The other day I posted a blog about disruption and I used a screenshot from Visicalc with a link to Dan Bricklin's site.  Dan, along with Bob Frankston, was the co-creator of VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet.  These days, Dan has focused on open source software and has now developed wikiCalc, an open source wiki-spreadsheet.  It's written in Perl and available under the GPL through his company Software Garden.  It's also being released under a commercial license by SocialText under the name SocialCalc.  I don't know that wikiCalc is disruptive the way that VisiCalc was 25 years ago, but its a darn good piece of software.

Update:
On the other hand, maybe there's something more important to wikiCalc than the fact that its an opensource, web-based spreadsheet.  There may …

I have just released version 0.9.8 of the PrimeBase XT storage engine for MySQL 5.1. The major feature of this new version is foreign key support. As far as I know, this makes PBXT the first 3rd party storage engine to fully implement referential integrity, and the second after InnoDB.

With this version PBXT is practically feature complete. Only CHECK TABLE remains to be implemented for the first GA release (see pbxt-to-do.txt for details). So my plan to complete the PBXT GA release on time for MySQL 5.1 GA looks quite doable (especially now that I have heard MySQL 5.1 GA has been pushed to 3rd quarter 2007).

The latest package can be downloaded from www.primebase.com/xt or …

The rumours are confirmed: MySQL, the fastest growing database, is planning to go public before the end of the year. This will make it one of the few Open Source products to be listed in the stock market, together with RedHat, Mandriva and VA Linux.

Their results so far are pretty good: around 10 million installations worldwide and 10,000 paying customers (25% of them just in the last year). Many people consider this as a failure, comparing it directly with Oracle’s result, but in my opinion this is a short-sighted vision. MySQL’s main asset are all those non-paying customers; thanks to them most web applications have been built on the LAMP stack, where MySQL plays a key role, and it makes it possible for other businesses to exist, bringing more paying customers without …

Although I am still busy with writing my thesis paper, I do need a distraction from time to time. Since I started getting phpOpenTracker questions again recently, I decided to (slowly) start working on phpOpenTracker 2.0 again. phpOpenTracker 2.0 will be a complete rewrite, utilizing the features of PHP 5.2 and MySQL 5.1.

The biggest problem with phpOpenTracker 1.x is that its database schema is normalized. Even simple …

MySQL announces new enterprise pricing and a record year?Digium names new CEO?Red Hat launches new channel strategy?and more?

MySQL Enterprise Unlimited Site Agreements Now Available for the Cost of a Single CPU of Oracle Enterprise, MySQL (Press Release)

MySQL AB Completes Record Year, MySQL (Press Release)

Digium Names Danny J. Windham as CEO, Digium (Press Release)

Red Hat Expands Channel Strategy with Certified Service Provider Program, Red Hat (Press Release)

…

In this episode, I go over database normalization in general and explain 1st Normal Form (1NF) in depth.

Direct play episode 7 at:
http://tinyurl.com/2fbhy2

Subscribe to the podcast by clicking:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=206806301

You can Direct download all the oursql podcasts at:
http://technocation.org/podcasts/oursql/

Links:
MySQL binaries centralized repository: http://tinyurl.com/3anjfa

SQLzoo

http://www.sqlzoo.net

Links about database normalization:
…

In part 1 of this series I examined the behavior of MySQL’s FEDERATED storage engine by running queries with the general query log enabled on the remote server. In this article I take a higher-level view. I summarize my findings from the first article, then give my thoughts on the engine’s strengths and weaknesses. How the engine works The FEDERATED engine accesses a remote table via a normal mysql client connection.

Version 1.1.4 of Zmanda Recovery Manager (ZRM) for MySQL, a robust and
intelligent solution for backup and recovery of MySQL databases is available
for download at Zmanda downloads page. Changes since 1.1.3 release: * Support for aborting backup runs
* Support for character sets and stored routines
* Bug fixes Take a look at ZRM for MySQL user documentation for more information on how to install and configure it. Find bugs and report them at bugzilla (http://forums.zmanda.com/bugzilla). Feel free to contribute to ZRM for MySQL wiki and …

Technocation, Inc has a list of where you can get MySQL binaries — official and unofficial — up at:

http://tinyurl.com/3anjfa

Phorum needs to get to the MySQL Conference. Perhaps you do, too? Or perhaps you want to help people get there? Technocation, Inc is a not-for-profit committed to helping folks get the education and networking contacts so important to IT professionals. So, they’re opening up their very first campaign!

Technocation, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization. Your contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. You may choose to donate money, goods or services. Money may be donated through PayPal at http://tinyurl.com/28fa76, and services should be arranged through e-mailing donate@technocation.org . To send payment by mail, see details at . Technocation’s EIN/Tax ID is 20-5445375
Currently, this campaign is …