Saturday, December 22, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
It’s probably not unrealistic to say that porn makes up 30% of the total data transferred across the internet.
A real-world example
The second largest porn site on the web, YouPorn, was kind enough to furnish us with some real-world facts and figures. You’ll be glad (or scared) to know that the estimated DoubleClick Ad Planner figures are actually quite a lot lower than reality.
YouPorn hosts “over 100TB of porn”, and serves “over 100 million” page views per day. All told, this equates to an average of 950 terabytes of data transfer per day, almost all of which is streaming video. This is around 28 petabytes per month, which means our 29PB estimate for Xvideos is on the low side; it probably serves 35 to 40PB per month.
It gets better! At peak time, YouPorn serves 4000 pages per second, equating to burst traffic in the region of 100 gigabytes per second, or 800Gbps. This is equivalent to transferring more than 10 dual-layer DVDs every second.
On the software-side of things, YouPorn’s primary data store is 100% Redis, with MySQL used as an admin tool to manage and add data to the Redis cluster. The site used to be primarily programmed in Perl with a MySQL backend, but in 2011 Perl was switched out for PHP and MySQL replaced with Redis. Nginx acts as the HTTP server, with both HAProxy and Varnish both used to load balance.
The Redis server deals with 300,000 queries per second, and between 8-15GB of data is logged every hour (visitor logs, behavior data, and so on). We’re told that this software stack should be capable of scaling up to 200 million views per day.
Sadly, YouPorn couldn’t tell us about its hardware infrastructure. Judging by the IP addresses of the YouPorn content delivery network (CDN), it’s probably not hosted by acloud provider like Amazon, but rather in a large data center somewhere, with peering provided by Level 3.
To put that 800Gbps figure into perspective, the internet only handles around half an exabyte of traffic every day, which equates to around 50Tbps — in other words, a single porn site accounts for almost 2% of the internet’s total traffic. There are dozens of porn sites on the scale of YouPorn, and hundreds that are the size of ExtremeTech or your favorite news site. It’s probably not unrealistic to say that porn makes up 30% of the total data transferred across the internet.
The internet really is for porn.
Source: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/123929-just-how-big-are-porn-sites
ACTA is completely, finally, no-turning-back dead-and-buried in Europe
The frank assessment of the future of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was made as the EC withdrew its request that the European Court of Justice examine the treaty’s compatibility with European law.
Earlier this year, the European Parliament rejected the treaty, so the reference to the court was already largely a moot point.
While some provisions of ACTA could have been viewed as benign – for example, provisions trying to protect against fake drugs – activists had complained that its copyright provisions were too draconian. In particular, provisions that criminalized circumventing digital rights management were criticised.
The EU's decision to shun ACTA will do little to advance the agreement's prospects, with other nations less-than-enthusiastic about signing it off. Australia’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, for example, had recommended that ratification of the treaty be delayed, something rejected by the federal government. In November, the government stated that it expected an analysis of the costs and benefits of the treaty by the rapidly-approaching end of 2012. Australia’s government still maintains that ACTA does not require laws introducing any new criminal sanctions, something still queried by activists.
So far, only Japan has actually ratified the treaty.
Largest case of theft in Canadian History
Canadian police have arrested four men and are searching for five others suspects in connection with the theft of six million pounds of maple syrup worth USD 18 million from a warehouse in Quebec City.
The thieves managed to steal the sticky substance from a warehouse in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford between August 2011 and July of this year, ABC News reported.
"It's one of the most important robberies in Quebec because of the quantity stolen and the value of the syrup," said Sgt. Gregory Gomez Del Prado of Quebec police.
Quebec police arrested Stephan Darveau yesterday, after arresting three others on Tuesday, linking all four to the ongoing investigation.
Richard Vallieres, 34, Avik Caron, 39, and another unnamed suspect met in court yesterday on charges of conspiracy to commit theft, possession of property obtained by crime and fraud.
Quebec police have arrest warrants for four other suspects, the report said.
"We know there are probably more people involved. It's a complex case," said Simon Trepanier, director of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.
"At the beginning we knew it had been done by a very organised group because it’s impossible to steal that amount of maple syrup without being organised."
During the police investigation, police were able to recover two elevator carts, four kettles of syrup, forklifts and six electronic scales — all items used during the theft.
Trepanier said his organisation stored the overproduction supply of their 2011 harvest in roughly 10 million barrels located within a rented facility. The organisation did not know of the heist until the warehouse workers called to report empty syrup barrels.
Maple syrup is often eaten with pancakes, waffles, French toast, or oatmeal and porridge. It is also used as an ingredient in baking, and as a sweetener or flavouring agent.
The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers believe several million cans of stolen maple syrup may be sitting on US grocery shelves.
Quebec is by far the largest global producer of maple syrup, responsible for about three-quarters of the world's output. Canadian exports of maple syrup exceed USD 141 million per year.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Toronto Maple Leaf Joffrey Lupul is tired of being locked out of restaurants too
It’s not easy being a locked out NHL player. You can’t use team facilities to work out. You can’t use team ice to practice. You can’t use anything that has to do with your team, period.
Toronto’s Joffrey Lupul found out, as the National Post’s Sean Fitz-Gerald notes, that also means not getting reservations at Real Sports, a sports bar next to Air Canada Centre in Toronto. He took his complaints to Twitter for good measure.
Real Sports is run by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the same company that runs the Leafs, Raptors, Marlies, and Toronto FC soccer club. Apparently that means they can’t associate with any of the NHL players because of the lockout as well.
And here you thought the lockout couldn’t get any sillier. Maybe next time Lupul, or any other player who might want to go tip a few back there, can make a reservation under a fake name. I hear Abe Froman is a good name to use in Chicago.
SOURCE: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/16/joffrey-lupul-is-tired-of-being-locked-out-of-restaurants-too/
How to explain the NHL lockout to your friend that doesn't watch Hockey
The National Hockey League has locked out its players (again), leaving hockey fans (again) to cope without their favorite sport, life distraction and quasi-religion for an indeterminable amount of time.
Some will seek the insulated comfort of their hockey cliques, circling the wagons with likeminded individuals to debate Hall of Fame credentials and reminisce about those halcyon days when the NHL could literally go eight or nine years (!) without a work stoppage.
Others will attempt to — gulp — engage non-hockey fans in conversation.
Some of these poor souls, that have yet to let the light of Hockey Jesus shine on their hearts, will no doubt wonder why this work stoppage happened, and ask a serious of uninformed and inane questions about it.
Our friends at Puck Daddy — in this case Wysh, Harrison Mooney and Ryan Lambert — have created this handy guide to navigating one such sphincter-clenching conversation with a hockey n00b.
Here is Puck Daddy's Guide To Explaining The NHL Lockout To Your Non-Hockey Friends, which is roughly 1,000-times more applicable to our American readers than our Canadian ones.
Here is a sample conversation between a non-hockey fan and you. Please use is as a template for similar moments of befuddlement and agitation.
Q. Doesn't hockey know that nobody cares about stupid hockey?
A. No, they're blissfully unaware of this.
Q. I watch ESPN every night and haven't seen anything about this stuff. Are you sure it's actually happening?
A. Unfortunately, yes, but the reason you haven't seen it is because Skip Bayless hasn't found a way to link percentage of League revenue to either Tim Tebow's godliness or LeBron's attitude. Give it time.
[NHL players gird for battle in a lockout war they can't really win]
Q. Why would they strike again so soon?
A. It's not a strike, it's a lockout. You know, like the NBA and NFL just did? Just like that.
Also, we suspect the owners kind of like it, being that they don't lose as much money by not paying the players and end up getting a crap-ton more of it in the end.
Q. The players should tell them to 'puck off'. Because they play with pucks, right?
A. Clever word play! But the owners would tell them those pucks are a hockey-related cost and therefore the players' share of revenues has to be rolled back to 40 percent to cover them.
Q. What happens to the ice in all the arenas if there's no hockey?
A. It's ground up and made into Sno-cones for underprivileged inner city kids.
Q. What happens to the coaches?
A. They'll still get paid, but some are already lining up work. John Tortorella, for example, has just been hired by the New York City Tourism Board as a crazy person who belittles everything he sees, in order to make the locals seem more calm and reasonable by comparison. Also, Bruce Boudreau has been hired as a model for Weebles.
Q. What happens to the mascots?
A. They'll survive, depending on their proximity to Alyssa Milano.
Q. Didn't the NHL just sign a bazillion dollar contract with NBC?
A. Oh you mean the network owned by one of the team's owners that's giving the league a free $200 million loan to not cover it this year? Yeah, why do you ask?
Actually, I have to be honest: The NHL doesn't actually have a formal national TV contract in the U.S. NBC is legally obligated, under the federal Fair Use Act, to show at least one outdoor hockey game and up to five Stanley Cup Finals indoor hockey games for every new singing competition show it airs.
Otherwise, NHL games are only televised in Canada, which is why you can never find them in your U.S. hotel room.
Q. So they're not going to play the Winter Classic? I love watching two minutes of that every year during commercials on bowl games.
A. Come on, it's football. You can watch the entire second period during the commercials.
Q. I haven't seen a hockey game in a few years. Does Messier still play?
A. Unfortunately, he retired some years back after becoming the greatest captain in Vancouver Canucks history.
Q. Will the lockout keep Alex Ovechkin from breaking Gretzky's goals record?
A. No, he's still on track to catch Gretzky around 2028. It's sick, really. Unbelievable.
Q. The only other hockey player I know is Sidney Crosby. Is he locked out too?
A. Correct.
Q. So Sidney Crosby won't be playing hockey this year if there's a lockout?
A. Correct.
Q. But didn't he miss most of last year too?
A. Correct.
Q. Geez. Does the universe hate this guy or what?
A. I guess so.
Q. What if Sidney Crosby threatened to cut off his hand unless the owners gave into the players' demands? Would that work?
A. No, because either way Ed Snider wins.
Q. Someone said something about escrow this one time. What is it?
A. Basically, the players make money for the owners, the owners hold that money until they make sure there's enough of it, and then they give it to the players so they can buy Halloween candy the following October. It's pretty much the players' least favorite thing ever, after venereal diseases and the handshake line.
Q. Escrow sounds like "ass grow." Like some kind of pill you take to make your ass bigger. I bet Kim Kardashian swallowed the whole bottle.
A. So there's this guy named Dustin Byfuglien...
Q. Don't the players already make enough money? What a bunch of greedy jerks, demanding more money and taking hockey away from the fans that pay for their salary in the process.
A. Okay listen. Never once has anybody decided to take in a hockey game just to make sure the players get paid. You don't pay their salary out of the goodness of your heart. You pay to be entertained, and this contributes to the profits that, eventually, pay their salary. Similarly, you don't give money at the grocery store to make sure the bagger gets paid. You buy a product. And if the grocers go on strike because their employers are offering them an unfair deal, and this act deprives you of a place to buy groceries, you don't gripe about how you pay their salaries so you should be entitled to groceries whenever you want. You just go somewhere else or wait for them to settle their dispute. So stop acting so bloody self-righteous.
Q. What do Canadians do when there's no hockey?
A. It's a dark, dark time for them and they don't like to talk about it. This one winter, there was no hockey, and one Canadian went completely insane. When he woke up, he had invented basketball.
Q. OK, so what will Americans do when there's no hockey?
A. Not watch hockey, as our Founding Fathers intended when they carved up sticks for teeth. No sticks and a full set of chompers … that's as anti-hockey as you can get.
Q. You guys have a lockout, like, every other year. Why do you keep coming back?
A. Because crack tastes so good when it hits our lips. And, frankly, because we all know we're winning the Cup next season. We're due.
(Thanks again to Mooney and Lambert for bringing the funny.)
Some will seek the insulated comfort of their hockey cliques, circling the wagons with likeminded individuals to debate Hall of Fame credentials and reminisce about those halcyon days when the NHL could literally go eight or nine years (!) without a work stoppage.Others will attempt to — gulp — engage non-hockey fans in conversation.
Some of these poor souls, that have yet to let the light of Hockey Jesus shine on their hearts, will no doubt wonder why this work stoppage happened, and ask a serious of uninformed and inane questions about it.
Our friends at Puck Daddy — in this case Wysh, Harrison Mooney and Ryan Lambert — have created this handy guide to navigating one such sphincter-clenching conversation with a hockey n00b.
Here is Puck Daddy's Guide To Explaining The NHL Lockout To Your Non-Hockey Friends, which is roughly 1,000-times more applicable to our American readers than our Canadian ones.
Here is a sample conversation between a non-hockey fan and you. Please use is as a template for similar moments of befuddlement and agitation.
Q. Doesn't hockey know that nobody cares about stupid hockey?
A. No, they're blissfully unaware of this.
Q. I watch ESPN every night and haven't seen anything about this stuff. Are you sure it's actually happening?
A. Unfortunately, yes, but the reason you haven't seen it is because Skip Bayless hasn't found a way to link percentage of League revenue to either Tim Tebow's godliness or LeBron's attitude. Give it time.
[NHL players gird for battle in a lockout war they can't really win]
Q. Why would they strike again so soon?
A. It's not a strike, it's a lockout. You know, like the NBA and NFL just did? Just like that.
Also, we suspect the owners kind of like it, being that they don't lose as much money by not paying the players and end up getting a crap-ton more of it in the end.
Q. The players should tell them to 'puck off'. Because they play with pucks, right?
A. Clever word play! But the owners would tell them those pucks are a hockey-related cost and therefore the players' share of revenues has to be rolled back to 40 percent to cover them.
Q. What happens to the ice in all the arenas if there's no hockey?
A. It's ground up and made into Sno-cones for underprivileged inner city kids.
Q. What happens to the coaches?
A. They'll still get paid, but some are already lining up work. John Tortorella, for example, has just been hired by the New York City Tourism Board as a crazy person who belittles everything he sees, in order to make the locals seem more calm and reasonable by comparison. Also, Bruce Boudreau has been hired as a model for Weebles.
Q. What happens to the mascots?
A. They'll survive, depending on their proximity to Alyssa Milano.
Q. Didn't the NHL just sign a bazillion dollar contract with NBC?
A. Oh you mean the network owned by one of the team's owners that's giving the league a free $200 million loan to not cover it this year? Yeah, why do you ask?
Actually, I have to be honest: The NHL doesn't actually have a formal national TV contract in the U.S. NBC is legally obligated, under the federal Fair Use Act, to show at least one outdoor hockey game and up to five Stanley Cup Finals indoor hockey games for every new singing competition show it airs.
Otherwise, NHL games are only televised in Canada, which is why you can never find them in your U.S. hotel room.
Q. So they're not going to play the Winter Classic? I love watching two minutes of that every year during commercials on bowl games.
A. Come on, it's football. You can watch the entire second period during the commercials.
Q. I haven't seen a hockey game in a few years. Does Messier still play?
A. Unfortunately, he retired some years back after becoming the greatest captain in Vancouver Canucks history.
Q. Will the lockout keep Alex Ovechkin from breaking Gretzky's goals record?
A. No, he's still on track to catch Gretzky around 2028. It's sick, really. Unbelievable.
Q. The only other hockey player I know is Sidney Crosby. Is he locked out too?
A. Correct.
Q. So Sidney Crosby won't be playing hockey this year if there's a lockout?
A. Correct.
Q. But didn't he miss most of last year too?
A. Correct.
Q. Geez. Does the universe hate this guy or what?
A. I guess so.
Q. What if Sidney Crosby threatened to cut off his hand unless the owners gave into the players' demands? Would that work?
A. No, because either way Ed Snider wins.
Q. Someone said something about escrow this one time. What is it?
A. Basically, the players make money for the owners, the owners hold that money until they make sure there's enough of it, and then they give it to the players so they can buy Halloween candy the following October. It's pretty much the players' least favorite thing ever, after venereal diseases and the handshake line.
Q. Escrow sounds like "ass grow." Like some kind of pill you take to make your ass bigger. I bet Kim Kardashian swallowed the whole bottle.
A. So there's this guy named Dustin Byfuglien...
Q. Don't the players already make enough money? What a bunch of greedy jerks, demanding more money and taking hockey away from the fans that pay for their salary in the process.
A. Okay listen. Never once has anybody decided to take in a hockey game just to make sure the players get paid. You don't pay their salary out of the goodness of your heart. You pay to be entertained, and this contributes to the profits that, eventually, pay their salary. Similarly, you don't give money at the grocery store to make sure the bagger gets paid. You buy a product. And if the grocers go on strike because their employers are offering them an unfair deal, and this act deprives you of a place to buy groceries, you don't gripe about how you pay their salaries so you should be entitled to groceries whenever you want. You just go somewhere else or wait for them to settle their dispute. So stop acting so bloody self-righteous.
Q. What do Canadians do when there's no hockey?
A. It's a dark, dark time for them and they don't like to talk about it. This one winter, there was no hockey, and one Canadian went completely insane. When he woke up, he had invented basketball.
Q. OK, so what will Americans do when there's no hockey?
A. Not watch hockey, as our Founding Fathers intended when they carved up sticks for teeth. No sticks and a full set of chompers … that's as anti-hockey as you can get.
Q. You guys have a lockout, like, every other year. Why do you keep coming back?
A. Because crack tastes so good when it hits our lips. And, frankly, because we all know we're winning the Cup next season. We're due.
(Thanks again to Mooney and Lambert for bringing the funny.)
Norwegian Scientists set to test the 'Energy Source of the Future"
The Norwegian government, in concert with U.S.-based Westinghouse and Norway’s Thor Energy, is facilitating a trial of what could potentially be the energy source of the future: thorium.
Thorium boosters, including Bill Gates, say it has many advantages over conventional nuclear energy generated by uranium.
Those advantages include:
- It is estimated to be 3-4 times more abundant than uranium.
- Vastly more power can be generated from a unit of thorium vs. uranium.
- Its waste can be re-used as nuclear fuel, and less waste is produced.
- Thorium plants are considered meltdown-proof.
Still, uncertainty and the need for more research and infrastructure have limited thorium investment.
It may seem surprising that Norway, the largest oil producer in Europe, is aggressively pursuing this alternative source of energy. However, the nation has always been a proponent of nuclear energy, though its attempts to develop domestic plants petered out in the 1960s – and Norway has extensive reserves of thorium. (In fact, thorium was discovered by a Norwegian mineralogist and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder.)
Other nations actively evaluating the potential of thorium energy include China and India.
Norway’s test is designed to be compatible with existing infrastructure, and thus will not exhibit the optimal form of thorium energy. The trial will use a heavy-water nuclear reactor, while experts have insisted that molten salt or pebble bed reactors maximize the benefits of this energy source.
Still, exciting stuff.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/norway-begins-tests-on-thorium-2012-12#ixzz2FTx6dbeZ
11 Amazing Facts About the McDonald's McRib
The McDonald's McRib is back, hitting restaurants nationwide today.
The legendary boneless pork sandwich was supposed to return at the end of October, but was pushed back to help boost end-of-the-year sales.
Better late than never.
The limited-time product, famously molded to resemble a rack of ribs, is both a feat of modern engineering and shrewd marketing.
It garners almost as much attention for its pseudo-meat shape as its impermanence on restaurant menus.
How did the pork patty, barbeque-sauce-slathered concoction originate? And why is it always disappearing from menus?
UPDATE: McDonald's representative Becca Hary has emailed us with some corrections reflected in a few of the following slides.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-facts-about-the-mcdonalds-mcrib-2012-12?op=1#ixzz2FTuSyFT2
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