This Week I Learned - Week #215

This Week I Learned -

Azure Partner Quickstarts are Azure Resource Manager templates created by trusted Microsoft partners and designed to help you get started with integrated, multi-artifact solutions rather than single applications or services on Azure.

Microsoft IT migrated more than 120 TB of data to Azure and reduced server footprint from 175 to 110 physical servers—with no downtime for all 54 onboarded applications

* Beginning March 1, 2017, Microsoft is changing how new Azure ExpressRoute circuits are deployed in Azure; you’ll need to use Azure Resource Manager to deploy and manage your ExpressRoute circuits.

* The free ebook, .NET Microservices: Architecture for Containerized .NET Applications, is an introduction to developing microservices-based applications and managing them using containers using .NET Core and Docker containers.

* Any firm that has or uses European personal data anywhere in theh world, comes under the purview of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is intendedd to harmonize data protection law across the EU. The penalty for non-compliance with GDPR can be as high as 20 million Euros or 4% of world-wide turnover.

Ola, the leading cab aggregator in India, built a Progressive Web App (PWA) and noticed that 20% of users who book using their PWA had previously uninstalled their app. Ola Android app is a 60MB download and the iOS app is 100M. Using just 200KB of data to install, the PWA is at least 300X smaller than downloading the Android app and 500X smaller than downloading their iOS app. Repeat visits use as little as 10KB. This low data consumption translates into a 3.4-second first visit and less than a second for repeat visits on 2G and 3G networks—an ideal solution for millions of Indians. By reducing the amount of storage space needed, the PWA allowed them to effectively re-engage with users that otherwise would have been lost.

* There are 2 billion monthly active Android devices

* Google Lens is a set of vision-based computing capabilities that can understand what you’re looking at and help you take action based on that information - Google Blog

* The number of billionaires in the world has doubled in the past eight years.

Chromebooks, which can now run Android apps, comprise nearly 60 percent of K-12 laptops sold in U.S. schools

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's advice to Virginia Tech's graduating class of 2017
+ Seek shared experiences with all kinds of people.
+ Build shared hope in the communities you join and the communities you form.
+ Shared narratives are critical for fighting injustice and creating social change
+ It takes strength to rely on others.
+ There are times to lean in and there are times to lean on.
+ We are not born with a certain amount of resilience. It is a muscle, and that means we can build it.
+ My favourite kind of hope is called grounded hope -- the understanding that if you take action you can make things better.
+ We normally think of hope as something that's held in individual people. But hope -- like resilience -- is something we grow and nurture together.
+ We are more vulnerable than we ever thought, but we are stronger than we ever imagined.
+ One of the most important ways you can build resilience is by cultivating gratitude. Counting your blessings increases them.
+ People who take the time to focus on the things they are grateful for are happier and healthier.

* Out of the 2300 liquor shops & 900 bars in Telangana, 45% are named after Hindu gods/goddesses. Most of the bars in the state have names of Shirdi Saibaba, Venkateshwara, Mallikarjuna, Bhavani, Laxmi, Durga, Sri Rama or Sri Krishna. While the Maharashtra government is planning to bring in a Act banning naming of liquor shops after gods and goddesses, there is only an advisory asking owners not to use such names.

* While physical identity is fairly easy to validate, for digital identity it is established by making user prove that "I have" and "I know". For example, in case of ATM cash withdrawal what I have is "ATM card" & what I know is "PIN". In case of Unified Payments Interface or UPI, "What I have" is  mobile phone & mobile number & "What I know" is UPI-PIN. UPI is Aadhaar/UIDAI ready, which means biometric based security can also be used in the future - PhonePe Blog

* "Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, and the pig likes it"

If you migrate a machine and remove replication within 31 days then an Azure Site Recovery-powered migration will not cost you a cent.

Virtual Card of State Bank of India is a prepaid card, issued in association with Visa. It can be created using the State Bank internet banking facility for ecommerce (online) transactions. Card is valid up to a maximum of 48 hours or till the transaction is complete, whichever is earlier.

Accenture has 401,000 global employees including 140,000 employees in India

* As part of a recruitment campaign, IDFC Bank asked all interested candidates to tweet in the classic 140-character limit pitching why they should be hired

* More than 70 McKinsey India alumni have gone on to become CEOs.

* India just became the ninth largest equity market in the world as the stock market capitalisation (M-cap) crossed $2 trillion. India has the largest number of listed companies in the world - Business Insider

* Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century CE Sun Temple at Konark in Orissa, India believed to be built by king Narasimhadeva I of Eastern Ganga Dynasty in 1255 CE to commemorate his victories over the Muslim invaders from Bengal. The temple complex is in the shape of a gigantic chariot, having elaborately carved stone wheels, pillars and walls. The original Konark Sun Temple had a main sanctum sanctorum (vimana), which was supposedly 229 feet (70 m) tall.The temple follows the traditional style of Kalinga architecture. It is carefully oriented towards the east so that the first rays of sunrise strikes the principal entrance. The temple is built from Khondalite rocks.  It used iron beams for its structure.  A major part of the structure is now in ruins. There have been several proposed theories for the collapse of the main sanctum. One cause of the collapse is also placed on Kalapahad who invaded Odisha in 1568. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The wheels of the temple are sundials which can be used to calculate time accurately to a minute - Wikipedia
A lithography plate from James Fergusson's 'Ancient Architecture in Hindoostan' (1847). Link to larger image

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