source: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/lean-six-sigma-analyze-improve-and-control-tools/5s
Benford’s law describes the relative frequency distribution for leading digits of numbers in datasets. Leading digits with smaller values occur more frequently than larger values. This law states that approximately 30% of numbers start with a 1 while less than 5% start with a 9. According to this law, leading 1s appear 6.5 times as often as leading 9s! Benford’s law is also known as the First Digit Law.
If leading digits 1 – 9 had an equal probability, they’d each occur 11.1% of the time. However, that is not true in many datasets. The graph displays the distribution of leading digits according to Benford’s law.
Analysis of datasets shows that many follow Benford’s law. For example, analysts have found that stock prices, population numbers, death rates, sports statistics, financial and tax information, and billing amounts often have leading digits that follow this distribution.
Analysts have used it extensively to look for fraud and manipulation in financial records, tax returns, applications, and decision-making documents. They compare the distribution of leading digits in these datasets to Benford’s law. When the leading digits don’t follow the distribution, it’s a red flag for fraud in some datasets.
Benford’s law generally applies to data that fit some of the following guidelines:
Benford’s law often does not apply to assigned numbers, such as ID numbers, phone numbers, and zip codes.
It works best for data that range over multiple orders of magnitudes from very low to very high. You can cover the 10s, 100s, 1000s, and so on. For example, population and incomes can range from very low to very high.
Conversely, if the range of values is restricted, it affects the leading digits, and Benford’s law is less likely to apply. For example, human characteristics naturally fall into restricted ranges. Consequently, this distribution doesn’t apply to human ages, heights and weights. Similarly, limits imposed on potential values can also invalidate this law. Awards in small claims courts have an upper limit, which can negate Benford’s law.
Interestingly, mathematicians have proven that numbers from mixed populations follow Benford’s law. Mixed populations are things like all numbers pulled from a magazine issue. Obviously, those numbers will represent various topics and types of values. Benford himself did that with Reader’s Digest and newspapers. You can also combine data from different sources to achieve the same effect.
Like all distributions, larger datasets will produce observed relative frequencies that more closely approximate the theoretical values of Benford’s law. Smaller datasets can create relatively large deviations due to random error. Some analysts say datasets as small as 100 are acceptable, but most think a minimum size of 500 or even 1,000 is necessary.
Curiously, it will work in some cases where it should not. For example, it applies to house numbers even though those are assigned.
Benford’s law formula is the following:
The formula calculates the probability for each leading digit. The table below displays the probabilities that Benford’s law formula calculates for all digits.
Digit Probability
1 30.1%
2 17.6%
3 12.5%
4 9.7%
5 7.9%
6 6.7%
7 5.8%
8 5.1%
9 4.6%
source: https://statisticsbyjim.com/probability/benfords-law/
Monotropism is an individual's tendency to focus their attention on a small or singular number of interests at any time, with them neglecting or not perceiving lesser interests.
The word mono ("one, single") here is chosen in contrast to poly ("many"); whereas -tropism points to "directional movement or growth".
A tendency to focus attention tightly can be seen as a state of "tunnel vision". While monotropism tends to cause people to miss things outside their attention tunnel, within it, their focused attention can lend itself to intense experiences, deep thinking, and more specifically, flow states. However, this form of hyperfocus makes it harder to redirect attention, including starting and stopping tasks.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotropism
Simple Injectable Functions Explicitly Returning State (SIFERS) are a way to capture what the tests should do when setting up the testing environment as well as returning a mutable clean state. A SIFERS is just a function that accepts some overridable/injectable parameters and returns some form of state.
source: https://medium.com/@kolodny/testing-with-sifers-c9d6bb5b362
SIFERS moves away from implicit state management (e.g., using beforeEach hooks) and instead uses a single function that explicitly defines and returns the necessary state for each test.
This setup function, often called setup(), acts as a service that provides the necessary mocks, dependencies, and initial state for the unit tests.
By returning new object references for each test, SIFERS prevents any unintended side effects or state leakage from one test to another.
This function will be responsible for creating and returning the necessary state for your tests. It can accept parameters to customize the setup based on the specific test case.
The setup()function returns an object containing all the necessary dependencies, mocks, and initial state for the test.
In each test case, you can access the state returned by the setup()function and use it to interact with the system under test.
Passwordless Authentication is an authentication method that allows a user to gain access to an application or IT system without entering a password or answering security questions. Instead, the user provides some other form of evidence such as a fingerprint, proximity badge, or hardware token code. Passwordless Authentication is often used in conjunction with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On solutions to improve the user experience, strengthen security, and reduce IT operations expense and complexity.
source: https://www.cyberark.com/what-is/passwordless-authentication/
In computer science, canonicalization (sometimes standardization or normalization) is a process for converting data that has more than one possible representation into a "standard", "normal", or canonical form.
This can be done to compare different representations for equivalence.
A canonical URL is a URL for defining the single source of truth for duplicate content.
XML canonical form, briefly defined, removes whitespace within tags, uses particular character encodings, sorts namespace references and eliminates redundant ones, removes XML and DOCTYPE declarations, and transforms relative URIs into absolute URIs.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonicalization
A canonical phone address is a text string with the following structure:
+ CountryCode Space [(AreaCode) Space] SubscriberNumber
For example, +1 (425) 882-8080
source: https://tapiex.com/TPNet_Help/Canonical%20Addresses.htm
Canonical equivalence is a fundamental equivalency between characters or sequences of characters which represent the same abstract character, and which when correctly displayed should always have the same visual appearance and behavior.
The Unicode Normalization Algorithm puts all combining marks in a specified order, and uses rules for decomposition and composition to transform each string into one of the Unicode Normalization Forms.
The four Unicode Normalization Forms are:
NLWeb, short for Natural Language Web, aims to be the fastest and easiest way to effectively turn your website into an AI app. A natural language interface for websites using the model of their choice and their own data. Every NLWeb instance is also a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, allowing websites to make their content discoverable and accessible to agents and other participants in the MCP ecosystem if they choose.
NLWeb leverages semi-structured formats like Schema.org, RSS and other data that websites already publish, combining them with LLM-powered tools to create natural language interfaces usable by both humans and AI agents. The NLWeb system enhances this structured data by incorporating external knowledge from the underlying LLMs for richer user experiences.
The NLWeb GitHub repo contains everything you need to get started:
source: https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/company-news/introducing-nlweb-bringing-conversational-interfaces-directly-to-the-web/
Written by Microsoft Corporate Blogs Published May 19, 2025
The Model Context Protocol, or MCP for short, is a standard for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data resides.
MCP lets AI models draw data from sources like business tools and software to complete tasks, as well as from content repositories and app development environments.
MCP enables developers to build two-way connections between data sources and AI-powered applications (e.g., chatbots). Developers can expose data through “MCP servers” and build “MCP clients” — for instance, apps and workflows — that connect to those servers on command.
source: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/25/anthropic-proposes-a-way-to-connect-data-to-ai-chatbots/
View the slides on SlideShare: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/transform-any-website-into-a-conversational-experience-with-nlweb/281034902
NLWeb (Natural Language Web) is a robust protocol and toolset developed by Microsoft that turns any traditional website into a conversational interface, leveraging the power of large language models. It’s built around the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing developers to process natural-language queries and respond using structured Schema.org JSON.
In my session, I demonstrated how NLWeb works, highlighting its design for flexibility (enabling the swapping out of models, vector databases, and embeddings), and how it seamlessly connects to data and APIs to deliver intelligent, real-time responses to users.
I also highlighted real-world use cases where NLWeb is already in action:
These examples demonstrate how businesses are already leveraging the potential of conversational web interfaces to drive engagement and discovery.
For those interested in experimenting or building with NLWeb, here are a few resources I shared:
docs/nlweb-hello-world.mdhttp://localhost:8000/static/debug.htmldocs/setup-azure.mdWhether you’re a developer, architect, or product leader, NLWeb offers a modern and modular approach to embedding LLM-driven intelligence into any web property.
The Myers-Briggs® system consists of four preference pairs that reflect different aspects of personality—opposite ways to direct and receive energy through Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I), take in information with Sensing (S) or Intuition (N), come to conclusions using Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), and approach the outside world through Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).
Quiet, serious, earn success by being thorough and dependable. Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible. Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions. Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized—their work, their home, their life. Value traditions and loyalty.
Quiet, friendly, responsible, and conscientious. Committed and steady in meeting their obligations. Thorough, painstaking, and accurate. Loyal, considerate, notice and remember specifics about people who are important to them, concerned with how others feel. Strive to create an orderly and harmonious environment at work and at home.
Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm values. Develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common good. Organized and decisive in implementing their vision.
Have original minds and great drive for implementing their ideas and achieving their goals. Quickly see patterns in external events and develop long-range explanatory perspectives. When committed, organize a job and carry it through. Skeptical and independent, have high standards of competence and performance—for themselves and others.
Tolerant and flexible, quiet observers until a problem appears, then act quickly to find workable solutions. Analyze what makes things work and readily get through large amounts of data to isolate the core of practical problems. Interested in cause and effect, organize facts using logical principles, value efficiency.
Quiet, friendly, sensitive, and kind. Enjoy the present moment, what's going on around them. Like to have their own space and to work within their own time frame. Loyal and committed to their values and to people who are important to them. Dislike disagreements and conflicts; don't force their opinions or values on others.
Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people who are important to them. Want to live a life that is congruent with their values. Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be catalysts for implementing ideas. Seek to understand people and to help them fulfill their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a value is threatened.
Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable. Have unusual ability to focus in depth to solve problems in their area of interest. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical.
Flexible and tolerant, take a pragmatic approach focused on immediate results. Bored by theories and conceptual explanations; want to act energetically to solve the problem. Focus on the here and now, spontaneous, enjoy each moment they can be active with others. Enjoy material comforts and style. Learn best through doing.
Outgoing, friendly, and accepting. Exuberant lovers of life, people, and material comforts. Enjoy working with others to make things happen. Bring common sense and a realistic approach to their work and make work fun. Flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments. Learn best by trying a new skill with other people.
Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. See life as full of possibilities. Make connections between events and information very quickly, and confidently proceed based on the patterns they see. Want a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and support. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their ability to improvise and their verbal fluency.
Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another.
Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact. Decisive, quickly move to implement decisions. Organize projects and people to get things done, focus on getting results in the most efficient way possible. Take care of routine details. Have a clear set of logical standards, systematically follow them and want others to also. Forceful in implementing their plans.
Warmhearted, conscientious, and cooperative. Want harmony in their environment, work with determination to establish it. Like to work with others to complete tasks accurately and on time. Loyal, follow through even in small matters. Notice what others need in their day-to-day lives and try to provide it. Want to be appreciated for who they are and for what they contribute.
Warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. Find potential in everyone, want to help others fulfill their potential. May act as catalysts for individual and group growth. Loyal, responsive to praise and criticism. Sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership.
Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement comprehensive systems to solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read, enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. Forceful in presenting their ideas.
source: https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/the-16-mbti-personality-types/
This model identifies five primary ways people express and receive love:
Decision-Making Styles Of The Enneagram Types
The decision-making process varies depending on the personality types at work. However, each enneagram type can be categorized as making decisions through their head, heart, or gut.
Personalities that go with their gut tend to be instinctive. They want to be in control and have authority, respect, and power. “Personalities in this category really don't like to be told what to do,” said Copley, “which has a clear implication for team decision-making.” This workplace personality likes to be in charge because they like to make decisions, and they're good at it. But to put it bluntly, they're often also control freaks.
The Reformer is driven by perfection and the desire for personal growth. They expect themselves and others to be their best at all times. But under stress, they start nitpicking. They don't like to decide with incomplete information, and their quest for perfection causes damaging delays.
The Challenger is strong and action-oriented. The good news is that you have a lot of forward momentum and are energized by vibrant debate. You are confident and decisive. However, in stressful times you may move so fast that you don't get proper input from others. This fast pace may result in you misinterpreting silence as agreement and running right over less forceful dissenters.
If you are a Peacemaker, you crave control because you want to ensure that everyone is happy. You bring people together, and synthesize perspectives across the team. But when stressed, you can be so hyper-focused on harmony that you may avoid conflict, gloss over important disagreements and make the wrong decision just to keep everyone happy.
Of all the personality types at work, the heart types are the most driven by how other people perceive them. “They care about what people see in them, and what impressions their decisions will make on other people,” said Copley. The good news is that this need for validation drives a quest for achievement and a desire for feedback. The bad news is that heart types can be driven by appearances instead of results.
The Helper is extremely tuned into the morale of an organization. You are that bright-eyed co-worker who is always making direct, warm eye contact and involving everyone. The Helper knows how to read people and has high emotional intelligence. This is great, except when you are a leader who needs to make a decision that will affect people negatively. Preferring to be liked, you'd rather avoid hard but necessary decisions.
The Achiever is also focused on other team members, but you are also looking for admiration. You are self-confident and extremely success-oriented. This makes you methodical in decision-making, because you want to win. But you run into trouble when a decision reflects badly on you - you hide the bad news or distance yourself from the problems.
The Individualist tends to be highly creative, with a deep appreciation for beauty and aesthetics. They tend to be introspective with high levels of self-awareness. You like to work alone to design elegant solutions. You love to say, “I think there is a totally different way to look at this.” This is highly valuable for a team, but under stress you may disrupt discussion with a disdain for the mundane, demanding elegance over all else. This may make you appear self-absorbed.
The head triad is driven by their focus on what is going to happen in the future. “They want to get things moving towards a better tomorrow," said Copley. They are always playing out future scenarios in their heads and want to be ready for what's coming one, two or ten steps ahead. But they can also ignore the here and now, becoming overly confident that their vision of the future is real.
Investigators play out mental scenarios and like to have a ton of data. Characteristically, you are the person on the team who will read not just the full report but the footnotes and references, too. You are highly analytical, objective and rational, but when stressed you get too hung up on research to make a decision, and have a blind spot for important emotional factors.
The Loyalist thinks a lot about security and wants to know that the future will be OK. You have a lot of skepticism and you squelch this by working through scenarios extremely carefully (especially worst-case scenarios). You are a clairvoyant planner and very loyal, but your focus on obstacles can cause your team to dismiss your worries and miss your insights.
The fun-loving Enthusiast is all about finding joy in life and work. Their optimistic energy is contagious. Always bold and innovative, their peers would describe them as agents of change. They're a quick study and see opportunity everywhere. But Enthusiasts often struggle to meet deadlines. Additionally, under stress they blow off objections and shrug off problems, believing things will work out even when they probably won't.
source: https://www.cloverpop.com/blog/personality-types-at-work
This ancient theory divides personalities into four types, associated with different body fluids.
A person with a D style is an ambitious go-getter who loves to take on challenges and achieve results. They’re direct, determined, assertive, driven and self-confident – but can sometimes be too quick to act or overlook the needs of others.
A person with an I style is sociable, and motivated by recognition, relationships and fun. They are eager to network, express enthusiasm, and work well collaboratively. These individuals tend to be quite charming and persuasive – however they may lack follow-through at times, due their impulsiveness or lack of structure.
A person with an S style is all about building relationships, supporting others, and maintaining stability. They are fiercely loyal, reliable, and driven by cooperation rather than competition. However, because they tend to be slower paced, they can resist change or making quick decisions.
A person with a C style is the ultimate perfectionist, taking their time to make sure everything is up to the highest standards of quality. They have an impressive attention for detail and a thirst for knowledge and accuracy; however, they can get bogged down by overly analytical tendencies or fear of mistakes.
source: https://kariekaufmann.com/disc
source: https://birkman.com/resources/articles/birkman-colors
Action-Oriented Orange personality types look for adventure and fun at home and in the workplace. They are hands-on learners who are typically quick-witted, innovative and playful. Orange types will use their charming personality to become natural negotiators. They are competitive risk-takers who can sometimes be impulsive in their actions. Orange personalities cheer others on to achieve success and they love tangible rewards for their efforts. To perform well, Orange personality types need freedom and mobility.
Organized Gold personality types are extremely detail-oriented, practical and precise. Managers appreciate Gold personalities for their strong work ethic, and co-workers can count on them to follow the rules and complete their tasks on time. To perform well, Gold personalities need to feel prepared for their responsibilities. They like to start off with a realistic plan so they can enjoy a sense of completion when they finish the task.
Green personality types are highly analytical and curious about the world. They are logical thinkers who like to see the big picture and sometimes come across as intellectual. Green personalities hate repetition and redundancy. They are often the creative problem solvers in the organization. To perform well, Green personalities need the freedom to think independently.
Blue personality types are extremely relationship-oriented. They crave harmony in the workplace and they appreciate the opportunity to connect with others in teams. Blue personality types value friendships and they are genuinely caring. To perform well, Blue personality types need to find acceptance within the group and enjoy a feeling of belonging. In fact, they are happiest when everyone gets along with each other.
source: https://www.truecolorsintl.com/tciblog/what-are-the-four-common-personality-types
Insights Discovery is a psychometric tool based on the psychology of Carl Jung, Insights Discovery is built to help people understand themselves, understand others, and make the most of the relationships that affect them in the workplace.
The Insights Discovery methodology uses a simple and memorable four color model to help people understand their style, their strengths and the value they bring to the team. We call these the color energies, and it's the unique mix of energies, which determines how and why people behave the way they do.
In the volunteer's dilemma, a mutually beneficial outcome will result from one person doing a relatively unpleasant task while the others simply benefit without doing anything. This means that each member of the group needs to decide on whether to be the one to step forward or not. This can be anything people would prefer to avoid if they can.
Since there is no added benefit for the volunteer carrying out the task, there is no real incentive for acting since everyone else benefits as well. In the worst case scenario, everybody ends up suffering because the task in question doesn't get done.
So spare a thought to the bystander effect and the volunteer's dilemma the next time you find yourself in a situation with others agonizing over who will do something. Sometimes, all it takes is one person willing to act when nobody else will.
source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/media-spotlight/201604/exploring-the-volunteers-dilemma
Most often, once one or two people volunteer and break the bystander effect, more people will join.
See TWOTW Nash equilibrium
See TWOTW Bystander effect
See also: The volunteer’s dilemma explains the bystander effect
A Nash equilibrium is a strategy profile in game theory in which no player has a dominant strategy. Each player correctly anticipates the strategic choice of all other players, and thus has no incentive to unilaterally deviate from their own optimal strategy
source: https://builtin.com/data-science/nash-equilibrium
For example, suppose two friends wish to see a movie together but disagree on which movie. If both would rather see either movie together than see a movie alone, then both friends seeing either movie constitutes a Nash equilibrium, as neither can opt to see the other film without suffering a worse outcome.
source: https://www.britannica.com/science/Nash-equilibrium#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20suppose%20two%20friends,without%20suffering%20a%20worse%20outcome.