Welcome to Tanglee’s blog. You may also encounter some of my other nicknames, such as tl2cents, IcingMoon. If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to contact me via email: tanglili [at] iie [dot] ac [dot] cn.
I am a CTF player, primarily focusing on cryptography and blockchain. I was a former member of the Nebula team at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and I am currently a core crypto member of the NeSE team representing the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) in international CTF competitions. Previous writeups of mine can be found on tl2cents’s blog, most of which are written in Chinese. I am considering migrating some of these writeups here if I have time. You can find my academic profile on the Academic page. I decided to step away from CTF competitions in 2026 because LLMs make CTF basically meaningless, or boring at least. I will remain interested in crypto research, maybe more academic and less CTF-oriented.
Miscellaneous
At present, I dedicate most of my time to programming (or problem-solving stuff), playing with LLMs, and math. Occasionally, I also enjoy hiking, traveling, and playing some games like Maj-soul. I am the kind of person who loves hunting down puzzles and exploring amazing ideas, especially those related to computer science and mathematics. This is why I used to be so deeply involved in CTF competitions.
Favorite YouTubers: 3blue1brown, who creates visually engaging and intuitive explanations of complex mathematical concepts. His videos make math accessible and enjoyable for a wide audience. Recommended videos:
- A geometric answer to the Basel problem
- Group theory, abstraction, and the 196,883-dimensional monster
Another similar Chinese channel I follow is Meditation Math (漫士沉思录). His videos also cover a wide range of fascinating mathematical concepts and proofs, all presented with exceptional quality.