How to Change Arduino IDE Board Lib Path

In the Arduino IDE 2.x, board packages (cores/platforms installed via Boards Manager, like esp8266, esp32, AVR, etc.) are stored in the data folder, which defaults to: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Arduino15 C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages You can change it by editing a configuration file used by arduino-cli (the backend tool for Boards Manager in IDE 2.x). Step-by-Step: Move the Board Packages / Data Folder (Arduino IDE 2.x on Windows) Close Arduino IDE completely. Locate and edit the arduino-cli.yaml file: ...

March 13, 2026 · 2 min · Shawn Ma

How to Change Arduino IDE Lib Path

In the Arduino IDE, libraries can be installed in several ways: By adding a .zip library file. By manually placing the library inside the libraries subfolder. The most common method: installing through the Library Manager. On Windows, these libraries are typically installed under the system partition (for example, inside the user’s Documents folder). Some packages—such as the ESP32 Arduino Core—can take several gigabytes of disk space, which may lead to storage pressure on the system drive. ...

March 13, 2026 · 2 min · Shawn Ma

How to use AI to represent oneself

As AI systems turn from tools to collaborators, a new idea is quietly taking shape: using AI to simulate or thoughtfully represent oneself. This isn’t about building a gimmicky chatbot or outsourcing personality to an algorithm. It’s about codifying who you are so that an AI can act with consistency, intention, and integrity on your behalf. To do this well, AI must be grounded in a clear foundation of self. That foundation goes far beyond a resume or a tone-of-voice prompt. It spans how you think, how you communicate, what you value professionally, and how you relate to others as a human being. Elements such as your communication vibe, professional identity, core work and achievements, personal motivations, and communication style become the primitives from which an AI can reason, respond, and represent you accurately. ...

January 26, 2026 · 4 min · Shawn Ma

Continuous Self Improvement

In an interview, the founder of Unitree Robotics was asked whether the company would adjust its strategy now that more competitors are entering the market. His response was simple yet profound: “Our direction is straightforward. Our main competitor is still ourselves. As long as we do better every day, every month, and every year than we did in the past, our peers won’t be able to catch up.” From the perspective of personal growth, this philosophy means treating your past self as the true opponent, and striving to surpass who you were yesterday. ...

September 15, 2025 · 3 min · Shawn Ma

The 8 Core Elements for Scaling a Business

Scaling a business from a small operation to a thriving enterprise requires a strategic interplay of key elements. Below, I outline the eight core factors—Demand, Solution, Business Model, Growth, Barriers, Values, Mission, and Vision—that drive sustainable expansion. Each element is defined, its role in scaling is explained, and practical examples are provided to illustrate its application. These concepts are grounded in business strategy and real-world practices, offering a roadmap for entrepreneurs aiming to grow big. ...

September 12, 2025 · 4 min · Shawn Ma

The Four Gaps That Impact Your Wealth Creation

In the journey of building personal wealth or succeeding in business, making money often boils down to bridging or leveraging certain “gaps.” These gaps represent asymmetries between individuals, directly influencing income levels and opportunity capture. Below, I explore the four key gaps: Information Gap Cognitive Gap Execution Gap Resource Gap by detailing their definitions, impact on earning potential, and real-world examples. These concepts, rooted in economics and business practices, highlight how addressing these gaps can transform your financial trajectory. ...

September 12, 2025 · 3 min · Shawn Ma

Understanding Financial Income Pathways

In today’s dynamic economy, building wealth and achieving financial stability require understanding the various pathways to generate income. The four primary financial income pathways: Employment Side hustle Entrepreneurship Investment these offer distinct opportunities and challenges. Whether you’re a recent graduate, a professional seeking extra income, or an aspiring entrepreneur, knowing the pros, cons, and best use cases of each pathway can guide your financial journey. Let’s dive into each one to help you decide which suits your goals and lifestyle. ...

September 12, 2025 · 5 min · Shawn Ma

2025-09-10

Reading Constructive conflict within a team can foster productive debates, ultimately leading to consensus-driven solutions. However, if team members fail to manage disagreements effectively, conflicts can escalate into destructive disputes, undermining work efficiency and stifling innovation. Managers should nurture top talent by actively listening to their ideas, supporting their professional development, and providing timely, meaningful praise. — Preventing Conflict Through Communication Many organizations fall into a pricing trap by offering products or services for free to boost market acceptance, encourage trial usage, or signal goodwill. However, research in consumer psychology and behavioral economics shows that “free” often carries significant hidden costs. Once consumers anchor their reference price at “free,” introducing charges later becomes challenging—or even impossible. Moreover, consumers tend to undervalue free offerings, leading to overuse, misuse, and entrenched expectations that threaten long-term business sustainability. ...

September 11, 2025 · 3 min · Shawn Ma

What is Reserve Requirement

Reserve requirements are rules made by the central bank (like the People’s Bank of China or the Federal Reserve in the U.S.). These rules tell commercial banks (like Bank of China, ICBC, or Wells Fargo) how much money they must keep in reserve and not use for lending. Why Do Banks Need to Keep Money in Reserve? When you deposit money into a bank, the bank doesn’t just lock it away. It uses most of that money to give loans to other people or businesses. But to make sure banks always have enough cash on hand (in case many people want to withdraw their money at the same time), the central bank sets a rule: you must keep a small part of your total deposits safe and ready. ...

May 15, 2025 · 3 min · Shawn Ma

2024 China AI maturity model

Cutting-edge Technologies Synthetic data generation for aerospace, maritime, and special-purpose vehicle autonomous driving Neuromorphic chips Brain-computer interface Humanoid robots Video generation Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Early Adoption Technologies AI safety AI agents Large model engineering On-device AI (IoT, Edge, Mobile) dialogue robots based on large models Multimodal models Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Explainable AI 3D vision General-purpose large models Image generation Industry-specific large models 3D generation LLMOps Emerging Technologies Semi-custom chips (FPGA) and fully custom chips (ASIC) code generation Distributed deep learning Machine/deep learning platforms Autonomous driving Reinforcement learning Digital humans/virtual humans Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Prompt engineering Text analysis Text generation Audio generation Semantic analysis Knowledge graphs Intelligent video coding AIOps Mature Technologies Traditional dialogue robots Machine learning OCR recognition Facial recognition Biometric recognition Data mining General-purpose chips (GPU) recommendation systems Object recognition Speech recognition Expert systems MLOps

March 9, 2025 · 1 min · Shawn Ma