhere. This is insane, cars are not made this way. The only company I know which basically made all parts on their own, was AvtoVAZ (LADA), back in the Soviet Union. Do you want your cars made like that?