> For small values of N, log(N) is essentially a constant, <= 32, so we can just disregard it, making sorting simply O(N).
For large values, even so-called linear algorithms (e.g. linear search) are actually O(N log(N)), as the storage requirements for a single element grow with log(N) (i.e. to store distinct N=2^32 elements, you need N log(N) = 2^32 * 32 bits, but to store N=2^64 elements, you need 2^64 * 64 bits).
How can I unread this?