Also, if you need a full featured database, and are willing to either tune or put up with a few slow queries, it is an amazing free database that can compete with Oracle.
Replication was open-sourced a few months back, adding one more enterprise feature (though MySQL replication has been around longer, and is apparently very good in the 4.0.x tree).
This is just not true. If you were unwilling or unable to tune your DBMS, you can hardly go blaming PostgreSQL!
As I said,
"I spent two years lurking on the Postgres lists, and when doing performance testing, was asking for help tuning queries and the database in general; this isn't a statement made based on, "I tried it once, and it didn't work.""
I tuned all those variables based on documentation and suggestions on the list.
As for users not knowing about indexes, most problems with the optimizer were, "Why isn't PostgreSQL using this index?" Sometimes it was a user mistake, but other times the query had to be rewritten and the optimizer told to ignore it because it was de-optmizing it instead.
I ran a complex query in MySQL with about 8 outer joins using the same dataset that Oracle had (and the outer joins were in a different order than in Oracle) and it managed to produce exactly the same result set.
I spent a week reading the PostgreSQL manual and various pages on tuning, and asking questions on the list; I was able to tune MySQL using the MySQL manual and a few other web pages in a few hours. If PostgreSQL is so easy to tune, then the problem might be one of information-distribution, but I can honestly say that PostgreSQL was not performing well on our data and queries, and I spent an order of magnitude more time trying to tune it.
We are in the midst of moving our databases away from Oracle. There were three contenders: MySQL, Postgres, and Matisse (OODBMS).
Speedwise, PosgreSQL trails the pack by a fair bit. Sometimes it would be comparible to Oracle, and other times it wouldn't be without a fair bit of tuning. Outer-joins, for example; the optimizer can't seem to make heads or tails of it.
I spent two years lurking on the Postgres lists, and when doing performance testing, was asking for help tuning queries and the database in general; this isn't a statement made based on, "I tried it once, and it didn't work."
The guys on the list (especially Tom Lane) were very helpful and polite, but I just couldn't get reasonable performance out of the database without doing some serious SQL-rewriting (our CTO thinks that relational databases require too much tweaking already; putting optimizer hints into the queries is just too much).
Overall, the database is great - great feature set, great developers, and a good support community, but the optimizer is not efficient enough (search for the word optimizer in the PostgreSQL lists, and you'll find hundreds of posts where the optimizer is doing a sequential scan and ignoring indexes when it should be using those indexes).
MySQL (4.0.16, using InnoDB tables) has foreign keys, transactions, etc. I haven't been able to crash it yet (I miswrote a query on purpose, and let it run over 2 days at 99% CPU, and the machine stayed up, and is still up a week later).
MySQL doesn't have triggers or stored procs, but as a DBA and senior developer, I can honestly say that's a good thing.
- if you modify a table that a trigger or stored proc uses, chances are the trigger and stored procedure are invalidated quietly behind the scenese - the database doesn't tell you until you call the stored procedure or execute a statement that causes the trigger to be executed.
- debugging a stored procedure or trigger is not easy.
- people tend to forget about triggers and stored procedures; they're hidden logic that can cause no end of problems.
- triggers and stored procedures are (in most cases) database-dependant; they are a huge hinderance when moving to another database. We have 12,000 lines of Oracle stored procedures. I dislike them.
- the database is for data storage. It's not for application develoment. Keep the business logic in the application, and the data-storage logic in the database. Oracle is trying to sell their RDMS as a development tool to justify the price. Don't believe the hype.
PostgreSQL is trying to position themselves as an Oracle replacement, and thus have a similar feature set. PostgreSQL is also very good at very large databases (probably even more so than MySQL, at least until InnoDB gets multiple tablespaces in the next release).
Databases with simple queries where results are not needed instantly would do well with PostgreSQL.
"The diet is about getting rid of foods that have a high glycemic index. These foods raise your blood sugar too much, and your body responds with insulin, which turns the blood-sugar to fat.
To add insult to injury, it works too well. All that insulin in your blood strips out the blood sugar, causing you to crash; it also prevents your body from turning some of that fat back into blood sugar. Overall, your blood sugar and insulin levels looks like rollar coasters (which is very unhealty, and lead to diabetes)."
That's what foods with a high-glycemic index do, the opposite of what you eat on Atkins.
"Yes, at first you lose the weight and this is why everyone thinks this is a great diet. But you cannot keep off carbs forever, you eventually have to bring them back into your diet, and as soon as you do the weight will come back."
I've lost 20 lbs on Atkins (197->177) and I've read the book (obviously you haven't).
It's not "don't eat carbs", it's "don't eat bad carbs".
Today, for breakfast I had a cup of blueberries (heated till they were more of a sauce) with 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese and a handfull of roasted almonds. Lunch was a salad (organic red-leaf lettuce, smoked chicken breast, brocoli, almonds, a dressing without sugar, grated cheddar). Lots of healthy carbs there, and lots of fibre.
No sugar, no products with white flour, no potatoes, carrots or corn.
In fact, on Atkins, you count net-carbs - carbohydrates minus fibre. So if you eat a high-fibre vegetable, you subtrace the fibre from the carb count. Wonder bread is high in carbs, with zero fibre.
The diet is about getting rid of foods that have a high glycemic index. These foods raise your blood sugar too much, and your body responds with insulin, which turns the blood-sugar to fat.
To add insult to injury, it works too well. All that insulin in your blood strips out the blood sugar, causing you to crash; it also prevents your body from turning some of that fat back into blood sugar. Overall, your blood sugar and insulin levels looks like rollar coasters (which is very unhealty, and lead to diabetes).
Atkins is about maintaining consistent blood sugar throughout the day. You can eat lots of carbs, but from fruits and vegetables. Our bodies have not evolved to handle refined sugar and white flour. It makes us fat.
I figure just about anything I download that is a free-utility is spyware. Even the Google search bar will send anonymous databack (but they ask you openly, and it's easy to turn off).
I had one once that took over my computer desktop and start-bar; the sad ending was a corrupted Windows OS that required a re-installation.
Sierra Wireless just released a new phone today. The Vancouver Sun did a story this morning, which said "the first model will work with wireless networks using the GSM and GPRS standard used throughout Europe and on some North American networks, including Rogers AT&T Wireless and Microcell's Fido in Canada."
Unfortunately, it runs Windows Mobile software, but the layout of the keyboard is very cool.
- working on that interesting open-source software project. Good for the resume as well
- do some volunteering (hey - just go to the park and pick up garbage for an hour or two, till the unionized city employees chase you off)
- get in shape (running is cheap, and so are push-ups)
- eat better; too broke to eat out, so buy lots of veggies; kick the coffee and beer habit (too expensive)
- go to the library and get out all the "classics" (whatever your definition of a classic might be) and read them. No essay at the end required, unless you really want to.
Time like that should be used in a positive way. The silver lining around the dark cloud. And when you go for interviews, let them know what you've been doing - makes you look like a well rounded person who knows how to organize his/her time.
"First, off AMD has a mobile Athlon 64 reference design which includes 256MB of PC 2000 memory, the K8T400 chipset, and an ATI M9 graphics card. The mobile chip will be launched in September."
Re:BN Link
on
Quicksilver
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Actually, I submitted an article that was accepted not too long ago, with a link to a book on Amazon (just a plain old link, with no kickbacks associated).
When the article appeared on Slashdot, lo and behold, the Amazon.com link was now a Barnes and Noble, with enough info in the URL to indicate that someone was making a buck.
I believe that/. has an agreement with B I just wish they would be more open about it. I don't mind supporting Slashdot, but I like to know when I'm doing it.
We have 12 laptops in the office, and in 3 years, all the batteries but one have died (they're Dells, and the Dell warranty doesn't cover the battery); and they aren't cheap to replace.
To replace all 6800 batteries every 2-4 years would be an expensive proposition (unless they can come up with a more reliable battery).
True, but the government recently ran all that fiber optic cable along the Canadian National Railway line (CNR), and now alot of small, interior communities have bandwidth that would make an urbanite jealous.
There has a been a huge push to get high-speed Internet to small, rural communites.
Umm... Canada was 3rd. Kind of blows your theory. With 6 million fewer people that California, and the second largest country (in square kilometers/miles), we're alot more rural that the US.
The problem in the States is a fragmented industry (too many small players), the inability of one company to deliver the service all the way to the doorstep of the consumer (most broadband offerings are offered by a consortium of companies, complicating delivery and support), a lack of interest and/or vision by these companies, and (I believe) a strong desire by the larger corporations to screw the consumer.
All of this means the average online American is a high-ping bastard, being schooled by your friends to the north:D (just kidding, of course).
What I mean to ask was how is work in the EU? I don't particularily want to live in the United Kingdom (no offense to Brits, but as a Canadian, I would have a tough time with all those people on a small island), but Spain or Italy might be nice....
I'm an Oracle DBA, and I've written stored procedures in Java.
There are a few benefits - as I'm also a Java developer, it's nice to work with one language.
But you have to create PL/SQL stubs, and you can't write triggers in Java, and the JVM is big and takes up alot of space (memory), and it's hardwired into the Oracle database so can't be upgraded, and it can take 2-3 seconds to initialize if it hasn't been called, and...
Lots of bad things; cool idea; better to use FirstSQL, a database written in Java that gives you both RDBMS and OODMS (I'm not affiliated in any way with the company)..
We're trying out both the SX6000 Pro (with enclosures) and 3Ware 7500-4LP right now.
The Promise controllers have crappy Linux support. Apparently the kernel supports it. I just checked - RH drivers (old 7.x drivers) and SuSe 8.0 and 8.1 drivers are back up (they weren't for the longest time). We decided against them for Linux boxes based on all the problems people have had).
3Ware cards have consistently had drivers and source avail, and the reviews on the web have been great. We have 3 installed, and they worked flawlessly; the only downside is that the compiled-drivers are old; the source is available, though.
If you're a C or C++ developer, you probably won't need either of these books - Eckel's Thinking In Java will probably do you just fine, and you can download it for free.
"Comparing the Indian workforce to America's is impossible. We have a mature, relatively saturated workforce, while India has (and probably will have for at least the next 20 years) a much larger, improverished majority. What this means is, they'll always be a pool 200 quadrillion extremely poor people in India who (with the right education) would literally work for food. The wage "balance" you speak of is a myth."
Not every Indian will become a programmer. Schools are in short supply there, and Western companies want to see a degree when hiring. I've already heard that the wages that developers want are on the rise.
"I'd give my left-nut to work for IBM right now, and so would you!!"
No I wouldn't. I make a six-figure income working for a small profitable company (less 100 employees); I have flexible hours, work from home most days, 4 weeks vacation, paid-for-DSL, etc, etc. True, I'm on call 24x7 usually, but I only get a call every other month, and it doesn't stop me from doing what I want.
We use a group in India to do basic server monitoring. If they are the norm, then I'm not worried. We've had communication issues, incorrect solutions to problems, issues with them saying "we did that" when they didn't, etc. In addition, if they walk off with our data, trash our database, or something similar, there's nothing we can do. The arm of the law is not nearly long enough.
We also had some quick development done by another group in India. While the software worked, it's a mess. We had a tough time getting them to understand our specs.
To reiterate a point, large companies can afford to set up campuses where they can get a high-quality product. For smaller companies, at best they can contract like we did. And the results are not that promising.
That's interesting - from reading posts on/. these last two or three years has left me with the impression that the typical techie is Libertarian or Republican; both of which believe that market forces should do the work, not institutions (unions) or legeslation.
I would consider it *very* ironic techies suddenly started unionizing now that those market forces are bearing down on them directly.
Slashdot Mirror
There's a link to go to your account preferences.
I'd set mine to "no contact" when the issue came up a while back; it hadn't changed, so I expect I'll see no spam.
I was expecting that they'd have changed them to send me spam, but it was a somewhat pleasant surprise that they hadn't.
I agree.
Also, if you need a full featured database, and are willing to either tune or put up with a few slow queries, it is an amazing free database that can compete with Oracle.
Replication was open-sourced a few months back, adding one more enterprise feature (though MySQL replication has been around longer, and is apparently very good in the 4.0.x tree).
This is just not true. If you were unwilling or unable to tune your DBMS, you can hardly go blaming PostgreSQL!
As I said,
"I spent two years lurking on the Postgres lists, and when doing performance testing, was asking for help tuning queries and the database in general; this isn't a statement made based on, "I tried it once, and it didn't work.""
I tuned all those variables based on documentation and suggestions on the list.
As for users not knowing about indexes, most problems with the optimizer were, "Why isn't PostgreSQL using this index?" Sometimes it was a user mistake, but other times the query had to be rewritten and the optimizer told to ignore it because it was de-optmizing it instead.
I ran a complex query in MySQL with about 8 outer joins using the same dataset that Oracle had (and the outer joins were in a different order than in Oracle) and it managed to produce exactly the same result set.
I spent a week reading the PostgreSQL manual and various pages on tuning, and asking questions on the list; I was able to tune MySQL using the MySQL manual and a few other web pages in a few hours. If PostgreSQL is so easy to tune, then the problem might be one of information-distribution, but I can honestly say that PostgreSQL was not performing well on our data and queries, and I spent an order of magnitude more time trying to tune it.
We are in the midst of moving our databases away from Oracle. There were three contenders: MySQL, Postgres, and Matisse (OODBMS).
Speedwise, PosgreSQL trails the pack by a fair bit. Sometimes it would be comparible to Oracle, and other times it wouldn't be without a fair bit of tuning. Outer-joins, for example; the optimizer can't seem to make heads or tails of it.
I spent two years lurking on the Postgres lists, and when doing performance testing, was asking for help tuning queries and the database in general; this isn't a statement made based on, "I tried it once, and it didn't work."
The guys on the list (especially Tom Lane) were very helpful and polite, but I just couldn't get reasonable performance out of the database without doing some serious SQL-rewriting (our CTO thinks that relational databases require too much tweaking already; putting optimizer hints into the queries is just too much).
Overall, the database is great - great feature set, great developers, and a good support community, but the optimizer is not efficient enough (search for the word optimizer in the PostgreSQL lists, and you'll find hundreds of posts where the optimizer is doing a sequential scan and ignoring indexes when it should be using those indexes).
MySQL (4.0.16, using InnoDB tables) has foreign keys, transactions, etc. I haven't been able to crash it yet (I miswrote a query on purpose, and let it run over 2 days at 99% CPU, and the machine stayed up, and is still up a week later).
MySQL doesn't have triggers or stored procs, but as a DBA and senior developer, I can honestly say that's a good thing.
- if you modify a table that a trigger or stored proc uses, chances are the trigger and stored procedure are invalidated quietly behind the scenese - the database doesn't tell you until you call the stored procedure or execute a statement that causes the trigger to be executed.
- debugging a stored procedure or trigger is not easy.
- people tend to forget about triggers and stored procedures; they're hidden logic that can cause no end of problems.
- triggers and stored procedures are (in most cases) database-dependant; they are a huge hinderance when moving to another database. We have 12,000 lines of Oracle stored procedures. I dislike them.
- the database is for data storage. It's not for application develoment. Keep the business logic in the application, and the data-storage logic in the database. Oracle is trying to sell their RDMS as a development tool to justify the price. Don't believe the hype.
PostgreSQL is trying to position themselves as an Oracle replacement, and thus have a similar feature set. PostgreSQL is also very good at very large databases (probably even more so than MySQL, at least until InnoDB gets multiple tablespaces in the next release).
Databases with simple queries where results are not needed instantly would do well with PostgreSQL.
Requires a diploma or degree. Not many highschool students have those, being still in highschool.
Reminded me of a more poetic/descriptive Gibson/Sterling in the Difference Engine.
I'd ordered it, and then read some of the Amazon.com reader-reviews, and wondered if I'd made a mistake. I didn't - was an amazing book.
I wasn't making your point:
"The diet is about getting rid of foods that have a high glycemic index. These foods raise your blood sugar too much, and your body responds with insulin, which turns the blood-sugar to fat.
To add insult to injury, it works too well. All that insulin in your blood strips out the blood sugar, causing you to crash; it also prevents your body from turning some of that fat back into blood sugar. Overall, your blood sugar and insulin levels looks like rollar coasters (which is very unhealty, and lead to diabetes)."
That's what foods with a high-glycemic index do, the opposite of what you eat on Atkins.
Bullshit
"Yes, at first you lose the weight and this is why everyone thinks this is a great diet. But you cannot keep off carbs forever, you eventually have to bring them back into your diet, and as soon as you do the weight will come back."
I've lost 20 lbs on Atkins (197->177) and I've read the book (obviously you haven't).
It's not "don't eat carbs", it's "don't eat bad carbs".
Today, for breakfast I had a cup of blueberries (heated till they were more of a sauce) with 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese and a handfull of roasted almonds. Lunch was a salad (organic red-leaf lettuce, smoked chicken breast, brocoli, almonds, a dressing without sugar, grated cheddar). Lots of healthy carbs there, and lots of fibre.
No sugar, no products with white flour, no potatoes, carrots or corn.
In fact, on Atkins, you count net-carbs - carbohydrates minus fibre. So if you eat a high-fibre vegetable, you subtrace the fibre from the carb count. Wonder bread is high in carbs, with zero fibre.
The diet is about getting rid of foods that have a high glycemic index. These foods raise your blood sugar too much, and your body responds with insulin, which turns the blood-sugar to fat.
To add insult to injury, it works too well. All that insulin in your blood strips out the blood sugar, causing you to crash; it also prevents your body from turning some of that fat back into blood sugar. Overall, your blood sugar and insulin levels looks like rollar coasters (which is very unhealty, and lead to diabetes).
Atkins is about maintaining consistent blood sugar throughout the day. You can eat lots of carbs, but from fruits and vegetables. Our bodies have not evolved to handle refined sugar and white flour. It makes us fat.
Gator is only bad because it is ubiquitous.
I figure just about anything I download that is a free-utility is spyware. Even the Google search bar will send anonymous databack (but they ask you openly, and it's easy to turn off).
I had one once that took over my computer desktop and start-bar; the sad ending was a corrupted Windows OS that required a re-installation.
Sierra Wireless just released a new phone today. The Vancouver Sun did a story this morning, which said "the first model will work with wireless networks using the GSM and GPRS standard used throughout Europe and on some North American networks, including Rogers AT&T Wireless and Microcell's Fido in Canada."
Unfortunately, it runs Windows Mobile software, but the layout of the keyboard is very cool.
There's even a FAQ for IT people///
What about,
- working on that interesting open-source software project. Good for the resume as well
- do some volunteering (hey - just go to the park and pick up garbage for an hour or two, till the unionized city employees chase you off)
- get in shape (running is cheap, and so are push-ups)
- eat better; too broke to eat out, so buy lots of veggies; kick the coffee and beer habit (too expensive)
- go to the library and get out all the "classics" (whatever your definition of a classic might be) and read them. No essay at the end required, unless you really want to.
Time like that should be used in a positive way. The silver lining around the dark cloud. And when you go for interviews, let them know what you've been doing - makes you look like a well rounded person who knows how to organize his/her time.
There are mobile Athlon-64 CPUs.
From The Inquirer:
"First, off AMD has a mobile Athlon 64 reference design which includes 256MB of PC 2000 memory, the K8T400 chipset, and an ATI M9 graphics card. The mobile chip will be launched in September."
Actually, I submitted an article that was accepted not too long ago, with a link to a book on Amazon (just a plain old link, with no kickbacks associated).
/. has an agreement with B I just wish they would be more open about it. I don't mind supporting Slashdot, but I like to know when I'm doing it.
When the article appeared on Slashdot, lo and behold, the Amazon.com link was now a Barnes and Noble, with enough info in the URL to indicate that someone was making a buck.
I believe that
We have 12 laptops in the office, and in 3 years, all the batteries but one have died (they're Dells, and the Dell warranty doesn't cover the battery); and they aren't cheap to replace.
To replace all 6800 batteries every 2-4 years would be an expensive proposition (unless they can come up with a more reliable battery).
True, but the government recently ran all that fiber optic cable along the Canadian National Railway line (CNR), and now alot of small, interior communities have bandwidth that would make an urbanite jealous.
There has a been a huge push to get high-speed Internet to small, rural communites.
Here's a good link on various provincial initiatives to wire the boonies
Umm... Canada was 3rd. Kind of blows your theory. With 6 million fewer people that California, and the second largest country (in square kilometers/miles), we're alot more rural that the US.
:D (just kidding, of course).
The problem in the States is a fragmented industry (too many small players), the inability of one company to deliver the service all the way to the doorstep of the consumer (most broadband offerings are offered by a consortium of companies, complicating delivery and support), a lack of interest and/or vision by these companies, and (I believe) a strong desire by the larger corporations to screw the consumer.
All of this means the average online American is a high-ping bastard, being schooled by your friends to the north
What I mean to ask was how is work in the EU? I don't particularily want to live in the United Kingdom (no offense to Brits, but as a Canadian, I would have a tough time with all those people on a small island), but Spain or Italy might be nice....
That's interesting. My dad was born in the UK (as were my grandparents), immigrating to Canada when he was 13.
I've often thought about getting a British passport, but haven't gotten around to it. I should look into it, I guess.
I'm an Oracle DBA, and I've written stored procedures in Java.
There are a few benefits - as I'm also a Java developer, it's nice to work with one language.
But you have to create PL/SQL stubs, and you can't write triggers in Java, and the JVM is big and takes up alot of space (memory), and it's hardwired into the Oracle database so can't be upgraded, and it can take 2-3 seconds to initialize if it hasn't been called, and...
Lots of bad things; cool idea; better to use FirstSQL, a database written in Java that gives you both RDBMS and OODMS (I'm not affiliated in any way with the company)..
We're trying out both the SX6000 Pro (with enclosures) and 3Ware 7500-4LP right now.
The Promise controllers have crappy Linux support. Apparently the kernel supports it. I just checked - RH drivers (old 7.x drivers) and SuSe 8.0 and 8.1 drivers are back up (they weren't for the longest time). We decided against them for Linux boxes based on all the problems people have had).
3Ware cards have consistently had drivers and source avail, and the reviews on the web have been great. We have 3 installed, and they worked flawlessly; the only downside is that the compiled-drivers are old; the source is available, though.
and not binary. We have 10 fingers, 10 toes, etc. We can handle base-10 math easily, but not base-2 math.
But consider this:
- there is only one of you, or 2^0
- you have two parents, or 2^1
- you have four grandparents, 2^2
etc, etc.
This looks interesting:
2 01 612461/102-3787245-0027333?vi=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0
Just googled "C++ for java developers"
If you're a C or C++ developer, you probably won't need either of these books - Eckel's Thinking In Java will probably do you just fine, and you can download it for free.
"Comparing the Indian workforce to America's is impossible. We have a mature, relatively saturated workforce, while India has (and probably will have for at least the next 20 years) a much larger, improverished majority. What this means is, they'll always be a pool 200 quadrillion extremely poor people in India who (with the right education) would literally work for food. The wage "balance" you speak of is a myth."
Not every Indian will become a programmer. Schools are in short supply there, and Western companies want to see a degree when hiring. I've already heard that the wages that developers want are on the rise.
"I'd give my left-nut to work for IBM right now, and so would you!!"
No I wouldn't. I make a six-figure income working for a small profitable company (less 100 employees); I have flexible hours, work from home most days, 4 weeks vacation, paid-for-DSL, etc, etc. True, I'm on call 24x7 usually, but I only get a call every other month, and it doesn't stop me from doing what I want.
We use a group in India to do basic server monitoring. If they are the norm, then I'm not worried. We've had communication issues, incorrect solutions to problems, issues with them saying "we did that" when they didn't, etc. In addition, if they walk off with our data, trash our database, or something similar, there's nothing we can do. The arm of the law is not nearly long enough.
We also had some quick development done by another group in India. While the software worked, it's a mess. We had a tough time getting them to understand our specs.
To reiterate a point, large companies can afford to set up campuses where they can get a high-quality product. For smaller companies, at best they can contract like we did. And the results are not that promising.
That's interesting - from reading posts on /. these last two or three years has left me with the impression that the typical techie is Libertarian or Republican; both of which believe that market forces should do the work, not institutions (unions) or legeslation.
I would consider it *very* ironic techies suddenly started unionizing now that those market forces are bearing down on them directly.