This Week I Learned - Week #2 2022

This Week I Learned - 

* Nginx and HAProxy are popular reverse proxy servers that support features such as load balancing, SSL, and layer 7 routing. Nginx and HAProxy will typically run in containers inside the cluster, but can also be deployed to dedicated VMs outside of the cluster. This isolates the gateway from the rest of the workload, but incurs higher management overhead.

* NGINX is now a part of F5, Inc.

* API Management is a turnkey solution for publishing APIs to external and internal customers. It provides features that are useful for managing a public-facing API, including rate limiting, IP restrictions, and authentication using Azure Active Directory or other identity providers. API Management doesn't perform any load balancing, so it should be used in conjunction with a load balancer such as Application Gateway or a reverse proxy. 

* The Configuration Management Database or CMDB is a crucial tool in IT Service Management and Security Operations. A Configuration Item or ‘CI’ is an entry in the CMDB that could be a server, a router, a switch, or even a piece of software. The CMDB is not one big table, but a collection of tables. Any worthwhile enterprise grade CMDB solution provides a visualization tool for the CMDB. CMDB is strictly concerned with configuration while Asset Management is concerned with cost, asset lifecycle, associated contracts such as warranties and service contracts, among other financial type information. Asset Management can be broken into two broad disciplines: Hardware Asset Management (HAM) and Software Asset Management (SAM). Software Asset Management relies on data in the CMDB. 

* The Github repository of Indian Railways data has JSON files on Stations, Trains & Schedules.

* Aaron Swartz was involved in the development of the web feed format RSS, the Markdown publishing format, the organization Creative Commons, the website framework web.py, and joined the social news site Reddit six months after its founding. In October 2006, based largely on Reddit's success, his firm Not a Bug was acquired by Condé Nast Publications, owner of Wired magazine. He found corporate office life uncongenial and ultimately was asked to resign from the company.

* The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades. During events in 2009 and 2014/15 hot jets of magma and steam exploded through the waves. But these eruptions were small, dwarfed in scale by the January 2022 events. The 2014/15 eruption created a volcanic cone, joining the two old Hunga islands to create a combined island about 5km long.

* The global average surface temperature in 2021 reached its sixth-highest level since reliable temperature record-keeping began in 1880. 

* Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on Earth. In fact, the Chinese moso bamboo can grow almost a meter in a single day. Bamboo also grows with constant diameter. 

* The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) is a horseshoe-shaped bone classed as an irregular bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. It is the only bone in the human body that is not connected to any other bones nearby. The hyoid is anchored by muscles from the anterior, posterior and inferior directions, and aids in tongue movement and swallowing. The hyoid bone provides attachment to the muscles of the floor of the mouth and the tongue above, the larynx below, and the epiglottis and pharynx behind. Due to its position, the hyoid bone is not easily susceptible to fracture. In a suspected case of murder or physical abuse of an adult, a fractured hyoid strongly indicates throttling or strangulation. A study conducted from 2010 to 2016 found hyoid damage in just 16 of 264, or six percent, of cases of hangings.

* For humans and most primates, the philtrum survives only as a vestigial medial depression between the nose and upper lip. The human philtrum, bordered by ridges, also is known as the infranasal depression, but has no apparent function. That may be because most higher primates rely more on vision than on smell. In humans, the philtrum is formed where the nasomedial and maxillary processes meet during embryonic development. When these processes fail to fuse fully, a cleft lip may result. A flattened or smooth philtrum may be a symptom of fetal alcohol syndrome or Prader–Willi syndrome. A study of boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders found that a broader than average philtrum is one of a cluster of physical attributes associated with autism. The toothbrush moustache  made famous by Charlie Chaplin is also called philtrum moustache.

A frame from "Mission Impossible" showing philtrum measurement

* The practice of quarantine began during the 14th century, in an effort to protect coastal cities from plague epidemics.

* Hyderabad was founded in 1591 by Mohd. Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth ruler of the Golconda dynasty (1518-1687). The Mughals (1526-1857) are used as a blanket term for Muslim rule, but ironically, they were essentially enemies of the Golconda dynasty, which was eventually finished after Aurangzeb conquered and destroyed Hyderabad in 1687. The Nizams who were governors under the Mughals, took over afterwards for 430 years (1724-1948). 

* Secunderabad was formed in 1806 during the reign of Sikander Jah, the 3rd Nizam, as British cantonment. 

* Osmania General Hospital and the Unani Hospital (1929) were both built during the reign of Hyderabad’s last Nizam Osman Ali Khan. Kachiguda railway station was built around 1916. A Belgian architect Monsieur Jasper designed OU’s Arts college. 

* In 1908, Hyderabad witnessed its most devastating flood in our recorded history when the recorded rainfall touched close to a staggering 19 inches of rain by 29 September, 1908. The city was ravaged due to what was possibly worst natural calamity recorded in its history. The great Musi river floods not only damaged over 50,000 homes, but also led to the death of reportedly over 15,000 people.

* Study an accomplished artist's work and take advantage of what he knows, and put your own original ideas in the drawing. This is the road that leads to success in art. - Mitchell Smith, The Art of Caricaturing (1941)