Dan Dalal

Another course down and four more to go! I had an absolute blast learning about operating system architecture, the basics of the Linux kernel and, a totally new topic, the elegance of SQL. As a long time Linux user, I already know enough bash "to be dangerous," but this was my first time using it in a security context. It's always important to be humble and open to learning more, especially when you think you already know enough! All of these tools will be essential in my future efforts to maintain safe, healthy and reliable networks for companies, clients and ordinary folks. Having finished this course, I'm looking forward to learning more about SQL. I was amazed at how easy it was to navigate seemingly endless rows of data using SQL, and even being able to reorganize it into the most useful configuration on the fly with just a few natural language keywords. It's logical, simple, powerful and fun - everything you need in a good tool.

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The Indian startup ecosystem is rich with cloud-native businesses. New Relic, one of India’s leading observability platforms, serves close to 12,000 customers. “I’ve visited India multiple times, and the fact that you can get things delivered in under 10 minutes is unparalleled. Trust me, I’ve been to many places, and this does not happen anywhere. “Therefore, the demand for the applications and performance skyrockets here. A lot of these companies – the Swiggies and Ola Cabs of the world – use our observability platform,” Ashan Willy, CEO at New Relic, told AIM in an exclusive interview. New Relic, with over 80,000 customers worldwide, caters to startups as well as large enterprises. Willy believes generative AI will bring a transformational change in the observability space. “I think at every inflexion point, observability took a step forward, and it will be the same with AI,” he said. Last year, the company introduced New Relic Grok, which, according to them, is the world’s first generative AI assistant designed specifically for observability. Willy believes that most companies today leverage LLMs in some way, and hence, “Observability offers the chance to monitor applications comprehensively, providing insights into both the application’s end-to-end performance as well as the LLMs.” Link to video interview: https://lnkd.in/gYQ4is92 New Relic Ashan Willy #observability #generativeai #cloud #llm

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Influencing to get things done - is what we do consciously and subconsciously everyday- at work, in the family and with friends. A lovely article from #hbr breaking down this important aspect of our interactions with a few specific use-cases and practical takeaways. Remember - influencing is not the forte of leaders only - we all can influence to win in whatever we do ! Take a read and jot down your own thoughts (or experiences) in the comments section. #influencewithintent #gettingthingsdone

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Fellow in-house taxonomists, ontologists, metadata managers, and semantic wizards: what is the name of the team or business unit that you work within? I have the good fortune of getting to rename the "Content Standards" program I lead at Kaiser Permanente IT. My team has determined that the name is too vague to convey the core activities of the program, and leads to confusion with the cross-functional teams we collaborate with. I'm looking for a clear name that will resonate with stakeholders within my org. So I've got a very classic taxonomist question: What to call the program? 🤔 For some context... What my program is responsible for: - Defining and governing standards for metadata, structured data, taxonomy, and ontology for classifying/structuring digital content - Implementing processes and platforms to good metadata hygiene - Assessment and remediation of content metadata What my program doesn't cover: - Writing or editorial style guides - Content design - Content strategy - Site maps or navigational structure - Data governance Any ideas are most welcome!

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A very timely and Insightful read from #hbr !! Tech is changing at a break-neck speed, product lifecycles are becoming shorter, and along with that, new challenges are coming up on the people management front as well. Today’s leader needs to experiment, fail fast, adopt and adapt faster and still keep the business moving in the positive direction. Go through this informative article and let us know some of the best practices that have worked for you in balancing the “traditional” techniques of mgmt with “emerging” needs.

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By actively working to broaden their perspectives, managers can enhance their strategic thinking and make more informed, balanced, and effective decisions. This, in turn, can lead to better organizational performance and a more resilient and adaptive business strategy.

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Congratulations Ran Isenberg and Shani Kazaz for publishing this new blog post in our AWS Integration and Automation blog channel. These best practices for building serverless blueprints are a must read. https://lnkd.in/e_5NT2Bz

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Applying for Global Entry may take some effort, but it can make travel easier on both ends. Check out this article from Capital One to learn how to schedule your Global Entry interview, and what to expect when you get there.

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🌟 Leadership Insight: The Power of Deep Care in Leadership 🌟 As leaders, our role extends beyond managing projects to truly caring for our people. Throughout my career, I've observed that while projects will come and go, the lasting impact we have on our team members remains vivid in our memories. This realization underscores the importance of showing deep care in leadership, a concept that resonates deeply with me. Leadership is not just about guiding projects but nurturing people. Here are practical ways leaders can show deep care: 1) Quality Time: Invest in one-on-one time with team members. This can be as simple as regular check-ins or casual coffee meetings where the focus is on listening and understanding their personal and professional goals. 2) Empathy: Show genuine empathy. Acknowledge the challenges they face and be there to support them. This means being approachable and available when they need guidance or simply someone to listen. 3) Personal Attention: Pay attention to the small details that matter to them. Celebrate their birthdays, acknowledge their work anniversaries, and be present in moments of personal significance. 4) Open Communication: Foster an environment where open communication is encouraged. Let your team know that their ideas and opinions are valued and that it’s safe to express themselves without fear of judgment. 5) Supportive Feedback: Provide constructive feedback in a way that encourages growth and improvement, not fear or resentment. Recognize their efforts publicly and offer guidance discreetly. Each interaction is an opportunity to reinforce how much you care. The true essence of leadership lies in building trust and fostering a safe environment where team members feel seen, heard, and valued. I encourage every leader to reflect on this: "Did you remember to show deep care for your team? How can you make your team members feel truly valued today?" The best leaders focus on leaving a lasting positive impact on our people. After all, at the end of the day, it’s the people and our relationships with them that we’ll remember most. #TechLeadership #Leadership #Teamwork #ShowDeepCare

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After six years in tech, I recently faced being laid off for the first time due to Reduction in Force. Initially, it was a tough pill to swallow, and I found myself questioning my self-worth and value. However, I’ve come to understand that a layoff doesn't define my worth or capabilities. Stepping back, I realized that highly skilled professionals experience layoffs all the time for reasons beyond their control. Your value isn’t determined by a single job or event, but by your skills, experiences, and the impact you make. During this period, I’ve had the chance to reflect on my journey and the incredible projects I’ve been part of, from leading the product development of cutting-edge clinical data pipelines at Freenome to optimizing user experiences and driving end-to-end technical product strategies. This experience has reinforced my belief in resilience and the importance of a growth mindset. It’s not about the setbacks but how we rise and move forward. I’m excited about the new opportunities ahead and eager to bring my expertise to the next chapter of my career. To anyone else going through a similar situation, remember that you are not alone, and this too shall pass. Stay positive, keep learning, and believe in your potential. Better days are ahead! My DMs are open to anyone who’d like to discuss how I’m leveraging this time off or if you just need someone to talk to, always free to chat. #Resilience #GrowthMindset #TechCareers #NewBeginnings #PM #Biotech #MentalHealth #CareerGrowth

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From Astrologer's Whispers to Real Connections: Reclaiming Belonging in a Lonely Age Have you ever consulted an astrologer, their predictions swirling in your head, only to feel empty when your day takes a different turn? The emptiness might not be about the details themselves, but about seeking outside approval for your happiness. This same feeling can creep in even when you achieve success. Remember climbing the career ladder, landing that dream apartment, only to find yourself lost in a quiet emptiness? In India's bustling cities, it's a familiar, painful emotion. We're surrounded by people, yet there's a little loneliness at the edges of our lives. Thinking back to Mrs. Deshmukh, your friendly neighbour with the legendary Til Gur Barfi's, who brought the whole neighbourhood together with tea and friendly chats. Those evenings of shared stories and laughter, a web woven by simple human connection, feel like a distant memory in our super-connected yet broken world. We chase success with thumbs glued to screens, building online bridges that leave us feeling more alone than ever. The pressure to create a perfect online self-drowns out the whispers of our own desires. But here's the real deal, that shiny designation and fancy car can't fill the hole left by genuine connection. There's hope, though! We can rewrite this story. Let's ditch the small talk and chase deeper connections. Share your fears and worries, break free from feeling isolated in this sea of ambition. Remember the warmth of family gatherings, the joy of shared childhood games? Revive those small traditions. Pick up the phone for a real heart-to-heart conversation rather than What's Apping. Every act of connection, no matter how ordinary, how small, builds a more satisfying life. Imagine hearing back from an old friend, reliving an old laugh, and being surrounded by people who truly see us, where we belong. Isn't that what life is all about? Together, one conversation, one meal, and one act of kindness at a time, we can tear down the walls of loneliness. We can rewrite the narrative of modern society, where connection becomes the foundation of a life well lived. It's not too late, or is it? #HumanConnections #BelongingMatters #OvercomeLoneliness #RealConversations #MeaningfulRelationships #CommunityOverConnectivity #AuthenticLiving #SocialWellbeing #RedefiningSuccess #TraditionsRewoven #FightIsolation #VulnerableAndReal #KindnessRevolution #SmallActsBigImpact #ReconnectingHumanity #IndianSociety #UrbanLoneliness #DigitalDetox #QualityOverQuantity #ConnectionCures Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

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Here's something counterintuitive; taking on more investment risk reduces long-term returns: https://lnkd.in/gHwkjHmP This is only my second investment video, so I'm still learning. If you have any feedback, I would love to hear it. Based on the feedback from the first video, I tried to make the audio more balanced on this video. I also shortened the length, to make the content more digestible.

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Meeting fatigue is real. Meeting overload is a killer. Especially in hybrid work conditions that have become the norm post-Covid, and geo-diverse working groups that are normal in most workforces, being considerate about meetings is critical. Here is a small article from #hbr that gives a simple flow chart to decide whether to call a meeting or not. Read it over the weekend and jot your thoughts in the comments section. #meetingfatigue #schedulingmeetings #effectivemeetings

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I think Ravi captures this so well. Conflict and friction are part of every successful and meaningful journey: "Of course you need to hire great people. But you can’t get out of their way. The best leaders set the standard and relentlessly reinforce it. Greatness is forged through high expectations and difficult conversations. [...] No one likes confrontation. But mediocrity creeps in when conflict ends. And if you want to be a great leader, that is not your fault…but it is your problem." https://lnkd.in/evrnm2VC

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🆕Blog✍with a few thoughts on why it is a good practice to read the Preface of a book📖before buying and reading. https://lnkd.in/ehCRYypt #Reading #Books #Writing #Technical #Computers #Serverless #AWS #TheServerlessBook

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Anthropic released another paper on their ongoing work towards interpretability of large foundational models like their Claude 3 family, built on previous work by many. Their work continues to be enlightening and inspiring. The findings in this work are generally similar to previous findings on smaller models but scaled up to Claude 3 Sonnet: 💡 they find large numbers of "features" corresponding to combinations of neuron activations and these features map to concepts that we recognize/understand: for example, features for transit infrastructure, particular people, concepts (like bias and "objects lacking sentience"). This might sound familiar from classical machine learning, but the interesting thing is that there is no single thing/neuron encoding each of these concepts, it's a particular combination of neuron activations that embeds these concepts in "superposition" in the network. 💡they observe a sort of "distance" of these feature activations that arrange themselves "near" semantically similar features. When they use their sparse autoencoder approach to learn more and more features they observe that the level of abstraction in the detected features becomes more granular, in ways that are interpretable and meaningful. 💡when they artificially fire these activation patterns during inference, it affects the output in ways that relate to the "feature". For example, asking Claude "what's the most interesting science" normally it responds Physics, but if you clamp the feature activations for the feature "Brain Science" to 10x their max values then Claude responds: Neuroscience. Ways to interpret _and_ influence the model. Great readable work [1] along with an interactive explorer of some of the "features" themselves [2] 🎂 There's an easter egg too: if you scroll in the feature explorer tool and try and select one of the "Randomly selected features from 1M" you get a message "if you want to see the rest of the features, we're hiring!" with a link to their recruiting page :) [1] https://lnkd.in/gZbparwp [2] https://lnkd.in/gC9eus53

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Now we have two first class data catalogs integrated with MS Fabric now available in Azure. Of course DataBricks is the heavy heavy favorite in the enterprise lakehouses as well as AI (as of the conference that just finished 🤓)

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