When you make a change to your MySQL configuration in production it would be great to know the impact (a “before and after” type of picture). Some changes are obvious. For many variables proper values can be determined beforehand, i.e. innodb_buffer_pool_size or innodb_log_file_size. However, there is 1 configuration variable which is much less obvious for many people working with MySQL: query_cache.

The idea of query cache is great, however, there are a lot of issues with MySQL query …

Jon Bruner's "American Migration" visualization, based on IRS data, demonstrates how "Americans are enormously mobile: 37.5 million people moved from one house to another last year, with 4.3 million of them moving between states." Bruner's interactive map lets you click on a specific county and see both the immigration and emigration data for that location — where folks move from and where they move to.

Screenshot from the "American Migration" visualization (click for full interactive version).

As …

1. jsTerm -- ANSI-capable telnet terminal built in HTML5 with Javascript, Websocket, and Node.js. (via waxpancake on Twitter)
2. MySQL EXPLAINer -- visualize the output of the MySQL EXPLAIN command. (via eonarts on Twitter)
3. Google Code University -- updated with new classes, including C++ and Android app development.
4. Cloudtop Applications (Anil Dash) -- Anil calling "trend" on multiplatform native apps with cloud storage. Another layer in the Web 2.0 story Tim's …

1. Law of Success 2.0 -- a blog of interviews with famous and/or interesting people, from Brad Feld to Uri Geller.
2. Pioneer One -- crowdsourced funding for TV show, perhaps a hint of the future. Pilot shot for $6,000 which was raised through KickStarter. Distributed via BitTorrent.
3. DrasticTools -- PHP/MySQL visualisation tools, including TreeMap, tag cloud, hierarchical bar chart, and animated list. (via TomC on Delicious)
4. GoogleCL -- command-line interface to Google services. At the moment the services are Picasa, …

1. ZeroMQ -- bold claim of "Fastest. Messaging. Ever." LGPL, C++ with bindings for many languages, past version 2 already. (via edd on Twitter)
2. Prediction Market News (David Pennock) -- HSX is going to be a real marketplace with real $. The real HSX will of course say goodbye to the virtual specialist and the opening weekend adjust, two facets of the game that make it fun to play, but that create significant amounts of (virtual) wealth out of thin air. The Cantor Gaming group is engaged in other interesting initiatives. They are taking over a sportsbook in Las Vegas and turning it into more of a derivatives exchange with live in-game betting, a step toward my dream of a geek-friendly casino. …

1. Defragging the Stimulus -- each [recovery] site has its own silo of data, and no site is complete. What we need is a unified point of access to all sources of information: firsthand reports from Recovery.gov and state portals, commentary from StimulusWatch and MetaCarta, and more. Suggests that Recovery.gov should be the hub for this presently-decentralised pile of recovery data.
2. Memetracker -- site accompanying the research written up by the New York Times as Researchers at Cornell, using powerful computers and clever algorithms, studied the news cycle by looking for repeated phrases and tracking their appearances on 1.6 million …

1. Flare -- dynamically partitioning and reconstructing key-value server. Currently built on Tokyo Cabinet, but backend is theoretically pluggable. (via joshua on delicious)
2. Implantable Device Offers Continuous Cancer Monitoring -- the sensor network begins to extend into our bodies. The cylindrical, 5-millimeter implant contains magnetic nanoparticles coated with antibodies specific to the target molecules. Target molecules enter the implant through a semipermeable membrane, bind to the particles and cause them to clump together. That clumping can be detected by MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The device is made of a polymer called polyethylene, which is commonly used in orthopedic …