Mileage varies, of course, but I'd love to see a benchmark I can run side by side that can beat those numbers. I can't even get close with a simple GET, which returns in 86ms.
I'd argue there's a maintenance cost to consider as well. Functions are "serverless" from the dev point of view, where the dev needs to maintain App Engine services, scaling strategies, and so on. It's basically the next step up in the abstraction chain: On prem (you build) > Compute > App Engine > Functions.
A lot of the join functionality can now be simulated by using functions to effectively create views or map reduce data to distilled output. We've got a lot more to come on this front. Functions was just first on the list.
And yet, if they made a cheaper iPhone, I'd probably buy it without much thought about how it was made. Oh technology, thy double-edged sword of irony.
I agree in every respect, but also hesitate to say lives "worse" than our own. Different indeed, but I don't have an inkling of how to understand any of the varied Chinese cultures or social classes. Nor can I fully appreciate what would be required to compare the quality of those lives, with such different belief structures and goals.
I can only see a beautiful soul snuffed out and wonder why he chose that route. But then, even that is skewed by my culture of freedom and my religious beliefs.
The differences between Chinese and Western values matter little in this context. Sure, you could make an argument that their social culture which values hard work would promote these working conditions, but that is irrelevant.
"Worse", despite its subjective meaning, can arguably be used objectively in this case. To be quite frank, Foxconn treats its workers like trash [1]. It's a throwback to the labor rights violations of early industrial America. While you may sit back in your chair and type away that you can't possibly call their lives worse, you nor I would ever want to be caught in an environment like theirs.
There's a huge difference between a culture that values hard work, and one that also knows the respect which its workers deserve.
I was also referring more broadly to the world in general.
I am a white upper-middle-class knowledge worker who lives in Canada, so I suspect I can objectively say that most of the people in the world are worse off than I am, in terms of security, comfort and stability.
But that doesn't mean they are any less human, or any less worthy of a good and decent life, and the fact that so many are denied that makes me sad.
I do what I can (supporting charities and organizations who help, and doing what I can in my personal life), but it's still easy to feel helpless about the whole thing...
"Everyone knew people who had them, knew how awful they were..."
I wonder how you substantiate these claims if you've never been part of that generation?
While I'm not against vaccines and only possess a healthy skepticism of modern medicine--I recognize that it's as much commercial as about solving problems, and therefore will be pressured by corporate politics in some fashion--I was also a kid when measles were prevalent.
In our community, before the vaccinations were prevalent, it was commonplace to have a "measles party." If someone got the measles, you went over and exposed your whole family to get it done, since it's much more damaging to adults (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles#cite_note-15) and better to get "immunized" early.
So speaking from experience, I can't say how "horrible it was;" they were treated no differently than influenza and are certainly no more dangerous, at a rate of 0.3% deaths, compared to usual influenzas at 0.1%.
From the Firebase JavaScript SDK, I can do one thousand individual gets with a 3.4k payload at 1-2ms each. http://jsfiddle.net/katowulf/8wkon62c/
Mileage varies, of course, but I'd love to see a benchmark I can run side by side that can beat those numbers. I can't even get close with a simple GET, which returns in 86ms.