2017 annual summary

Hello everyone, Happy New Year 2018 🎉.

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I had a very ordinary New Year's Eve. In the morning, we each did our own things, and in the evening, we cooked dinner at home, went for a run together, and finally spent the last day of 2017 coding while watching the Red and White Song Festival.

At the end of each year, I try to reflect on the things I've done in the past, but without proper records, it seems like only fragmented memories or incomplete messages come to mind. This year, I started tracking a lot of statistics, trying to document every expense, tally the articles I wrote, track my GitHub contributions, and monitor my sleep hours, among other things. Although these activities may seem like mere bookkeeping, they can be quite useful when compiling data at the end of the year.

In light of this, yesterday, I attempted to organize some of the collected data into a webpage. However, I found it too challenging to finish everything in one day, so I ended up using what I had completed earlier. Many of the desired effects and layouts were not ideal; I originally wanted to create fireworks but ran out of time and could only make some transition stars.

Medium

This year, I published a total of 74 articles on Medium. Unfortunately, the readership hasn't been very encouraging. I'm not sure if it's due to uncatchy titles or my writing not being up to par. It may also be that there aren't many Chinese-speaking users on Medium. However, even if not many people read my work, I plan to keep writing.

1. Self-Studying for Four Years and Passing the JLPT N2 — 7.9K

This year, I passed the JLPT N3 and N2, accomplishing one of my personal goals.

I shared this article on Facebook, which is why it has the highest view count, still attracting over a hundred views weekly. I know that self-studying for four years isn’t a short time, but this article isn’t about exam strategies; it’s about my journey from having no knowledge to self-learning up to this point.

Working in Japan is one of my goals. Whether driven by curiosity about Japanese culture or a desire to explore how people live in Japan, these are experiences I want to have in the future.

2. Summary of Front-End Interviews — 4.6K

This year, I left Moment Travel and joined 17 Live. During this time, I interviewed with quite a few companies, and I compiled my insights into an article. Front-end development is one of the fields I began learning after JAVA. Back then, my computer only had 2GB of RAM, and any IDE would crash, so lightweight HTML and CSS became my go-to choices, which led me to where I am now.

Recently, I've also tried to explore more diverse areas like WebGL, Canvas, and data visualization. I hope to become more adept at handling data flow and interactivity.

3. A Brief Discussion on Dimensionality Reduction Methods: PCA and t-SNE — 1.5K

PCA is a commonly used dimensionality reduction technique in machine learning, but due to its linear transformation nature, it tends to lose too much information during the conversion process.

t-SNE can help improve this. t-SNE is based on a T-distribution algorithm that reduces dimensions by calculating the Kullback-Leibler Divergence (KL), often yielding better results than PCA, albeit at a much slower speed.

4. Comprehensive Collection of Japanese Learning Resources

Self-studying Japanese comes with many challenges and difficulties, one of which is finding quality learning resources. I mainly learn through books, supplemented by online resources, and have taken extensive notes.

5. Common Terms in Japanese Service Industry

I’ve compiled some common terms used in the Japanese service industry. I encountered these a few times while working part-time.

6. Celebrate Double 11 — Happy Birthday to Me

My birthday happens to fall on Double 11, so every year I can snag some good deals for myself (even though I rarely buy anything). This article summarizes what I did in 2017 and some of my insights.

7. Why Taiwanese People Can't Boycott PX Mart

This article was written after news of overwork deaths at PX Mart surfaced. Not everyone or every family can afford the costs to boycott PX Mart. Additionally, PX Mart offers monthly subsidies for low-income families, which can be a significant help for small households with low incomes.

8. A Brief Analysis of Several APIs in Ramda

Ramda is a very handy functional programming library, and this article introduces some useful but often overlooked APIs.

9. Sass Techniques You Might Not Know

Besides nested classes and variables, Sass has many useful functions and usage methods. For instance, managing z-index elegantly, easily accessing variables, and error handling all yield impressive results.

10. An In-Depth Look at Redux and React-Redux

I have been using React for over two years, and from version 0.1x to now, I've compiled techniques for Redux and using React-Redux.

Medium is a platform that offers a very comfortable writing and reading experience. Although many technical articles have begun to resemble README-level content lately, I still enjoy it overall. The image formatting and website parsing have saved me a lot of effort. The backend statistics are also quite clear; I receive weekly emails, making it convenient for tracking.

However, there are still a few downsides:

• It doesn't support code blocks; if I want syntax highlighting, I have to upload it to Gist, but Gist is not viewable on the mobile app.
• It doesn’t support LaTeX, so if I need to include mathematical formulas, I have to convert them into images.

Regarding the first point, since Medium itself has an article publishing API, I wrote a Lambda function to convert code blocks into Gists.

There are many articles on Medium; if you're interested, feel free to check them out at https://medium.com/@Shurado.

Blog

My blog mainly features technical articles and reflections on novels, and most of it is synchronized with Medium.

https://kjj6198.github.io/

Japanese Language Weekly

I founded this weekly newsletter around March this year, and I've now accumulated over 40 issues. I plan to continue this in the future. The website incurs a monthly maintenance cost of 1,020 (for the database, S3, CloudFront, etc.).

I have now published 41 issues; a total of 219 articles and notes have been written, amounting to 71,115 words. Reflecting on nearly a year of accumulated results, I still feel quite moved. This isn't a groundbreaking application; it's just a simple weekly newsletter. To quote a phrase from Saitama, "It's driven by interest."

This year, I’ve also gathered quite a bit of reader feedback, including:

• The content is diverse and interesting! I look forward to receiving it every week^0^
• I look forward to reading it during my lunch break every Monday ❤
• Keep it up! This activity is very meaningful.
• I've subscribed since the beginning and read every issue! I appreciate your dedication and enjoy learning more about Japanese culture. I hope you can keep it going; I will always support you, haha.

Of course, with my busy work schedule, I sometimes feel tempted to slack off.

If you're also interested in Japanese culture, language learning, or travel, feel free to submit your contributions. Since I currently have no income from this, the only rewards I can offer are:

• Your sharing will be sent to over 1,300 subscribers' inboxes.
• Your sharing will be credited to you.
• Your sharing will be featured on the Japanese Language Weekly's Medium page.
• Your sharing will be showcased on the Japanese Language Weekly official website.
• You can become good friends with me.

Here’s some relevant information about Japanese Language Weekly:

• Medium
• Official Website
• Fan Page
• Instagram

IT Ironman Contest Achievement — Exploring WebGL and Three.js

This time, I wanted to challenge myself with a different topic, so I chose WebGL and Three.js, which I've always wanted to study but haven't taken action on. Coincidentally, there's a computer graphics course next semester where I'll be using OpenGL.

While I'm not yet at a production-ready level, I've learned many exciting technologies through this, such as matrix transformations, linear interpolation, double buffering, lighting, and more.

GitHub

This year, I also wrote a lot of code, but I didn't analyze it very rigorously—just used the GitHub API to pull some data.

In 2017, I had 1,205 contributions; wrote 889,516 lines of code; and deleted 357,516 lines of code. (Note: Sometimes I forget to ignore bundle code and node_modules, so the last two figures may have inflated numbers.)

Daily Life

There are many interesting statistics from my life this year. I recorded my average sleep time (starting in early May), some data stored on my iPhone, my income and expenses, etc. Let's take a look at these numbers.

• Average Sleep Hours: 5.7 hours

  I've been going to bed too late lately. There was a period when I managed to get back on a regular schedule, but recently I've been unable to keep up with my tasks and have been procrastinating, so I've had to rely on staying up late to compensate. I hope to improve this year.

• Daily Steps: 6,716 steps

  This number might not seem significant, but when you calculate it, that's at least 2.45 million steps a year! I hope my salary can be as high as my step count XD.

• Total Running Distance: 73.8 kilometers

  This is a number that might get me laughed at if I share it. I decided to start running around late February, but I've still been quite half-hearted about it. I hope that the numbers for 2018 will look better.

Travel

This year, I visited Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Tokyo. Traveling to Japan is really affordable.

Income and Expenses

I recorded a total expenditure of 223,935 in my accounting software, but I won't share my income as it’s not very impressive.

Japanese Dramas

This year, I watched many Japanese dramas, and here’s a summary, ranked by my preference:

1. Quartet (カルテット)

The portrayal of life in Quartet is simply superb. The story depicts a group of amateur musicians, each hiding their life stories. Each character has a bit of a personality flaw, much like the group's name "Doughnut." I especially loved the opening scene with Issei Takahashi's fried chicken and lemon.

Can fried chicken be washed?

2. Doctor-X Season 5 (派遣女醫第五季)

I finished watching the previous seasons this year as well. Toshiyuki Nishida and Kenichi Endo are the two main attractions, delivering outstanding and humorous performances.

What I've learned most from this is Daimon’s dedication to her work, often repeating:

私、失敗しないので (I won’t fail)

For patients, a failed surgery can pose a life-threatening risk, so she always considers every possible scenario for each operation. That's how she's able to confidently say "I won't fail."

3. Do You Just Want to Live in Kichijoji? (君は吉祥寺に住みたいか？)

The main characters are two sisters living in Kichijoji who often recommend that their customers give up on living there. After all, Kichijoji is the most desirable city for Japanese people to live in, making it quite challenging to find a suitable house.

This drama runs for only 30 minutes per episode, making it perfect for a midday break.

Each episode tells a story, portraying the real lives of ordinary citizens who decide to change their lives by starting with moving to a new house. It doesn’t harshly demand that you strive for success but instead allows housing to be an outlet for expressing emotions.

Life is already tough enough; there's no need to pressure yourself too much. Take a day off for a small drink, soak in a bath, and face life again tomorrow. It deeply emphasizes the importance of living. While working, don't forget that you are a living person, not a slave; you have flesh and blood, and you cry when hurt. There’s no need to let work crush you.

"Companies are such insignificant things; there’s no need to feel sad over something so trivial" (会社なんて小さいもんだよそんなもんで傷つく必要なんてない).

4. The Queen of Real Estate (房仲女王)

I just finished moving recently, and after watching this drama, I deeply felt how significant a house can be for a person or a family. This drama mainly tells the story of a real estate agent selling houses.

Each episode features the sale of a house, and her motto is: "There’s no house I can’t sell." I believe having that level of confidence in your work is a highly professional trait.

Her secret is quite simple:

"I’m not responsible for just one house; I’m responsible for the entire life of my clients."

However, the situation in Taiwan is quite different.

5. Overprotected Kahoko (過保護のカホコ)

The title itself is clever, as "overprotected" (かほご) sounds similar to "Kahoko" (the main character's name).

As the title suggests, the story revolves around a pampered individual excessively protected by her family, relying on her parents for every little matter in her daily life and rarely encountering setbacks. Eventually, she gradually learns to be independent due to love.

This drama prompts reflection from various angles, such as how parents use the moral banner of "I'm doing this for your own good" to prevent children from forging their own paths. Children raised in a greenhouse may wonder, "Is this the path I want to follow for my entire life?" Ultimately, with the nurturing of love, Kahoko begins to step out of the greenhouse and practice independence.

Mitsuki Takahata performs this innocent and adorable role exceptionally well.

6. The Beauty Association (人は見た目が１００パーセント)

As the title implies, this drama depicts three girls who struggle to gain popularity due to not knowing how to dress up, leading them to be overlooked in the workplace and to struggle in social settings.

In order to become more popular, they begin practicing makeup and social skills, gradually exploring the transformation from being completely unglamorous to becoming the center of attention.

I'm not a girl, so it’s hard for me to imagine the determination required to strive for popularity through self-care. However, it seems like a tough endeavor from watching this drama.

(Quick note: The heroine is indeed very beautiful.)

7. The People's Enemy (民衆の敵)

Although this drama is about politics, it stands out for being refreshingly idealistic compared to typical political dramas. The protagonist, wanting to earn more money, decides to run for office and eventually becomes the mayor. For viewers used to political dramas, it might not resonate well, but as a light piece, it’s quite enjoyable—at least there's no bloodshed or drug use involved.

Yet, it does highlight the gap between reality and ideals, such as the common political dilemma where advocating for certain individuals' welfare may require sacrificing the interests of others.

Or focusing solely on immediate issues without recognizing larger underlying causes, etc.

"Just focusing on making those around me happy."

This is a phrase the protagonist often repeats. While it may seem short-sighted, I think it's a good approach when making decisions. Since making everyone happy is incredibly difficult, it's better to focus on the happiness of those around you. It may sound hypocritical, right? In today’s world, if you save one person without saving others, you may be criticized for being hypocritical.

(This drama also features my favorite, Issei Takahashi.)

Movies

This year, I mostly watched Japanese films. Here are a few that left a strong impression:

1. I Quit! I Fired My Corrupt Company

The trailer for this film really caught my attention. The protagonist is a salesperson leading a mundane life, enduring pressure, insults, and apologies daily.

What are people working for, really?

Being forced to work for a living, enduring various unreasonable treatments and grievances, the male lead finds himself contemplating suicide by jumping in front of a train after losing his sense of purpose. This mindset might not be as severe in Taiwan, but in Japan, it’s common to stay at one company until retirement without changing jobs. However, the lifetime employment system is gradually crumbling due to recent economic bubbles. Yet, we both know that Taiwan still has many areas needing improvement, like the recent news about overwork deaths at PX Mart.

This reminds me of a scene from Do You Just Want to Live in Kichijoji?

"Companies are such insignificant things; there’s no need to feel sad over something so trivial."

If this job really brings you no passion, perhaps it's time to pause and reflect on the meaning of your work.

2. I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (君の膵臓を食べたい)

I previously shared this novel and its plot in a past weekly newsletter, and the film version was recently released.

I heard that if a body organ is not well, one can eat an animal’s corresponding organ to supplement it.

The plot seems a bit cliché, featuring a sick female protagonist with a vibrant personality who unexpectedly meets a dark-hearted boy, leading to a series of melodramatic moments. However, the title is quite captivating, and many people might be drawn in by this peculiar name.

Even so, I found the film to be quite touching, especially the lively character of the female lead, which was very appealing. Additionally, this viewing made me realize that categorizing books is a profoundly intricate field.

The Miracles of Namiya General Store (ナミヤ雑貨店の奇蹟)

Keigo Higashino is one of my favorite authors. In addition to pure mystery fiction, his works cover various themes, such as the Galileo series, physics-related stories with Yukawa, and several short works (like dark humor and poison humor), often depicting societal phenomena in Japan.

The healing nature of The Miracles of Namiya General Store drew me in from the cover. After reading, I was impressed by Higashino's organizational skills and his ability to weave multiple plot threads into a satisfying conclusion. While some plots may seem overly idealistic, he is not one to merely throw out pretty words about dreams; many stories depict individuals with ideals ultimately defeated by harsh realities.

Additionally, the naming shows great ingenuity. The protagonist, Grandpa Namiya (ナミヤ), and the word for worries (悩み, なやみ) are cleverly reversed, which is likely a delight for those studying Japanese.

Here’s the last excerpt:

"Because it's a blank sheet, I can freely express myself. Thank you for leaving me such a wonderful challenge."

"白紙なのだから、どんな地図だって描けます。全てがあなた次第なのです。最後に素晴らしい難問をいただけたこと、感謝申し上げます。"

Conclusion

A lot happened in 2017. If I hadn’t organized it this way today, I might not have fully realized it. Seeing these numbers gives me the sense that I’m glad I kept records; in the future, I might use this method to review my annual summaries.

In 2018, there are many things I want to achieve, and if I were to sum it up in one sentence, it would be I want to be a useful person.

If you're interested in my articles, feel free to follow me at the links below:

• Twitter
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