At the risk of exposing my ignorance, what lead you to conclude that the star was weak in heavier elements? Considering how far away it was, which reduces the chances of "contaminating events" (collisions and the like), what would have kept it from 'fusing' right up to a nickel-iron core?
Most, if not all, of the.css and.js files are cached. Moreover, some of the page structures are cached through JS DOM building (it just needs the new data, the structure is created on-the-fly).
You could hammer the servers and keep requesting new versions of the css and js files, but barring that, only the part of the page that changes should need refreshing.
Obviously, that's an ideal situation, but even in real-world use many of the static files won't require reloading unless you keep clearing the browser cache.
I think he meant that google needs to take the raw data, parse it, and place it into markup structures. At least, this particular aspect will be removed from the process.
Their bandwidth usage would probably go down as well.
Actually, I'm willing to bet it'll go up. They're giving people the ability to create their own interfaces to GA, ones that likely pull more data per-instance in order to allow the app to visualize things like comparative graphs/charts, as well as trends.
These new apps will only be pulling raw data, this is true, but why would you want to use/create an app that allows you to play around with *less* information than their site already allows. It's more likely that one of the bigger uses for this will be for power-users, which will want to suck as much data and throw it on as much monitor real-estate as it can.
What interests me is the ease of building a many node cluster and learning how to administer and write software for something with 20+ nodes.
This is a chicken-and-egg question. If this becomes more common, the software (and hardware) to manage and administer these will be made available due to commercial needs, and interest from the OSS community. It's just like threading is making its way into almost every software "domain", as multi-core CPUs are becoming the norm.
Google already uses COTS hardware for their servers.
This may be a step forward in terms of modularity and scalability, however. Rather than 1AAA shipping containers, the server "batches" could be the size of refrigerators and powered by one power supply "per-fridge".
At any rate, I especially agree with your latter statement: hardware manufacturers will be forced to take note, as this gradually becomes more common.
They also don't require cooling (or very little of it compared to server CPUs), and the use of economy of scale kicks in *way* faster: how much of a price reduction would you get if you ordered them in batches of 100?
Not to mention, the profit margins on those tiny systems inherently lower than of server hardware. Even if you used "only" 20 of them, you'd probably get more bang-for-the-buck than if you spent an equivalent amount of money on a nehalem system(s).
The bigger issue would be networking and software, but I think most of these solutions could be found off-the-shelf, you just need to do some homework.
I know this will be laughed at, but I'll post it anyway:
I've been running Vista on several computers since around 4 months after it launched, and on some of them I *do* run p2p software. I have anti-viruses on all of them, and not *once* have I ever detected anything. If you keep windows up to date, and you _know-how-to-use-a-computer_, you're not in any more danger than Mac users.
Don't download/run executables from untrustworthy sources, don't download *any* executables from p2p networks, and don't use IE. Apart from that, it's the usual: Don't open attachments, be aware of phishing, and don't parade around warez sites (at least not with scripting turned on).
Now go ahead, get it out of your system... "ZOMG! He's using VISTA! BAN HIM!!"
Image searches require the frame, otherwise they'd get in trouble with the content owners. That one isn't really a "choice" so much as what you have to do if you want to allow image search and not be sued to death.
And stumbleupon is *based* on that bar, it couldn't be implemented without it (yes, I know you can customize the plugin, but it's still persistent).
Other then those two, however, the only reason for a "software bar" (the idiotic name they're using instead of "framing the damn site") is greed. It really have nothing at all to do with "user experience".
I hate to use this phrase, but "who's we?"... I don't completely agree with every design/structural decision on the site, but I think that if there was an outcry of enough volume, it would lead to eventual change. Slash 2.0 has its upsides, though it's still quite buggy (and I mean technical, obviously-an-error-and-not-the-designer's-intention bugs). Idle? Ignore them if you dislike them so much. I don't really have a strong opinion about the user pages one way or the other.
I very much doubt, however, that "they don't care". If you want to see "don't care", check out digg, and the topic of this thread.
Possibly one thing that could be done is polling that takes into account the user's karma, but that too would have its problems.
Also, for better or worse, the website isn't a democracy (though arguably the comments are). This site is "private property" and anyone's free to leave if they so choose. Clearly, anyone posting here hasn't chosen to leave yet.
This is why they get modded "offtopic" and "troll", so that most people won't have to see them. As a result the first 20 *visible* comments will usually be relevant to some degree.
I agree with the "funnies that aren't funny" though. It's something that we have to either live with, or filter off anything modded "funny" (and personally, I'm willing to read a couple of "pseudo-funny" posts in exchange for a really good one).
This is a common pattern. A comment arguing that its parent should be modded up will often achieve the desired effect, at the cost of whomever posted the "mod parent up" comment.
I had a similar thing happen when I posted a comment that initially got modded "redundant". I had then replied to my own comment, elaborating on what I meant, and claiming that the original post was making a valid point. This achieved two things: A) the original post got upped to 5 B) the reply to the post got modded -1 offtopic
In its own funny way it works, but you need to keep in mind that the system has its quirks.
Pressure can be caused by all sorts of things, and sometimes it's not really any one person's fault.
My worst scenario actually happened when, technically, where was "no customer". I was in charge of one aspect of a service, which at the time, was a single-point-of-failure. The setup was in its first stages, and there wasn't enough redundancy in place. At that point, murphy's law kicked in, and 2 unrelated, improbable events took place. The first was a remote DB service going down, and the second was the local cache getting wiped (Think of a dam getting cut off from its source of water flow, and at the same time the reservoir regulation system messes up and drains most/all of the "standing" water).
At this juncture, I was the only person with hands-on experience with that part of the service, and while this part of the system was down, the entire system couldn't function. At that point, I had 4 other developers sitting around and gawking at me, through no real fault of their own, since each was in charge of, and was versed in, one aspect of the system.
Yes, this is the very definition of "poor planning", but that observation wasn't useful at the time. Eventually, after a couple of hours of "crisis management", the DB service finally became accessible, and I was able to restore functionality. It couldn't have been over 2 hours, but when you're in hell time appears to move rather slowly.
Whatever deadline-marathons I had to put up with before or since, it didn't match the pain of that incident.
Notice that I said "not really any one person's fault" up there? Depending on your point of view, the reality in this case was that it was either my fault, of everyone's (since everyone in the team was aware that this was something that could possibly occur).
Showing weakness to the machines is the first step towards your annihilation. First they help the "adorable robot", and next thing you know they're equipping it with firearms, you know, for "self defense".
Very few Twitter users use *just* the site. You can see where the "tweets" are coming from, and they're usually coming from apps (well, Air apps, anyway).
I think that the reason most people use it is that you don't have to actually *know* anyone. You just sign up and "follow" (stalk) a bunch of people.
Slashdot Mirror
At the risk of exposing my ignorance, what lead you to conclude that the star was weak in heavier elements? Considering how far away it was, which reduces the chances of "contaminating events" (collisions and the like), what would have kept it from 'fusing' right up to a nickel-iron core?
TNG = The Next Generation.
Noob.
Most, if not all, of the .css and .js files are cached. Moreover, some of the page structures are cached through JS DOM building (it just needs the new data, the structure is created on-the-fly).
You could hammer the servers and keep requesting new versions of the css and js files, but barring that, only the part of the page that changes should need refreshing.
Obviously, that's an ideal situation, but even in real-world use many of the static files won't require reloading unless you keep clearing the browser cache.
You can solve that, at least if you're the one hosting the page: dojox.analytics.Urchin
I think he meant that google needs to take the raw data, parse it, and place it into markup structures. At least, this particular aspect will be removed from the process.
Their bandwidth usage would probably go down as well.
Actually, I'm willing to bet it'll go up. They're giving people the ability to create their own interfaces to GA, ones that likely pull more data per-instance in order to allow the app to visualize things like comparative graphs/charts, as well as trends.
These new apps will only be pulling raw data, this is true, but why would you want to use/create an app that allows you to play around with *less* information than their site already allows. It's more likely that one of the bigger uses for this will be for power-users, which will want to suck as much data and throw it on as much monitor real-estate as it can.
What interests me is the ease of building a many node cluster and learning how to administer and write software for something with 20+ nodes.
This is a chicken-and-egg question. If this becomes more common, the software (and hardware) to manage and administer these will be made available due to commercial needs, and interest from the OSS community. It's just like threading is making its way into almost every software "domain", as multi-core CPUs are becoming the norm.
Google already uses COTS hardware for their servers.
This may be a step forward in terms of modularity and scalability, however. Rather than 1AAA shipping containers, the server "batches" could be the size of refrigerators and powered by one power supply "per-fridge".
At any rate, I especially agree with your latter statement: hardware manufacturers will be forced to take note, as this gradually becomes more common.
They also don't require cooling (or very little of it compared to server CPUs), and the use of economy of scale kicks in *way* faster: how much of a price reduction would you get if you ordered them in batches of 100?
Not to mention, the profit margins on those tiny systems inherently lower than of server hardware. Even if you used "only" 20 of them, you'd probably get more bang-for-the-buck than if you spent an equivalent amount of money on a nehalem system(s).
The bigger issue would be networking and software, but I think most of these solutions could be found off-the-shelf, you just need to do some homework.
I know this will be laughed at, but I'll post it anyway:
I've been running Vista on several computers since around 4 months after it launched, and on some of them I *do* run p2p software. I have anti-viruses on all of them, and not *once* have I ever detected anything.
If you keep windows up to date, and you _know-how-to-use-a-computer_, you're not in any more danger than Mac users.
Don't download/run executables from untrustworthy sources, don't download *any* executables from p2p networks, and don't use IE.
Apart from that, it's the usual: Don't open attachments, be aware of phishing, and don't parade around warez sites (at least not with scripting turned on).
Now go ahead, get it out of your system...
"ZOMG! He's using VISTA! BAN HIM!!"
Image searches require the frame, otherwise they'd get in trouble with the content owners. That one isn't really a "choice" so much as what you have to do if you want to allow image search and not be sued to death.
And stumbleupon is *based* on that bar, it couldn't be implemented without it (yes, I know you can customize the plugin, but it's still persistent).
Other then those two, however, the only reason for a "software bar" (the idiotic name they're using instead of "framing the damn site") is greed. It really have nothing at all to do with "user experience".
I hate to use this phrase, but "who's we?"... I don't completely agree with every design/structural decision on the site, but I think that if there was an outcry of enough volume, it would lead to eventual change.
Slash 2.0 has its upsides, though it's still quite buggy (and I mean technical, obviously-an-error-and-not-the-designer's-intention bugs).
Idle? Ignore them if you dislike them so much.
I don't really have a strong opinion about the user pages one way or the other.
I very much doubt, however, that "they don't care". If you want to see "don't care", check out digg, and the topic of this thread.
Possibly one thing that could be done is polling that takes into account the user's karma, but that too would have its problems.
Also, for better or worse, the website isn't a democracy (though arguably the comments are). This site is "private property" and anyone's free to leave if they so choose. Clearly, anyone posting here hasn't chosen to leave yet.
This is why they get modded "offtopic" and "troll", so that most people won't have to see them. As a result the first 20 *visible* comments will usually be relevant to some degree.
I agree with the "funnies that aren't funny" though. It's something that we have to either live with, or filter off anything modded "funny" (and personally, I'm willing to read a couple of "pseudo-funny" posts in exchange for a really good one).
This is a common pattern. A comment arguing that its parent should be modded up will often achieve the desired effect, at the cost of whomever posted the "mod parent up" comment.
I had a similar thing happen when I posted a comment that initially got modded "redundant". I had then replied to my own comment, elaborating on what I meant, and claiming that the original post was making a valid point. This achieved two things:
A) the original post got upped to 5
B) the reply to the post got modded -1 offtopic
In its own funny way it works, but you need to keep in mind that the system has its quirks.
Pressure can be caused by all sorts of things, and sometimes it's not really any one person's fault.
My worst scenario actually happened when, technically, where was "no customer". I was in charge of one aspect of a service, which at the time, was a single-point-of-failure. The setup was in its first stages, and there wasn't enough redundancy in place. At that point, murphy's law kicked in, and 2 unrelated, improbable events took place. The first was a remote DB service going down, and the second was the local cache getting wiped (Think of a dam getting cut off from its source of water flow, and at the same time the reservoir regulation system messes up and drains most/all of the "standing" water).
At this juncture, I was the only person with hands-on experience with that part of the service, and while this part of the system was down, the entire system couldn't function. At that point, I had 4 other developers sitting around and gawking at me, through no real fault of their own, since each was in charge of, and was versed in, one aspect of the system.
Yes, this is the very definition of "poor planning", but that observation wasn't useful at the time. Eventually, after a couple of hours of "crisis management", the DB service finally became accessible, and I was able to restore functionality.
It couldn't have been over 2 hours, but when you're in hell time appears to move rather slowly.
Whatever deadline-marathons I had to put up with before or since, it didn't match the pain of that incident.
Notice that I said "not really any one person's fault" up there? Depending on your point of view, the reality in this case was that it was either my fault, of everyone's (since everyone in the team was aware that this was something that could possibly occur).
"hard-learned lessons", and such...
Showing weakness to the machines is the first step towards your annihilation. First they help the "adorable robot", and next thing you know they're equipping it with firearms, you know, for "self defense".
You misunderstand: The robot is a women -- It's asking for directions.
And they live on facebook. And that other one, that makes your browser crash.
You've not reading this correctly. Each "b" is followed by a sentence beginning with "be". It's like lolspeak, but different.
Quite a few developers use Twitter. It's a good way to stay on top of things within a certain field, and/or collaborate.
Keeping up that "too cool for school" attitude means that you could lose out on some of the very useful, and even productive, aspects of the service.
Here's a simple rule to start you off with: If someone tweets "I'm eating a sandwich", unfollow them.
I expected to see at least one dog "marking" it and possibly a cat trying to catch that flag.
Very few Twitter users use *just* the site. You can see where the "tweets" are coming from, and they're usually coming from apps (well, Air apps, anyway).
I think that the reason most people use it is that you don't have to actually *know* anyone. You just sign up and "follow" (stalk) a bunch of people.
And my first reaction would be to set its flag on fire.
Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
Step 3: Record results and post on YouTube...
How do you decide what's a "scam TLD" and what isn't? Something like ".comm" could be a communications-related domain...