In the examples that you describe (relating to websites), your reasoning is to be correct. Downloading a website requires downloading several pieces of media (HTML, images, etc) that form the page. In this scenario, latency does have an effect.

However, this scenario is a very specific one. If you are downloading a 50MB file from a website, for example, latency is not likely to have much effect. You have an initial latency in making the request, but after that your download speed is solely dependent on your bandwidth.

This is the main reason that I posted my responses in the first place. In his discussion of latency, Bill specifically said "As the latency increases, the TCP window shrinks, meaning the sender sends less data before waiting for an ACK", which is patently false. He asserts that latency affects download speed (as in the 50MB file example I previously gave), and this is not the case.

Furthermore, while latency is an issue, the main cause of latency is queueing due to saturated network links - a problem caused by lack of bandwidth. When there is no available bandwidth, packets are queued and latency increases. As a classic example, try playing a computer game like CounterStrike while downloading a large file over the same connection. Your ping time shoots through the roof, because the game packets are queued, waiting for the download packets to be transmitted.

That's why, in my opinion, Bill has misunderstood the problem. Latency can be an issue, but the way to deal with latency is to manage your bandwidth usage, not by investing in "network accelerator" snakeoil.

Your content is very useful and helpful to me. Specially concerning to Life Cycle Development. If we took the old Software Engineering practices we find this:

OO programming paradigm
Iterative-Incremental life cycle
RUP methodology

Nowadays with Web 2.0, RIAs, etc that approach doesn't fit. What are the better practices for RIA development? There exist equivalent for that trilogy?

I'm a little confuse, everybody talks about SOA and Patterns but I don't found a "formula" to start a RIA project. Maybe it does't exist, but a least I would like to know what would be the best approach.

its definitely a fact that when we are designing websites, we need to put the real visitors (human after all) as our objective. we are not designing for computers or browsers.

anyway awesome book.

I meant Chris. Apparently there was not enough latency for me to correct my comment, before it reached your server!

Thanks again.

-Bill

This is an outstanding analysis of the issue, and I am humbled by your review and support. I'm sorry it took me so long to find your page. Keep up the great work.

Thanks,

-Bill

The ".cloud ul" selector worked for me. Modify my last recommendation above (re background color) to be:

.cloud ul {
background-color: #EEEEDD!important;
text-align: right; }

Or, if you don't want to change the default background color, just omit that line.

I had dropped the tag-cloud widget from my sidebar, but I will re-activate it (temporarily) for you, to demonstrate the result.

--Chris

thanks

Mark

You're welcome! In fact, this has turned out to be my most frequently read post. Since it is based on your words, I decided to post your picture at the top, instead of the QCon logo.

--Chris

I understand your description of finding old blog posts using Google. Google works that way for Web Performance Matters too. So I keep their search box in my sidebar, though I mostly use the built-in Squarespace search myself. Technorati's search functions are not in the same league as those two options, for either responsiveness or coverage.

I have also had the problems you describe with Technorati pings. My experience is that if their software decides to index your site -- for its own inscrutable reasons -- then you're in luck today. Otherwise, you're out of luck. And sending pings seems to make little or no difference to what their software decides to do on any given day. Lately I've been pinging them about our new blog, UpRight Matters, but with no discernible success.

Sometimes I think that the ping function is just a placebo, to give blog owners like you and me something to do, rather than complain to Technorati. It's like a pedestrian push-button at a crosswalk in a busy intersection -- pushing that button lets us feel that we're telling the system to turn on the little "cross now" light. But we can push that button all we want, and the light won't appear one second before its pre-ordained time.

Unfortunately, Technorati's responses are not nearly as predictable as those of traffic signals, or we wouldn't be so frustrated with them.

--Chris

I did not write how I sometimes find my own blog posts which I published in the past. Since I could not rely on the Technorati search box I now use Google. It is faster for me to find an old blog post of mine so I can link to it in the post I am writing by using Google instead of even my own PC's 'search' function. I go to Google and input in quotes, the name of my blog, then the topic or a piece of what I think the title of my old blog post was. And VOILA, it comes up, within a second!

So that is useful for ME but it still is not good for my blog readers.

I also will share with you that in the past I would check Technorati to see how long ago they pinged my blog and I'd do the 'ping now' function or whatever it is called, and it would not work. I used to complain to the site owner. I finally gave up and don't even look at that info any more.

I just recently posted a blog on that topic:
Putting the Database Where It Belongs

It took me a while (I've been busy) to say thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my blog. I appreciate that you took the time to offer quality feedback and I will use that feedback to improve my blog and my writing over time.

I agree with you that bloggers (including me) should pay closer attention to the quality of their writing and especially, I think, source materials.

You're right though, I do get a bit enthusiastic from time to time about some of the subjects. I like my topic! I guess that can be a blessing and a curse.

Best,

Kent