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Archive for September, 2008
Google Releases More Patches for MySQL
08
Sep
Leslie Hawthorn via Google Open Source Blog
shared by 4 people
By Mark Callaghan, Software Engineering Team
Did you know that Google uses MySQL as part of its Ads system? As you can imagine, we demand a lot from this Open Source code base and so we have spent a fair amount of time enhancing it to work better in our massively scaled environment. In the past, we have published several patches and today we have a few more to offer. We expect several of these features to be merged into a future official MySQL release, and one of them, semi-synchronous replication, is already available as a MySQL feature preview.
All of the features in the patch are described on our project wiki. The features include:
By Mark Callaghan, Software Engineering Team
Did you know that Google uses MySQL as part of its Ads system? As you can imagine, we demand a lot from this Open Source code base and so we have spent a fair amount of time enhancing it to work better in our massively scaled environment. In the past, we have published several patches and today we have a few more to offer. We expect several of these features to be merged into a future official MySQL release, and one of them, semi-synchronous replication, is already available as a MySQL feature preview.
All of the features in the patch are described on our project wiki. The features include:
- enhancements and bug fixes for features from the previous patch
- changes to make InnoDB run faster on multi-core servers
- changes to display mutex contention statistics
- changes to monitor and rate-limit activity by database account and client IP
- a patch for MySQL 5.0.37 with all of our changes
- a patch for MySQL 5.1.26 with the changes for mutex contention statistics
- a patch for MySQL 5.0.67 to make InnoDB run faster on multi-core servers
What I hear when creationists speak [Pharyngula]
08
Sep
PZ Myers none@example.com via ScienceBlogs : Combined Feed
shared by 5 people
I like it. This is a perfect analogy to creationist argument.
Read the comments on this post...The theory of childhood, also known as child origin, is a damnable, loathsome and indefensible lie. How can any thinking person suppose all humans used to be babies once? There is no development path from babies to adults, no transitional forms between these two species. Show me even one baby with the head of a grown man on his body. Can you? No? Not even a bearded toddler? No adults with unfused skullbones, outside unfortunate disorders? Not even a tiny little newborn girl suddenly sprouting a respectable bosom? You can't find them, because they don't exist. There isn't a single transitional form between children and adults, and you will never find one because the theory simply is an unscientific lie.
The development of children has been well-researched in our six-month study following a sample of one thousand children and adults of various ages. We have conclusively proven that while there are minor changes in features like height and body fat, and replacement of deciduous teeth with permanent teeth, incontravertibly still every creature in the study that started out as a child had only slightly more adult features at the end of the observation period than at its beginning. Children and adults are separate kinds and there will never be sufficient changes to change one into the other. We reject any evidence from longer-term studies as we believe the laws of physics have changed within the last year.
To claim people come from children is demeaning and morally degrading. We have observed how children behave. If we acted like small children we'd all be demanding and impatient, and we'd be cheating, lying, and stealing from each other all the time. If the theory of childhood were true there would be no morality, and with no morality to build one on, no society. Childhood is a wicked lie used by charlatans to justify evils such as public schools.
There is no consensus on the theory of childhood in the scientific community. We should teach the controversy. Our children will be served well to learn that the prospect of them becoming adults is merely a theoretical idea. Many children come from families that do not subscribe to the theory of childhood, and they could be disturbed if the theory were taught as fact.
Gamers fight back against lackluster Spore gameplay, bad DRM
08
Sep
bkuchera@arstechnica.com (Ben Kuchera) via Ars Technica
shared by 4 people
Spore seems to be having a rocky launch: gamers are fighting back over what they perceive as unacceptable DRM, carpet-bombing Amazon with one-star reviews. The uninspiring game play isn't making things better.
Launch: Design Jobs on the Wall
08
Sep
I’m very excited to announce the launch of Design Jobs on the Wall. It is a job board mainly focused on design jobs. The pricing for posting a full-time job is only $75 and $50 for freelance jobs. Don’t miss out the opening special; enter the coupon code ‘promo’ to receive 50% off the first job listing. When you post your job openings here, it will be instantly featured on Web Designer Wall as well as other design related websites. Hopefully this board will bring more job opportunities to Web Designer Wall’s readers.
Thanks to Justin from Scheetz Designs for coding the backend of the job board.
Big new Basecamp feature: Attach files and post comments on to-dos and milestones
08
Sep
Jason via Signal vs. Noise
shared by 4 people
Today we’re thrilled to be able to announce a big new addition to Basecamp: You can now attach files and post comments on to-dos and milestones. Previously this functionality was only available on messages.
Watch a bigger version of this video on the 37signals Product Blog.
A quick look at how it works
A green comment icon after a to-do or milestone means there are new comments on that item. A dark grey comment icon means there are comments on that item, but you’ve already read them. And if an item doesn’t have any comments, you’ll see an empty comment icon when you hover over that item. Clicking the comment icon will take you to the comments view for that to-do or milestone.
Deeplinking: A happy side effect
This new feature comes with a great side effect: You can now deep link to individual to-do items or milestones. Previously you could only link to a to-do list or the milestones section, but now you can link directly to individual to-dos or specific milestones.
Project management is communication
This new feature is directly in-line with Basecamp’s core premise: Project management is communication. Before you had to keep all your discussions in the messages section. That worked, but it required you to discuss one part of your project in another part of your project. Now you can have discussions about to-dos and milestones right on top of those to-dos and milestones.
We hope you love it
We’re really excited about this new feature. We think it’s going to help you get a lot more more out of Basecamp. Thanks again for your continued support!
Does Your Computer’s Operating System Still Matter? [Reader Poll]
08
Sep
Gina Trapani via Lifehacker
shared by 9 people
New York Times writer Joe Nocera argues that the Windows operating system doesn't matter any more, because webapps are rendering all operating systems irrelevant. He asks: Do you really care anymore...
New York Times writer Joe Nocera argues that the Windows operating system doesn't matter any more, because webapps are rendering all operating systems irrelevant. He asks: Do you really care anymore...
TravelMuse: the Social Trip Planner
08
Sep
[DEMOFall 08] I recently tested an innovative travel site PlanetEye so, when I saw this one in the DEMO company list I wanted to try it. TravelMuse is less visual exploration oriented than PlanetEye and it also offers the social networking component that a lot of new travel sites have now. Having performed a quick test late at night, I cannot tell about the extended features. It seems that this site allows more collaboration with co-travelers than any of the sites that I visited. The Trip Planner is the core of the user experience and it allows people to collect all their interests and potential activities in a very interactive schedule page that displays a day by day plan. It is possible to collect information found on TravelMuse and on other sites. The option to share any trip information found on TravelMuse with a wide selection of social networking sites is also pretty neat. I like the combination of information discovery, collaborative social networking and the solid booking engine capability (provided by WorldChoice Travel, a division of Travelocity).
Add a comment | From: TravelMuse: the Social Trip Planner | Visit Ubergizmo
“Studies Recommend Surgery For You” (But The Studies Can’t Be Found) [Health]
08
Sep
Seth Robert's doctor discovered he had a tiny hernia and referred him to a general surgeon, who recommended surgery. Seth, a psychology professor at UC Berkely and author of The Shrangri-La Diet, asked why. "It could get worse," she said. "Why is it better to have surgery than not," asked Seth. "Surgery is dangerous, expensive, and time-consuming." The surgeon said clinical trials showed the benefits of this surgery. "Just use Google, you'll find them." Seth tried to find them. His mom, who does medical searching as her job, couldn't find any completed clinical trials.
When he told the surgeon that he couldn't find the studies, she said, "Well find some and copy them for you." Over a month later, the studies had never materialized. Perhaps they don't exist.
Maybe the doctor is just lazy or busy or misinformed or didn't feel like having Seth as a patient, or maybe she wanted to bill for unnecessary surgery. Either way, it's important to ask your doctor questions about the procedures and care they advise, and ask for evidence and more information to back up their recommendations, especially when you're unsure about their efficacy.
(Photo: aesop)
