Author: Rauf Aliev

I did it! Creating a PDF on the server based on a template prepared in MS Word or MS Excel (probably in other software too – needs testing). Data from the database or a user form is inserted in place of tokens within the document. And yes, it turned out to be insanely difficult (but now I know a ton about PDFs).

There are several complications for which there is no neat solution yet. 1) only two monospaced fonts 2) of course, the text from the template does not flow onto the next page if the insertion is larger than the reserved space 3) the template needs to include invisible text with all the variety of characters [to enhance the PDF dictionary for that particular font] 4) Theoretically, in some new or old version, or due to some clever block placement or specific settings, Word may generate PDFs that my code does not understand. Theoretically.

Today I gave a presentation on SAP Leonardo IoT/machine learning/blockchain, while my colleagues yesterday assembled and programmed a smart watering robot for the window.

Great movie, really awesome! Highly recommend

https://www.exler.ru/films/13-06-2017.htm

Elizaveta Alieva used to draw in school during art classes. With a gel pen. The year ended, she brought her drawings home. Awesome!

Folks, why don’t we have an uber-like service for deliveries from brick-and-mortar stores? Just to throw some money into the service, specify what you need, and get the product delivered to your door as is within half an hour (or thereabouts). The “courier” pays for the goods at the store. You pay the courier through the service after delivery. If you’re not happy, you complain to the service for a refund. The service checks what was requested against what was delivered. The courier’s responsibility is not to go for poorly specified items (or to ask additional questions). Accordingly, such a service would contract with store websites. Delivery within an hour since it’s assumed that all couriers live near both the store and the delivery recipient (otherwise, they wouldn’t be suggested by the system).

P.S. Found it. UberRush, http://www.deliv.co/ – turns out such services already exist

How wonderfully the store is designed. Simply a marvel. Simple and tasteful. https://soulland.com/collections/t-shirts

Since my daughter will (relatively) soon be applying to universities, I am looking into grants because education is expensive ($40-70K per year).

Apart from normal grants, I found some amusing ones. They give you up to three if you are into parapsychology (you need to prove it somehow, write an essay). They give a thousand dollars for being tall (187 cm for men and 177 cm for women). $5000 is awarded for presenting the best dress made out of duct tape (conducted by the manufacturer). There’s a scholarship for individuals with the last name Zolp and active vegetarians. Also, left-handers get some money http://www.collegescholarships.org/scholarships/left-hand.htm

http://www.collegescholarships.org/scholarships/unusual.htm

What a cool thing! Amazon Rekognition. It figured out from my Florida photo that it was a coupe car in the parking lot! It even thought it was a sports modification. On another photo from the same place, it correctly identified a tropical waterfall. It considered mom’s embroidery as Art, recognizing a person in it. It assessed Masha from behind as a dancer, despite the rear view. In my photo of wet rice, it guessed the rice and the dish. Knows musical notes. Guessed a boat and people in it on my photo from the river. Horses. Bikes in New York. A pig in the mud. Totally awesome!

There’s an API, 1000 images for a dollar and less with larger volumes.

This thing also can recognize faces and describe them from the image. Knows celebrities. Can determine resemblances. Tried to compare myself at different ages – didn’t recognize me 🙂 when I cover my face with my hands, also not so great. But in other cases – it recognises quite well!

There are also rates for storing face profiles — $0.01/face.

Plus, it can moderate uploaded photos for adult content, apparently for the same $1/1000 images.

I didn’t post this comment. Found it in the morning. Wondering how to determine if it was hacked? The account or one of the computers?

In the USA, for some reason, it is not customary to give flowers. Not on birthdays or weddings. At least, not in our area. Flowers are sold in supermarkets, but they somehow lack soul… somewhat wilted, no florist ever stands behind them, and the packaging is somewhat pale. Overall, soulless.

I have never seen a specialized flower shop. Perhaps they exist somewhere in Washington, but not here. I have never seen flowers on someone’s desk at the office. At the only wedding I attended with a hundred people, no one brought flowers because it’s not customary. It’s interesting how different cultures can be. Probably, people here are very practical and give gift cards or a blender instead of flowers.

This is because Americans are straightforward and simple, while Russian traditions are the opposite.