I have finally decided to start using an RSS reader. Recent changes in the MySQL forums' behavior, layout and features have made it hard for me to see what forums have new posts have been made— so I will give the reader a try for a while and see if I like it better. I have subscribed to most of the forums, not that I am knowledgeable in all areas, but I find it interesting to read posts on subjects outside of my direct bailiwick.

So far so good, though I notice the feeds for a couple of MySQL forums aren't working, Database Adminstration and .Net. None of the foreign language feeds are working either, but I expect that is because they are brand new and haven't been posted in yet. I like the format of my chosen RSS client, similar to that of an email program for example the one I am using to peruse the news groups. Ultimately it would be nice to have one client that …

If you're doing significant amount of writes to Innodb tables decent size of innodb_log_file_size is important for MySQL Performance. However setting it too large will increase recovery time, so in case of MySQL crash or power failure it may take long time before MySQL Server is operational again.

So how to find the optimal combination ?

First let me explain what happens on recovery and why large innodb_log_file_size slows down recovery. During startup after crash Innodb scans log files to find log records which only have been applied in memory and do not exist in tablespace. Log records for modifications which did not make it to the tablespace are then applied. This is called redo phase of recovery. It can take pretty long time and this time depends on number of variables - how large are rows ? (smaller log records mean more records for same sized logs), how random were data modifications …

You think I'm kidding? No way!

There is this web page (I blogged about it a few months ago) where you get an interface to BitKeeper to watch the development activities: http://mysql.bkbits.net:8080/mysql-5.1/index.html.

Just for fun I replaced 5.1 with 5.2 and - it worked. So I followed the instructions from the manual and only replaced 5.1 with 5.2 again. This way, I ended up with a MySQL 5.2.0-alpha installation:

Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 3 to server version: 5.2.0-alpha

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql>

I doubt that there are many (if any at all) differences to the current 5.1 development …

I'd like to chime in with Brian and remind you that the Hamburg MySQL User Group meets tonight, too! I have invited Jan Kneschke to give a talk about "Deadly sins in MySQL" (courtesy of Arjen Lentz) and I will also talk a bit about what's cooking at MySQL since the last time we met (it's been three months!). Looking forward to meeting you tonight - we will again meet at 19:00 in the Chinese restaurant Ni-Hao in Hamburg, Wandsbek.

Last week I was notified that my article about how to install and configure MySQL and the MySQL Connector/J was published in the Java Starter Magazine, a special edition of the german Java Magazin. It covers the basic installation of MySQL and Connector/J on Windows and Linux and how to write a small example program to connect to to MySQL with Java using the Eclipse framework. They were kind enough to send me a number of copies that I plan to give away at tonight's Hamburg MySQL User Group Meeting.

For those that are using a Referential Integrity based Storage Engine in MySQL, the use of Foreign Keys can provide an extra level of data integrity within your application. There are of course caveats to this statement, such as correct design, proper transactional use etc, but that’s a topic for another time. The use of CASCADE has an effect on this.

So, just a quick refresher, using the MySQL Sakila Sample Database (if you don’t have it, get it. This can be a valuable tool in many other areas). Let’s first check out the Schema Diagram. We will …

I’ve yet to find any Java project that doesn’t have dependancies on some other Open Source external libraries. I’ve yet to find a Java project that manages these external dependencies appropiately for support and integration at an enterprise level.

As with most projects, understanding an applying sound principles that scale will help you at a later date, and generally the cost of implementation is minimual at the start, but of course becomes more expensive when it’s really needed. The classic case is Version Control. For over 10 years, even on small single developer projects, I’ve used Version Control, it should be taught at university as an introduction to good programming design, it would greatly benefit software development and maintenance.

Back onto the topic of hand. Let’s use a moderate Java Web Based application, and for the purposes of this discussion the following Open Source external libraries are incoporated. …

In my previous blog article, I mentioned the fact that Red Hat’s deputy general counsel, Mark Webbink, lobbied in the European Parliament on July 5, 2005 (the day before the EP’s decisive vote to reject the software patent bill) to keep the software patent directive alive.

I had not anticipated the kind of Internet debate that this statement would trigger, including some insulting emails that were sent to me, and least of all I would have expected Mark Webbink to call into question the “veracity of [my] statements”, which is what he did in the discussion below this LWN.net article. He knows exactly what he did.

The word “motivations” also appears in that posting. It’s really simple: on the occasion of a patent suit having been filed against Red Hat, I thought it …

linux.conf.au is one of the best technical Open Source conferences on the planet (not just Linux). Speakers such as Andrew Tridgell, Alan Cox, Eben Moglen and Van Jacobson are there. Even Linus sometimes shows up. But apart from those famous faces, there are so many excellent people there every year - it's fantastic. Plenty of time to talk, discuss new ideas... it rocks.

The conference travels around Australia and New Zealand, coming year the event will be at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, January 15th-20th, 2007

Members of the Linux and open-source community (that's all of you!) are now invited to submit papers and proposals for presentations, tutorials and miniconfs.

Key dates:

• Submission deadline: September 1, 2006
  
• Notifications by …

Last week I scribled some thoughts on presentation slides, and got some very good comments. Thanks!
One comment referred to Guy Kawasaki and something he wrote blogged last year: The 10/20/30 Rule of Powerpoint:a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points.
He also writes:As a venture capitalist, I have to listen to hundreds of entrepreneurs pitch their companies. Most of these pitches are crap: sixty slides about a "patent pending," "first mover advantage," "all we have to do is get 1% of the people in China to buy our product" startup. These pitches are so lousy that I'm losing my hearing, there's a constant ringing in my ear, and every once in while the world starts spinning.I'm not a …