This Week I Learned - Week #39 2022

This Week I Learned - 

* Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB). A CASB is used to help ensure regulatory compliance and data protection, govern cloud usage across devices and cloud applications, and protect against threats.

* Stack Overflow started in 2008. It is part of the Stack Exchange family of Q&A sites. It serves all the traffic with only 9 on-premise web servers, and it’s on a monolith! It's a single multi-tenant monolithic application  - a pragmatic choice. One application powers around 200 sites of Stack Exchange. It has its own servers and does not run on the cloud.  It runs on .NET & IIS serving 6000 requests per second and 2 billion page views per month. 80% of the traffic is anonymous. It's data center is in New Jersey. 50 engineers work on the Q&A platform. 

Cloudockit lets you automatically generate architecture diagrams and technical documentation of your cloud environments

* Truecaller builds its massive database of users - once you install the app, Truecaller seeks permission to access your phonebook. They then access your phonebook & scrape all your contacts. Truecaller has a database of a staggering 5.7B contacts! Truecaller isn’t listed in India - but the company earns over 70% of its revenues from. Truecaller sneakily moved all its data centres from Europe to India and in some ways, became an "Indian" company. Why, you ask? To bypass the GDPR - the General Data Protection Regulation aimed at protecting people’s privacy. In other words, in the presence of the GDPR - Truecaller wouldn’t be able to scrape the phonebook and add names and numbers to their database. And since India doesn’t have a data privacy and protection bill yet - they could argue that the GDPR isn’t applicable to Indian users. For taxation purposes, Truecaller becomes a Swedish company (since India has a higher corporate tax rate). - Finshots

* The FBI method of profiling is a system created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used to detect and classify the major personality and behavioral characteristics of an individual based upon analysis of the crime or crimes the person committed.

Calibri was developed in the early 2000s. It is the default font for all Microsoft programmes since 2007.

* Verdana was designed by Microsoft in 1996 to be easily readable on computer screens, at low resolution, and in small size.

Google’s Hindi monolingual and bilingualized dictionaries are provided by Oxford Languages.

65% of humans are visual learners.

A visual storytelling toolkit can include many skills like:

  • Doodling - developing a visual vocabulary and consistent sketching style that enhances spoken or written content and communications.
  • Sketchnoting - using those skills to capture, summarize, and synthesize, large amounts of information into a visual, in real-time.
  • Anthropomorphism - adding human traits to visual objects, employing a known storytelling device to build connection with audiences.
  • Visual Metaphors - applying familiar mental models to reimagine complex concepts, enabling thw audience to transfer knowledge.

* Types of reasoning:

  • Deductive Reasoning: What is (absolutely) true? 
  • Inductive Reasoning: What is observably (most) true? 
  • Abductive Reasoning: What is most likely true? 
  • Reductive Reasoning: What is NOT true?

CityWalks.live provides a virtual walking tour of cities around the world

Innerbody.com has great educational content on human anatomy.

* Most remote controls use infrared to communicate with home entertainment components such as TVs, audio receivers, and DVD players. Some older Android models come with a built-in IR blaster, and with the right app, you can use your phone or tablet to control your TV and more. The main advantage of using an IR blaster-based device is that you don’t have to go through a cumbersome Bluetooth pairing process and that you can use it with older devices that don’t offer Bluetooth or wireless connections.

GPS data from individual phones is now used by Google Maps to estimate movement and speed of traffic in real time. This data informs Google’s travel time estimates by reducing the average speeds in its calculations during periods of high traffic, or increasing the average speed when conditions are clear. Google Maps also uses posted speed limits and historical traffic patterns to estimate ETA. When you input your destination into Google Maps your original estimate is made based upon posted speed limits, current traffic conditions, and the distance between your starting point and destination. Your ETA will then be updated once you are enroute based on updates to traffic conditions and your average driving speed. Crowdsourcing is another factor that helps Google Maps and other GPS technologies provide accurate ETAs. 

* A mutualistic relationship evolved between dwarf mongooses and hornbills, in which hornbills seek out the mongooses in order for the two species to forage together, and to warn each other of nearby raptors and other predators.

* While scoliosis is often easier to treat when it is diagnosed early, scoliosis prevention is not possible. The only type that may be prevented is adult scoliosis caused by osteoporosis. Degenerative scoliosis occurs most frequently in the lumbar spine (lower back) and more commonly affects people age 65 and older. The hormone leptin may also be linked to scoliosis. Olympic medal-winning world record holder Usain Bolt and Elizabeth Taylor are some famous people who have scoliosis.

* Alfred Nobel, invented dynamite and another explosive, gelignite (used by armies and terrorists) and owned the arms firm Bofors.

* Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan is based on the serialised novel by freedom era writer and magazine editor, Kalki R Krishnamurthy (1899-1954). Ponniyin Selvan is regarded as one of the greatest novels of Tamil literature. In about 2,210 pages, it tells the story of early days of Chola prince Arulmozhivarman. Kalki visited Sri Lanka three times to gather information and for inspiration. 

* Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, the Brihadeeshwara Temple in Thanjavur is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples", along with the Chola dynasty era Brihadisvara Gangaikonda Cholapuram  temple (built by Rajendra Chola I in 1035 CE) and Airavatesvara temple (built by Rajaraja II in the 12th century CE). Brihadishwara is a Sanskrit composite word composed of Brihat which means "big, great, lofty, vast", and Ishvara means "lord, Shiva, supreme being, supreme atman (soul)". The name means the "great lord, big Shiva" temple.

* Supreme Court judges retire after attaining the age of 65, high court judges retire at 62 years.

* The headwaters of the river Ganga include: Mandakini, Nandakini, Pindar and the Dhauliganga, all tributaries of the Alaknanda. Although many small streams comprise the headwaters of the Ganges, the six longest and their five confluences are considered sacred. The six headstreams are the Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini and Bhagirathi. Their confluences, known as the Panch Prayag, are all along the Alaknanda. They are, in downstream order, Vishnuprayag, where the Dhauliganga joins the Alaknanda; Nandprayag, where the Nandakini joins; Karnaprayag, where the Pindar joins; Rudraprayag, where the Mandakini joins; and finally, Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi joins the Alaknanda to form the Ganges.

* Ninety-one percent of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange are family controlled, and nearly all small-to-medium-size companies are owned by families. By comparison, about 35% of Fortune 500 companies are family controlled. 

* As of 2021, there are 10 public and 10 private Institutes of Eminence and 161 Institutes of National Importance 

* "Be curious, not judgemental" - spotted on a T-shirt

* "If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem." - Babasaheb Ambedkar

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