DEV Community: Yusadem131

How does effective collaboration advance projects in 2024?

Yusadem131 — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 22:22:49 +0000

Collaboration is an essential aspect of modern workplaces. Whether you are a freelancer, a team member working on a project for a client, or simply completing a report, you need to work with others to accomplish tasks. Collaboration enables people to achieve more than they would when working alone. It has far-reaching benefits, such as increased engagement, happier employees, and more innovative ideas for businesses.

When working with others, projecting your authenticity, being fair in giving and receiving help, promoting the interests of your collaborators, sharing power or authority,** expressing enthusiasm*, and **sharing constructive feedback* are all crucial aspects of effective collaboration.

Collaboration is critical in today's work environment because it brings people from different parts of the world with diverse knowledge, skill levels, and perspectives together to find the best solutions. Complex solutions require a broad group of people with deep knowledge, resources, and strategies from across companies and different geographies. Collaboration between individuals in different job roles is necessary to achieve company strategies.

Moreover, social businesses require collaboration because they are created to address and solve social problems such as poverty or healthcare. These businesses bring seemingly unrelated facts or ideas together in innovative ways, which require collaboration. Cross-disciplinary knowledge, research, and insights are brought together through collaboration, making it possible to develop solutions.

Employers emphasize collaboration as a skill because in today's workforce, it's likely that you will:

**Work for a globally connected company with a diverse workforce

Help customers address complex problems

Use aspects of social business for success**

Behaviors that improve collaboration

The most effective way to promote collaboration is through your own behaviour. But which behaviors are most likely to help and which actions might hinder collaboration? Is simply focusing on your tasks and doing your best work enough? Is resolving your own problems the most important contribution you can make to your colleagues and your company?

Consider the following quote:

*"He who wishes to secure the good of others has already gone a long way toward securing his own."
*
_
– Confucius, Chinese philosopher, teacher, and politician

Here are six behaviors that will help you enhance your collaboration skills.

Be Authentic: This means that you must be yourself and must be genuine.

-** Think Mutually**: Thinking mutually applies to any group of two or more people who are working together. To think mutually, you should:

Share a common purpose and beliefs.

Promote mutual interests and outcomes rather than personal gain.

Give and take fairly: To enact this behaviour, you should:

Help others.
Ask for help when you need it.
Take help when it is offered.
Share credit fairly when the work is done.

Earn trust: To earn trust, you should:

Keep your promises.
Behave reasonably.
Respect others.
Be sincere and truthful.
Perform at your best.
Share power and not take advantage of it.
Comply with established practices and procedures.

Be passionate:

To be passionate, you should:

Commit yourself fully to the group effort.
Feel and express honest enthusiasm.
Do a little extra.

Communicate effectively: To communicate collaboratively, you should:

Share good ideas.
Share problems with the intention of working toward solutions.
Share appreciation when it's deserved.
Share constructive criticism.
Give constructive feedback.
Listen effectively.

In conclusion:

We discuss about Collaboration and the six behaviours that may earn project the best rank it deserves.

How to create your first design in 2024 as a designer with Microsoft Designer.

Yusadem131 — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:57:18 +0000

The importance of creativity has increased significantly for individuals in recent years. This trend has resulted in over 165 million new creators joining the global creator economy in just the last three years. As a result, people now require tools that can assist them to be more productive and creative simultaneously.

Microsoft Designer is a tool that uses advanced generative AI technology to help people with or without a design background create high-quality graphics and improve their content. With Designer, you can describe what you want and get unique images, text, and design suggestions. This will save you time and help you bring your ideas to life.

In Microsoft Designer, you have access to Image Creator, Design Creator, Generative Erase, Remove Background, Brandkit Creator, Album Creator, Sticker Creator and Generative Expand.

Design Creator: This gives access to create amazing designs in Word and Generative AI will create it for you.

Image Creator: It allows you to create any image you can imagine.

Generative Erase: It helps to zap an object from an image to make it look better.

Remove Background: It helps to remove background from your image

Brand kit creator: It helps to create brand kit - logos, colors, fonts, and more.

Here are steps to follow to create your fantastic design with Design Creator.

Step 1
First, you need to click on the sign-in bottom at the top right-hand side and sign in with your email at

Step 2
You click on Get Started on the top and click on Design Creator

Step 3

Describe any design you would like to create for example: Design a goat-eating grass and click on Generate and wait for few seconds to generate the image.

Step 4

You can also click on Add Media to either add media from your phone, or device, and media.

Step 5
You can now click on Download at the top-right or new Idea if you want more ideas

Step 6

Click on the three icons on the top left to retrieve your design

Conclusion.

In this tutorial, we discuss Microsoft Designer and the access you can get from it. Moreover, we discuss a tutorial to create your first design.

Additional Resources
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/04/27/microsoft-designer-expands-preview-with-new-ai-design-features/

https://designer.microsoft.com/

How to register to become a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador in 2024.

Yusadem131 — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 07:20:00 +0000

Beginning January 9, 2024, applications are being removed as an admission requirement to the Student Ambassadors program

The Student Ambassadors program is transitioning from an application-based program model to a registration-based program model. The transition provides greater student access to industry-leading AI tools and technology and aligns with Microsoft's mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

## This article involves the following sections:

Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Program — About, Eligibility, Program path, and everything you need to know
Why you should apply for this program — the perks and other benefits.

complete step-by-step guide to the application process

So let’s get started.

About

Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors are students either in their first, second, third or fourth year in a University or College be it Undergraduate or Post-graduate who amplify their impact and establish themselves as a mentor and leaders at their university or in their community while developing the technical skills and emotional intelligence they need to succeed.

Who is eligible to join the Microsoft Learn StudentAmbassadors?

· Be 16 years of age or older.

· Be enrolled full-time in an accredited academic institution (e.g. College, University) and have at least one academic remaining in the course you taking.

. Be a person (not a corporate entity)
. Not be a Microsoft employee or current contractor

What are the perks of being an MLSA?

Exposure to the talented pool all across the world(networking)
Office 365 subscription()
Visual Studio Enterprise(license keys for windows,GitHub Enterprise,Azure DevOps (Basic),Visual Studio Professional IDE)
Azure credits worth $150/month
LinkedIn Learning free subscription
Invitation to Microsoft regional, national, and sometimes international events including Microsoft Student Summit, Ignite, etc.
Nomination to the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program
Host workshops through the Microsoft Reactor and Microsoft Learn Live Series
Exclusive swags, badges, and accessories from Microsoft
Write a blog that will reach thousands of people
Opportunity to join event research focus group and get an Amazon gift card.
Get Beta Swag
Get Gold Swag

Beta Swag

Gold Swag

How to register to become a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador?
Step 1: Log in to the application portal
Visit and click on “Get Started”
then, Click on next,

Login with a new or an already existing Microsoft Account email to get the application form and fill in all the necessary information.

After you register for the Student Ambassadors program, you will be invited to join the Microsoft Student Developer Community on Discord. In Discord, you can complete community activities that align with your interests and skills to become a Student Ambassador. Registered members who meet activity requirements will be invited to join the Student Ambassadors program quarterly.

The registration will be automatically saved, you can leave at any time and come back later to continue your registration.

Then, you click on 'I agree and wish to continue' and click on the next page.

Then you fill in all your personal information

Then, you add all your online social media handle networks like Linkedin, X, Hashnode, dev.to, click on the next page

Then you fill in the Academic Institution information and the registration questions.

Note
You must submit one video (under 2 minutes) and two written responses. Ensure your voice is clear and the link is public.
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program is conducted in English. Program participants should have at least an intermediate level of English proficiency.

Video responses may be submitted in non-English but should include English subtitles. Written responses should be submitted in English.

Then, you get to review the session and click on 'Submit'. After you have submitted, you will not be able to update your responses again. Then, you wait to join the Discord channel to start contributing.

What happens after registration?

After registering for the Student Ambassadors program, students will be invited to join the Microsoft Student Developer Community on Discord. In Discord, they will select a program path and complete pre-identified activities within this path to become a Student Ambassador. These activities might include sharing content on social, hosting cloud skills challenges, and referring student startups to Founders Hub.

What are program paths?

Program paths align with 3 broad interests and skills categories and empower students to focus on what matters to them. Registered students select a program path and complete the required activities for this path to become a Student Ambassador.

Community Influencers want to grow their online presence by creating and sharing Microsoft content to attract audience and drive engagement. To be invited to join the Student Ambassadors program, students who select the Community Influencer path must complete Technical Training and reach 2,000 unique visitors to Microsoft websites using their Contributor IDs

Community Builders want to grow their leadership skills by hosting community events highlighting Microsoft technologies, products and services. To be invited to join the Student Ambassadors program, students who selected the Community Builder path must complete Technical Training and reach 1,500 net-new Cloud Skills Challenge modules completed under their Contributor IDs

Startup Advocates want to grow their impact by promoting AI-driven solutions and startups building with Microsoft AI and cloud technologies. To be invited to join the Student Ambassadors program, students who selected the Startup Advocate path must complete Technical Training and refer 30 accepted applications to Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub using their contributor IDs.

They will also complete Technical Training (aka Technical Onboarding). Technical Training will be conducted via a Cloud Skills Challenge and will provide the foundational knowledge required for building and growing AI-driven solutions with Microsoft AI and cloud technologies. The cloud skills challenge will cover AI concepts (including generative AI), Azure AI services (including Azure OpenAI) and business concepts to launch a startup.

What happens after Registration

Once you have registered and completed the program path requirements - and Technical Training - you will be invited to join the Student Ambassadors program. Invitations will be quarterly. Once the invitation is accepted, you will be onboarded to the program and earn the official title, certificate, and benefits of Student Ambassadors membership, including @studentambassadors.com email and access to Microsoft Teams.

Conclusion

In this article, I discuss the registration processes to join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador, its eligibility, registration processes, path and what happens after registration.

Resources:

https://stdntpartners.sharepoint.com/sites/SAProgramHandbook/SitePages/Student-Ambassadors-Registration.aspx#beginning-january-9%2C-2024%2C-applications-are-being-removed-as-an-admission-requirement-to-the-student-ambassadors-program.

https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-US/studentambassadors/apply

Please, give me a like button.

Thanks.

Author: Abdulakeem Yusuf Ademola
Let's connect on Linkedin(https://www.linkedin.com/in/yusuf-abdulakeem-9558a8190/).

How to create an Azure AI Services Resources

Yusadem131 — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 07:16:21 +0000

Level: Beginner
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create Azure AI Services Resources.

Azure AI Services: Azure AI services help developers and organizations rapidly create intelligent, cutting-edge, market-ready, and responsible applications with out-of-the-box and pre-built and customizable APIs and models. Example applications include natural language processing for conversations, search, monitoring, translation, speech, vision, and decision-making.
I will discuss creating Azure AI Services Resources in Azure Portal in this tutorial.

We have different Azure AI Services:
1) Azure OpenAI - This performs a wide variety of natural language tasks.
2) AI Search - It brings AI-powered cloud search to your mobile and web app
3) Computer vision: This is used to perform different tasks, like Video Retrieval and Summary to Generate a summary of the main points shown in the video, recognize products on shelves, customize models with images, search photos with image retrieval, add dense captions to images, remove backgrounds from images, add captions to images, detect common objects in images, extract text from images, extract printed and handwritten style text from images and documents for supported languages, extract common tags from images, create smart-cropped images and detect faces in an image.

4) Face API: It is used to detect and identify people and emotions in images.
5) Custom vision: It Customizes image recognition to fit your business
6) Speech service: it is used to convert Speech to text, text to speech, translation and speaker recognition.
7) Language service: It builds apps with industry-leading natural language understanding capabilities.
8) Translator: It translates more than 100 languages and dialects
Document intelligence
9) Bot services: It creates bots and connects them across channels.
10) Anomaly detector: It identifies potential problems early on.
11) Content Moderator: It detects potentially offensive or unwanted content.
12) Health Insights: The Health Insights SDK makes it easy to integrate Health Insights into your web application.
13) Personalizer: It creates rich, personalized experiences for each user.
15) Metrics advisor: This is an AI service that detects unwanted content.
16) Immersive reader: It helps users read and comprehend text.
Azure AI services multi-service account
17) Content safety: An AI service that detects unwanted contents
Language understanding (classic).

You can also perform Object Character recognition to extract text from images.
You can also perform spatial analysis to Generate a brief summary of the main points shown in video, Count people in an area, Detect when people cross a line, Detect when people enter/exit a zone and Monitor social distancing.

Step 1:

Create an Azure AI services resource in your Azure subscription

Step 2:

In another browser tab, open the Azure portal at signing in with the Microsoft account associated with your Azure subscription.

Step 3:

Click the ＋Create a resource button and search for Azure AI services.

Step 4:

You will be directed to a page to create an Azure AI services resource.
Configure it with the following settings:

Subscription: Your Azure subscription.
Resource group: Select or create a resource group with a unique name.
Region: East US.
Name: Enter a unique name.
Pricing tier: Standard S0.
By checking this box I acknowledge that I have read and understood all the terms below: Selected.
Select Review + Create then Create and wait for deployment to complete.

Help and support

Azure AI services provide several support options to help you move forward with creating intelligent applications. Azure AI services also has a strong community of developers that can help answer your specific questions.

Summary

In this article, I describe Azure AI Services. I also discussed different Azure AI Services that we have.

They are:

Azure AI services
Azure OpenAI
AI Search
Computer vision
Face API
Custom vision
Speech service
Language service
Translator
Document intelligence
Bot services
Anomaly detector
Content moderator
Health Insights
Personalizer
Metrics advisor
Immersive reader
Azure AI services multi-service account
Content safety
Language understanding (classic)

Resources
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/what-are-ai-services
https://portal.vision.cognitive.azure.com/gallery/featured
https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_ProjectOxford/CognitiveServicesHub/~/AIServices

You have successfully created an Azure AI services Resource in Azure Portal.

How to kick-start your journey in Cybersecurity in 2024.

Yusadem131 — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 18:13:12 +0000

Cybersecurity is an essential aspect of today's digital world. It is a set of techniques and practices that are designed to protect computer systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, theft, or damage. Cybersecurity is crucial for individuals, businesses, and governments, as the internet and other digital technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives.

The threats that cyber security aims to prevent are diverse and constantly evolving. They include malware, phishing attacks, hacking, data theft, cyber espionage, and cyber terrorism, among others. Cybersecurity experts use sophisticated tools and techniques to identify, assess, and mitigate these risks, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer systems and data.

Authentication is a critical aspect of cybersecurity. It refers to the process of verifying the identity of a user or system that is attempting to access a computer or network. There are three primary types of authentication: what you know, what you have, and what you are. Examples of what you know include passwords and PINs, while what you have includes smart cards, tokens, or other physical objects. Finally, you include biometric authentication, which uses unique physical or behavioural traits such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or voice recognition.

In summary, cybersecurity plays a vital role in protecting our digital world from various cyber threats. Authentication is an essential aspect of cybersecurity, as it helps verify the identity of users and systems, ensuring that only authorized persons can access protected data and systems.

Cybersecurity helps minimize crime and harm in the virtual world. Think of it as a set of techniques to protect the secrecy, integrity, and availability of computer systems and data against threats.

Authentication

Authentication refers to the process by which a computer understands who it is interacting with. There are three types of authentication: what you know, what you have, and what you are.

Who are Hackers?

Hackers use their technical knowledge to break into computer systems.
Black Hat hackers have malicious intentions to steal, exploit, and sell computer vulnerabilities and data.
White Hat hackers are hired by companies and governments to perform security evaluations, hunt for bugs, and try to close security holes in software to make systems safer and more resilient.
Some hack for amusement and curiosity, while cybercriminals hack most often for monetary gain. Hacktivist community members use their skills to promote a social or political goal.
Attackers find and take advantage of a bug in a system to gain access to computer systems to overwrite data, steal user data, crash systems, or even use that exploitable bug to hijack the whole system.

Cryptography

Cryptography is a technique of securing information and communications through the use of codes so that only those persons for whom the information is intended can understand it and process it. Thus preventing unauthorized access to information. The prefix “crypt” means “hidden” and the suffix “graphy” means “writing”.

Features Of Cryptography are as follows

Confidentiality: Information can only be accessed by the person for whom it is intended and no other person except him can access it.
Integrity: Information cannot be modified in storage or transition between sender and intended receiver without any addition to information being detected.
Non-repudiation: The creator/sender of information cannot deny his intention to send information at a later stage.
Authentication: The identities of the sender and receiver are confirmed. As well destination/origin of information is confirmed.

Symmetric Key Cryptography: It is an encryption system where the sender and receiver of a message use a single common key to encrypt and decrypt messages. Symmetric Key Systems are faster and simpler but the problem is that the sender and receiver have to exchange keys securely somehow. The most popular symmetric key cryptography systems are Data Encryption Systems (DES) and Advanced Encryption Systems (AES).
Hash Functions: There is no usage of any key in this algorithm. A hash value with a fixed length is calculated as per the plain text, making it impossible for plain text contents to be recovered. Many operating systems use hash functions to encrypt passwords.
Asymmetric Key Cryptography: Under this system, a pair of keys is used to encrypt and decrypt information. A receiver’s public key is used for encryption and a receiver’s private key is used for decryption. Public keys and Private keys are different. Even if the public key is known by everyone the intended receiver can only decode it because he alone knows his private key. The most popular asymmetric key cryptography algorithm is the RSA algorithm.

Cipher

A cipher is an algorithm that converts plain text into ciphertext, which is nonsense unless you have a key that lets you undo the cipher. The process of making text secret is called encryption, and the reverse process is called decryption.

Careers in Cyber-security

IT security consultant: US$80,000
• Security engineer: US$89,000
• Security architect: US$114,000
• Security director: US$125,000
• Chief information security officer: US$143,000

Conclusion

"Cybersecurity" refers to the methods and practices employed to safeguard computer systems, networks, and data against theft, unauthorized access, or damage. As the internet and other digital technologies have become a crucial part of our daily lives, cybersecurity has become vital for individuals, businesses, and governments alike.

Authentication is very important in keeping our computers safe from malicious attacks.

I discuss Hackers to be people who break into computer systems, Cryptography and its features and Ciphers and different careers in cyber-security.

Author: Abdulakeem Yusuf Ademola

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yusuf-abdulakeem-9558a8190/
X: https://twitter.com/AbdulakeemYus15?s=09