This Week I Learned - Week #28 2024

This Week I Learned - 

* Leaflet is an open-source JavaScript library for creating mobile-friendly interactive maps. At just around 42 KB of JS, it serves as a great alternative to Google Maps, offering all the essential mapping features most developers need. Initially created by Volodymyr Agafonkin, Leaflet is now maintained by a large community of contributors. 

* OCI Supercluster allows the deployment of up to 32,768 GPUs per cluster, utilizing RDMA cluster networking and local storage for swift training and inferencing of extensive AI models. Companies such as Adept, Modal, MosaicML, NVIDIA, Reka, Suno, Together AI, Twelve Labs, and xAI utilize OCI Supercluster for training and inferencing next-generation AI models. 

* The new "Chat with Documents" is a no-code RAG feature in watsonx.ai that allows AI developers to enhance a large language model's (LLM) knowledge base by grounding it with documents. This helps reduce the risk of the model generating incorrect or "hallucinated" answers. The foundation model provides concise responses along with citations, enabling users to easily explore the source material. Instead of keeping data in memory, you can store it in a vector database for lower latency and reusability. IBM watsonx allows you to connect your LLM to vector databases like Milvus or Elasticsearch using various connectors, avoiding the need to upload static documents.

* Gemini has introduced a feature that allows users to double-check its responses using Google Search. By clicking the "Double-check response" button, users can see parts of the response highlighted in different colors, indicating how closely the information matches content found through Google Search. This helps ensure the accuracy of the information provided.

* Gemini responded to a question about a Bollywood personality in Hindi, using transliterated English.

* Kunal Bhatia and Vignesh Baskaran founded Hexo in 2022 with the idea of assisting enterprises harness the power of unstructured data through the use of autonomous AI agents. The inspiration for Hexo stemmed from the founders’ first-hand experience with the time-consuming and labour intensive process of data cleaning and processing across various AI projects. Recognising the untapped potential of generative AI models, Kunal and Vignesh set out to develop a solution that could automate the extraction of deep data from unstructured sources, making it readily accessible and actionable for enterprises worldwide. Hexo’s AI systems employ autonomous web browser agents, large language models, vision models, and audio transcription models to extract valuable structured data from unstructured and undefined sources. Given a task, Hexo’s AI agent develops a plan, navigating websites and applications autonomously, just like a human would. It then extracts and transforms data from various sources, including websites, PDFs, Excel files, audio, and video, into structured formats. This approach significantly reduces the time and effort required for data preparation, allowing teams to concentrate on deriving insights and making data-driven decisions. - ToI

* Herping is the searching for wild amphibians and reptiles out in nature. It is the Herpetology equivalent to birding

* Whale sharks are the largest species of sharks still alive today, and the largest species of fish; the largest recorded individual was 18.8 metre. Despite their huge size, their diet is mainly made up of plankton, tiny marine creatures that float on the ocean currents.

* Greenland sharks are not only the longest-living sharks, but also the vertebrate with the longest known lifespan. Found in the cold waters of the Northern Hemisphere, the lifespan of these amazing creatures is estimated to be between 250 and 500 years. The oldest known specimen is thought to have reached an age of 392.

* Badminton evolved in British India from the earlier game of battledore and shuttlecock, gaining widespread popularity by the 1870s. Initially, the game was referred to as Poona or Poonah, named after the garrison town of Poona (now Pune), where it enjoyed considerable popularity and where the initial rules were established in 1873. The sport was played under the Pune rules until 1887. 

* In 1992, badminton debuted as a Summer Olympic sport with four events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and women's doubles; mixed doubles was added four years later.

* Great Britain, where the rules of the modern game were codified, is not among the top powers in the sport, but has had significant Olympic and World success in doubles play, especially mixed doubles.

* On average, it is estimated that the cost of a basic background check, which may include verification of education and employment history, could come around INR500 - INR1,000 per candidate. However, a more extensive check that includes criminal record verification and reference checks could cost upwards of INR2,000 - INR3,000.

* Section 80EEB allows an income tax deduction for electric vehicle loans.

* Sundar Gutka is a small book (Gutka) which comprises various essential verses (Bani's) or shabads (sacred verses) from Sri Guru Granth Sahib and other sources which are used to perform the daily recital of the Guru's words (Gurbani).