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Comment Re:Dynamic Relational: change it, DON'T toss it (Score 2, Insightful) 381

by Prodigy Savant (#30042774) Attached to: The NoSQL Ecosystem

What you are suggesting is to mimic a key-value design with something like a json or serialized data as the value.

This would work if you never had to index on any of the values in the json. All your sql queries must have there where parts running off the key.

This is a problem that couchdb and mongodb solve.

I am not trying to paint SQL in an unflattering shade -- there would still be a lot of situations where an RDBMS design would be optimal. Infact, I am currently working on a mongodb/mysql hybrid solution for a large web site (larger than /. )
GUI

Qt Becomes LGPL 828

Posted by CmdrTaco from the that's-just-adorable dept.
Aequo writes "Qt, the highly polished, well documented, modern GUI toolkit owned by Nokia, will be available under the LGPL starting with version 4.5! It was previously only mainly available under the GPL and a commercial license. Selling licenses was an important part of Qt under Trolltech as it was the company's main source of income, but Trolltech is a fruit-fly compared to Nokia, who want to encourage and stimulate the use of Qt Everywhere [PDF]. This is fantastic news for all commercial developers looking to create cross-platform applications without the need to buy a $4950 multi-platform license per developer."
Science

Blind Man Navigates Obstacle Maze Unaided 191

Posted by samzenpus from the matthew-murdock dept.
iammani writes "The NYTimes runs a story about a blind man (blind because of a damaged visual cortex) successfully navigating an obstacle maze, unaided. Scientists have shown for the first time that it is possible for people who are blinded because of damage to the visual (striate) cortex can navigate by 'blindsight,' through which they can detect things in their vicinity without being aware of seeing them."

Comment New Scientist is not a reliable source (Score 1) 208

by Prodigy Savant (#25974115) Attached to: Alien Comet May Have Infiltrated the Solar System
I used to like New Scientist till I read this -- Solutions diluted to homeopathic levels actually leave an imprint in the solvent and are a riddle for scientists today.
For a while, I was struck with a level of awe (and some levelling of pride :) ).
Later I learnt that New Scientist will often publish stories only for their sensational effect.
I for one am hugely skeptic of whatever I read in New Scientist.
Microsoft

Microsoft Quietly Previews PC Advisor Repair Tool 151

Posted by timothy from the give-that-bob-a-blowtorch-and-a-monocle dept.
notthatwillsmith writes "On Friday, Microsoft invited members of the Windows Feedback Program to try out a preview of a new application, the Microsoft PC Advisor. The new tool promises to 'continuously monitor your PC for problems and give you the solutions to fix them, in real time.' After testing on several Vista machines with a variety of problems, Maximum PC has written a full report on the Microsoft PC Advisor. The short version? Like every other 'PC Repair' tool they've tested, the new apps signal-to-noise ratio is quite bad, and it misses the obvious and important problems, like out-of-date videocard drivers."
Privacy

Interview With Pirate Party Leader Rick Falkvinge 515

Posted by kdawson from the stepping-away-from-total-surveillance dept.
mmuch writes "In the wake of the recent copyright debate in Swedish mainstream media, the P2P Consortium has published an interview with Rick Falkvinge, the leader of the Swedish Pirate Party. He comments on the mainstream politicians starting to understand the issues, the interplay between strict copyright enforcement and mass surveillance, and the chances for global copyright reform." Some choice Falkvinge quotes: "What was remarkable was that this was the point where the enemy — forces that want to lock down culture and knowledge at the cost of total surveillance — realized they were under a serious attack... for the first time, we saw everything they could bring to the battle. And it was... nothing. Not even a fizzle. All they can say is 'thief, we have our rights, we want our rights, nothing must change, we want more money, thief, thief, thief'... Whereas we are talking about scarcity vs. abundance, monopolies, the nature of property, 500-year historical perspectives on culture and knowledge, incentive structures, economic theory, disruptive technologies, etc. The difference in intellectual levels between the sides is astounding... When the Iron Curtain fell, all of the West rejoiced that the East would become just as free as the West. It was never supposed to be the other way around."
Databases

Are Relational Databases Obsolete? 417

Posted by kdawson from the long-in-the-tooth dept.
jpkunst sends us to Computerworld for a look at Michael Stonebraker's opinion that RDBMSs "should be considered legacy technology." Computerworld adds some background and analysis to Stonebraker's comments, which appear in a new blog, The Database Column. Stonebraker co-created the Ingres and Postgres technology while a researcher at UC Berkeley in the early 1970s. He predicts that "column stores will take over the [data] warehouse market over time, completely displacing row stores."
The Internet

Accurate Browser Statistics? 137

Posted by Cliff from the determining-browser-share dept.
zyl0x asks: "A co-worker of mine has been made responsible for a large web application for our software product, and he was having a hard time deciding what functionality to implement, and whether or not to sacrifice functionality for a larger user base. With Walmart's harsh stand on browser compatibility, we got to thinking, exactly how many users would we be alienating by using some IE-only functionality on our website? We tried crawling the internet to get some current, accurate browser usage statistics, but we could only find stats for specific websites. I thought I'd try sending Google a request, since we imagine they'd have the lowest-common-denominator in terms of types of users, but I received an email from their press department telling me that they 'don't make that kind of information available.' Where can one get a current, accurate, and un-biased measurement of browser usage? Is it even possible?"

TiVo May Be a Buyout Target 149

Posted by Zonk from the run-free-little-company-run-free dept.
Moose writes "Ars Technica has a piece up about the takeover rumors surrounding TiVo, now that it has a lawsuit win to boost its chances in the marketplace. From the article: 'It appears that TiVo is at a major crossroads, with brilliant technology under what now appears to be enforceable patents and a rapidly growing subscriber base, but with larger players in the TV market lurking just out of sight, possibly with pen to checkbook already. The DVR innovator seems to have little control over its own destiny now, and future success may rest in the hands of the legal system. Godspeed, TiVo.'"

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