Fresh snow blankets the floodplain forests at Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. Established for the protection of migratory birds along the Mississippi River Flyway, the refuge occupies over 8,300 acres across four unique districts. Some of the most recognizable winter residents are wild turkeys, northern cardinals, great horned owls and bald eagles. Watch out for their color and movement in this winter wonderland. Photo by Cathy Nigg, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In Gaza more than 60 percent of the population is under the age of twenty-five, and it is among the young that the deepest despair often takes root. Some are turning to radical Islam, others to drugs. As many as eighty suicides are reported in Gaza each month, according to local aid groups, many among the young. Most of Gaza’s younger generation have nevertheless remained remarkably resilient, preparing against the odds for a better future, while also making an effort to learn about their past.
One question all Instagram engineers hear wherever they go is this:
“What’s your stack?”
Their answer is always the same and it is incredibly simple: Their database is not!
Their database is a milieu of many technologies, their own take on popular relational database management systems that now powers the largest image-based social network in the world. It’s powerful enough to manage over 14 million users and over 40 billion photos (shared till date).
According to the engineers of Instagram, their core principles while choosing their database were pretty straightforward. The list includes:
These criteria made the database creation and management process a lot easier than most people thought. If you don’t believe us, check out their choice of OS and application servers in the next section of our article.
It is time to take it from the top.
Instagram used to run on the forever almighty Ubuntu Linux 11.04 (the Natty Narwhal) on Amazon EC2 back in ‘11. Unbelievably enough, the entire workforce of Instagram engineering initially consisted of just three engineers.
The Natty Narwhal has been reliant and powerful enough to run smoothly on EC2. As of 2015, Instagram has 20 team members who take care of Search, Trending, Explore and Data Infrastructure.
With just three engineers and continually evolving needs from the UI end, self-hosting had never been an option for Instagram until Facebook stepped in. Most parts of it are hosted on off-premise, private clouds to keep all private information safe and secure. Most of Instagram’s hosting needs are taken care of by Facebook ever since the big buy in 2012.
When the thoughts about building the Data-gram team began in 2013, there were barely 35 engineers working on mobile applications, database management, and the backend processes.
That is when a handful of engineers at Facebook bridged the gap between the data management processes of Instagram and Facebook. They designed a new data infrastructure that would provide end-to-end impact for a small team and that would fit the engineering structure of Instagram.
Back when Instagram was functioning alone in the big bad world, the engineering and data teams chose a mix of NoSQL and SQL servers to support the massive growth. Instagram has about 250 million active users today and yet the database is plastic enough to accommodate the steady inflow of massive bulks of data.
In 2011, Instagram undoubtedly used Amazon services and many opensource software solutions to address their data concerns. From data collection to data security, the team used to rely on third-party solutions than creating their own RDBMS. They heavily relied on external services they did not have to build and manage the collected data from different time zones.
We didn’t find remote DBA in the life story of Instagram as of yet, but many other social networking sites and applications have used remote DBAs in their early days to collect, collate, and curate data from millions of users across the globe.
According to a recent post from the Instagram engineering team, their application servers run Django with PostgreSQL. Their server stacks further include Cassandra, which we all know is a plinth for all Facebook products.
Since the integration of Instagram Stories, the engineering team has been working with IG Disk Cache, IG JSON Parser, IGListKitUICollectionView data binding framework for iOSx, and the Rebound Animation Library for Android devices. They have also been using FLEX for iOS devices to make their application and new integrations more cross-platform friendly.
They use Redis to power their main feed. It also powers their session’s system and related app systems regularly. Since Redis data need to fit into available memory, the team runs several quadruple extra large memory instances for it.
They usually run Redis in a master replica setup to save memory and time. This is much faster and spares the server, too. For caching, Instagram still relies on Memcached, like most of the other popular web services and apps. As their number of users and bulk of data grow with time, their Memcached instances also improved.
See Also: Top 11 Instagram Users You Should Follow If You Like Photography And Nature
Monitoring is a part of the team’s task.
Back in 2011, they started with Munin to graph all the user-end metrics across the system. The same alerted the team if something went amiss.
As of 2015, the team relies more on Python and Python-Munin to write custom plugins for their web service. These plugins can efficiently provide metrics that are not a part of the system level. The list includes photos uploaded by users per minute, sign-ins per minute, and comments on an influencer’s post. Sentry has always been a reliable opensource Django app for reporting Python-related errors in the system.
Their success in the smooth integration of new features lies in the process of testing cross-platform compatibility from the days of conception. They thoroughly check their new filters, video features, and gallery features across multiple devices before the final deadline. They use a plethora of tools from Facebook and services, too. That helps us run these new Instagram features smoothly on almost all devices.
The very need for an application that can work across multiple platforms brings the need for simple yet powerful RDBMS stacks and simple servers. The minimalism of the entire setup, including the data infrastructure at the Instagram back-end, makes it a great app for every device and every operating system.
See Also: 5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Instagram Advertising
The post The Secret Behind Instagram’s Success appeared first on Dumb Little Man.
Making any large purchase with your significant other can be a pretty big hurdle. In some cases, it can cause undue stress and tension in a relationship. To avoid that, one of the best things you can do is to compromise.
If you are a couple buying a car, you need to make certain adjustments to make the process go as smoothly as possible.
Below are some of the best tips you can use:
Be upfront with your significant other about what you want and need in a car. This sounds simple but it’s important not to overlook the little things when talking about buying a car with your partner.
Little things could include how you absolutely refuse to buy a red car or how you don’t want to buy a black car because they’re harder to spot at night. They could also include things like how you won’t budge on buying a car with no less than a 5-star safety rating.
Being upfront about the little things will ensure they don’t turn into big things as you’re getting closer to making a decision.
Your partner will appreciate that you’ve been upfront with them and you should encourage them to do the same thing.
Sit down together and write a list of all your needs and wants in a car. List them from most to least important and then come back to that list when choosing a car. Compromise on the least important parts instead of your needs in a car.
It’s better to both agree and compromise than allow one person to give in and have everything. It may not be troublesome now but it could be in the future.
See Also: 5 Important Questions And Tips For Buying A New Car
Probably the most important factor when buying a car with your SO is making a budget. The second most important factor is sticking to that budget. Your budget should be enough to cover a car with a high safety rating and your basic needs.
It’s always a good idea to look at used vehicles as well when planning your budget, so you can understand the different price points in the market. Always take into consideration depreciation when considering prestige in a new car.
If you and your SO are in it for the long haul, which, let’s assume you are since you’re a couple buying a car, it’s important to look into the future. Unfortunately, there’s no crystal ball for this so you’ll just have to use common sense.
Ask your partner where they see themselves in 5 or 10 years.
Does the car fit the bill? Do you intend to have this car for 5 years, 10 years or even 15 years?
Always consider the future when buying anything of great value. If you intend to start a family in the next few years, it may be the right time to buy a family car rather than a small car.
If you’re thinking of getting a dog in the near future, then you’ll need to factor that into your decision when picking out a model.
It’s extremely important to talk to your partner about what he expects after you’ve bought the car.
Who gets to drive it to work every morning? You or your partner? Are you going to carpool? What about the weekends? If you’re going to be doing separate weekend activities, who gets to use the car?
It’s important to talk about these things before you buy a car to determine what kind you really need. If you’ll be buying a one car family, this tip can help avoid arguments in the future.
See Also: What Science Says About The Car You Drive
The post Top Tips In Buying A Car With Your Significant Other appeared first on Dumb Little Man.
The Wisconsin redistricting case before the Supreme Court, Gill v. Whitford, underscores how the justices’ failure to act on gerrymandering when they last had the chance, over a decade ago, has warped American electoral politics almost beyond recognition. It has allowed Republicans to turn the last three elections for Congress and many statehouses into a strange simulacrum of competition, in which the parties compete vigorously for votes even though GOP control has often been all but assured from the outset. At stake in Gill is the question of whether election outcomes can be made once again to provide at least a rough reflection of the popular will.
“This is the picture that went viral as the I have no idea what I’m doing meme and influenced me to take more pictures of her.”
You might not know Golden Bailey by name, but there’s a good chance you’ve seen one of her funny dog memes. The Golden Retriever is responsible for a number of wacky photos, one which had her “typing” on a computer and another of her wearing a camo hat and sitting with a jar of peanut butter. Known as the “I have no idea what I’m doing” and the “Redneck Retriever” memes, respectively, these costumed photos have delighted countless people around the globe.
In a heartfelt picture series on Imgur, Bailey’s human—who posted via the name goldenretrieverbailey—made an announcement that sadly, the beloved dog had passed away in early 2016. “She may have been semi-famous,” he writes, “but she was also our dog and a part of our family, which is why we took our time to let her fans know.” He then proceeded to share 100 pictures of Bailey, from the time she was a tiny puppy to when he and his roommates first discovered she liked to pose for photos.
The playful images—of Bailey “making” sausages or “operating” heavy machinery—never stopped throughout the course of her life. Now, they serve as a unique memory of the sweet pup. “We will always miss her,” her human says, “but we hope that she lives on through her pictures and continues to bring people joy and laughter.”
View all of Golden Bailey’s story on Imgur, and check out some of our favorites below, along with original captions by Bailey’s human.
Redneck Retriever
Bailey’s human got her as a puppy when he was 21 years old.
“So the first time I dressed Bailey up I was trying to mess with my brother by taking pictures on his new camera of her using his things.”
“We started to notice at this point that Bailey understood what we were doing and she would pose for the pictures. She is essentially just very very good at staying, for treats of course. She had as much fun with it as we did!”
“Bailey was a great snuggler and loved to be held.”
“The poker picture was a little ambitious, but it turned out as well as we could have hoped. We set the table and posed her in all four positions taking multiple pictures at each spot. We had the camera mounted on top of a ladder to see all four positions. She is holding the cigar with the help of a rubber band. The only Photoshop is putting the four final pictures together.”
“This was a very traumatic day in Bailey’s life. She got a ‘little’ sister Rosie. She was going to have to share the attention and she did not like it one bit.”
“My family has always made our own sausage. I figured it would be a fun and challenging picture to get of her and it turned out very well. There is a video of this if people would like to see her posing in action.”
“Got a new place and put Bay in charge of tuning up the water heater.”
“The Thanksgiving picture is one of the last posing pictures we got of Bailey. We set it up in the same way as the poker picture and took pictures of all the spots. Bailey had quite a few treats.”
“The Family Photo. Bailey made it possible because I used her to convince my wife to spend more time with me, it worked out pretty well 😉 We hope that Bailey lives on and continues to bring Joy to peoples lives through her pictures.”
Golden Bailey: Facebook | Instagram
h/t: [Reddit]
Chunky the Bulldog Can Balance Entire Meals on His Chin… While He’s Asleep
Hilarious Twitter Account Matches People with Their Doppelganger Dogs
New “Dog Pants” Trend Keeps Your Furry Friend Clean and Warm During Their Outdoor Adventures
Happy Dog Can’t Stop Smiling, Even After Being Stung
The post “I Have No Idea What I’m Doing” Dog Given a Heartfelt Goodbye by Her Loving Human appeared first on My Modern Met.
Photo: Jakob Owens
Kodak is stepping into the world of cryptocurrency and the market likes what it sees. The company recently announced that it’s joining forces with Wenn Digital to launch its own bespoke cryptocurrency called KODAKCoin. Using blockchain technology, KODAKCoin will not only help photographers get paid more efficiently, but aid in blocking copyright infringement.
Aimed both at individual photographers as well as agencies, KODAKOne is now a distribution platform that will “make it significantly cheaper and faster to register, move and sell digital images.” KODAKCoin will be used as the virtual currency on the platform, allowing photographers to be paid instantly for their work using the secure system. And what’s more, photographers can register old and new images, track usage of their photographs, and take advantage of post-licensing image enforcement.
KODAKOne will be constantly searching the web to seek out possible infringement and then assist photographers in recouping expenses in these instances. It’s an innovative way to take advantage of the security that blockchain technology offers—which is highly secure and difficult to alter—and marry that with the growing problem photographers have of keeping control over their work in the digital era.
“For many in the tech industry, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’ are hot buzzwords, but for photographers who’ve long struggled to assert control over their work and how it’s used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem,” Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke states. “Kodak has always sought to democratize photography and make licensing fair to artists. These technologies give the photography community an innovative and easy way to do just that.”
If the stock market is any indication, the public is already reacting positively to the new currency. According to Bloomberg, shares surged 119% to $6.80 at the New York Stock Exchange the afternoon of the announcement, which are huge gains for the company, which has seen their stock fall 70% over the last year.
KODAKCoin will launch their initial coin offering on January 31, 2018.
KODAKCoin: Website | Twitter | Instagram
h/t: [Peta Pixel, Bloomberg]
Kodak Launches New ‘Kodachrome’ Art Magazine Showcasing More Than Just Photography
Kodak Developed a New Smartphone Designed Specifically for Photographers
Kodak Revamps the Retro Super 8 Film Camera for the Digital Generation
Judge Rules That Monkey Does Not Own Copyright of Famous Selfie
The post Kodak Announces ‘KODAKCoin’ as Cryptocurrency Specifically for Photographers appeared first on My Modern Met.
At the core of the anti-abortion movement is the tenet that a fetus is a person whose rights need to be protected. The Trump administration is taking this argument to an absurd and cruel extreme. A fetus in the United States requires the full protection and support of American law. As for its undocumented, adolescent mother—well, if she wants her rights, she should leave the country.
Sig Nordal 