Blog - Page 35 of 43 - Kind of Lost

What is mathematical programming

Mathematical programming is a field of mathematics that deals with the optimization of complex systems and processes. It has a rich history that dates back to the 1940s when George Dantzig, an American mathematician, developed the simplex method for solving linear programming problems. Since then, it has grown into a vast and dynamic discipline that has found applications in various fields such as finance, transportation, engineering, and operations research.

In this blog post, I will explore the origins of mathematical programming, provide an example of a problem that can be tackled and list some classical problems. I will also discuss some of the software products used in mathematical programming, both open-source and commercial.

Early Retirement Extreme: What I Actually Think

Early retirement extreme is the name of both a book and a philosophy — Jacob Lund Fisker’s take on FIRE, built around a savings rate so aggressive it makes the rest of the FIRE community look relaxed by comparison. The core pitch: cut spending down to something close to a student budget, save the rest, and you can be done working in roughly five to seven years instead of the standard four decades. I retired early myself, on a much less extreme version of this math, and I’ve got genuinely mixed feelings about ERE — some of it I think is the most useful idea in the whole FIRE space, and some of it I think oversells how many people can actually live it.

Continue reading “Early Retirement Extreme: What I Actually Think”

I drive a Pareto

Not an Italian luxury car.
No. Pareto was the Italian economist that came up with the 80/20 rule. He figured out 20% of the richest families held 80% of the wealth (this is probably worse nowadays). More generally stated, the 80/20 rule says that 80% of the results come from 20% of the inputs, you spend 80% of your time doing 20% of your tasks, etc, etc.

The (book in the) 2020 letter from Warren Buffett to Berkshire Hathaway investors

I’ve already blogged about Buffet’s annual letters twice: in 2018 I wrote about a few quotes, and in 2019 I wrote about some lessons learned.

Now I have to confess that after some six or seven years of reading them they are getting a bit repetitive, although there is always something new. This year the new thing is some interesting idea Buffett shares from a quasi-obscure book from 1924 I had never heard about before: “Common stocks as Long Term Investments” by Edgar Lawrence Smith.

The business of busyness

Let’s face it, we live in a culture that glorifies busyness. The business of busyness. It’s as if being busy is a badge of honor that we wear with pride. We fill our schedules to the brim with meetings, appointments, and endless to-do lists. But why? Are we really accomplishing anything or are we just spinning our wheels?