This Week I Learned - Week #43 2023

This Week I Learned - 

* MySQL HeatWave is a massively parallel, high performance, in-memory query accelerator that accelerates MySQL performance by orders of magnitude for analytics and mixed workloads. MySQL HeatWave on AWS is a fully managed 

service that can help you create and manage a MySQL DB System with a HeatWave Cluster to use with AWS Applications.

* Device42 Warranty Sync feature allows customers to take the discovered hardware devices in their environment and sync into Device42 the warranty and support contract information.  This helps in understanding which hardware is in support, what is coming up for expiration, and what devices are out of support all in one simple report.  You can also use this information to create automated email reports to alert you when hardware is coming up on expiration so you can take action to renew it or move off of that hardware platform. Device42 supports most major manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo, HP, IBM, and Meraki.

* A curated list of falsehoods programmers believe in. 

* Data-centric AI is the discipline of systematically engineering the data used to build an AI system.

*  Large Language Models are gullible. Their only source of information is their training data combined with the information that you feed them. If you feed them a prompt that includes malicious instructions—however those instructions are presented—they will follow those instructions.

* Infosys salary in 2011: Campus placement at 3.25-3.75 LPA. Then a training period ranging between 4-6 months in Mysore. Your performance in the training period decided both your training tenure and the CTC you would get post completion. 

* Founded in 2012 by two former Amazon executives, Vimal Kumar and Ramanathan RV, the Bengaluru-based startup Juspay built the BHIM Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app in 2016, launched Namma Yatri on ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) in November 2022 and worked with the West Bengal government to build Yatri Sathi app, a Namma Yatri equivalent. Juspay was one of the contributors within an “open source ecosystem” for building the Beckn protocol, a set of open standards for interoperability designed by the Nandan Nilekani-founded Beckn Foundation (now called FIDE). Juspay is one of the most scaled and pervasive payment platforms in India. - ET

* The owner of a CCTV located at a junction in Lucknow where accidents take place often is monetizing the accident videos through his YouTube Channel. He calls this location "The Bermuda Triangle". The videos also highlight the lack of awareness of traffic rules. 

* Death by GPS refers to the death of people attributable, in part, to following GPS directions or GPS maps.

* Agoraphobia is fear or anxiety about being in situations or places (for example, in crowds and shopping malls or while driving) with no way to escape easily. 

* If you have to extract tabular info in a PDF file to Excel, you can get and  transform the data using Power Query.

Doordash calculates your future weight based on order history

* Honey technically has more calories than sugar. A teaspoon of honey has about 21 calories, while one of white sugar contains around 16 calories. The sugars in honey have a lower glycemic index than those in white sugar. 

* In the food industry, nisin is obtained from the culturing of the bacterium Lactococcus lactis on natural substrates, such as milk or dextrose, and it is not chemically synthesized. While in general most bacteriocins inhibit only closely related species, nisin is a rare example of a "broad-spectrum" bacteriocin effective against many Gram-positive organisms, including lactic acid bacteria (commonly associated to avoid food spoilage), Listeria monocytogenes (a known pathogen), Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum, etc. Nisin is used in processed cheese, meats, beverages, etc. during production to extend shelf life by suppressing Gram-positive spoilage and pathogenic bacteria. As a food additive, nisin has an E number of E234. 

* Bacteriocins are proteinaceous or peptidic toxins produced by bacteria to inhibit the growth of similar or closely related bacterial strain(s). They are similar to yeast and paramecium killing factors, and are structurally, functionally, and ecologically diverse. 

* Taurine is named after Latin taurus meaning bull or ox, as it was first isolated from ox bile in 1827. Although taurine is abundant in human organs with diverse putative roles, it is not an essential dietary nutrient and is not included among nutrients with a recommended intake level. Taurine is commonly sold as a dietary supplement, but there is no good clinical evidence that taurine supplements provide any benefit to human health. Taurine is used as a food additive for cats, dogs, and poultry. A taurine deficiency in cats can lead to retinal degeneration and eventually blindness – a condition known as central retinal degeneration (CRD), as well as hair loss and tooth decay. Other effects of a diet lacking in this essential amino acid are dilated cardiomyopathy and reproductive failure in female cats. Taurine occurs naturally in fish and meat. Taurine is present in breast milk, and has been added to many infant formulas, as a measure of prudence, since the early 1980s. Taurine is an ingredient in some energy drinks.

* The quality of the Indian avocado - with almost 12% oil content - is different from the South American ones, which are softer, take less time to ripen and have a buttery texture owing to larger oil content of about 18%

* Humidifiers can be beneficial in winter by adding moisture to the dry indoor air. Warm soups and hot beverages like herbal teas help soothe your throat and airways. They also maintain the moisture in your respiratory passages, reducing the risk of irritations. Inhaling moist air or steam works similarly to drinking warm liquids. 

* Types of cardiovascular drugs:

• Anti-hypertensives
• Lipid-lowering agents
• Platelet-aggregator inhibitors
• Anti-anginals
• Diuretics
• Heparins
• Cardiac therapy
• Heart-failure therapies
• Other cardiovascular products
• Fibrinolytics
• Antithrombotic agents

 * Extended Internal Rate of Return (XIRR) is commonly used when evaluating mutual funds with irregular cash flows. This could be the case when an investor makes additional investments or withdrawals at different points in time. CAGR or Compound Annual Growth Rate is commonly used when evaluating mutual funds with regular cash flows. 

* The highest gold medal winner in the history of the Olympic Games is Michael Phelps, an American swimmer. Michael Phelps has won a total of 23 Olympic Gold medals (13 in individual events) throughout his career, making him the most decorated Olympian in terms of gold medals. He announced his second retirement in 2016 (when he was 31) having won more medals than 161 countries. 

* Edward Bernays (1891 − 1995) is considered "the father of public relations". His best-known campaigns include a 1929 effort to promote female smoking by branding cigarettes as feminist "Torches of Freedom", and his work for the United Fruit Company in the 1950s, connected with the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954. He was the nephew of Sigmund Freud.  He wrote many books including Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) and Propaganda (1928).

* Saccharum spontaneum or kans grass or 'kash' as it is called in Bengali is a grass native to the Indian Subcontinent. In 'Pather Panchali', Satyajit Ray choose to shoot a scene with the main characters - Apu and Durga - playing in the fields of 'kash' flowers or kans grass running parallel to the single line railway track. Kans grasslands are an important habitat for the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). In Nepal, kans grass is harvested to thatch roofs or fence vegetable gardens. Saccharum spontaneum exhibits exceptional resistance to biotic stresses such as nematodes, fungi, bacteria and other pests and diseases, and abiotic stresses such as cold, drought, salinity and nutritionally deficient soil.