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"In me the tiger sniffs the rose."

Feel free to drop me an email at <io.kuntian@gmail.com>.

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#### About This Blog
 [Blogging Like a Hacker](http://tom.preston-werner.com/2008/11/17/blogging-like-a-hacker.html) inspires the setup of this website, which is automatically generated by [Jekyll](https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll) and hosted on [GitHub](https://github.com/pinewave/pinewave.github.io). The theme is based on [whiteglass](https://github.com/yous/whiteglass).  

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#### About Me

**2017-06-11**

I plan to update this page every once in a while, to record the changed and the remained, the better and the worse.

Right now, I am on my way to get a Permanent Head Damage (Ph.D.) in neuroscience at Emory University. Specifically, I apply various math and computer science methods (graph theory, information theory, machine learning, etc.) to examine a stability mechanism of the nervous system called homeostatic plasticity. If you are unfamiliar with homeostatic plasticity, it works like a thermostat. Just like the way a thermostat tunes the temperature, homeostatic plasticity mechanisms can sense the excitability state of the nervous system and have a way to maintain the excitability when it falls out of its desired value.

I value independence and open-mindedness. Curiosity often drives me out of my comfort zone, so my life is full of fun as well as stress. My stress remedies? Caffeine, gummies and sometimes ethanol.

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#### Good Vibes Only

A list of things I'd pack up in my luggage if I was exiled to a desert island, or more likely, to the Mars. They flow in my bloodstream, and fuel my brain and heart.

**Books**

- Computational Neuroscience
  - Biophysics of Computation (Christof Koch)
  - Theoretical Neuroscience (Dayan & Abbott)
  - Mathematical Foundations of Neuroscience (Ermentrout & Terman)
  - Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology (Valentino Braitenberg)
- CS & Math
  - Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos (Steven Strogatz)
  - Networks: An Introduction (Mark Newman)
  - Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software (Charles Petzold)
  - Computer Systems - A Programmer’s Perspective (Bryant & O'Hallaron)
  - Algorithms (Dasgupta, Papadimitriou & Vazirani)
  - Essentials of Metaheuristics (Sean Luke)
- Design
  - 美的历程 (李泽厚)
  - The Design of Everyday Things (Don Norman)
  - Understanding Comics (Scott McCloud)
- Mind Hacks
  -  [The Art of Doing Science and Engineering (Richard Hamming)](http://worrydream.com/refs/Hamming-TheArtOfDoingScienceAndEngineering.pdf)
  -  Poor Charlie's Almanack (Charles Munger)
  -  The Ambiguities of Experience (James March)
  -  Metaphors We Live By (Lakoff & Johnson)
  -  The Sense of Style (Steven Pinker)
  -  灵之舞 (邓晓芒)
  -  道德经
  -  庄子今注今译

**Music**

- Bach
  - The Cello Suites (Pablo Casals, EMI 1997)
  - Partitas (Glenn Gould, Sony 2002)
  - The Art of Fugue (Glenn Gould, Sony 2001)
  - The Goldberg Variations (Zhu Xiao-Mei, Mirare 2008)
- Singers
  - Amy Winehouse
  - Lenny Kravitz
  - 莫文蔚 (Karen Mok)
  - 李宗盛 (Jonathan Lee)
  - 白水 (Baishui)
- For Coding
  - Penguin Cafe Orchestra
  - [Organic Stereo](https://soundcloud.com/organicstereo)

**Movies**

- Her
- The Fabulous Baker Boys
- English Patient
- [Mindwalk](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLns5BDAV2BxXmT4yY0exTKco-jxbxpJ_6)
- 青蛇
- 饮食男女

**Anime Series**

- Cowboy Bebop
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- Hunter x Hunter
- Master Keaton
- Rick and Morty

**Games**

- Machinarium
- Samorost 3
- Lumino City

**Unlimited Supply Please**!

- Byredo Rose of No Man's Land
- Laphroaig 15 yr
- Gin and Tonic
- Caffeine
