This Week I Learned - Week #3 2023

This Week I Learned - 

* Cloud Foundry is an open-source platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for building, deploying, and operating 12-factor applications developed in various languages and frameworks. There are two forms of Cloud Foundry available to run on Azure: open-source Cloud Foundry (OSS CF) and Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF). OSS CF is an entirely open-source version of Cloud Foundry managed by the Cloud Foundry Foundation. Pivotal Cloud Foundry is an enterprise distribution of Cloud Foundry from Pivotal Software Inc. which is now acquired by VMware. It is now called Tanzu Application Service (TAS). VMware is transitioning from Cloud Foundry to Tanzu tools and nomenclature.

* Free ebook - Azure SQL Revealed: A Guide to the Cloud for SQL Server Professionals;519 pages, 2021

Terraform Workshop slides

OpenStack began as a joint project between Rackspace and NASA.  

OpenStack is an open source platform that uses pooled virtual resources to build and manage private and public clouds. The tools that comprise the OpenStack platform, called "projects," handle the core cloud-computing services of compute, networking, storage, identity, and image services. More than a dozen optional projects can also be bundled together to create unique, deployable clouds. OpenStack's architecture is made up of numerous open source projects. Red Hat OpenStack stabilizes OpenStack for enterprises. 

* Red Hat OpenShift is an enterprise-ready Kubernetes container platform with full-stack automated operations to manage hybrid cloud, multicloud, and edge deployments.

* Microsoft is making certifications, and the resources to learn, prepare, and get certified, free to all eligible students, starting with fundamentals certifications through June 2023. 

The Dictation feature in Google Docs & Word supports Indian languages.

* An in-place upgrade allows you to go from an older operating system to a newer one without removing the older version first and while keeping your settings, server roles, and data intact. In-place installations of operating systems have a tendency to cause problems, especially if the new version is very different from the previous one.

* Azure Data Studio is a cross-platform database assessment tool, to help switch from Oracle to a Microsoft PostgreSQL-compatible managed service.

* Kestrel is a cross-platform web server for ASP.NET Core. Kestrel is the web server that's included and enabled by default in ASP. Kestrel is much faster than IIS but also lacks a lot of its functionality.

Shift left and shift right are core testing concepts of the agile DevOps methodology, which speeds up application development by releasing small builds frequently as code evolves. Shift-left is the practice of moving testing, quality, and performance evaluation early in the development process, often before any code is written.  Shift-left speeds up development efficiency and reduces costs by detecting and addressing software defects earlier in the development cycle before they get to production. Shift-right is the practice of performing testing, quality, and performance evaluation in production under real-world conditions. Shift-right methods ensure that applications running in production can withstand real user load while ensuring the same high levels of quality. With shift-right, DevOps teams test a built application to ensure performance, resilience, and software reliability. The goal is to detect and remediate issues that would be difficult to anticipate in development environments. Like shift-left testing, the objective of shift-right testing is to fail small and fail fast. 

* A shift-right approach may enlist various types of test suites:

  • A/B testing
  • Synthetic monitoring
  • Chaos engineering
  • Canary releases
  • Blue-green deployment

The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is big, detail-laden, and abstract. The TOGAF specification is over 800 pages.  The Open Group is an 850-member global organization.

* Brave has implemented a query string filter which helps prevent tracking of individual users without interfering with campaign-level tracking. To use this feature, simply select the Copy clean link option from the context menu when copying a link, or from the "share menu" in the address bar.

* Although most visit New York Harbor to behold the 305-foot Statue of Liberty, there are hundreds of replicas across the globe. Paris is home to at least 12 replicas of Statue of Liberty. Perhaps the most notable is the statue on the manmade Île aux Cygnes (Swan Island) on the Seine. A short distance away is the Eiffel Tower. Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel designed the statue’s interior. Similar to the original, a replica located in Tokyo Bay represents the relationship between France and Japan. It is about 1/7th the size of the statue in New York Harbor and was erected in 1998.

The Statue of Liberty in Paris waving to the one in New York

* The film The French Dispatch, which traces the making of the magazine, draws on Wes Anderson’s lifelong love for The New Yorker, which he discovered in eleventh grade. While even the characters of the film were based on New Yorker journalists and moments from the periodical’s storied history, the magazine in the film itself had to have a very distinct identity.

* Japan implemented the 'Metabo' law which included the measurement of waist sizes in 2008 in attempt to overcome increasing obesity rates. It is named after metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions - increased blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels - that occurring together can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Financial penalties are imposed on companies and local governments that fail to meet specific targets. The law requires that companies and local governments measure the waistlines of citizens between the ages of 45 and 74 as part of their annual checkups. Those exceeding government limits - 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women, which are identical to thresholds established in 2005 for Japan by the International Diabetes Federation as an easy guideline for identifying health risks - and having a weight-related ailment will be given dieting guidance if after three months they do not lose weight. If necessary, those people are steered toward further re-education after six more months. The hope is that the campaign will encourage healthy lifestyles and keep diabetes, heart disease and strokes in check.

PoV - Japan's success in avoiding the obesity problem faced by most of the western world is down to three main factors: an appreciation of good food from cradle to grave, a lifestyle that encourages incidental exercise, and a large dollop of paternalism.

Class III obesity, formerly known as morbid obesity, is a complex chronic disease in which a person has a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher or a BMI of 35 or higher and is experiencing obesity-related health conditions. The BMI scale is not always accurate, so healthcare providers may use other tests and tools to assess obesity, such as measuring waist circumference. The term “morbid obesity” was coined by two healthcare providers in 1963 in order to justify insurance reimbursement for the cost of intestinal bypass surgery for weight loss in people with a BMI over 40.

* In a medical setting, “morbidity” means illness or disease. Healthcare professionals also often use the term “comorbidity,” which means that an individual has more than one illness or disease occurring at the same time. The medical meaning of “morbid” is appropriate in describing this type of obesity since class III obesity is considered a disease and is often associated with other chronic health conditions. Outside of the medical setting, “morbid” means disturbing or unpleasant. The use of “morbid” in describing obesity adds to the false and problematic societal stigma that suggests that people with obesity lack the willpower to lose weight, when this is almost always not the case. 

* Approximately 9% of adults in the United States had class III obesity from 2017 to 2018.

* Having a low socioeconomic status and having easier financial and/or geographical access to unhealthy fast foods as compared to healthier whole foods can contribute to developing obesity. Having limited access to recreational facilities or parks and few safe or easy ways to walk in your neighborhood can also contribute to developing obesity.

* If you had thyroid blood tests and the results indicate that your TSH levels are elevated (5 to 10 mIU/L) and your thyroxine (T4) levels are in the normal range, it means you have subclinical hypothyroidism. Anyone can have subclinical hypothyroidism, but it’s more likely to affect adults assigned female at birth and people over the age of 65.

* Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide.

* Hypothyroidism happens when your thyroid doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones (thyroxine and triiodothyronine). “Subclinical” describes a condition that’s not severe enough to cause definite symptoms.

* Thyroid-stimulating hormone, commonly called TSH and also referred to as thyrotropin, is a hormone that your pituitary gland releases to trigger your thyroid to produce and release its own hormones — thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). These two hormones are essential for maintaining your body’s metabolism — how your body transforms the food you eat into energy and uses it.

Subclinical hypothyroidism affects up to 10% of adults in the United States. 

* Europe experienced its second-hottest year since records began in 1950. In 2023, Europe’s freakish winter heatwave continues to break records. In Europe temperatures are rising twice as fast as the global average. The heatwave has helped lessen the impact in Europe of the energy crisis. In the long run it will cause more harm than good.

Source: The Economist

* The median age in America is 39

* Muharam is a festival of mourning and a period of self-reflection. Muharram marks the anniversary of the battle of Karbala, where the Islamic prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussain Ibn Ali was killed. They remember the massacre on the 10th day called Ashura and many people observe a fast on this day. Muharram is the first month of the Islamic New Year

* Afreen is a mainly Middle Eastern expression originating in the Persian language used when admiring or showing amazement at something very beautiful or wonderful. 

* Uttar Pradesh is the largest number of beneficiaries of all the government schemes. Out of the total 32 crore beneficiaries across the country, nearly 15 crore are in Uttar Pradesh.

* A. S. Rao Nagar in Hyderabad is named after Dr Ayyagari Sambasiva Rao, a scientist & founder of the ECIL. A man of immense intellect and legendary character, he studied in BHU and Stanford. Known for his simplicity, Dr Rao used to travel in city buses even after 80.

* Indian-Americans, 1% of US population, pay 6% of taxes

* Cilantro is also called Coriander or Chinese Parsley. Parsley and coriander come from the same botanical family, called Apiaceae. Although cilantro and parsley bear a great resemblance, you can tell them apart by examining their leaves. Cilantro leaves are more rounded, while parsley leaves are pointed. The flavor of coriander and parsley are poles apart. Parsley is nutritionally denser compared to coriander, being richer in protein, fats, dietary fiber, most vitamins, and minerals. In India, the herb is referred to as dhania.  Its fruits are mistakenly called seeds because they are small and hard. - FoodStruct

* Both millet and rice are excluded from the keto diet due to their high carbohydrate content. Millet and rice do not contain gluten. 

* Foods with 0 carbs have no glycemic index. The glycemic index can not be measured for such foods. The glycemic index of most foods can fluctuate depending on the variety of the food.

* The insulin index of foods demonstrates how much a food increases the insulin level in the blood, in the first two-hour period after consumption.  Prolonged high levels of insulin in the blood can be a risk factor for various diseases. Therefore, food’s ability to induce insulin secretion after consumption can play an important role in the prevention and management of metabolic syndromes, such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (2). The higher the insulin index of the food, the more insulin the body produces as a response. Foods with lower insulinemic indices are recommended as part of a healthy diet, to help reduce risk of developing metabolic syndromes. The insulin index of pure glucose, for example, is 100, while avocados have an insulin index of 6. 

Brie is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated.

* Parsnip belongs to the carrot & parsley family and resembles carrots too. It tastes somewhere between carrot and potato and has a unique aroma that will remind you of fresh parsley. 

* Eating foods rich in unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat improves blood cholesterol levels, which can decrease your risk of heart attack and stroke. Good fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which come mainly from plants and fish.

* "Facts are far less persuasive than we think they are" - Zoe Chance, Influence Is Your Superpower: The Science of Winning Hearts, Sparking Change, and Making Good Things Happen 

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