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Google Caffeine Drops MapReduce, Adds "Colossus" 65

An anonymous reader writes "With its new Caffeine search indexing system, Google has moved away from its MapReduce distributed number crunching platform in favor of a setup that mirrors database programming. The index is stored in Google's BigTable distributed database, and Caffeine allows for incremental changes to the database itself. The system also uses an update to the Google File System codenamed 'Colossus.'"

Comment Re:*illions lost to piracy, counterfeit goods... (Score 2, Insightful) 283

"You also have to consider that the market price is artificially inflated to "cover the damage" of piracy. Thus, if there was no piracy, the prices would (hypothetically) be lower. " This isn't necessarily true if a competitive market isn't in place. Goods sold under a monopoly regime are typically more highly priced. In this case, piracy and counterfeiting introduce competition into the market, so hypothetically, if there was no piracy, prices would be higher. Your argument holds well enough for fake Gucci bags or Rolex watches, but not so well for creative works, which are monopolies in the economic sense due to their treatment under copyright and patent law.

Comment Re:oscillation (Score 1) 191

Perhaps someone with more background than I have could explain this, since the argument for neutrinos having mass seems tenuous to me. Neutrinos are thought to have mass because they oscillate, presumably requiring the passage of time, which can only happen at sublight speeds. Yet photons are oscillating electromagnetic fields, and they have no mass and travel at the speed of light. Why do they get a free pass? For that matter, why is it that particles travelling at less than light speed must have mass? This always seems to be presented as a given; is there a line of reasoning behind it that I'm unaware of? Note: IANAP, though I have taken several courses at the undergrad level.

Comment Re:Christmas Special? (Score 1) 258

And the Grinch grabbed the tree, and he started to shove When he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove. He tuned around fast, and he saw a small Who! Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was not more than two.

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