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  $40 million per year to keep Wikipedia running

Wikipedia is an incredibly frugal and efficient nonprofit organization. It serves half a billion visits per month. But do you know how much it costs to keep this huge website running? According to 2012-13 Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan, the expected spending is around $40 million. Some may argue that Wikipedia is just a site with "just text", why does it cost so much? Oliver Emberton shared his view. To keep Wikipedia running and serve 500 million visits per month. First, you're going to need ...

   Wikipedia,Spending,Cost     2013-09-24 23:05:10

  RAM is the new disk...

Jim Gray, a man who has contributed greatly to technology over the past 40 years, is credited with saying that memory is the new disk and disk is the new tape. With the proliferation of "real-time" web applications and systems that require massive scalability, how are hardware and software relating to this meme? Tim Bray, in his discussions about grid computing before it became such a hot topic, pointed out how advances in hardware around RAM and networking were allowing for the creation...

   RAM,Flash,Memory,,Future,Disk     2011-08-12 07:34:27

  Create successful Python projects

The ecosystem for open source Python projects is both rich and diverse. This enables you to stand on the shoulders of giants in the production of your next open source project. In addition, it means that there's a set of community norms and best practices. By adhering to these conventions and applying the practices in your project, you may gain wider adoption for your software. This article covers practi...

   Python,Project,Open Source,Team Management     2012-02-03 08:09:27

  Games don’t need to be social

Social games have been a big trend in recent years. Zynga struck it big and now everyone else is trying to emulate them. Unfortunately, the first thing that pops into anyones head when a Zynga game is mentioned is Facebook. Facebook is the platform upon which their success stories like FarmVille were built, but it’s not the reason for their success.Zyngas games work because they are fun. The social connectivity is merely a mechanism to share your enjoyment of the game with other...

   Game,Social,No need,Game design     2011-10-29 07:15:34

  CSS Tools: Reset CSS

The goal of a reset stylesheet is to reduce browser inconsistencies in things like default line heights, margins and font sizes of headings, and so on. The general reasoning behind this was discussed in a May 2007 post, if you're interested. Reset styles quite often appear in CSS frameworks, and the original "meyerweb reset" found its way into Blueprint, among others. The reset styles given here are intentionally very generic. There isn't any default color or background set for the bod...

   CSS,Cross browser compatibility,Reset,Partial reset     2011-12-05 02:44:11

  Why PHP is (so much) better than Ruby?

I attended this weekend my first Ruby conference, Ruby Lugdunum in Lyon. Besides cool talks and the fun of meeting people like Nick, Blake, or Laetitia, my friend Camille & I did a surprise lightning talk about how PHP is better than Ruby. Here are the slides and a more detailed transcript: A lot of free hosts: it’s easy to find a PHP host, you just have to google “free php host” and you find a ton of free PHP/MySQL hostsBigger community: The PHP community is really huge,...

   PHP,Ruby,Comparism,Difference,Advantage     2011-06-29 08:34:12

  Why are ugly websites so successful?

“Techmeme has redesigned,” Gabe Rivera founder of the popular technology news site wrote in January 2012. “Drudge Report is now indisputably the web’s ugliest news site.” I use Techmeme all the time. I find it an excellent news website. It’s a collection of well-selected links to important issues in the technology industry. It doesn’t look pretty but it works fine for me. Asides from the quality of its stories it also has black text on white bac...

   Website design,Ugly,Success,Analysis     2012-02-13 05:27:56

  Mastering a New Programming Language: A Professional Guide

Introduction Learning a new programming language can seem daunting, but with the right approach, anyone can become proficient in a new language. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced programmer, mastering a new language can open up new opportunities in your career and enable you to tackle new and exciting programming challenges. In this guide, we'll provide you with a step-by-step process for mastering a new programming language. Step 1: Choose a Language and Set Goals The first step in ma...

   PROGRAMMING,GUIDE,TIPS     2023-04-22 02:52:00

  Are You a Zen Coder or Distraction-Junkie?

What you do when compiling can ruin your life. And not just when compiling, but when waiting for any short computer operation to finish. That time is ridiculously tiny compared to the rest of your workday, yet it can have a huge impact on your productivity and well-being overall. Yes, that’s a big fat claim. And by the way, this article is not just about coders or programmers. It’s about any smart people working with computers. And there will be pictures! Let’s rock and ro...

   Programming.Net,ASP.NET,Platform     2012-02-23 07:14:11

  How many programmers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

There seem to be a lot of “How many programmers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” jokes floating around the Internet, but none aimed specifically for us SQA folk.  I have decided (perhaps mistakenly) that this is no longer acceptable.  If this decision is a mistake, I'm sure that someone else in QA will report it up as a bug and assign it to me.  For better or worse, there is now an SQA set of these jokes, thanks to me.  Now, without further ado, let the pun...

       2016-05-08 12:43:34

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