Memcached 1.4 has officially moved from a release candidate to a full release, generating significant buzz on Twitter due to its introduction of a binary protocol, performance enhancements, new statistics, and CAS operations. Several sizable websites are already utilizing the release candidate in production, and more are expected to follow. The release notes, which detail these updates, hold special significance for NorthScale as some of the new features stemmed from proposals made at the first memcached hackathon hosted by Facebook. The binary protocol, in particular, had been a topic of discussion in the community and is now a reality in this production release. This release is notably personal for the author, who contributed a patch to the project, joining fellow NorthScale contributors and other core developers. As users begin to explore the new capabilities, especially those operating at the limits of the technology, they may experience improved performance, and the community eagerly anticipates feedback and inquiries.