April 2003

MySQL to MySQL Sync

April 30, 2003

I'm looking for good info on synchronizing two different MySQL databases. The table structure is the same. Updates are limited by userID - i.e. the owner of a record is the only one who can update the record but any user can query on multiple the fields. There is a discussion on DevShed about a year ago on the topic. Would there be synergy that could be had with Userland's xmlStorageSystem?

Another form of inflation

April 29, 2003

Apple yesterday released it's new iTunes with the associated online store. Most songs are priced at $0.99 each. At first glance this seems reasonable but with a second look it's far too much. While the record industry consistently cites distribution as one of it's costs and artists consistently talk about how little they make from a typical album there should be a lower cost online. The cost to Apple of delivering a stream of bits is much lower than shipping plastic discs around the country. At this rate the average 10-15 song album will cost $10-$15.... the same as it does today at the record store. This seeming great idea ends up being yet another form of inflation in costs to the consumer.

The Great SARSscam

April 28, 2003

On the way home for lunch there was a discussion on the radio about SARS. Dr. Len Horowitz's called in to talk about SARSscam.com which proclaims to be "a website established by a consortium of companies that produce and market advanced nutritional products, healing remedies and technologies, and environmental conditioning appliances for purifying air, water, and electromagnetic fields."

While this appears to be strictly true there are three companies listed as the site's sponsors. All three are LLC's that on their About page say are directly parts of Dr. Horowitz's business interests. In fact the same article appears on one of the sponsors site, apparently identical to the SARSscam site.

One of the prime arguments is that SARS is about companies making money. Why then, since influenza kills thousands a year are these same monied companies that are supposedly in charge of all this not "making" the media report about their influenza related products?

The week ahead

April 27, 2003

The week ahead promises to be quieter than that just passed. Friday brought a trip to Wichita, Kansas. I didn't see enough of the town to comment much on it. We had very productive meetings on Friday. Now for the follow up. It will come and things will be even better moving forward. We got back just in time for a quick nap and setting up for the LCSAR practice search. All went well and today was a day of recouping and catching up on e-mail.

Coming this week will be a redesign of the template and a clean up of the site. Monday or Tuesday I hope to wirte about the Tidbits CMS question and get some pictures posted.

I had the first trouble ever with the Cannon Sure Shot this weekend. All and all I lost about 30 pictures that I know were on the card when it downloaded but were not downloaded. Bob will be happy.

Monster's Monsterous Cop-Out

April 24, 2003

According to reports on the web Monster will modify several resumes and remove job postings today. Citing Federal laws the company says it must remove references to certain countries. So if your resume says you travelled in, worked in or studied in some countries Monster will be deleting portions of your resume. Time for a new, and open, resume and job base.

StorageTek and Quantum exchange lawsuits

April 22, 2003

In an article last week the Denver Business Journal explains that StorageTek is suing the California based Quantum company for patent infringement in the manufacture of tape drives.

Looking for tools

April 22, 2003

What are the best reporting tools out there? What about analysis tools? Why don't there seem to be affordable combinations of the two. Crystal Reports does a decent job of reporting but is lacking in many scheduling and analysis items in my book. Like good histograms -- so is Excel for that matter -- one must first crunch the numbers to put them into a graph. I want something that does nice graphs in a few easy steps. What PHP tools are out there for this?

Searching for Columbia - Day 4

April 21, 2003

We arrived at the new ICP still without and idea of where or when we will be doing the training of the crews. We were told that we were going to move permanently to a new ICP. It is in town in a huge warehouse. Everything will be inside out of the rain and elements. There was not much for us to do except train the crew bosses about grid searching in theoretical terms. They were pretty receptive. It is hard to grasp the concept without a visual so wanted them to take back the information to their crews and be ready to try it tomorrow. We got to eat at the new facility and talked about how we wanted to tackle the training tomorrow. It would be bigger than any group any of us had ever trained so we would need to coordinate well. We headed off to bed with a lot of thoughts.

Unwanted Guests

April 21, 2003

Upon Sarah's return from Texas this second time around we discovered that some unwelcome travelers have made the trip along with her. The one attached to her side was less painful than the critter feasting in her ear.

A trip to the doctor and then ENT specialist later and the critter is gone - not without a significant amount of discomfort.

Darryl Worley - Have You Forgotten?

April 21, 2003

The Darryl Worley song Have You Forgotten? should be renamed. I'd go for "I wish I could forget," not about the tragic events of September 11, 2001. To equate those tragic events to a war on a country whose wrongs have not yet been proven and the further killing of innocent civilians is disgraceful. Mr. Worley makes a common mistake in believing that people who are against our current war don't want to take action. It is not so. It would not be so bad if one could get into the car and take a short trip without hearing this ill-guided political statement passing for a song.

Pages