I originally tried to convert an application from Oracle to MySQL 5.0. Very simple app, though it had some views in it. The views performed much slower than the straight SQL did - microseconds vs 10seconds plus. I then converted to PostgreSQL 8.0 and everything worked fine.
As some one with years of database experience with Oracle, SQLServer, and others, I found Postgresql, at face value, to rank up with both of them in many respects, while I found MySQL to be somewhat limiting. MySQL's flat out speed is of no value if it can't provide the basic requirements of a relational database. While I don't have heavy-duty performance requirements, everything else about PostgreSQL seems top-rank. Documention, stored procedures, SQL adherence, advanced storage mechanisms, etc. were all there.
And when the next, great open source database comes along, the standardization that it provides will make it all that much simpler to port yet again!
I've seen more and more businesses require a credit card number that they will use automatically when subscriptions need renewing, etc. What I've done is used ShopSafe, a feature of Mastercard. I make a new number, with only enough money in it for the initial necessary payment, and with an expiration date in the not-too-distant future. When the automatic renewals come, the business will have to come back to me to get a new credit card number. Therefore, I am in complete control!
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I originally tried to convert an application from Oracle to MySQL 5.0. Very simple app, though it had some views in it. The views performed much slower than the straight SQL did - microseconds vs 10seconds plus. I then converted to PostgreSQL 8.0 and everything worked fine. As some one with years of database experience with Oracle, SQLServer, and others, I found Postgresql, at face value, to rank up with both of them in many respects, while I found MySQL to be somewhat limiting. MySQL's flat out speed is of no value if it can't provide the basic requirements of a relational database. While I don't have heavy-duty performance requirements, everything else about PostgreSQL seems top-rank. Documention, stored procedures, SQL adherence, advanced storage mechanisms, etc. were all there. And when the next, great open source database comes along, the standardization that it provides will make it all that much simpler to port yet again!
In Minnesota, over 1 million phone numbers were registered, about 20% of all phone numbers in the state. Also very easy to do, free, online.
I've seen more and more businesses require a credit card number that they will use automatically when subscriptions need renewing, etc. What I've done is used ShopSafe, a feature of Mastercard. I make a new number, with only enough money in it for the initial necessary payment, and with an expiration date in the not-too-distant future. When the automatic renewals come, the business will have to come back to me to get a new credit card number. Therefore, I am in complete control!