I finished several good books in June and want to summarize briefly.
“Ring” (Suzuki Koji) - Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ # “Ring” is the original novel behind the Japanese horror film, but it is actually science fiction. The premise is advanced and the core ideas are meaningful.
I previously wrote a short note about it.
“1587: A Year of No Significance” - Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ # Ray Huang’s classic work of macro-history. It analyzes key figures such as the Wanli Emperor, Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui, and Qi Jiguang, revealing deep problems that led to the Ming dynasty’s decline. The writing is vivid and easy to read.
During the Dragon Boat Festival three-day holiday, my wife and I decided to visit Datong in Shanxi. It is close to Beijing and rich in history, with attractions like the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple. That is why we chose it.
An unexpected change # If we had three or four days, it would not be a “special forces” trip. But my wife’s company suddenly changed its leave policy, so she could not take an extra day off. We bought tickets late and could not get a return ticket for the third night, only the morning. So the trip was shortened from three days to two.
Time is like a shadow. You can never catch it. If you hurry, it hurries. If you slow down, it slows down.
Today I am 32.
I have been working in Beijing for more than seven years. I increasingly feel like an outsider. “Outsider” is the keyword that fits me lately.
I cannot put down roots here, and I do not intend to (perhaps stubbornly). I came to Beijing because it is a big city with more opportunities for growth. I am not ambitious. Being an ordinary person is enough for me. So in this big city, I am an outsider.
I do not remember when I watched the film “The Ring.” I only remember Sadako crawling out of the TV. That iconic scene has been referenced in many works, mostly in a playful way.
Last year I saw a book recommendation video on Bilibili. The book was the original novel “Ring.” What shocked me was that it is science fiction. Adapting a sci-fi novel into a horror film sounded unbelievable. At that time I was only curious, not interested in reading. But the fact stuck with me.
As the saying goes, to do a good job, you need good tools. Good tools improve efficiency and reduce repetitive work. Community operations requires skills in many areas: writing, video editing, image processing, and more. To work efficiently, you need tools across these areas.
In this post I will share the tools I use most often.
TL;DR: see the mind map.
Shared mind map: https://www.processon.com/view/link/642fbae46c39056f08596ee3.
Writing and content # Writing articles # I write in Markdown because it is simple and convenient, and many publishing platforms support it. Here are a few tools I recommend.
Every year-end I feel time flies, and this year is no exception. But I believe as long as I make progress compared with last year, the year is not a failure. This is my third year writing a year-end recap. This time I started early, so I will write a bit more.
Life # On the personal side, I reached a major milestone: I got married. The wedding on 2022-09-30 went perfectly. The only regret was that some friends and classmates could not attend, but I am grateful for their blessings.
Compared with last year, I made progress in both the number and the variety of books. I read about 19 books (there may be omissions), covering science fiction, history, mystery, popular science, open source, literature, and more.
Below I list them one by one and give each book a personal rating out of 5.
Rating guide:
1/5: not recommended 2/5: not very recommended 3/5: ok if you have time 4/5: recommended 5/5: highly recommended Novels # The Gadfly # Author: Ethel Lilian Voynich Genre: classic literature Source: WeRead Rating: 1/5 The novel depicts Italian revolutionaries in the 1830s resisting Austrian rule and shapes the image of the revolutionary “Gadfly.” It deals with struggle, faith, and sacrifice. Although it is often labeled “red,” to me it reads more like a tragedy about the protagonist’s yearning for paternal love and the pain of never receiving it. Overall, not recommended.
In open source, countless projects are developed and led by commercial companies. I believe they share similar concerns, and those concerns may not have perfect solutions.
Concern 1: Low staffing reduces community activity (focused on Q&A) # Lack of staff can come from many causes and roles.
When staffing is low, questions are answered slowly. Slow responses reduce the activity of people who ask questions.
Whether at work or in life, communication is indispensable.
In the digital age, thanks to the internet and messaging tools, communication is more efficient than in the phone era. Even so, we still face problems: unclear expression, missing context, and misunderstanding.
That is because communication has common pitfalls. Here are three common misconceptions.
Misconception 1: Assume the other person already knows everything # In many cases, people assume the other party has the same information, so they omit details and communication breaks down.
In the previous post I mentioned that a community (an online community) has a lifecycle, moving from zero to growth and eventually decline. To extend that lifecycle and keep a community healthy, we have to apply operational measures. That is what I call community operations.
Operations differ across lifecycle stages.
Operations in the launch (seed) stage # In the launch stage, the goal is to go from 0 to 1. I usually focus on three things:
