This Week I Learned - Week #17 2025

This Week I Learned - 

* Code golf - It’s a sport (of sorts) where people attempt to reduce the number of characters they use in source code in order to solve a problem. It tends to result in comically terse, virtually unreadable lines of code, but it still gets the job done. 

* Gergely Orosz on AI coding tools - These tools really feel like a massive multiplier for experienced devs - those of us who have it in our head exactly what we want to do and now the LLM tooling can move nearly as fast as my thoughts! 

* Google's Machine Learning Crash Course - 12 modules, 15 hours

* Developers can ask GitHub Copilot questions in Indian languages like Hindi, Kannada or Telugu and get answers in the same script

* How Americans spend the day - a data visualization:

* The Bechdel test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who have a conversation about something other than a man. It is named after Alison Bechdel, who credited her friend Liz Wallace and Virginia Woolf as its sources.

* Indians and Chinese are the two largest foreign groups in the US academia, with more than half a million students between them.

* As of 2024, the Indian insulin market size was valued at USD 662.1 million (approximately Rs 5,467 crore).

* The market for the controversial anti-inflammatory drug Nimesulide is Rs 497 crore. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended a ban on Nimesulide for individuals under 18 and over 60 due to safety concerns.

* Fantasy gaming platform Dream11 reported a staggering revenue of Rs 6,400 crore in FY23. Some gaming companies are navigating India's legal landscape by positioning themselves as "games of skill." 

* "Those who associate with hostile kings should neither be too distant nor too close, like people warming themselves by a fire." - Kural 784, Chapter - "Avoiding Evil Company"

This Kural advises on the cautious approach one should take when dealing with powerful but potentially dangerous individuals, such as hostile or untrustworthy kings. Just as one stays at a safe distance from a fire to avoid getting burned while still benefiting from its warmth, one should maintain a balanced relationship with such rulers—neither too aloof to seem disloyal nor too close to risk harm or entanglement in their conflicts. It emphasizes diplomacy, tact, and self-preservation in precarious alliances.

* "I can resist everything except temptation" - Oscar Wilde

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