~*~ Hung's Journal ~*~

Reading this for the decision-making systems more than the billionaire mythology. The idea of writing down principles, testing them against reality, and refining them over time fits how I want to approach work and life.

"Time is like a river that carries us forward into encounters with reality that require us to make decisions. We can't stop our movement down this river and we can't avoid those encounters. We can only approach them in the best possible way."

Chapter 1, Principles: Life and Work

Building the math foundation for MSAI. The linear algebra chapters are gold. Currently working through the probability and distributions section — making everything from undergrad click in a new way.

Changed how I think about distributed systems. The chapter on stream processing directly influenced how I designed our Dataflow pipelines at work. Required reading for anyone touching data at scale.

Timeless advice. The tracer bullets concept changed how I prototype. "Don't gather requirements — dig for them" is something I think about in every sprint planning.

Good principles, some parts dated. The naming conventions chapter alone is worth it. The Java-heavy examples feel old but the core ideas about readability hold up.

Read this during the start of my 90-day cut. The "1% better every day" compound effect is real — applied it to both lifting and coding. Habit stacking got me consistent with morning gym sessions.

Short but dense. "Every battle is won before it is fought." Applies to system design interviews more than you'd think.

The deep learning textbook. Planning to start once I finish Math for ML — need that foundation first.

Everyone at work recommends this. Want to level up on designing systems beyond just the data pipeline layer.

"Mưu sự tại nhân, thành sự tại thiên" — the Vietnamese philosophy I grew up with has strong Stoic parallels. Want to explore that connection.