20bits
Web 2.0, one bit at a time
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latest 15 posts
- An Introduction to A/B Testing
- Data-Driven Development
- Erlang: A Generalized TCP Server
- Erlang: An Introduction to Records
- Looking for a Front-end Engineer
- Erlang: A Generic Server Tutorial
- Copyright Infringement != Theft
- Implementing A Suggest-A-Friend Feature
- Politics and Tufte’s Lie Factor
- An EventMachine Tutorial
- Facebook Users Just Want Entertainment
- Facebook Bans Google Friend Connect
- Interview Questions: Database Indexes
- Powerset Launches, Verdict: Meh.
- How I Grow My Blog
Monday October 6th, 2008
An Introduction to A/B Testing
From 20bits, 5 days ago,
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A/B testing is one of the primary tools in any data-driven environment. You can think of it as a big cage match. Send in your champion versus several other challengers and out comes a victor.
Of course, on the web there's less blood and more statistics, but the principle remains the same: how do [...]
Wednesday October 1st, 2008
Data-Driven Development
From 20bits, 10 days ago,
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There are lots of smart people out there talking about metrics and tech startups, but the one thing they all have in common is an empirical mind-set.
Another common thread is that a lot of these practices come from other, older industries that have had time to mature. It's high-time we apply this to the [...]
Monday June 16th, 2008
Erlang: A Generalized TCP Server
From 20bits, 3 months ago,
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In my last few articles about Erlang we've covered the basics of network programming with gen_tcp and Erlang/OTP's gen_server, or generic server, module. Let's combine the two.
In most people's minds "server" means network server, but Erlang uses the terminology in the most abstract sense. gen_server is really a server that operates using Erlang's [...]
Sunday June 15th, 2008
Erlang: An Introduction to Records
From 20bits, 3 months ago,
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Internally Erlang has only two internal compound data types: lists and tuples. Neither of these data types support named access, so creating associative arrays a la PHP, Ruby, or Python is an impossibility.
That is, in Ruby, I could do:
server_opts = {:port => 8080, :ip => '127.0.0.1′, :max_connections => 10}
while in Erlang there's no such [...]
Tuesday June 10th, 2008
Looking for a Front-end Engineer
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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Since I've left Adonomics I've begun working on another, more exciting project with some really talented people. I can't say much, but it's a consumer-facing website and we need a front-end engineer.
If you know anyone the Bay Area (or who is willing to work here) I'd love an introduction or recommendation. You can [...]
Monday June 9th, 2008
Erlang: A Generic Server Tutorial
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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One of the benefits of working with Erlang is that it was designed with real-world applications in mind. This is reflected in OTP, or Open Telecommunications Platform, a set of standard libraries that come with the default Erlang VM.
OTP implements in a generic way lots of networking paradigms, including finite state machines (gen_fsm), event [...]
Monday June 2nd, 2008
Copyright Infringement != Theft
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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I wasn't planning on writing about this topic today, but Matt Maroon's essay on intellectual property warrants a response. I'm not going to get into the broader philosphical and political argument about whether the current copyright scheme is good, bad, or whatever else.
Instead, I want to make a simple, provable point: copyright infringement is [...]
Tuesday May 27th, 2008
Implementing A Suggest-A-Friend Feature
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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Many social networks, including Facebook and LinkedIn, have suggest-a-friend features that prompt users with a list of likely friends. This is a great feature because it allows these sites to notify current users when one of their (likely) friends joins the site.
It's also good for the social networks because it allows them to improve [...]
Sunday May 25th, 2008
Politics and Tufte’s Lie Factor
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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I admit it, I'm a political junkie. I'm also a math guy who loves design. Politics gets emotional fast and people are quick to stretch whatever data they have to fit their small, partisan aims.
Pundits and partisans misuse statistics all the time, but I happened upon a real gem that perfectly illustrates Edward [...]
Thursday May 22nd, 2008
An EventMachine Tutorial
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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Ruby / EventMachine is an event-driven networking library for Ruby, similar to Twisted for Python. Certain aspects of it are also similar to Erlang/OTP's gen_server module.
Why EventMachine?
EventMachine satisfies two key requirements. First, because EventMachine is an implementation of the reactor pattern, it separates networking logic from application logic. This means you don't [...]
Monday May 19th, 2008
Facebook Users Just Want Entertainment
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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Starting in late 2007 Facebook began instituting its media strategy in earnest with Facebook Pages. According to Facebook pages offer "a unique experience where users can become more deeply connected with your business or brand."
It's good to see Facebook becoming conscious about how they can help shape the future of branding, since this is [...]
Thursday May 15th, 2008
Facebook Bans Google Friend Connect
From 20bits, 4 months ago,
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Facebook announced today on their official developers' blog that they have banned Google Friend Connect, stating privacy concerns.
Google Friend Connect is a service that allows users to share their social data, such as personal information and friends, with websites that embed the Google-created widgets. This data can come from many social networks, including Facebook, [...]
Tuesday May 13th, 2008
Interview Questions: Database Indexes
From 20bits, 5 months ago,
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Continuing my series on interview questions, I'm going to spend some time covering ops and sysadmin questions. Today we'll start with databases.
The Question
Most consumer-facing web startups these days use one of the major open source databases, either MySQL or PostgreSQL, to some degree. If you want to prove your worth it's a good [...]
Monday May 12th, 2008
Powerset Launches, Verdict: Meh.
From 20bits, 5 months ago,
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Powerset, the much-hyped natural-language search company, has finally launched a public product: a showcase for its search technology that "enhances the Wikipedia experience." It's live right now on its homepage, so go check it out.
Are you back? That sound you heard is the technology world shrugging in unison. For all the hype [...]
Friday May 9th, 2008
How I Grow My Blog
From 20bits, 5 months ago,
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I was talking with Matt Humphrey the other day and he asked me, "How did you grow your blog?" My answer at the time wasn't very enlightening, so I thought I'd sit down and hammer out my strategy for growing 20bits.
General Principles
Play to Your Strengths
Not everyone is witty and not everyone is penetrating. [...]