What is Web 2.0? Well the definitions out there aren’t clear and precise. Tim O’Reilly from O’Reilly Publishing has a detailed description at http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/6228. (More notes from this below) His compact description is:

“Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an “architecture of participation,” and going beyond the page metaphor of Web …

So, yesterday, just one day after writing a short article about ENUM and SET and having it pointed out to me that data does not have a place in data structures (which is absolutely correct!), what did a developer want me to do at work but change an existing ENUM to add one item?

Well, having learned a bit, I suggested an alternative. The performance of our site depends on using ENUMs in the way I described, so we must continue to use them. Additionally, I was listening to Robin Schumacher making comments about how some folks “over-normalize” their data and need to do too many JOINs as a result.

Technically speaking, it’s not possible to “over-normalize” a data structure. But I’ll let that slide, because I know exactly what he meant.

At any rate, the alternative I suggested was to add …

I recently picked up two O'Reilly books for $20 each: "High Performance MySQL" and "SQL Tuning". I am almost done with "High Performance MySQL". Overall I would say it’s a good book. Not suprising from the original publication date it is focused on MySQL 4.1 and therefore does not cover a lot of the advances made with MySQL 5. Especially replication comes to mind, but also little things like index usage for MIN() and MAX(). It does however contain a few notes here and there about changes/enhancements to expect with MySQL 5.

There are a few things I hope will be improved in the 2nd edition.

• The books reads well, almost like a normal discussion. The authors give anecdotes to explain challenges and then show solutions. However sometimes I would have wished for fewer anecdotes and more examples. Like in the chapter 5 where EXPLAIN is covered. I would have wished for way more sample outputs and maybe a short note about what the …

So, I have not been able to find a MySQL magazine in print. Why is that? We’ve got great blogs out there, you might argue, and http://www.planetmysql.org is practically its own magazine, though not in print.

Still, it seems like it would be worth the effort. Thoughts? (http://mysql-journal.com does not seem to be working for me)

Why is it that running a monitoring system is such a marketable skill? In every company, having servers up is important. So why doesn’t everyone have a monitoring system? Sure, folks implement scripts, but those are always one-off solutions. And what IS it with folks writing scripts that e-mail them when they’re successful? Just touch a file and have a simple script check to see if the file was touched, that way you know when it failed and do not have to rely on “did I get that e-mail?”

I was lucky to have worked on Nagios while at Tufts, and have set it up everywhere else I’ve worked. I should definitely remember to check up on the plugins site from time to time, so I do not duplicate efforts. Of course, submitting plugins would also eliminate the problem of “I wrote that check at my last company, and now I want it again!” I have not yet come across that, although I did come …

I‘ve been running Fedora Core 3 (and 4) for my “daily driver“ for the last year and a half or so, and have been relatively happy with them, but am moving back to Windows (specifically Server 2003) for awhile for my development work, mainly to become familar again with the platform from a users‘ perspective to help the folks working on making MySQL a better Windows product.

Don‘t worry, I still run Linux (at least 3 flavors currently in the house all the time, along with OpenBSD), so I‘m not a total defector!

Things I‘ve noticed since moving back:

1) It starts quicker than Linux (although this may be related to bit rot, this is a brand new 2k3 install)

2) Eclipse seems snappier (although this doesn‘t surprise me)

3) I have to pay for antivirus support, and unfortunately there aren‘t a lot of vendors that don‘t charge through the nose for a server OS even though I‘m using it as a …

I've been running Fedora Core 3 (and 4) for my "daily driver" for the last year and a half or so, and have been relatively happy with them, but am moving back to Windows (specifically Server 2003) for awhile for my development work, mainly to become familar again with the platform from a users' perspective to help the folks working on making MySQL a better Windows product.

Don't worry, I still run Linux (at least 3 flavors currently in the house all the time, along with OpenBSD), so I'm not a total defector!

Things I've noticed since moving back:

1) It starts quicker than Linux (although this may be related to bit rot, this is a brand new 2k3 install)

2) Eclipse seems snappier (although this doesn't surprise me)

3) I have to pay for antivirus support, and unfortunately there aren't a lot of vendors that don't charge through the nose for a server OS even though I'm using it as a desktop :p

4) The …

I‘ve been running Fedora Core 3 (and 4) for my “daily driver“ for the last year and a half or so, and have been relatively happy with them, but am moving back to Windows (specifically Server 2003) for awhile for my development work, mainly to become familar again with the platform from a users‘ perspective to help the folks working on making MySQL a better Windows product.

Don‘t worry, I still run Linux (at least 3 flavors currently in the house all the time, along with OpenBSD), so I‘m not a total defector!

Things I‘ve noticed since moving back:

1) It starts quicker than Linux (although this may be related to bit rot, this is a brand new 2k3 install)

2) Eclipse seems snappier (although this doesn‘t surprise me)

3) I have to pay for antivirus support, and unfortunately there aren‘t a lot of vendors that don‘t charge through the nose for a server OS even though I‘m using it as a …

I often when reading articles end up where I never started on the web. You can find some amazing things, and of course lose a lot of time. I think it’s about time to document my degrees of separation from time to time.

• Guide to Open Source Software in Government
  Open Source and MySQL @ Work in Applications
  • The One or Zero Open Source Helpdesk and Task Management System
    • Open Source Initiative OSI - The Open Source Definition
      • Open Source Initiative OSI - …

Having used Oracle, DB2, Postgres, Sybase, Informix, and MSSQL, I always enjoyed that MySQL just named everything “MySQL”. Sure, it can get confusing — there’s MySQL the server, MySQL the client, MySQL the database instance. . . .MySQL the flamethrower (the kids love this one). . . .But seriously, the ‘big guys’ have all this complicated jargon for really simple ideas.

MySQL has joined them. Granted, I’d been out of the MySQL world for about a year, and some wonderful things have happened in that year. Even a year ago, the company I worked for wasn’t using the most recent software nor taking advantage of all the features their versions of MySQL did have to offer. But I digress.

I’ve been working on MySQL knowledge, particularly with the free webinars. Today I attended the “MySQL Network and MySQL 5.0″ webinar, where I learned that MySQL is packaging (better) software, support, tools, access to developers, and a …