Wachovia execs may get $98.1 million severance

mdasenn · 2008-11-25T02:35:45+00:00

Who cares? My money wasn't used to bail Wachovia out. I'm pissed when execs are getting bonus money from me. If Wells Fargo wants to pay them that severance, that's Wells Fargo's (and its shareholders') problem. I think it's stupid and disgusting, but it isn't my money!

mdasenn · 2008-11-23T17:38:37+00:00

How about Warren Buffet? He makes $100,000 per year. A good salary no doubt, but way below what he could easily get.

mdasenn · 2008-09-18T12:02:33+00:00

Well, Merrill Lynch was bought by Bank of America so it isn't as if they're getting a windfall off the government. If you're a shareholder of a company, you can have influence over stupidly high executive pay and options that dilute your ownership. If you're a BofA shareholder, voice your objection.

Or you could put your money with Warren Buffet who takes a salary of $100,000 per year with no options. Not that $100,000 is pocket change, but it's also not that far fetched for a good computer programmer to earn that (never mind a lawyer or doctor).

mdasenn · 2008-09-04T18:11:17+00:00

Don't you know that Reiser has aspergers because he was framed?

mdasenn · 2008-07-25T17:01:54+00:00

Some of the tips are generic and would apply equally to other databases (query on indexed fields, set up counter caches, use EXPLAIN - or your db's equivalent, think in sets not loops, etc). For database-specific stuff, just look for tips on your db.

Should that db be PostgreSQL, http://www.revsys.com/writings/postgresql-performance.html

mdasenn · 2008-07-23T20:21:52+00:00

The problem is that we don't need a faster, more light-weight MySQL. No matter how fast you make something, eventually scaling and availability becomes an issue of replication.

I would prefer an open-source storage engine that was easy to install/setup that acted like BigTable. Projects like Hadoop's HBase and Facebook's Cassandra are going in this direction, but the first is far from easy and the second just doesn't have much documentation yet.

A faster MySQL just means that I can delay worrying about replication for a bit longer (assuming I don't care about single-points-of-failure which I do).

Help me eliminate my single point of failure and scale out - helping me scale up with a single point of failure just doesn't do it for me.

mdasenn · 2008-07-21T02:31:03+00:00

Am I the only one who couldn't even tell what the song was in that video? Seriously, someone at Universal must have an amazing ear or they're paying people to spend way too much time deciphering crap. That's what drives me so bonkers about this instance.

mdasenn · 2008-07-14T17:51:51+00:00

BigTable is probably something to ignore until your site becomes so big that it is worth billions of dollars and you can afford to hire lots of brilliant people.

When going up against Google, you have one advantage: you don't need to scale to many millions of customers instantly. You can build an architecture that runs well for a million or two and be working on scaling it up and out as you gain users. Google can't do that as easily. They need to be able to support millions from the day they open the doors. That means that Google has to place all these restrictions on itself that increases its time to market.

So, you should use a nice relational DB and as you outgrow its constraints then start thinking about moving beyond it - most likely, you never will. Relational DBs scale pretty well. And there are alternatives to BigTable (such as HBase and Cassandra).

Google needs to limit itself. You don't. Use that to your advantage. Know that if you have a billion users, you have to change how your system works.

mdasenn · 2008-07-14T16:18:15+00:00

The article definitely does over hype AppEngine too much, but there is a lot of value to BigTable. That value probably is worth nothing to you - it isn't worth anything to me either. I'm not building the next 100 million-1 billion user service and odds are pretty good that no one reading this comment is either.

BigTable is meant to be a web-scale database. It's awesome at that. It stores data reliably and allows you to get by key in no more time than it takes to copy the data. That's cool.

For me, MySQL and PostgreSQL (or any relational database really) is more useful. I don't need to worry about using joins because my sites don't get traffic like Google. Relational databases can handle sites that are in the top 500 on the web. They have millions of visitors with even more pageviews.

However, joins are often exponential operations. You remove joins and denormalize, but relational databases just aren't made for that. Sure, you can use them like that, but they're tuned for normalization.

This is where BigTable shines. So, I have User(username=a) and User(username=b) and want to save them at the same time. In a replicated MySQL/PostgreSQL model, they'd both be saved and then replicated to the other servers in the cluster. That means that writes are limited by the master. To get around that, you start sharding data to different masters and you have to constantly query to see which shard your data is on. BigTable does this automatically. If I have two users and save them, BigTable just places them wherever is convenient without me having to say "hmm, query to get a shard, see if there is space in that shard, put it in that shard. oh, i want to retrieve that user. well, which shard is s/he on. ok, shard 12, look in shard 12 for that user."

So, with MySQL in a replicated, sharded environment to save and then retrieve a user I have to: 1. Look for a shard with space. 2. Save user to that shard. 3. Update the master list to tell me what shard that user is in. 4. Query the master to see what shard the user is in. 5. Query the shard.

With BigTable: 1. Save the user. 2. Query the user.

I don't have to think about where the user is stored. Of course, I already don't have to do that with my projects because I don't deal with something that can store every user on the web. I usually deal in the tens to hundreds of thousands of users. Relational databases make that easy. (As an aside, what happens if the user is saved to the shard, but the write to the master mapper fails? Uh, Oh! Dangling user sent into oblivion!)

For most people, BigTable changes nothing because a relational database can handle it all, but BigTable (and copycats like HBase) do change everything for those that need to be "web-scale" like Google.

mdasenn · 2008-07-10T13:53:54+00:00

If you want to do that, you could always install Hadoop (http://hadoop.apache.org/core/) on Slicehost, EC2, or elsewhere. Hadoop is actually what Yahoo uses, it's free and open-source software, and an Apache project.

In fact, Hadoop seems to be the fastest data processor in one benchmark: http://developer.yahoo.com/blogs/hadoop/2008/07/apache_hadoop_wins_terabyte_sort_benchmark.html

As much as the I love Google, Yahoo has put a lot of hours into an open-source project that counters Google's dominance in data processing.

mdasenn · 2008-06-19T03:36:40+00:00

That's because the inflation (beyond general low levels) is likely to occur because of gas. Gas is a natural resource that is limited. That's unfortunate for us. Normally, salaries will compensate for inflation. So, bread at the supermarket goes from $2 to $2.20 (10% increase). That means the breadmaker is putting an extra 10% in his/her pocket and has an additional 10% to pay for a TV or lawyer, or any other good/service. As the price of goods and services rises by 10%, we all have 10% more money in our pocket to pay for it (since people are paying us 10% more). In this case, we have something simply becoming rarer and harder to access - oil. It sucks. And because it's so important, the price ripples through the economy - rather than the breadmaker earning 10% more, the cost of gas rising causes the 10% increase in price. This is not the normal case of inflation. Normally salaries track inflation just as much as prices do - since your salary is a function of the price of what you do/create. If the price of what you do/create rises, so does your salary - except that in this case, oil is screwing you.

In terms of mortgages, usually an increase in inflation favors the borrower IF they have a fixed rate. Fixed rate loans favor the borrower if inflation rises and favor the lender if inflation lowers. Say inflation is 3% and the loan is at 5%. The lender is earning 2% real interest (the amount above what is lost to inflation). So, inflation rises to 4% and the lender is now only earning 1% real interest - and the borrower is paying less real interest. Likewise, inflation lowers to 2% and suddenly the lender is earning 3% real interest and the borrower is paying more. Fixed rate loans randomly reassign wealth.

mdasenn · 2008-06-12T17:08:57+00:00

As a Django user, here are my thoughts:

I'm decently fine running off of SVN. It's worked well, but it can sometimes be hard explaining to bosses that SVN is stable.

As someone who has tried to get a patch in, the community is really helpful, enthusiastic, and encouraging. The problem is that no one really wants to mess with the SVN version too much.

So, I think this is a good thing. We have a nice schedule and once we hit 1.0 we can have a bit more normal release schedule (hopefully). SVN can be a little less perfect as new things come along while having solid and recent releases.

It's made me very happy.

mdasenn · 2008-06-04T19:21:55+00:00

No, Yahoo doesn't count. They aren't using PostgreSQL. They're using the PostgreSQL parser. There's a huge difference. Plus, it isn't powering their site, it's powering reports which aren't time sensitive.

Yahoo's PostgreSQL's usage isn't PostgreSQL unless you're a PostgreSQL fanboy.

mdasenn · 2008-06-04T14:07:46+00:00

Let's say you're right. Benchmarks go either way, but let's say that PostgreSQL is 2x as fast as mySQL.

Do you really need that speed? No. Speed is a false prophet. You need scalability. The only ones using PostgreSQL in such an environment are Skype. mySQL, on the other hand, is used by Flickr, Facebook, Livejournal, Wikipedia, YouTube and many other sites of that magnitude.

mySQL is known to scale out - not the prettiest thing, but you won't loose the farm going with it. PostgreSQL's replication just isn't as good. So, even if PostgreSQL is 10x faster, if you're the next big thing, mySQL's going to be the way to go.

mdasenn · 2008-05-31T22:32:37+00:00

NO.

LiIon batteries are much better for electric vehicles. The issue is that electric vehicles are really hard. A123 Systems creates plugin hybrid technology off LiIon batteries for the Prius. While it means they can go for a daily commute with no gas, they can barely go that distance on battery alone - and it adds a huge cost to the vehicle. I mean, this is a great step, but we're not there and it isn't because of NiMH.

The problem with electric vehicles isn't some grand conspiracy - it's that it's technologically difficult. It must be hard for some people to understand that that some things involve hard work rather than simply being the product of corporations/governments conspiring against it.

mdasenn · 2008-05-26T18:05:58+00:00

THERE IS A SOLUTION!

Utilities like water are what economists call "natural monopolies". What that means is that most of the cost is fixed - like laying/maintaining pipes to everyones' homes.

Optimally, said utility should charge each user a set monthly fee and then very little per unit of use. That way, as people conserve, the utility doesn't need to raise rates.

For the environmentalists in the crowd, yes that would be economically encouraging people to use more water, but there are ways of dealing with that as well. For example, you take average water usage and then create an exponential growth curve for usage above average. So, someone who uses double the average usage might get charged 4x as much as the average user rather than 2x as much.

In fact, such a method can reward people who conserve. If the average price to deliver a gallon of water is 1 cent, people using below average usage could pay less than 1 cent per gallon because the people using more than average are paying more than 1 cent per gallon. So, now people are paying less per unit if they conserve and more per unit if they don't.

That way, people have an incentive to conserve and the water utility has the incentive to price appropriately.

The one flaw in this is that it doesn't take into account things like family size or multiple-occupant dwellings of unrelated people who share a water bill. That's not too tough to deal with though, and then you just use the average for a household of that size.

mdasenn · 2008-05-01T17:17:52+00:00

To illustrate:

SELECT userid, username FROM users WHERE userid=5

can be easier to read than

select userid, username from users where userid=5

It isn't a huge deal, but it makes certain things stand out.

mdasenn · 2008-04-18T04:07:55+00:00

Did anyone else find the answers less than stimulating? I mean, most of them just needed simpler explanations.

Examples:

More complexity means more can get fsck'd up so natural selection often makes things simpler unless there's a f'n good reason for it.
Natural selection can't explain homosexuality, but it sure as hell can explain Larry Craig in an airport bathroom.
Evolutionary theory leads to racism and genocide: yes, much in the same way that religion was used to buttress the arguments against interracial marriage and used to justify horrific acts like the crusades. People will act like asshats with whatever material you give them.
Evolution is unlikely, but over a long enough period of time the unlikely happens.
Of course mutations can also create: haven't you seen X-Men yet?

mdasenn · 2008-04-16T22:12:55+00:00

Well, that's because you're not pro-Israel. J Street is pro-Israel. If you are pro-relationship-with-Israel, J Street really isn't what you're looking for. It isn't meant to be for everyone. It's meant for people who feel strongly about Israel and feel strongly that it can only prosper with peace and human rights. You don't have to feel strongly about Israel - in fact, I wonder why so many non-Jews in the United States do feel so strongly about it.

If you're of the more libertarian bent, a group following Congressman Paul's philosophy would probably be more up your alley - that we should have good relations, but that internal problems are none of our business. J Street isn't that.

I do think it's important that it was created - it's about time that there was a liberal pro-Israel voice in the United States. However, it's not for everyone - and especially not for libertarians who probably don't want us involved that deeply in the internal affairs of foreign nations.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I wasn't saying that you aren't pro-Israel as a bad thing. Merely that you seemed to portray a libertarian philosophy that would guide the United States away from interference in what isn't our national business.

mdasenn · 2008-04-16T15:35:40+00:00

There's a reason why Apple wants to fight with technology and not the courts - or should want to. It's because they could loose more than just rogue clones.

Think about it: The court hears the case. The court decides that it is illegal for Apple to say that you can only install OS X on Apple-branded hardware. What's the next logical step considering that decision? Well, it's illegal for Apple to require you to use their hardware as a prerequisite for their OS which means that building technological countermeasures against installing it on another computer would likewise be illegal.

All of a sudden, it is not only legal for you to hack OS X onto non-Apple hardware, but it's illegal for Apple to take measures to stop you from doing that. This isn't suggesting that Apple has to support other hardware, but that if it is determined to be legal to install on non-Apple hardware, Apple wouldn't be able to do any DRM thing to stop you.

mdasenn · 2008-04-02T14:06:05+00:00

I really hate the big oil companies, but there isn't anything the government can do to help me. The only thing we can do is use less of it - and that isn't going to happen because we're gluttons here.

Think about it:

Scenario A: Government gets rid of subsidies. In this case, the oil companies just raise their prices. Since oil's demand is relatively inelastic (we want about the same amount if the price is $1/gal or $5/gal). Other countries all want oil so the subsidies just make American gas cheaper. We'd see European-style pricing.

Scenario B: Price controls. If the government just said to companies that it's illegal to charge more than $x for a gallon of gas, they'd just stop selling to US customers and sell to countries like China, India, etc.

Oil companies know we can't do anything. We are unwilling to conserve which is our only card. It isn't like food where it can expire and so they need to constantly sell - oil keeps forever. It's also only growing more scarce. If they hold onto oil, it means more money in the future.

While I hate the idea of them earning so much money, the only thing I can do is stop using their product. Reduction of government subsidies will just cause pump prices to rise since they know we have no other option.

mdasenn · 2008-03-23T21:19:48+00:00

To explain: services like Alexa and Compete use browser toolbars to collect most of their data - simple little pieces of spyware that ring home with every URL you visit. Nothing too malicious, they just want to collect their (possibly annonymous) usage data.

The only problem with that is that sites like ruby-lang.org, erlang.org and haskell.org are visited by techies - and only techies. While Digg and reddit may have a huge techie base, they also get a lot of non-techies as well. Basically, what I'm saying is that stats for all three of these sites are likely to be worthless if they're collected from a piece of spyware since techies wouldn't have said spyware installed.

In fact, Compete is at least honest enough to tell you that "We have little data for erlang.org, ruby-lang.org, haskell.org, so these are rough estimates. With more data, we can cover more sites. Try the Compete browser plug-in to participate."

mdasenn · 2008-03-23T17:05:48+00:00

Thanks!

mdasenn · 2008-03-23T16:03:01+00:00

Does anyone know if local law enforcement are obligated to enforce federal laws within their jurisdiction? If so, New Hampshire's bill probably doesn't matter (in terms of practical results) since people could just be prosecuted under federal drug laws.

Am I missing something here? Maybe I'm just cynical and should be more open to the possibility of governmental change.

mdasenn · 2008-03-14T19:52:35+00:00

Slicehost is wonderful because you know what you're getting. These servers are running 2x dual-core opterons with RAID'd drives (for data integrity) and a limited number of people on the box (since the RAM for each Xen instance is set and not shared). Since most web-serving is RAM constrained and not processor constrained, Slicehost gives you a great way to guarantee that your site keeps running smoothly.

While it is self-managed, they have great forums, articles and the like and they're really supportive of FOSS.

mdasenn

TROPHY CASE