notes
Making the numbers move
A number you can move with your own hands teaches more than a number you only read.
This is a field-notes post: From Wu is also a publishing kit, and this page exercises the interactive part of it. Same brand, same calm, just more capable when a piece needs it.
Compounding, by hand
The future value of a steady monthly habit is one formula:
where is the monthly amount, is the monthly rate, and is the number of months. Read it and it is abstract. Drag it and it is obvious:
Relive a real series
The numbers in the money post were real. Here is the same BTC history as a scrubbable timeline, so you can watch it instead of reading the summary:
The same data, as a table you can work
Long data needs to be sortable and filterable, not just printed:
| 2026-05 | $76,660.47 | -5.86% | 1.848 | -37.9% | $75,649 | 10 |
| 2026-04 | $81,434.43 | +18.27% | 1.964 | -34% | $72,516 | 6.7 |
| 2026-03 | $68,852.96 | +2.37% | 1.66 | -44.2% | $66,309 | 17.9 |
| 2026-02 | $67,261.55 | +7.08% | 1.622 | -45.5% | $74,598 | 18.1 |
| 2026-01 | $62,811.67 | -32.98% | 1.515 | -49.1% | $82,315 | 15 |
| 2025-12 | $93,720.48 | +3.66% | 2.26 | -24% | $95,812 | 8.6 |
| 2025-11 | $90,413.99 | -12.48% | 2.18 | -26.7% | $105,691 | 11.6 |
| 2025-10 | $103,301.61 | -16.26% | 2.491 | -16.3% | $112,916 | 10.7 |
| 2025-09 | $123,358.65 | +10.05% | 2.974 | 0% | $117,316 | 5.8 |
| 2025-08 | $112,089.06 | -3.79% | 2.703 | -3.8% | $114,871 | 3.7 |
| 2025-07 | $116,501.28 | +0.41% | 2.809 | 0% | $114,274 | 2.4 |
| 2025-06 | $116,023.34 | +5.19% | 2.797 | 0% | $110,148 | 9.1 |
| 2025-05 | $110,296.2 | +5.93% | 2.659 | 0% | $99,269 | 10.7 |
| 2025-04 | $104,124.02 | +24.87% | 2.511 | 0% | $90,392 | 16.2 |
| 2025-03 | $83,386 | -0.33% | 2.011 | -16.6% | $88,170 | 7.4 |
| 2025-02 | $83,665.14 | -14.15% | 2.017 | -16.4% | $91,898 | 7 |
| 2025-01 | $97,458.59 | +3.05% | 2.35 | -2.6% | $97,357 | 7.8 |
| 2024-12 | $94,569.95 | -5.47% | 2.28 | -5.5% | $94,217 | 18.7 |
| 2024-11 | $100,041.98 | +13.63% | 2.412 | 0% | $83,646 | 15.3 |
| 2024-10 | $88,040.54 | +40.07% | 2.123 | 0% | $70,481 | 17.3 |
| 2024-09 | $62,854.48 | +3.81% | 1.516 | -8.1% | $60,700 | 6.1 |
| 2024-08 | $60,548.12 | +3.15% | 1.46 | -11.4% | $61,337 | 5.1 |
| 2024-07 | $58,698.05 | -9.37% | 1.415 | -14.1% | $63,217 | 4.5 |
| 2024-06 | $64,765.55 | -2.15% | 1.562 | -5.3% | $65,402 | 1.9 |
| 2024-05 | $66,188.81 | +1.44% | 1.596 | -3.2% | $65,088 | 4 |
| 2024-04 | $65,250.53 | +2.23% | 1.573 | -4.6% | $65,813 | 16.1 |
| 2024-03 | $63,824.7 | -6.64% | 1.539 | -6.6% | $61,451 | 16.1 |
| 2024-02 | $68,364.45 | +31.06% | 1.648 | 0% | $54,422 | 13 |
| 2024-01 | $52,163.28 | +22.05% | 1.258 | -16.2% | $45,851 | 9.3 |
| 2023-12 | $42,739.27 | +0.21% | 1.031 | -31.4% | $40,660 | 11.2 |
| 2023-11 | $42,650.27 | +16.56% | 1.028 | -31.5% | $35,992 | 8.9 |
| 2023-10 | $36,591.19 | +27.35% | 0.882 | -41.2% | $30,848 | 10.7 |
| 2023-09 | $28,733.78 | +5.57% | 0.693 | -53.9% | $27,381 | 8.1 |
| 2023-08 | $27,219.02 | +3.93% | 0.656 | -56.3% | $27,774 | 6.9 |
| 2023-07 | $26,191.01 | -12.44% | 0.632 | -57.9% | $28,701 | 9.9 |
| 2023-06 | $29,911.46 | -0.3% | 0.721 | -52% | $28,922 | 6.5 |
| 2023-05 | $30,000.55 | +11.71% | 0.723 | -51.8% | $28,226 | 6.8 |
| 2023-04 | $26,855.4 | -3.47% | 0.648 | -56.9% | $27,674 | 8.8 |
| 2023-03 | $27,820.73 | -1.85% | 0.671 | -55.3% | $26,872 | 7.3 |
| 2023-02 | $28,345.7 | +15.93% | 0.683 | -54.5% | $25,170 | 11.6 |
| 2023-01 | $24,450.5 | +7.64% | 0.59 | -60.7% | $21,315 | 14.8 |
| 2022-12 | $22,714.99 | +35.36% | 0.548 | -63.5% | $18,696 | 20.7 |
| 2022-11 | $16,780.97 | +1.15% | 0.405 | -73.1% | $17,568 | 7.5 |
| 2022-10 | $16,590.98 | -14.17% | 0.4 | -73.4% | $18,282 | 7.3 |
| 2022-09 | $19,331.06 | +2.15% | 0.466 | -69% | $19,940 | 6.6 |
| 2022-08 | $18,924.39 | -12.25% | 0.456 | -69.6% | $20,583 | 6.4 |
| 2022-07 | $21,565.47 | +1.45% | 0.52 | -65.4% | $21,285 | 13.1 |
| 2022-06 | $21,258.08 | +1.08% | 0.513 | -65.9% | $23,629 | 13.1 |
| 2022-05 | $21,031.85 | -26.46% | 0.507 | -66.2% | $29,627 | 4.8 |
| 2022-04 | $28,597.33 | -27.14% | 0.69 | -54.1% | $38,326 | 20.4 |
| 2022-03 | $39,252.04 | -16.71% | 0.946 | -37% | $41,839 | 15.2 |
| 2022-02 | $47,128.71 | +20.43% | 1.136 | -24.3% | $41,151 | 17.5 |
| 2022-01 | $39,134.83 | +5.23% | 0.944 | -37.2% | $41,287 | 11.8 |
| 2021-12 | $37,189.85 | -21.77% | 0.897 | -40.3% | $47,353 | 5.7 |
| 2021-11 | $47,536.39 | -17.08% | 1.146 | -23.7% | $55,717 | 29.7 |
| 2021-10 | $57,331.41 | -7.95% | 1.382 | -8% | $53,718 | 28.2 |
| 2021-09 | $62,282.5 | +49.94% | 1.502 | 0% | $50,272 | 25.3 |
| 2021-08 | $41,539.43 | -11.61% | 1.002 | -11.6% | $43,336 | 10.2 |
| 2021-08 | $46,993.31 | +13.31% | 1.133 | 0% | $44,234 | 6.7 |
| 2021-07 | $41,474.72 | 0% | 1 | 0% | $41,475 | 0 |
- Close and return are real (CoinDesk MCP). Growth, drawdown, 3-mo average, and 3-mo volatility are derived from the close series.
Risk against return
A scatter is the right shape when the point is a tradeoff, not a trend:
And a real thread
Threads are author-supplied IDs, rendered statically in our own style:
What I know now is that interactivity is not the opposite of calm. A slider you choose to drag is quieter than a paragraph that argues. Give the reader the controls and get out of the way.
Wu · Da Nang · May 2026
Scaffold sample: KaTeX, the compounding interactive, a scrubbable timeline, a sortable table, a scatter, and a real thread. The From Wu publishing kit, exercised.