Tech Tips, Tricks & Trivia

Python is a general‑purpose and high‑level programming language.  Algorithms + Data structures = Programs Python is an interpreted programming language. In languages like C and C ++, whitespace doesn't actually have a significant meaning. In Python, however, related blocks of code are grouped based on how far they are indented, making the whitespace quite significant.  Python is a multiparadigm programming language. It supports structured programming, object‑oriented programming, and functional programming. Python is a dynamically typed programming language - the type of a variable can change over the lifetime of that variable and type checking happens at runtime. Most statically typed languages are compiled languages Some of the Python principles  (from Python Enhancement Proposals, PEP 20 - The Zen of Python): Beautiful is better than ugly Explicit is better than implicit. Readability counts Errors should never pass silently. Unless explicitly silenced. P...

This Week I Learned -  * In modern websites, scripts are often “heavier” than HTML: their download size is larger, and processing time is also longer. Scripts without async , defer or type="module" attributes, as well as inline scripts, are fetched and executed immediately, before the browser continues to parse the page and only then can it process the rest of the page. The difference between async and defer is that async scripts will not execute in order so if we have 4 scripts included, any script will be executed at any time but that's not the case with defer. The defer attribute is only for external scripts. The defer attribute is ignored if the <script> tag has no src.  Dynamic scripts behave as “async” by default . * The script attribute referrerpolicy indicates which referrer to send when fetching the script, or resources fetched by the script. The default value is  strict-origin-when-cross-origin which indicates send a full URL when performing a sa...

Key points from  CIO's Guide to Application Migration  (Google Cloud Whitepaper, May 2020) - A well-designed digital transformation strategy should do much more than keep you competitive...instead, it should position you to excel by untethering IT staff from low value, labor-intensive tasks, allowing them to focus on innovation and high-impact projects.  Digital transformation is truly an exercise in change management, requiring determined effort and focused leadership across people, process and technology domains; it is as much a culture shift as a technology revamp.  While some licenses allow you to deploy an application in a cloud environment, others explicitly forbid cloud deployment. In addition, some licenses (like for Oracle software) are assigned based on the number of CPUs or sockets in use, and these concepts might not be applicable when running on cloud technology. If retention on-premises is no longer viable  (e.g. if you must completely shut down y...

The eBook Azure Defenses for Ransomware Attack [PDF]   lays out key Azure native capabilities and defenses for ransomware attacks and guidance on how to proactively leverage these to protect your assets on Azure cloud. Key points - Ransomware is a type of malware that infects a computer and restricts a user's access to the infected system or specific files in order to extort them for money. Ransomware and extortion are a high profit, low-cost business which has a debilitating impact on targeted  organizations, national security, economic security, and public health and safety. Ransomware will typically exploit the weaknesses or vulnerabilities in your organization's IT systems or infrastructures to succeed.  The cloud kill chain model explains how attackers attempt to gain access to any of your resources running in the public cloud through a four-step process: exposure, access, lateral movement, and actions. Azure Defender data shows that without a security tool to quickl...

This Week I Learned -  * The eBook  Azure Defenses for Ransomware Attack  [PDF]  lays out key Azure native capabilities and defenses for ransomware attacks and guidance on how to proactively leverage these to protect your assets on Azure cloud. *  Doodle Ipsum - The lorem ipsum of illustrations.  *  IMDb began as a movie database on the Usenet group "rec.arts.movies" in 1990 and moved to the web in 1993. Colin Needham is an English entrepreneur who is known as the founder and CEO of IMDb. He has been general manager of IMDb since its acquisition by Amazon in 1998. Due to the time required for processing submitted data or text before it is displayed, IMDb is different from user-contributed projects like Discogs, or OpenStreetMap, or Wikipedia, in that contributors cannot add, delete, or modify the data or text on impulse, and the manipulation of data is controlled by IMDb technology and salaried staff. IMDb does not provide an API for a...

Mark Twain's candid witticisms & profound insights about human nature are a joy to read. He used humor, irreverence, and satire to both entertain and to convey truth. "When I first began to lecture, and in my earlier writings, my sole idea was to make comic capital out of everything I saw and heard." There are many online compilations of quotes by  Mark Twain . Here's a compilation of my favorites - Authority "Always respect your superiors; if you have any." Anger “When angry, count four. When very angry, swear.” “Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." Arguing “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” Books “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” “Those who don't read good books have no advantage over those who can't.” “′Classic′ - a book which people praise and don't read.” “A successful book is not made of what is in it, but ...

This Week I Learned -  * When an AZ VM is onboarded, the administrator must configure various services such as Backup, VM Security as per Best Practices, Monitoring, Diagnostics, Update Management, Automation Account, and few other services separately. Also, it is not easy to detect drifts in the configurations and correct.  Azure Automanage  simplifies and optimizes IT management with automated operations.  * Four different products and services can use Azure Backup to create backups: Azure Backup Agent is a small Windows application that backs up files, folders, and system state from the Windows VM or server on which it's installed. It requires configuration of an Azure Recovery vault. Once you download and install it onto a Windows server or VM, you can configure it to create backups up to three times a day. System Center Data Protection Manager is a Windows Server application that can back up filesystems and virtual machines (Windows and Linux), create bare-metal...

Google debunks myths about Multicloud in the white paper 5 ways Google can help you succeed in the multicloud world (PDF, May 2021): Myth #1: Multicloud is expensive  Reality: Managed strategically, multicloud can give you the flexibility you need to lower your overall IT costs. An all-in one cloud approach means you are locked into the features and services of one vendor for multiple years. Operating in multiple clouds lets you choose the most cost effective solution for your business and leverage providers against each other to get the best price. Myth #2: Most organizations are all in one cloud Reality: According to research from Gartner, a majority of enterprises are currently hybrid in nature with plans to move to more than one cloud in the future.  Myth #3: You can’t have speed and reliability in multicloud Reality: With the combined strength of Google Cloud’s easy to use developer tools and advanced monitoring across environments with Apigee and the operations suite yo...

I got to not know about Shanta Gokhale only after reading an excerpt from her book  One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body . I bought my copy after getting bowled over by the author’s wizardry of words and profound observations.  "However high the flights of the mind or of ambition, it is ultimately the body that allows or disallows them. Athletes have a proper sense of this. After his eighth Wimbledon win, Roger Federer said, 'Again and again I am grateful my body has cooperated.' He was thirty-six, which is supposedly ancient for tennis. It is vital then to accept the body in all its beauty, mystery and power; to know that the images we build of ourselves might one day be rudely shattered by its exigencies." I found out later that she is the author of several English & Marathi books, translator, scriptwriter and mother of actress Renuka Shahane.  After the author reveals at various points in the book, I also learned that she's a feminist, rati...

 This Week I Learned -  * The Azure Migrate App Containerization tool offers a point-and-containerize approach to repackage applications as containers with minimal to no code changes by using the running state of the application. The tool currently supports containerizing ASP.NET applications and Java web applications running on Apache Tomcat.  The containerization process doesn’t require access to your codebase and provides an easy way to containerize existing applications. The tool works by using the running state of the applications on a server to determine the application components and helps you package them in a container image. The containerized application can then be deployed on Azure App Service or AKS. *  You can peer Azure VNets across subscriptions and across regions . * The Microsoft Cybersecurity Reference Architectures (MCRA) describe Microsoft’s cybersecurity capabilities. The diagrams describe how Microsoft security capabilities integrate wi...