database

NoSQL in the real world

A few weeks back I wrote about the cloud-related trend of "NoSQL," a set of operational-data technologies based on non-relational database principles. But beyond the developer crowd and smaller Web-based businesses, how much has this trend taken root in "real world" production environments?

I recently spoke with Durran Jordan and Les Hill of Hashrocket, a Florida-based Web design and development group, about their use of MongoDB (which is billed as a scalable, high-performance, open source, schema-free, document-oriented database) in an application for one of their pharma customers.

Hashrocket's customer had an existing SQL-based application that … Read more

Database genie

Database management applications have come a long way since Symantec introduced Q&A. Lantica's Sesame Database Manager is perhaps the best-known Q&A follow-on, and latest versions still provide an exclusive Q&A translator. Sesame is a cross-platform-capable, client-server database application development and management suite with built-in word processing and publishing capabilities that businesses, organizations, and even individuals can use to manage large amounts of data and create useful applications. These applications include invoices and receipts, reports, e-commerce, inventories, and virtually any kind of form or record.

Sesame's latest versions boast an upgraded form-based interface … Read more

Oracle loses some MySQL mojo

Ever since Oracle closed on its acquisition of MySQL, the open-source world has been wondering where the code has gone. Many people searched, fruitlessly, for the formerly available MySQL source code.

They might have done better to search for Oracle's point person on MySQL, Ken Jacobs.

On Friday, Jacobs announced his resignation from Oracle to key members of the MySQL team via e-mail. Jacobs, a 28-year Oracle veteran and one of its first 20 hires, has been Oracle's liaison with the MySQL community for the past several years, ever since Oracle acquired the popular MySQL storage engine, InnoDB. … Read more

Microsoft, Citigroup back finance app Bundle

This is interesting: Bundle.com is a new start-up centered on a database of personal finance and spending data so that you can punch in a couple of criteria, find out how much people like you who live in your area are likely to be spending and then share your discoveries in pretty Flash graphics through your contacts on Facebook and Twitter. It's backed by investment money from Microsoft, Citigroup, and Morningstar.

All the data on Bundle currently comes from Citigroup--the former employer of founder and CEO Jaidev Shergill--but the Bundle team tells me that data from other banks … Read more

Browse and download from Flickr quickly

Viewfinder is a desktop app that makes finding and downloading photos from Flickr much faster and easier. The app's well-designed, streamlined interface is centered, fittingly, around Flickr search results: you just type your terms into a search bar (specify text or tags in a drop-down menu), and the main window is quickly populated by results that you can preview, download, or open in Flickr using your browser. What makes this app so helpful is its ability to apply filters to your results; so, for example, you can look only at photos licensed under Creative Commons (more likely to be … Read more

Telco tool

Managing telecommunications and data services to reduce costs is critical to any business, but small- and medium-size businesses frequently find themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to tracking and analyzing telco expenses. Access Business Communications' Telco Manager, or TelcoMgr, can cut business costs by monitoring and recording telecommunications and data services for reporting and analysis. It includes extensive and powerful database and reporting features that not only help a company track telco expenses but also use the data to maximize returns on services.

TelcoMgr's main interface and other windows are a bit busy in appearance, thanks to copious … Read more

Movie database and an updated classic game: iPhone apps of the week

Looking at my iPhone yesterday, I noticed that there was a crack about a centimeter long right up the middle of the back of the handset coming straight from the charging area. It's hardly noticeable and I'm sure my iPhone will continue to work, but it definitely serves as a reminder that when my two-year contract is up in June, I'm going to be ready for a new iPhone.

Fortunately, a story over at AppleInsider points to a rumor that the next generation of iPhones are set to come out right about that time. Eldar Murtazin, an … Read more

Migratory data

Years spent in the database industry tend to impart a keen sense of the difficulties involved in the common yet Herculean task of migrating large amounts of data between different databases using completely different file formats and structures, and a keen sense of sympathy for the database administrators who often work all night to make it happen. Help is available in the form of an affordable enterprise-level database migration tool, DTM Migration Kit from DTM Soft. It's a powerful, flexible and, at only 1.26MB, compact utility that can automatically import, export, and migrate data from ODBC, IDAPI, and … Read more

Five free tech PR tools you need to know about

Getting great publicity in the tech industry isn't as simple as following the right breadcrumbs. Based on feedback from some tech PR folks who I deal with at companies of varying sizes--publicly traded, VC-funded start-ups, and bootstrapped DIYers--here are five free tech industry PR resources that I would recommend. (If any tech PR folks out there have additional free resources they'd recommend, please comment.)

IT Memos It can be incredibly painful to keep track of the thousands of tech events and speaking submission due dates each year. (Some--like RSA, Interop, CES, etc.--have lead times up to seven months in advance).

Keeping tabs on all the tech awards (like Webware 100, the Webbies, the Crunchies, etc.) and submission deadlines is no picnic either. And it's also dreadful to manually track "editorial calendars" (where tech publications often tip their hands on upcoming stories they are writing).

ITMemos is a free new e-mail alert from the team at IT Database that simply nudges subscribers about important upcoming opportunities in these areas. If you're not subscribed to this free alert, hundreds of tech PR people are finding out about/acting on these opportunities before you are, so GL.

(Disclosure: I am an advisor to IT Database.)

Help a Reporter Out Many tech PR folks are familiar with the journalist/source-matching service called Profnet that used to charge an annual subscription fee leading a guy named Peter Shankman to do the end-around and start giving away the same service for free, while increasing the number of opportunities.

Sign up for the HARO newsletter and receive three daily digest e-mails that list out opportunities where reporters are searching for sources/comments for stories they are writing.

While "Tech" is just one section in the e-mail, and often you will open it without finding a relevant opportunity--it's totally worth it to subscribe for the times where you do come across a journalists' story that matches your company's tech category. … Read more