This Week I Learned - Week #36 2021

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:

1. 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.
2. System Center Data Protection Manager is a Windows Server application that can back up filesystems and virtual machines (Windows and Linux), create bare-metal backups of physical servers, and perform application-aware backup of many Microsoft server products, such as SQL Server and Exchange. 
3. Azure Backup Server is similar to Data Protection Manager, but it's licensed as part of an Azure subscription and doesn't require a System Center license.
4. Azure IaaS VM Backup

* The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) team finds that companies with the most sophisticated software delivery practices (who DORA identifies as “Elite performers”) deploy code 200 times more frequently than low performers, while having only a seventh of the change failure rate.

* Amazon EKS Anywhere, an official Kubernetes distribution designed to run on-premises based on VMware vSphere, is generally available. It provides tooling for provisioning and managing the lifecycle of Kubernetes clusters in enterprise data centers. Amazon EKS Anywhere is based on EKS Distro, an open source distribution, but unlike EKS Distro, customers can buy official support from Amazon. 

* How to pick the right chart type for data visualization? The first step is to focus on your purpose. What do you want to show?

• Comparison
• Distribution
• Composition
• Relationship

And then pick a chart type depending upon the number of variables, and whether one of them is time. 

* Kubernetes Instance Calculator

* Encrypted data can’t be effectively compressed. If you want to make use of compression, compress the data before encrypting it. -  Practical Cloud Security

* R2D3 is an experiment in expressing statistical thinking with interactive design

* Font is how the design is delivered, a type in a particular size and weight. Typeface describes the overall look of the characters within the fonts. - A Non-Designers Guide to Pairing Fonts

* A motherhood statement is a vague, "feel good" platitude, especially one made by a politician, that few people would disagree with. For example: "Our country must contribute to world peace". It has little or no value, and provides no constructive solution, only talk. 5 tips to avoid motherhood statements:

1. Statistics – use meaningful stats, not just big numbers
2. Facts – inarguable facts are persuasive
3. Examples – paint a picture, use SAO (Situation, Action and Outcome) to describe it
4. Case Studies – talking openly, when permissible, about a winning bid that led to a successful project and the results achieved
5. Tell a story – storytelling is most powerful when related to your own personal experience, when it allows you to share your passion and demonstrates that you really mean it

* Hyperbolic discounting is the idea that the present looms largest in our decision making, while the  future is significantly discounted and as a result it is not that motivating. When we make choices that that affect our present, emotions rules strong. - 

* ...the troubling nature of the Path of Least Resistance runs deeper than mere laziness. It highlights the fluid and ethereal nature of our desires—it shows us that, in many circumstances, we don't know what we want. And when we don't know what we want, we let the environment decide for us.

* Money wins elections - Less than 1% of Americans, contribute 68% of all election funding.

* Several episodes of The Simpsons have references to Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha and Hanuman 

* Dysgraphia is a brain-based learning disability that affects writing. There is no cure for dysgraphia, and medication will not help. But problems associated with writing and fine motor skills can be improved — especially if you start early. Symptoms of dysgraphia include:

• Difficulty spacing things out on paper or within margins (poor spatial planning)
• Frequent erasing.
• Inconsistency in letter and word spacing.
• Poor spelling, including unfinished words or missing words or letters.

* Agoraphobia is an extreme or irrational fear of entering open (such as parking lots, bridges or malls), enclosed spaces (such as movie theaters, elevators or small stores or crowded places), using public transportation (such as a bus, plane or train) or of leaving one's own home. 

* Cancer isn’t one disease, but actually a group of diseases caused by the abnormal division and growth of cells in the body, often in a specific organ or tissue. Both genetic makeup and environmental exposure to carcinogens play a part in cancerous formations. It’s worth noting that coming into contact with carcinogens doesn’t necessarily guarantee the development of cancer. In fact, there are a number of factors that influence carcinogen-driven cancer formation; these include how long you're exposed to the carcinogen, the intensity of the exposure, and how it interacts with your genetic makeup. Some carcinogens cause cancer by altering the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) itself and some simply cause cells to divide rapidly, increasing the chances of a cancer-causing DNA mutation. Carcinogens aren't limited to meats; another cancer causing substance, acrylamine, is formed when plant based foods high in carbohydrates (such as potatoes, breads, and pastries) are cooked at high temperatures by frying, roasting, or baking. - Go Ask Alice!

* Words such as China, Lent, Polish, March, Natal, Tangier etc. are called Capitonyms. Capitonyms are words which change their meaning if the first letter is capitalized.

* Lakme started as a 100% subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills (TOMCO). Lakmé is French for Lakshmi. Set up during J.R.D. Tata’s chairmanship of the group, it is also the first cosmetic company set up in independent India. Not many people know that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, was the catalyst behind the launch of India’s premium make-up brand. In the early days, when the fledgling economy of Independent India was still finding its feet, the Prime Minister was concerned about the amount of money flowing out of the country when Indian women splurged on imported cosmetics. Quality personal care products of Indian origin were in short supply in post-Independence India and there were very few Indian manufacturers. Pandit Nehru persuaded J.R.D. Tata, a close friend, to set up a company to manufacture cosmetics, and in turn save precious foreign exchange. Thus, was born Lakmé — a company that manufactured fine cosmetics tailored for the Indian skin and Indian climate, in India. The company gradually grew and diversified into a manufacturer of soaps, cooking oils, detergents, shampoos, perfumed oils, eau de cologne, etc. In 1993, TOMCO merged with Hindustan Unilever (erstwhile Hindustan Lever) in a strategic deal and in 1998, Lakmé divested its 50 percent stake in the joint venture and sold its brands to Hindustan Unilever.  - Tata Central Archives 

* India imports 60% of cooking oils. Import bill of Rs 80,000 crore. 50% of such imports are palm oil. Most of palm oil imports are from two countries - Malaysia and Indonesia. Increased production of palm oil has environmental cost. Each tree consumes 300 litres of water a day.

* Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) plans to fill 500 nominated posts to those who have sailed with the party in difficult times. - The Hindu

* Seasonal hair fall reduces as the monsoons near its end in India, when Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated, between August and September.

* The British considered Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the 'Father of Indian Unrest'.

* There are many carnivores like dolphins, cats, Asian otters and spotted hyenas which cannot taste sweetness. They have broken versions of the genes that build sugar detectors on the tongue. As such, they’re completely oblivious to the taste of sweet things. Two genes are largely responsible for our sweet tooth – Tas1r2 and Tas1r3. They encode two proteins that combine to form a sensor, which dots our tastebuds and detects sugar molecules. - Nat Geo

* "Adityat Jayate Vrishti" is the Sanskrit motto of the Indian Meteorological Department. It means rains come from the sun. The organization is divided into six regions.

* Goa does not have a great public transport system. So, you either need to have a pickup organised by the hotel you will stay at, or you book a cab from the airport counter and have them drive you to your location.

* In Telangana 3,19,765 street vendors (94%) are accepting digital payments through QR codes.

* "You’re entitled to your own opinion if you keep it to yourself. If you decide to say it out loud, then you have a responsibility to be open to changing your mind in the face of better logic/stronger data. 

* "If you’re voicing an opinion, be willing to change it too." - Adam Grant