Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev.

This is a northern mockingbird. It is reported to have a repertoire of 50 to 200 songs. This bird is also mentioned in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It sings very beautifully, and unfortunately, I did not record the most interesting part. But in this video, the bird climbs onto a little stool (crossed out) branch to sit higher up.

Someone has reserved a spot for themselves

Today we “tested” the Amazon Wholefoods store without cash registers, built on the “just take what you need and confidently leave” (Just Walk Out) scheme.

At the entrance, you can authorize via a QR code from the Amazon app or simply by presenting your hand. To authorize with your hand, you must first visit a special kiosk, where biometrics are linked to your account.

We entered the store as a pair. I showed the code, and Nadya followed me. The main question was how the smart store would assign purchases to me when Nadya was the one taking items off the shelf? We periodically drifted to different ends of the store and met again. We tried to confuse the system by passing items from hand to hand, or we would take a kefir and then return to put it back on the shelf.

This particular store has been operational since February 23, but the technology itself has been around for many years, and in the USA, a whole network of Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh has already been opened. I am sure we were not the first to seek ways to befuddle the recognition system, and all trivial situations have long been accounted for in its logic. But deep inside, the tester in me was either singing. Or, I don’t know, crying.

It cannot be said that we completely failed to confuse it. Amazon still charged us for an extra portion of turkey mince. We took one, but it registered two. However, that was the only mistake, and the money was instantly refunded with a click in the app on the “there is an inaccuracy here” button.

The sensations are very interesting. Theoretically, all supermarkets should switch to such a system someday in the future. Because it is very natural and simple, and technologically, as we see, everything is ready. It is not clear what percentage of purchases still require manual processing due to the system’s uncertainty in recognition. One percent? Half a percent? Three? There is no information anywhere. But the direction is set. We shall wait.

Read more on the topic, including about the technology, here:

and https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/21/inside-amazons-surveillance-powered-no-checkout-convenience-store/

Finished reading! Like all the previous books, out loud (I hope this will further strengthen my sense of the language – the experiment continues). In total, reading aloud took 15 hours.

The book is fabulous. A must-read for all startup enthusiasts. Written by the “father of the iPod and Nest,” it serves as a very specific and honest guide on how to “do what’s worth doing.” Plenty of valuable advice on building everything from yourself and your career to products, teams, and businesses.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59696349-build

Eternal Margulis

If we only assess direct material damage from terrorist attacks and set aside everything else, the cost of 9/11 in New York was $25 billion, and the next largest was in London in 1993, costing just over a billion dollars. Thus, it seems that the explosion at the “streams” might now rank somewhere in the middle, taking second place in this somber global ranking. This is just to gauge the scale.

#notfunny in Russian performance

Yuki: “the owners definitely have nothing to do. Well okay, usually it lasts a minute or two, and then they back off and let you sleep”

Very good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_wuPlYiM7g

@[100001248794401:2048:Ирина Шихман] — well done!

Read about the Crimean War. In a school textbook for 9th grade. Quotes from the 9th grade textbook edited by Arsentiev, 2016:

– “Nicholas I believed that he could quickly defeat the enemy, and that the Western countries would not intervene”

– “His calculations were mistaken. Austria did not wish for Russia to strengthen its positions in the Balkans. England encouraged Turkey to go to war, to weaken Russia’s positions in the East at any cost”

– “Russia found itself forced to wage war not only against Turkey but against all major powers of Europe”

– [A year after the war began,] “in 1854, England and France sided with Turkey against Russia.” Russia was issued an ultimatum to withdraw troops from the Danubian principalities. Not receiving a response, England and France declared war on Russia in March 1854. Nicholas I sought help from Austria and Prussia, but received no support. England and Prussia joined England and France.”

– “Russia found itself in complete isolation”

– “In September 1854 — the Siege of Sevastopol. It lasted 11 months.”

– “In 1855, Russian soldiers were forced to abandon their positions. The enemy occupied Kerch, Anapa, Kinburn.

(At this time, Nicholas I died. He caught a cold. And died.)

– “Russia could not alone overcome the powerful coalition: the technical equipment and armament of its army had many flaws.”

– “Participants signed the Paris Peace in March 1856: all regions and cities lost during the war were returned to Russia and Turkey.”

– “Russia and Turkey were deprived of the right to have a military fleet in the Black Sea.”

– “The most painful point of the Paris Peace for Russia was the prohibition to have a military fleet and fortifications on the Black Sea.”

– “The Crimean War not only demonstrated the severe backwardness of the Russian army compared to European armies, but also evidenced that changes were necessary in all aspects of Russian life.”