Weiran Zhang

Hi, I'm Weiran Zhang. I'm passionate about technology and building thriving software teams. This blog is where I write about things I find interesting. You can follow me on Mastodon.


Apple's churning of the gut →

I have come to believe that the true cause is something bigger than all of this. I think the right answer is that Apple just fails to pass the gut test for most people. It’s an incredulous reaction to Apple’s success. Look, how is it even remotely possible that a company with such a small market share could really be doing so well? How can a company that had so little success, a company that survived by the skin of its teeth in the PC era, be one of the largest companies in the world now? How can a company with so few products be such a behemoth? I honestly believe people read their gut and say it can’t be possible therefore it isn’t. Apple can’t be this successful. It’s not possible. And I know that because my gut tells me so.


Jim Cramer explains how the stock market is manipulated →

A lot of times I was short at my hedge fund, I would create a level of activity before hand that could drive the futures, it doesn't take much money. Similarly if I was long, I would go in and take a bunch of stops and make sure they were higher. It takes about $10 million in capital to affect it, it's a fun game, it's a lucrative game. You can maybe move it up and then fade it, I'm going to boost the futures and then the real market takes it down. That creates a very negative view. I would encourage anyone who's in a hedge fund to do it, because it's legal, and a very quick way to make money. What's important when you're in that hedge fund mode, is not to do anything remotely truthful. Because the truth is so against your view, it's important to create a new truth to develop a fiction. What would you do in you're in that situation and you feel that you're desperate. The great thing about the market is it's got nothing to do with the actual stock. In two-weeks all the buyers will come to their senses and realise that everything they heard was a lie, it's just fiction and fiction and fiction. It's important for people to recognise that the way the market really works is to have that nexus of hit the brokerage houses with a series of orders that can push it down and leak it to the press, get it on CNBC, and then you have that vicious cycle down.


Why the WSJ got the 'iPhone demand is crashing' story wrong →

Mark Rogowsky at Forbes has a great article about yesterday's Wall Street Journal 'weaker iPhone demand' report.


The suspicious timing of Wall Street Journal's piece about reduced iPhone orders

Yesterday, Wall Street Journal's claim that Apple had "halved" orders for iPhone 5 displays has caused a few stirs around here. Are the claims founded on fact or was it a cheap attempt to manipulate Apple's stock before the earning's call on January 23rd? Let's have a look at the facts.


A history of Apple products →

Nice timeline of Apple's products by Pop Chart Lab.


The truth about Aaron Swartz's "crime" →

Aaron Swartz was not the super hacker breathlessly described in the Government’s indictment and forensic reports, and his actions did not pose a real danger to JSTOR, MIT or the public. He was an intelligent young man who found a loophole that would allow him to download a lot of documents quickly. This loophole was created intentionally by MIT and JSTOR, and was codified contractually in the piles of paperwork turned over during discovery.


Boeing has an aeroplane problem →

The 787 Dreamliner has been vexed since its inception. The company was convinced by one or more management consulting firms to outsource design and production of the 787’s components. While this idea might make sense for sourcing coffeemakers, it was a nonsense approach to assembling perhaps the most complicated and potentially dangerous machines shy of nuclear reactors.


A no-nonsense guide to CES →

The guys at The Wirecutter have cut out all the bullshit from CES and compiled a list of best gadgets in the show into one article.


CNET can't be trusted →

Today we found out that CNET writers don't have the independence from their parent company CBS after they banned them from letting Dish's Hopper DVR participate in their best of CES awards.


The cost of selling Galaxies →

Samsung spends over ten times more than Apple on advertising and marketing.


The Guardian publishes stats on the size of their commenting community →

At least 20% of the comments left on the Guardian website each month come from only 2,600 user accounts, who together make up just 0.0037% of the Guardian’s declared monthly audience.


When I first heard the name “Safari” →

“What do you think?” he asked. I honestly didn’t know what to think. My mind was a blank because I just didn’t expect it. The name seemed to come out of nowhere. It sounded more foreign at that moment than its actual origin. “It doesn’t suck,” I finally offered.