We scaled PgBouncer to 4x throughput
PgBouncer is single-threaded. A single process uses one CPU core, no matter how many the machine has. On a 16-vCPU box that means one core does all the connection pooling while the other fifteen sit idle, and the pooler starts capping throughput long before Postgres runs out of room. In ClickHouse Managed Postgres we run […]
The early History of the Singular Value Decomposition (1993) [pdf]
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Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine (1965) [pdf]
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Networking and the Internet, from First Principles
Have you ever wondered what happens when we text, call, or video chat with a friend or a colleague on another continent, and their reply arrives in a fraction of a second, as though they were in the same room? Behind the scenes, a chain of invisible conversions takes place: your voice, video, or message […]
FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky
A giant mirror to create “sunlight on demand” was just approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), despite opposition from astronomers and the public, and real safety concerns. The FCC approved the company Reflect Orbital to test one satellite, named Earendil-1, as a means of reflecting the sun’s rays back to Earth for […]
pgrust passes 100% of the Postgres regression tests
pgrust is a Postgres rewrite in Rust that I’ve been working on with my friend Jason Seibel. It targets compatibility with Postgres 18.3, passes the PostgreSQL regression tests, and now also passes the isolation tests. It is disk compatible with Postgres and and can boot from an existing Postgres 18.3 data directory. It is not […]
Your code is fast – if you’re lucky
Lucky Code Your code is fast – if you’re lucky Recently, while I was working on an optimized Quicksort implementation, I came across a rather interesting quirk. Modern compilers (especially Clang) optimize loops using fast, branch-free instructions – provided you use the right programming style. sort.h – a quicksort with sorting networks // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT […]
A font that humans can read but AI cannot
What is Ghost Font? Ghost Font is an anti-AI font that writes a message using motion. Using a combination of motion, video, noise, and decoys, it’s a unique way to share a message with other real humans. I suppose technically, it’s not a font in the traditional sense of a TTF font file. But, Ghost […]
What’s the best way to do authentication in modern applications
Ask ten frontend developers where to store a login token, and you’ll get four answers and an argument. And because each approach addresses different concerns, the debates continue without resolution. So let’s clarify once and for all: What are the options to store a token, which are the most secure and what are the use […]
The vintage beauty of Soviet control rooms (2018)
Just for the pleasure, a selection of vintage control rooms dating back to the Soviet era! A beautiful collection of control rooms filled with large buttons and analog dials, long before the democratization of computers and screens. More info: Present And Correct Chernobyl Reactor 4 Control Room:Photo by Cary Markerink