Google SearchRank?

I just realized that I've read Google literature on storing and
searching web pages, but not on storing and searching (or otherwise
analyzing) searches (user search phrases)?

What do they do here? Do they use the same technologies as for pages?
Store it in BigTable? Analyze it using MapReduce? Do they compute a
"SearchRank", i.e. the rank of a page based on how often it is clicked
when presented as part of a search result set? Do they take combine
this with the page's PageRank before displaying the TopK results?

What other analytics do they perform on search results? User-visible
"analytics" examples include Google Trends and Zeitgeist but those
are just pure aggregation and ordering.

getattr on a script

I wanted to dispatch calls to other functions within my script, but couldn't figure out what object to pass as argument to getattr. Turns out __name__ is the name of my module, and I can look up a reference in sys.modules.

Handy!

REF: getattr on a function - comp.lang.python | Google Groups

Nvidia Nabs a Top Scientist From Stanford - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Nvidia Nabs a Top Scientist From Stanford - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com:

"Since 2005, Mr. Dally has served as the chairman of Stanford’s vaunted computer science department. More crucially for Nvidia’s immediate aims, Mr. Dally has done extensive research into “stream processing,” which is a form of computing gaining momentum with both scientists and businesses.

The stream processing model helps spread complex tasks across processors with many cores — like Nvidia’s graphics chips, which can contain hundreds of small processing engines versus just a handful of more powerful engines found on standard processors from companies like Intel. Certain types of software jobs run much faster on the many-core chips, making them desirable for organizations taking on some of the toughest tasks."

This sounds promising. Hopefully we'll see more of this innovation in the market from Nvidia after Google killed off a previous attempt by gobbling up PeakStream.

What Red Ink? Wall St. Paid Fat Bonuses - NYTimes.com

What Red Ink? Wall St. Paid Fat Bonuses - NYTimes.com

"Despite crippling losses, multibillion-dollar bailouts and the passing of some of the most prominent names in the business, employees at financial companies in New York, the now-diminished world capital of capital, collected an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses for the year.

That was the sixth-largest haul on record, according to a report released Wednesday by the New York State comptroller."

It pays to be a banker, I suppose.

The Famous Fingers Were Live, but Their Sound Was Recorded at the Inauguration - NYTimes.com

The Famous Fingers Were Live, but Their Sound Was Recorded at the Inauguration - NYTimes.com: "“It’s not something we would announce, but it’s not something we would try to hide,” Ms. Florman said. “Frankly, it would never have occurred to me to announce it. The fact they were forced to perform to tape because of the weather did not seem relevant, nor would we want to draw attention away from what we believed the news is, that we were having a peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next.”"

But of course! So much for transparency.

Bush Approves Bill Reducing Secretary of State’s Pay - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com

Bush Approves Bill Reducing Secretary of State’s Pay - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com: "Mr. Bush signed a bill reducing by several thousand dollars the salary of the secretary of state. It was a crucial step in Mrs. Clinton’s confirmation process because of a clause in the Constitution that forbids a member of Congress from being appointed to a government position which was either created or given a compensation increase during the lawmaker’s current term."

How are these things checked? Automatically? Who writes this compliance software? The same folks who implement Sarbanes-Oxley?

An Online Farmers Market - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

An Online Farmers Market - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com: "The local food movement has been all about buying seasonal food from nearby farmers. Now, thanks to the Web, it is expanding to include far-away farmers too."

Not really. They don't sell produce. Mostly preserved stuff.

Fraud Rocks Satyam as Chairman Resigns - WSJ.com

Fraud Rocks Satyam as Chairman Resigns - WSJ.com: "B. Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. -- 'satyam' means truth in Sanskrit -- said in a letter of resignation that he also overstated profits for the past several years, overstated the amount of debt owed to the company and understated its liabilities. Eventually, he said, the scheme reached 'simply unmanageable proportions' and he was left in a position 'like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.'"

Fascinating. Looks like Raju and Madoff deserve a Special Effects Oscar this year. Also brings to mind the astounding creativity of the in-house accountants (and possibly "outside" auditors). Never realized accounting could be this art-y.