This Week I Learned - Week #14 2024

This Week I Learned - 

* The role adversity plays in tech innovation - "If IE6 had died faster, JavaScript would not be as big. We always had to patch things for it using JavaScript. CSS was held back by it and JavaScript was the way to get things working, instead of platform-native tech doing the job." - Christian Heilmann 

* Platform enabled Disaster recovery capabilities will no longer be available for Azure App Service web apps beginning 31 March 2025. Microsoft encourages subscribers to implement commonly used disaster recovery techniques to prevent loss of functionality or data for their web apps if there's a regional disaster. Backup and restore capabilities are included in Basic and higher pricing tiers.

* "Chat With RTX" is a Windows-only application from NVIDIA that can scan local files the user points it to and provide the answer with context. Your private data stays on your PC.

* 4-part video series for DP-600 exam prep from Microsoft Exam Readiness Zone.

* OpenAI's Voice Engine is capable of replicating any voice based on a brief audio sample. 

* "LLM Hallucination, often considered a weakness in various applications, actually emerges as a strength in creative use cases." -Amrit Thomas, Chief Data Officer at Zee Entertainment

* AirBnB occupancy rate anomaly due to total solar eclipse -

via John Eagle

* ggplot2 is an R package for producing visualizations of data. 

* A team of three internet strangers came together in Jan 2022 to build Supermeme.ai, an AI Meme Generator. Its vision is to break the monotony in marketing and humour is the hammer they choose. Because emotions stick. Humour sticks.

* Following the collapse of its merger with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Zee has laid off 50% of its workforce at tech centre in Bengaluru. 

* Diffen facilitates the comparison of virtually anything. Diffen, inspired by Wikipedia, is a wiki that anyone can edit. Diffen's founder and managing editor is Nick Jasuja.

* Many doctors don’t like Dr Vinay Prasad's tone, or disagree with some of his specific conclusions — but nonetheless laud him for rigorous research. He’s the guy who says the emperor has no clothes. His views - More than half of all practiced medicine is based on scant evidence — and possibly ineffectual. Scientific journals have the “long term memory of a squirrel.” Medications are “insane and unsustainable.” Eminent researchers back “unproven and likely-to-be-useless” strategies. Meeting with drug sales reps is a “waste of time.” Prasad delights in shaking things up.  - Statnews

* Autodidact is a person who teaches himself or herself, rather than being taught by a teacher. Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory, who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics. He was not admitted to elementary schools because of his hearing problem, so he was self-taught. Mark Twain, the famous American writer considered the "the father of American Literature" was also an autodidact. 

* The Extended Internal Rate of Return (XIRR) is a metric used to calculate the return on an investment when multiple investments are made at various points in time. It accounts for the different investment periods and cash flow sizes, providing a more accurate representation of the investment's performance. XIRR is also referred to as Adjusted Compounded Annualized Growth Rate, as it reflects the compounded annual return after making necessary adjustments for the timing of investments.

* "Taxes are the price for civilisation" - Justice Homes, US Supreme Court