About
I'm Frederick, a software engineer in Northern California. I build things, think about systems — even in convention hallways — and keep this as a small personal corner of the web.
This is where I write about engineering — system design, distributed systems, and the tools I reach for — alongside life: anime and manga, music, and the occasional reflection.
Start here
- Returning from Anime Expo with a System Design Question — designing a convention queueing system end to end.
- Migrating this blog to Astro with Codex — how this site got its current shape.
- 时间的魔法 — a personal reflection on time and growing up.
- 简评三则 — short reviews: 射雕, 君名, and 阿修罗.
Now
I'm building a convention queueing system — Go, PostgreSQL, and Redis — and writing up the trade-offs as I go. Otherwise: work, lifting, and a backlog of anime I keep promising to catch up on.
Interests
Engineering
- Computer science and software engineering
- System design and distributed systems
Life
- Anime and manga
- Sci-fi movies
- Acoustic and electric guitar, singing, and Cubase
- Strength training, badminton, and swimming
- Cooking and finding tasty food
These days I rarely find time for: drawing, erhu, and tai chi.
Games
Still playing after all these years:
- Arknights (JP server)
Played for a long time, now retired:
- Princess Connect! Re: Dive (JP server)
- Azur Lane (JP server)
- Fate/Grand Order (JP server)
Education
- MS in Computer Engineering, San Jose State University
- MS in Chemical Engineering, Florida State University
- BEng in Chemical Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Find me
- GitHub: github.com/ysmiles
- Instagram: @ysmiles
- Bangumi (bgm.tv): ysmiles
- Bilibili: 微笑的蜥蜴
- 小红书: 微笑的蜥蜴
- Email: fromblog@ysmiles.com
Other info
Member of Shenghan - SH. 1102.