Writing by Hakan Alpay on software, cities, economies, games, design, and language. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/ en-us Wed, 23 Sep 2026 23:41:43 GMT A mobile comparison of Yahoo Japan and Yahoo US, and what the evidence actually says about information density, visual complexity, and putting useful things above the fold. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/yahoo-japan-looks-outdated/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/yahoo-japan-looks-outdated/ Fri, 04 Sep 2026 19:35:00 GMT DesignWebJapanUX A trading-agent experiment that started with FINSABER, wrapped ARIMA-style signals in Mercury 2, and ended with the analytical baseline winning. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/mercury-2-did-not-beat-arima/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/mercury-2-did-not-beat-arima/ Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:00:00 GMT ProjectsAITradingResearch Adjusting for population helps Japan a little. Germany is why scale cannot explain the gap with Northern Europe. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/equality-at-scale/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/equality-at-scale/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:24:49 GMT ProjectsResearchUrbanismJapan Give the model real context, generate less, and delete anything that explains what the reader can already see. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/ai-assisted-writing-worth-reading/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/ai-assisted-writing-worth-reading/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT WritingAIResearchBlogging Astro, Markdown, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare, and a publishing flow I can use from ChatGPT on my phone. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/building-an-agentic-blog/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/building-an-agentic-blog/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT SoftwareDesignBloggingAI Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is how in the early 2000s internet, people just posted what they wanted. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/in-life-there-is-rain/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/in-life-there-is-rain/ Fri, 22 May 2026 05:19:33 GMT https://people.duke.edu/~dandan/webfiles/PapersUpside/Large%20Stakes%20Big%20Mistakes.pdf https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/yerkes-dodson-law/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/yerkes-dodson-law/ Thu, 10 Jul 2025 22:58:56 GMT v2 https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/on-the-benign-unprovability-of-our/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/on-the-benign-unprovability-of-our/ Sun, 23 Feb 2025 16:42:10 GMT I’ve moved to NYC now from the bay area (and previously LA where I grew up) and talking with people here but especially back home who might be interested in urbanism reveals to me what i consider to be a slight misunderstanding of the… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/american-urbanism-focuses-too-much/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/american-urbanism-focuses-too-much/ Sun, 16 Feb 2025 19:51:49 GMT railnycbikingsubwayurbanism Most of my theories I’ve arrived at alone, laying prostrate on my bed in my parent’s home, during summer in high school, in between bouts of biotech classes at Fullerton college or other extracurricular academic nonsense (not sure how… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/on-the-unprovability-of-our-perception/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/on-the-unprovability-of-our-perception/ Sat, 21 Sep 2024 18:11:09 GMT kind of a weird question incoming https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/how-do-you-stay-focused-when-your/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/how-do-you-stay-focused-when-your/ Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:44:47 GMT 352. Data Stream as Disjoint Intervals Solved Hard Topics Companies Given a data stream input of non negative integers a 1 , a 2 , ..., a n , summarize the numbers seen so far as a list of disjoint intervals. Implement… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/leetcode-352-data-stream-as-disjoint-intervals/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/leetcode-352-data-stream-as-disjoint-intervals/ Wed, 13 Sep 2023 16:00:00 GMT SoftwareAlgorithmsPython Leetcode Link Problem Given an array rectangles where rectangles[i] = [x i , y i , a i , b i ] represents an axis aligned rectangle. The bottom left point of the rectangle is (x i , y i ) and the top right point of it… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/leetcode-391-perfect-rectangle/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/leetcode-391-perfect-rectangle/ Tue, 12 Sep 2023 17:00:00 GMT SoftwareAlgorithmsPython Leetcode Link Problem Design a simplified version of Twitter where users can post tweets, follow/unfollow another user, and is able to see the 10 most recent tweets in the user's news feed. Implement the Twitter class:… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/leetcode-355-design-twitter/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/leetcode-355-design-twitter/ Tue, 12 Sep 2023 16:00:00 GMT SoftwareAlgorithmsPython R18 = Rated 18 or older いらすと = illustration 垢 = アカウント but Japanese twitter people shorten it to 垢 because its あか and it saves a character. とか = thinks like this 鍵掛けてて = when your key is locked 「申請してください」= please apply みたいなのあるじゃないですか。 =… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/japanese-tweet-ex1/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/japanese-tweet-ex1/ Fri, 14 Oct 2022 04:30:51 GMT Uncategorized Life has kind of entered a comfortable lull. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/stuck-on-repeat/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/stuck-on-repeat/ Fri, 18 Mar 2022 01:19:34 GMT coding is like flying. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/code-flow/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/code-flow/ Wed, 27 Oct 2021 00:28:54 GMT the thoughts come and come but they don’t go. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/thoughts-and-the-loneliness-that/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/thoughts-and-the-loneliness-that/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 22:06:37 GMT We all identify as… something. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/how-much-will-we-let-identity-matter/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/how-much-will-we-let-identity-matter/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 21:36:54 GMT I almost feel like I reference counter-strike too much as an influence in my life, but when you are locked in your room most of the time, save for school, math competitions, and science olympiad, you only have so many options. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-catharsis-of-comms/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-catharsis-of-comms/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 20:59:03 GMT how dreaming became my being https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-mandate-of-my-existence/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-mandate-of-my-existence/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 20:40:53 GMT I was with a girl where the language of love between us was honest-to-goodness just English. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-love-of-language-and-the-language/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-love-of-language-and-the-language/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 20:20:03 GMT Many ask “Why am I here?” in an attempt to find some sort of meaning for their creation on this planet. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-supreme-lack-of-meaning-in-life/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-supreme-lack-of-meaning-in-life/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 19:37:37 GMT But these days i don’t even have to snooze for me to lose https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/they-say-you-snooze-you-lose/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/they-say-you-snooze-you-lose/ Thu, 06 May 2021 08:18:06 GMT Uncategorized A two-line joke about pressure in the temples. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/pressure/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/pressure/ Thu, 06 May 2021 06:15:35 GMT Uncategorized A sleepy cat says yo. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/yo/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/yo/ Tue, 02 Mar 2021 00:33:26 GMT Uncategorized A conversation about fairness, equality, and the wording of the Constitution. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/unfair/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/unfair/ Tue, 02 Mar 2021 00:26:22 GMT Uncategorized I spent a while writing this application and included some personal stuff so I thought I might as well make it a blog post as if I was being asked these questions in an interview lol. Why do you want to come to TreeHacks 2021?* I’m… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/treehacks-application/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/treehacks-application/ Sat, 12 Dec 2020 20:49:41 GMT Interview So yeah its a little sad that its gonna be this empty for a while, but on the flip side, I’ve never gotten a photo of Royce with no people in it, so that’s nice 🙂 https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/lonely-cla/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/lonely-cla/ Mon, 28 Sep 2020 22:20:08 GMT Counter strike is not a hero shooter, which means that all of the 5 players on your team have access to all the items in the game. A hero shooter like Valorant or Rainbow Six Siege is an FPS which some characters are the only ones with… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/why-csgo-is-a-better-sport-than-hero-shooter-fps-esports/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/why-csgo-is-a-better-sport-than-hero-shooter-fps-esports/ Sun, 28 Jun 2020 18:25:15 GMT Uncategorized When people ask you to do something that you don’t want to do, or at least something that you lean towards not doing, or something that maybe you might want to do, but it would just give you stress to do (like start a startup), consider… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/when-people-ask-you-to-do-stuff/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/when-people-ask-you-to-do-stuff/ Sun, 31 May 2020 19:52:21 GMT Uncategorized Rather than coding for a job, or worrying about getting users, or worrying about getting funding, or anything related to getting a startup off the ground. I think that’s why I’ll probably never make a startup. I don’t enjoy the process,… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/i-wish-i-could-go-back-to-coding-for-fun/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/i-wish-i-could-go-back-to-coding-for-fun/ Sun, 31 May 2020 18:41:56 GMT Uncategorized This is a living document for my setups on my devices. my aero 14 gaming pc Mac I use a Mac for Unix compatibility + ease of use with various apps (e.g. Docker) and because its a reliable, powerful machine although it doesn’t have a… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/my-tech-setup/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/my-tech-setup/ Thu, 20 Feb 2020 22:01:00 GMT Uncategorizedtech I learned about react hooks today, about a year late I know, and I got really excited. Especially about useReducer()! See this video: why I love use reducer Ok but I noticed a problem. One of my friends was using react hooks with a… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/meta-for-easy-full-stack-web-app/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/meta-for-easy-full-stack-web-app/ Thu, 20 Feb 2020 06:34:00 GMT Uncategorized Campus at dusk during midterms. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/midterms/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/midterms/ Mon, 10 Feb 2020 07:08:00 GMT Uncategorized Umlaut = downward circumflex 你们都认识John吗？ 他们都在上海。 明天我们都可以去。 你们都用wiki吗？ 我们都要冰水。 我们两个都爱你。 你爸爸和你妈妈都是美国人吗？ 我和我太太都不吃肉。 你们两个都喜欢中国菜吗？ 她和她老公都没有工作。 也都： 我很好，我的家人也都很好。 大人喜欢这个餐厅，孩子们也都很喜欢。 cāntīng = restaurant 餐 cān = food 厅 tīng = hall 旋转餐厅… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/%E9%83%BD/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/%E9%83%BD/ Sun, 29 Dec 2019 19:32:00 GMT Uncategorized I’m out a lot with family these last days of winter break. What can I get done while out? My current class schedule is fixed for now (I think) I could look for apartments in apartments.com I guess. But it’s hard to use that website on… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/getting-work-done-while-out/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/getting-work-done-while-out/ Sun, 29 Dec 2019 19:02:00 GMT Uncategorized Music for this post: superstar by bignic Aggressive people They come in all shapes and sizes. They could be your family members, your childhood friends, your teachers (this one is pretty likely), etc. What do you do if you want to just… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/aggro-people/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/aggro-people/ Fri, 27 Dec 2019 16:52:00 GMT Uncategorized First why blog at all? You should make a blog if you already enjoy writing because you have a lot of thoughts and you would like to share then with the world. I knew I would want one long ago, so I made kimeiga.github.io/blog, a blog… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/why-make-a-blog-and-why-blogger/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/why-make-a-blog-and-why-blogger/ Fri, 27 Dec 2019 07:33:00 GMT UncategorizedBloggermeta I know grinding on the same project for a while can seem tiring but remember that people can’t see the unfinished projects you have, they can only see what you have finished. If you truly want to make something that other people can use… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/project-grind/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/project-grind/ Fri, 27 Dec 2019 06:58:00 GMT Uncategorized hi uh It's been a rather long while since I wrote on this blog. Since then a lot has happened. One of the things that I want to talk about was something that I have been thinking about since I watched some review for… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/religion/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/religion/ Sat, 21 Dec 2019 20:37:50 GMT PersonalSociety Microsoft: Implement a queue with two stacks with O(1) enqueue and O(1) dequeue. https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/coding-questions/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/coding-questions/ Wed, 09 Oct 2019 00:34:51 GMT Uncategorized I created a 10KB classless CSS framework Bahunya has responsive typography, navbar, syntax highlighting, and much more. https://kimeiga.github.io/bahunya/ Why I created Bahunya because I wanted a CSS framework that I… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/bahunya-10kb-classless-css-framework/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/bahunya-10kb-classless-css-framework/ Sat, 15 Sep 2018 17:22:50 GMT SoftwareCSSOpen Source Life is a Game Life has a series of innate game mechanics (like physics and human biology), and game mechanics created by its players (like international laws). It is a system of said mechanics with a large playerbase,… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/broken-mechanics/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/broken-mechanics/ Tue, 11 Sep 2018 17:22:50 GMT GamesDesign Either finish something as quickly as possible, or as completely as possible. The closer you approach the center of these two extremes, the larger the percentage of your lifespan you’ll spend working on the project.… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/perfectionism/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/perfectionism/ Tue, 04 Sep 2018 03:08:50 GMT PersonalMaking I know this has been said a thousand times but if you happen to be in a situation where you only have a low end laptop and you want to make a Vue app or code anything really, do give Vim a try. I downloaded Visual… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/time-to-learn-vim/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/time-to-learn-vim/ Thu, 23 Aug 2018 15:37:32 GMT SoftwareTools Thinking a bunch can be useful when you need to come up with ideas or be creative in a short time frame. Or when you need to produce a lot of content that can be fueled by thought in a short time frame, like this post,… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/frankly-i-think-too-much/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/frankly-i-think-too-much/ Wed, 08 Aug 2018 12:38:50 GMT PersonalMind I'm usually pretty critical of English. I despise the lack of regularity, the constant exceptions, the strange spelling, the complicated tenses, the way loan words are incorporated without modifying their spelling, etc.… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/why-i-love-youre-welcome/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/why-i-love-youre-welcome/ Wed, 01 Aug 2018 23:49:51 GMT MusicPersonal I'm a computer science student I work on the computer every day, designing this Jekyll site or my portfolio, making an online fighting game or a multiplayer shooter, doing a hackathon project, etc. When I am not working… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/work-with-your-hands/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/work-with-your-hands/ Wed, 01 Aug 2018 23:29:51 GMT WorkMaking This page exists just to say thank you to all the people whose work I've used and people who have supported me in life. 🙇‍ Thanks to Alexey Kryukov for designing Old Standard TT, the charming serif font that I use for… https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/my-huge-thank-yous/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/my-huge-thank-yous/ Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMT PersonalGratitude Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-journey-begins/ https://hakanalpay.com/blog/posts/the-journey-begins/ Tue, 16 Jan 2018 18:32:20 GMT Uncategorized