PyDev of the Week: Yuxi (Hayden) Liu | The Mouse vs The Python

This week we welcome Yuxi (Hayden) Liu as our PyDev of the Week! Hayden is the author of Python Machine Learning By Example and other books. You can connect with Hayden on LinkedIn.

Now let’s spend some time getting to know Hayden better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc):

I am currently a Software Engineer, Machine Learning at Google. Previously I worked as a machine learning scientist in a variety of data-driven domains and applied my ML expertise in computational advertising, marketing and cybersecurity. I am an author of a series of machine learning books and an education enthusiast. My first book, Python Machine Learning by Example, ranked the #1 bestseller in Amazon in 2017 and 2018, and was translated into many different languages. And I earned my degree from the University of Toronto.

I enjoy hiking a lot, so I am grateful SF Bay Area has many hiking trails complemented nicely by consistently sunny weather.

Why did you start using Python?

In 2008 when I did my undergrad.

What other programming languages do you know and which is your favorite?

C++, Java, Go, etc. Of course Python has always been my favorite…

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

If you love to chat about ML, data and Python, feel free to connect with me at LinkedIn. Here is my Amazon Author page. If you have any topics you want me to write about, feel free to let me know as well.

Thanks for doing the interview, Hayden!

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PyDev of the Week: John Sheehan | The Mouse vs The Python

This week we welcome John Sheehan (@JennaSys) as our PyDev of the Week. John is the author of React to Python. You can see what John has been up via his website or on his Github profile.

Let’s spend some time getting to know John now!

Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc):

I am a freelance software developer mostly focused on developing in-house applications for small/medium size businesses. In-between working for my own clients over the last 25 years, I also served as a project manager on a large multi-year enterprise Java project, and spent several years running operations for a local Makerspace.

I received my degree in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago … a long time ago. From there, due to a random paperwork filing mistake that someone made, I immediately got a job in a mechanical engineering position that ultimately moved me out to California. While that job didn’t have anything to do with programming, it gave me several years of learning how every aspect of a medium-sized business worked. When I left there to start a freelance programming business, that experience proved to be invaluable as it allowed me to walk into almost any small business and fully understand their business workflows within a very short period of time. I was then able to effectively translate that understanding into software to help automate their processes. To that end, I attribute my success in developing software in my freelance business, to spending many years beforehand not developing software at all.

I’ve been an avid electronics enthusiast since I was a teen. That passion was revitalized in the mid 00’s when I stumbled upon Make! magazine and was introduced to the Atmel AVR family of microcontrollers. Since then, I’ve made a deep dive into the Raspberry Pi world (I’m the organizer for a Raspberry Pi meetup group), and have an affinity for Espressif ESP8266 modules that I program using MicroPython.

I’m also a lifelong musician (saxophone, guitar, flute, keyboards, harmonica), though that aspect of my life has been on the back-burner for the last few years.

Why did you start using Python?

When I started my freelance business, the internet was just getting off the ground, and desktop applications were the norm. Small businesses (my target market) were in the process of converting from paper to digital at the time, and RAD was the buzzword of the day. As such, I was doing mostly Visual Basic desktop application development. For better or worse, many of those applications I developed back then are still in use today. When Microsoft killed off VB in favor of C#, I went looking for a replacement, and Python was the closest fit for my needs. I’ve been using Python now for over a decade.

Oddly enough, my very first exposure to Python was an interpreter that was embedded in a Digi Zigbee-to-Ethernet gateway device. My first useful Python program was transforming data as it flowed through the gateway.

What other programming languages do you know and which is your favorite?

Python is definitely my favorite language at this point. It just fits how my brain works, it’s really versatile, and makes programming fun for me. Other languages that I have actual experience with beyond just “Hello World” would include (in order of when I learned them): Basic, C, Lisp, VB, VBA, C++, JavaScript, Java, (Python), Google Apps Script, and Scratch. Other languages currently on my radar to further look into including Kotlin, Rust, and possibly Dart because of the Flutter platform.

Most of my active language use is Python, though I’m still maintaining several VB/VBA applications, and use C for some embedded projects…

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I appreciate you providing this platform to share developer experiences. So much material out there is just about what’s the latest and greatest, but there are a lot of interesting things going on in the trenches solving problems in less visible niche areas.

I also want to thank the Python community in general. The welcoming vibe and willingness to share ideas and knowledge has been phenomenal over the last 10 years, and I hope that attitude continues to thrive as more people adopt the Python language.

Thanks for doing the interview, John!

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AI for Health – a year of innovations from grantees across the globe | Microsoft On the Issues

As we reflect on how the world has changed this past year due to the pandemic, we want to take a moment to shed light on the great work our grantee partners are doing to tackle some of the most difficult health challenges using AI and data science.

Source: AI for Health – a year of innovations from grantees across the globe – Microsoft On the Issues

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The normal format for my postings was unwieldy, to say the least. Therefore, this style is employed.

PyDev of the Week: Žan Anderle | The Mouse vs The Python

This week we welcome Žan Anderle (@z_anderle) as our PyDev of the Week! Žan is a freelance software developer. You can check out his blog or check out his Github profile you’d like to know what he is up to.

Let’s take some time to get to know Žan better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc):

My name is Žan and I’m a solo consultant/software developer based in Slovenia. I’ve been working as a software developer for the past 7 years. Initially, I thought I would go into mechanical engineering, but while doing my undergraduate program in mechanical engineering I realized two things: 1) I don’t see myself doing mechanical engineering 2) Software development seems really fun. So I went on and did my master degree in computer science. And I’ve been in software development ever since.

But of course, that’s just the professional part of me. Apart from that, I’m a husband and a father. When it comes to hobbies I’m really into board games and music (specifically jazz). Ask me about Louis Armstrong, and I won’t shut up for hours. And if you ever meet me at a conference, I’m always down to play a cool board game.

Why did you start using Python?

While still a mechanical engineering undergrad, after I’ve realized it’s not what I want to do, I wanted to explore if computer science is what I want. So I went to Coursera and took a bunch of courses there. And one of the first one was introduction to programming and they were using Python. I loved using it from the very beginning. After a while I got my first developer (part-time) job and they were using Python and Django. So Python has been with me since the very beginning of my career.

What other programming languages do you know and which is your favorite?

Besides Python the languages I use (and know) the most are JavaScript (and TypeScript), HTML and CSS. Apart from that the only languages I’ve used enough to be able to say I know them are MatLab/Octave, and back in the day LabVIEW. My favorite is definitely Python with JavaScript being a close second…

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Thank you for doing these interviews and thank you for having me!

Thanks for doing the interview, Žan!

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Technology and the Free Press: The Need for Healthy Journalism in a Healthy Democracy | Microsoft On The Issues

Editor’s Note: On Mar. 12, Microsoft President Brad Smith testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law

Read Brad Smith’s written testimony below and watch the hearing here.

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Written Testimony of Brad Smith
President, Microsoft Corporation

Chairman Cicilline, Ranking Member Buck, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss a critical issue for the country – the intersection between technology and journalism and its impact on the role of the press in our democracy.

We’re here today because technology is changing every part of our society. As an employee and leader at a tech company, I believe in the benefits that digital technology is creating for our country and the world. But we must recognize that technology is creating problems as well as benefits. And these problems require new and even urgent solutions, especially when they implicate values that are fundamental and even timeless.

There is no value that is more fundamental and timeless in our country than our commitment to democracy. There are few institutions more important to the health of democracy than a free press. And when technology undermines the health of the free press – as it has – then we must pursue new solutions to restore the healthy journalism on which our democracy depends…

The rest of the extremely long post Technology and the Free Press: The Need for Healthy Journalism in a Healthy Democracy appeared first on Microsoft On the Issues.

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Expanding AccountGuard protections for high-risk customers in 31 democracies | Microsoft On The Issues

Today, we’re announcing the expansion of Microsoft’s enterprise-grade identity and access management protections to all AccountGuard members in 31 democracies at no additional cost. The addition of new features to AccountGuard provides new ways to protect online accounts for political parties, candidates and their staff, health care workers, human rights defenders, journalists and certain other customers who are at greatest risk from nation-state hackers.

Last year, we announced availability of these identity and access management features to political campaigns and parties ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. These identity protection offerings help ensure only authorized people can log on to an organization’s systems and make it more difficult for hackers to impersonate legitimate staff. Our pilot showed that organizations taking advantage of these tools saw an 18% improvement in their Microsoft Identity Protection Security Score. Security Score is an automated assessment of an organization’s ability to withstand security threats. Based on this successful feedback, we are extending this offering to all eligible AccountGuard customers including human rights organizations, newsrooms and health care organizations in the 31 democracies where AccountGuard is available.

Five of those democracies – the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic – have upcoming national elections. Improving the security of political actors – particularly in an election year – is a critical step to help prevent “hack-and-leak” operations where cybercriminals or foreign governments steal a campaign official’s emails and release them online, which in turn can help fuel disinformation campaigns. These challenges pose an even greater concern in an environment where much of the campaign coordination and even the campaigning itself is taking place online in light of the COVID-19 pandemic…

Democratic processes and institutions are the cornerstone of any democracy globally. Helping to secure them has been and will remain a core commitment of Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program and we are grateful to all our partners, like Yubico, for stepping up alongside us.

Additionally, any AccountGuard-eligible customer can learn more about enrolling in AccountGuard or taking advantage of the tools announced today by contacting AccountGuard@microsoft.com.

*Shipping locations limited to the US, Canada and EMEA.

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PyDev of the Week: Jens Winkelmann | The Mouse vs The Python

This week we welcome Jens Winkelmann (@jWinman) as our PyDev of the Week! Jens is a PhD researcher in the Foams and Complex System Group at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). You can find out more about what Jens does on his web page. Jens is also a conference speaker.

Let’s spend a few moments getting to know Jens better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc):

I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Essen, Germany, where I also currently live and work again after a couple of years abroad.

I obtained a B.Sc. and an M.Sc., both in Physics from TU Dortmund (Germany), in 2013 and 2015, respectively. End of 2015, I moved to Dublin, Ireland, to pursuit a PhD in Physics in the Foams and Complex Systems research group of Trinity College Dublin, from which I graduated last year.

In December 2019 I returned to Essen and am working here now as a Data Scientist at talpasolutions GmbH. Talpasolutions is the leading driver of the Industrial Internet of Things in the heavy industry. We build digital products that offer actionable insights for machine manufacturers as well as operators based on collected machine sensor data.

In my free time I enjoy climbing, both rope climbing as well as bouldering. It is a great sport because it combines mental focus with physical workout and can be individual or communal as much as you like.

Why did you start using Python?

I started using Python for the data analysis and plotting parts of the Physics labs during my undergrad at TU Dortmund. Some friends of my study group who were more familiar with programming languages introduced me to it. They quickly convinced me that it reduces my stress level for the Physics labs tremendously in the long run compared to Excel.

First, I used it for typical tasks in Physics labs where you analyse and then plot experimental data using NumPy and Matplotlib. Over time the data analysis became more and more complex. I also used it for my Bachelor, Master and later on PhD thesis, where I analysed and visualised large amount of data created by computer simulations. It was only then that I fully appreciated what a powerful tool Python can be.

What other programming languages do you know and which is your favorite?

I also learned C/C++ in an introductory coding lecture as well as part of a Computational Physics lecture. I implemented a hydrodynamic simulation in C/C++ for my Bachelor as well as Master thesis. Computational speed is quite essential here and everything needed to be programmed from scratch. So Python was unfortunately not an option for this.

I also got a bit into functional programming through a lecture about Haskell during my Master studies. But the only learning that remained is the functools package in Python which provides some functional programming tools.

Python is by far my favourite programming language at the moment. Since it is so straightforward, it allows me to fully focus on the problem that I’d like to solve rather than getting distracted by unnecessary boiler-plate code. This and Python’s large ecosystem ranging from NumPy to tensorflow and keras makes it to a powerful tool in the repertoire of a Data Scientist…

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

As final words, I’d like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions here. I hope my answers got your blog audience intrigued and more eager than ever to learn more about Data Science. I also would like to thank my friend Sanyo for proofreading my answers and making sure that they are making crispy-clear sense.

Thanks for doing the interview, Jens!

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New nation-state cyberattacks | Microsoft On The Issues

Today, we’re sharing information about a state-sponsored threat actor identified by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) that we are calling Hafnium. Hafnium operates from China, and this is the first time we’re discussing its activity. It is a highly skilled and sophisticated actor.

Historically, Hafnium primarily targets entities in the United States for the purpose of exfiltrating information from a number of industry sectors, including infectious disease researchers, law firms, higher education institutions, defense contractors, policy think tanks and NGOs. While Hafnium is based in China, it conducts its operations primarily from leased virtual private servers (VPS) in the United States…

We are encouraged that many organizations are voluntarily sharing data with the world, among each other and with government institutions committed to defense. We’re grateful to researchers at Volexity and Dubex who notified us about aspects of this new Hafnium activity and worked with us to address it in a responsible way. We need more information to be shared rapidly about cyberattacks to enable all of us to better defend against them. That is why Microsoft President Brad Smith recently told the U.S. Congress that we must take steps to require reporting of cyber incidents.

The exploits we’re discussing today were in no way connected to the separate SolarWinds-related attacks. We continue to see no evidence that the actor behind SolarWinds discovered or exploited any vulnerability in Microsoft products and services.

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PyDev of the Week: Jonathan Hoffstadt | The Mouse vs The Python

This week we welcome Jonathan Hoffstadt (@jhoffs1) as our PyDev of the Week! Jonathan is the co-author of Dear PyGUI. It’s a neat, new Python GUI package. You can see what else Jonathan has been working on over on Github.

Let’s spend some time getting to know Jonathan better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc):

I’m a mechanical engineer based in Houston, Texas. I have a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University, was a Tow Gunner in the U.S. Marines, and I’ve been working in the oil and gas industry since I graduated university.

My hobbies include chess, shooting, and programming. With programming, I find 3D graphics to be extremely interesting.

Why did you start using Python?

I’d been interested in programming since middle school after I was given a C++ for dummies book as a gift, but I did not encounter Python until university. It was there that I started using Python as a free alternative to MATLAB for assignments. It wasn’t long before I was hooked on the language.

I started using it outside of homework for anything and everything I could. This included making small games, automating tasks at internships, controlling breadboards with raspberry pi’s, and everything in between. When compared to other languages, I was amazed at how quickly you could make things happen.

I ended up using Python for courses in Finite Element Analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics. For our senior design capstone project, my team was tasked with building an Arc Welding 3D printer. As the member with the most exposure to programming, I was responsible for the software side of the project in which I used Python to control all the mechanical devices including a robotic arm and custom electronics the team created. I also wrote my first user interface which used tkinter and pygame to wrap an open source slicing engine and provide a 3D view of tool paths and the robotic arm position.

What other programming languages do you know, and which is your favorite?

C, C++, and Java are my other primary languages, though I’ve worked with C#, Swift, and Objective-C.

The truth is that I have 2 favorite languages. C++ for large projects. Python for small projects, scripting, and just getting things done!…

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Yes! This is for those new to programming. I’m often asked how to learn a programming language, library, topic, etc. and my answer has always been: The best way to learn anything in programming is to just start building things.

I typically skim a book then immediately start trying to build something. As I get stuck, I go back to the book to read the relevant sections more closely. Once it’s time to refactor and optimize, I typically go back to the book and read the more advanced sections now that I’m more aware of the issues that the advanced sections try to address. I’ve found this technique helps me a lot. Although you may end up reinventing the wheel by saving the advanced topics for after you’re done, you will end up with a deeper understanding that you are unlikely to forget.

Thanks for doing the interview, Jonathan!

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