Wisdom I Pondered This Week

• Stay small enough long enough, you’ll be big enough soon enough.
• “Always make one less car than the market demands.” — Enzo Ferrari
• “Everyone belongs to a tribe and underestimates how influential that tribe is on their thinking.” — Morgan Housel
• “It’s easy to mistake “I’m good at this” with “Others are bad at this” in a way that makes you overestimate how valuable your skills are.” — Morgan Housel
• “Learn enough from history to respect one another’s delusions.” — Will Durant

Things I Learned This Week

• Soffritto is a foundational Italian flavor base made by gently sautéing finely chopped onion ⚪️, carrot 🔴, and celery 🟢 (Holy Trinity) in olive oil (or butter) until they become soft, aromatic, and lightly golden. Its slow cooking process coaxes out natural sugars and aromas, creating a balanced, savory foundation similar to the French mirepoix or Spanish sofrito.
• A DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) 去中心化自治組織 is a blockchain-based organization governed by smart contracts and collective decision-making rather than centralized leadership. Its rules and operations are transparent and encoded on-chain, allowing members—often token holders—to propose, vote, and manage resources together. By aligning incentives through token economics, DAOs promote decentralization, transparency, and community ownership, reducing reliance on intermediaries.
• 五分車 是台灣糖業鐵路的 762 毫米軌距小型列車，名稱來自其軌距約為標準鐵路的一半。除此之外，台鐵使用的是 1067 毫米的窄軌，被稱為「七分車」，而高鐵則採用 1435 毫米的標準軌距，有時被稱為「十分車」。五分車早年用於運送甘蔗原料及成品砂糖，同時也是農村交通與地方鐵道文化的象徵。
• 「巴氏殺菌法（Pasteurization）」是由法國科學家 Louis Pasteur 創立的一種低溫殺菌法，透過在控制的溫度與時間下加熱液體（如牛奶、果汁或啤酒），以殺死病原菌與腐敗菌，同時最大程度保留風味與營養。常見方式包括低溫長時間（LTLT）、高溫短時間（HTST） 與超高溫（UHT） 處理，各自適用於不同食品。此方法能有效降低食源性風險並延長保存期限，但無法完全滅除「耐熱孢子菌」，因此產品開封後仍須冷藏。巴士殺菌法奠定了現代食品安全與保存技術的基礎，成為食品工業中最廣泛應用的熱處理之一。
• 「刺角瓜（Horned Melon / Kiwano）」是一種原產於非洲的奇特水果，現今在紐西蘭等地廣泛栽培。外皮金黃且長滿瘤刺，內部果肉為鮮綠色凝膠狀，包裹著許多可食用的籽。味道介於奇異果、香蕉與黃瓜之間，帶有微酸與清爽的香氣。刺角瓜富含維生素 C、鉀與抗氧化物，常被用來直接食用、加入沙拉或調製果汁，也因其獨特造型常作為餐桌裝飾或異國水果禮盒的一部分。