This Week I Learned - Week #52 2020

 This Week I Learned - 

* Azure’s AI-powered SQL optimization enables automatic tuning and adaptive query optimization.

* Seven editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 were released: Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server and Itanium, as well as Windows Storage Server 2008 R2. 

* The term NoSQL refers to a family of databases designed to hold non-relational data. The term isn't quite accurate, because many non-relational data stores support SQL compatible queries. The term NoSQL stands for "Not only SQL".

* Google Cloud acquired AppSheet, an intelligent no-code application development platform.

* Go is in the process of adding generics, which could potentially reduce the lines of code in a popular application such as Kubernetes by the thousands.

* Many organizations are now running multiple versions of Kubernetes spanning various Kubernetes distributions. Regardless of what version of Kubernetes an organization is running, managing Kubernetes on a daily basis will still require a fair amount of IT expertise for some time to come. The Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) that oversees the development of Kubernetes is considering moving from four to three major updates per year.

* DevSecOps means thinking about application and infrastructure security from the start. It also means automating some security gates to keep the DevOps workflow from slowing down. DevSecOps means building security into app development from end to end. This integration into the pipeline requires a new organizational mindset as much as it does new tools. 

* A CRUD wishlist API using Azure Functions and Azure Cosmos DB

* When To Use – and Not To Use – Microservices

* Snip Insights is an open source desktop utility that retrieves intelligent insights from a snip or screenshot. It is one among the many Microsoft AI Lab projects

* A 12-part basic mental model of how Kafka works 

* Historically, automation tends to happen when economic difficulties coincide with maturing technologies. 

* According to App Annie’s "State of Mobile 2020" report, India, Brazil and Indonesia fuelled the app economy across Google Play Store, App Store and other app stores between 2016 and 2019. App Annie found that Indian users are app-crazy and tend to use 30 apps per month

* Selfies took a backseat to two-factor authentication as the primary purpose of our smartphones in 2020

* Individuals who have pure alexia have severe reading problems while other language-related skills such as naming, oral repetition, auditory comprehension or writing are typically intact.

* Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events.

* PIBOX India has curated some of the most useful and value-adding components for Raspberry Pi enthusiasts in India

* When the field of medicine began, early medicines were actually chemicals that we accidentally realized could modulate proteins. Then we learned to design the chemicals to target the protein. Then about 40 years ago, we discovered we could administer proteins to either replace proteins (like insulin) or bind targets in the body (monoclonal antibodies). For decades, we hoped we could move further upstream and use RNA to help the body make proteins or modulate proteins, and we failed often in harnessing the power of RNA. This year that dream became reality, and those decades of failures progressed the science to success at a time when humanity desperately needs it. We have approved RNA vaccines that will hopefully end this pandemic. There are RNA therapeutics that could help us tackle rare diseases and common ones (like high cholesterol) - Vas Narasimhan

* By becoming the Mayor of Kerala's capital, Thiruvananthapuram, at 21, Arya Rajendran is the youngest ever Mayor in India. BJP leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis had become the mayor of Nagpur Municipal Corporation at the age of 27.

* Bobby Fischer was the youngest U.S. master (at 14 years and five months), the youngest international grandmaster, and the youngest candidate for the world championship (at 15 years and six months), in his time. Fischer was labelled an insufferable diva and a psych-out artist who made life hell for tournament officials and tried to rattle opponents by complaining about, among other things, high-frequency sounds that only he and several species of mammals could detect.

* Chinese companies—many of which are state-owned, all of which are legally obliged to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party on intelligence matters—have built at least 186 government buildings in Africa, including presidential residences, ministries of foreign affairs, and parliament buildings. Huawei has built more than 70 percent of the continent’s 4G networks and at least fourteen intra-governmental ICT networks, including a data center in Zambia that houses the entirety of the government’s records.  The compromised ICT system for the African Union (AU) headquarters building in Ethiopia was also provided by Huawei, whose equipment is often swiss cheesed with security vulnerabilities that make them easily exploitable. - Economic Times

* Rubella (german measles) was first described as a separate disease by German physicians in 1814 resulting in the name "German measles".

* Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds belonging to the ratites group that also includes  ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas and kiwi. The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species, fifth heaviest among living bird species and is endemic to Antarctica.  Emperor penguins do not build a nest. 

* A myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to a part of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. A sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and stops beating unexpectedly. A heart attack is a circulation problem and sudden cardiac arrest is caused due to an "electrical" issue. Primary angioplasty, also called percutaneous coronary intervention, is a procedure which treats blockages within the coronary arteries and improves blood flow to the heart.

* Hyderabad traffic police launched the ITMS (Integrated Traffic Management System) which has automated traffic enforcement through Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. More than 90% enforcement is being done with these cameras.