Shibaprasad Bhattacharya @shibaprasad@social.cleverlibre.org

@ngaravind @Gargron @BhavanaVarun @Mastodon Here's a regional break-down. Source : internetshutdowns.in

What a huge spike at #QOTO. 723 new users in less than a week.

All the new STEM posts I'm seeing popping up are amazing and its also great to meet so many new people.

As many of you know they are largely from India and I for one amd enjoying all the new culture and perspectives they are bringing.

Its great being a part of this community and seeing it grow.

Reading Permanent record, autobiography of Edward Snowden.There is an intresting bit when he talks about Intelligence agencies & tech industries.The very belief that they are entitled to their unilateral decision making based on data,makes them apolitical as data itself is just information.The idea of harmless surveilance or surveilance for greater good?
Makes me feel vulnerable when one pours out into the digital world,someone is just calling it data & putting a label on you & uses it in a way profitable to them.Imagine tweeting feeling sad tonight after a break up & netflix suggests me Always be my may be😐 and Google suggests best shops that sell cookie dough near by.They know me too well.🙊
Its like they put a label on my feeling & advertise it."swapy is sad & would probably eat cookie dough today & watch netflix😣."
The otherside to this is the assumption that since I posted it, I gave them permission to use this data.But do most people even read the license agreement or data usage policies?People just click accept.I didnt agree to sell my sadness 😑.These tech companies are merging all the time.Google has taken over so many that google knows more about me than I do.Its like If I die, the google me would go on living, inactive till they archive me.creepy digital existance?

This book is a gem.Especially for people from a country like India where the Data protection laws are virtually non existant.

@shibaprasad First, I won't consider myself a master in coding with python. But, here is my approach of understanding python.
Just like learning any other languages, for me, python had some "WHYs". Firstly, I am pretty passionate and fantasized about Machine Learning and Python seems to have good ground base for all ML and AI applications. Second reason is the Python's deployment on web development. If you're learning python, you probably know about it, already.

Learning any language needs certain approach, you may dive yourself in books. Or, there are already enough resource available on internet for anyone to master it.

In simple way, you just need to have some kind of passion or excitement to learn not just Python, any other PLs.

@shibaprasad I wouldn't say im a master at python, but I use it and I'm a good programmer in general...

As for how I learn it.. well there are two parts to learn for programming to me:

1) The theory - this part is completely disconnected from a language, you can, and often should, do this in psuedocode when working with it in its pure form

2) The language / platform technicals - This is stuff like syntax, and what posix means or how some bytecode is defined or whatever. This is the concrete part

They are both equally as vital, #1 is usually neglected among many programmers in my opinion and it really hurts their abilities when this is the case.

As for how I learned, well #1 was mostly from books and then later peer-reviewed studies coupled with any internet resources I could find (a lot of IRC chat rooms too).

#2 is usually from example code snippets and API documentation and, depending ont he quality of those two, perhaps a lot of trial and error. But this half is less using books, for me, and more just digging in and coding and just reading the technical documentation as you do.

Mastodon social adds policy against casteism as more Indian users join

Hundreds of users opened accounts on mastodon social last week, many of them accusing Twitter of casteism.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/mastodon-social-adds-policy-against-casteism-more-indian-users-join-112064

For the love of windows and reading nooks.

Interesting fact of the day: despite the moon only being 1/4th the diameter of the earth it is a whole 1/80th the mass! But in terms of volume it is 1/50th the volume.

People don't realize how the relationship between diameter and volume is non linear. So it creates these very unexpected differences, especially at large scales.

#Space #science #moon #IFOD

Confession: I'd been holding this guy Vikas hostage pending the settlement of #ayodhya in my favor. Now that my condition has been fulfilled, I'm releasing him.

If he still doesn't come, it's not my fault.

@Mastodon
I have a few doubts which I know you may not have answers for, but I'd be interested to see how (if at all) you are thinking about it
1. Gab created it's own instance which was why you were able to blacklist them. What happens if trolls infiltrate Mastodonsocial enmasse
a. How would paid toots' content play out
b. What fact checking tools are available
c. Since usernames aren't unique across instances how do we deal with new ways of phishing

Blue tick beside your name doesn't make you a celebrity or anything.
We don't need another Twitter here.
#StopCelebCulture

#NoCelebrityCulture is a dream scenario and it's good to see so many of the #Mastdoon users support that.
Almost all the topics that are debated or discussed in India revolves around some celebrity/politicians.
They never represent / care about what a commoner has to say.
For e.g.
During De-monetization almost all the celebs tweeted/posted videos praising our PM, some went further to order us that it's 'ok' to suffer for the sake of our nation. But I remember myself and so many common citizen struggling. Things spiraled out of control. But not for the so- called celebs.

As promised, mastodon.social code of conduct has been updated to add "casteism and advocation of casteism" to the list of explicitly prohibited offenses

Thirty Years Ago. The wall fell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ISFXVwMBws

This documentary, although dated, and low tech, is excellent...

399,617 accounts
+130 in the last hour
+4,488 in the last day
+22,766 in the last week

Coolest Gadgets' Best Indoor Air Quality Monitors for 2019

Air quality is essential for everyone, but it is especially crucial for those who have problems with their breathing. Allergies, asthma, COPD, emphysema, and other upper respiratory conditions can make you sensitive to environmental changes as well as pollution and particulates in the air. Keeping tabs on what is happening to the air inside your home is one way you can stay healthy and protect your delicate airways.
Air quality monitors measure numerous factors that influence the air you breathe. The models they chose for their list represent a wide range of what is available today, including those that detect deadly and harmful chemicals, aggravating particulates, and other pollutants. They selected those that are rated as the most accurate in their class, ensuring that the data you receive from their list of top ten choices can help you make the most informed decisions about your home and health. https://squeet.me/objects/962c3e108553e897d8ed7328612a04aeef7c0db7

What I find interesting, is that in India, there isn't a social norm of moving out of parent's house after 18, unlike many other countries.
Maybe because of the large population leading to high rates of housing.
I guess, that's another reason why our Desi parents want us to act like grown-ups but treat us like babies at the same time.