This Week I Learned - Week #175

This Week I Learned -

* Docker is at the confluence of three major IT investment areas - Cloud, DevOps and Microservices

* Azure RemoteApp is being retired.  Microsoft will be partnering with Citrix in the remote desktop and applications space to address new scenarios on the Azure cloud.

* jsDelivr is a free and public CDN that offers hosting for developers at no cost. It’s a lot like Google Hosted Libraries, but with more projects and freedom. Anyone can submit a library for hosting on this CDN. It’s fast with multiple points of presence around the globe — 81. The main backbone of it is built on top of CDN networks provided by MaxCDN and CloudFlare. jsDelivr is the first CDN to support loading multiple files with a single HTTP request

* jQuery Geocoding and Places Autocomplete Plugin is an advanced jQuery plugin that wraps the Google Maps API's Geocoding and Places Autocomplete services. You simply provide an input that lets you search for locations with a nice autocomplete dropdown. Optionally add a container to show an interactive map and a form that will be populated with the address details.

* Sogou is a dual-engine browser. One engine is Webkit and the other supposedly is Trident. 360 Quick Browser, 360 Safe Browser, Sogou Explorer are popular in China. Amazon Assistant browser extension is available for 360 Quick Browser, 360 Safe Browser, Sogou Explorer, Sleipnir browsers.

* SyllableCount.com uses a combination of a 240,364 word U.S. English syllable count dictionary and a syllable counter algorithm.It's algorithm may not be entirely accurate due to the numerous syllabic anomalies found within the U.S. English language.

* The Oatmeal, the website that former computer programmer Matthew Inman launched in 2009, draws as many as 7 million unique monthly visitors. Inman’s comics have won an Eisner Award, the Pulitzer Prize of the comics industry. Matt can accurately predict what massive groups of people will find entertaining. His mother, Ann Inman, an artist who supported a family of seven by making mohair teddy bears for collectors around the world, says her son became a web developer after the Silverwood Theme Park fired him from his summer parking-lot job after discovering he was only 14 years old. Like most artists, Inman lives in perpetual fear that he will never have another good idea. “I enjoy things most when I suffer beforehand..I’m driven by rage and anxiety’’ he says - The Seattle Times

* Only contribution to Tier-I NPS account (not Tier-2) is eligible for income tax benefits. Investment up to Rs 1.5 lacs into NPS in a financial year is eligible for deduction under Section 80CCD(1). This deduction comes under the overall ceiling of Rs 1.5 lacs for deduction under Section 80C but an additional Rs 50,000 deduction over and above the ceiling limit of under Section 80C can be claimed through investments into NPS under Section 80CCD (1B). Also a further deduction under Section 80CCD(2) is possible through contribution from the employer up to 10% of Basic Salary + Dearness Allowance. The 80CCD(2) benefit is available to employees only and not to those who are self-employed.

* The 'Produnova' vault is considered most difficult and dangerous manoeuvre in women’s gymnastics. It currently has a 7.0 D-score and thus provides a leg-up for any gymnast able to perform it successfully. The manoeuvre, named after Russian gymnast Yelena Sergeyevna Produnova, consists of a front handspring and two front somersaults. The trick is to get high enough to be able to execute two flips in the air and land safely on your feet. In 1999, Produnova became the first person to nail the vault and, since then, only five other gymnasts have successfully executed it. Dipa Karmakar, one of those five gymnasts, has made the Produnova her calling card - Business Standard

* Hyperandrogenism is a medical condition characterised by excessive levels of androgen, indicated most clearly by the amount of testosterone in a woman's body. It is one of the primary symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and 1 in every 7 women between the ages of 15 and 30 suffers from it. In other words, hyperandrogenism is pretty common. Except on the sports field.  In 2011, the IAAF, contending that high levels of testosterone conferred a biological advantage on female athletes - it is believed to help build muscle and make athletes faster - ruled that a female athlete would be eligible to compete against other women "provided that she has androgen levels below the male range". On behalf of every woman athlete with her condition, Indian sprinter Dutee Chand from Odisha, decided to challenge the IAAF's ceiling on the permissible amounts of testosterone in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Switzerland. On 25th July 2015, in a landmark judgment, the court overturned Dutee's ban imposed prior to the 2012 Commonwealth Games and ruled that the ceiling on testosterone levels would be suspended for two years, while the IAAF gathered proof to support their claims of testosterone-linked biological advantage - Roopa Pai