Microsoft is focusing a lot of effort on web and cloud based technologies, trying to diverge from their existing model of software installed on local PC's. This is a laudable goal, and is probably imperative given the way things are going. I'm actually a big fan of Microsoft's product, much to the affront of Open Source fanboys around the world, but that's just the way it is. I write in TSQL (SQL Server's dialect of SQL), I dabble in C#, I run Windows, and more.
Now unless you've been living under a rock or the oppressive heel of a World of Warcraft subscription, you've probably seen Microsoft's ads for IE9, Windows 8, and of course Bing.
Bing.
If you haven't yet, I'd go take the "bing it on challenge" to get more of an idea of what I'm talking about. Plus then I don't have to explain how it works. I'd also recommend reading Microsoft's explanation of the study.
The key findings of the study were the following:
"When the results were tallied, the outcome was clear – people chose Bing web search results over Google nearly 2:1 in the blind comparison tests. Specifically, of the nearly 1000 participants: 57.4% chose Bing more often, 30.2% chose Google more often; 12.4 % resulted in a draw.*
*The overall sampling error rate for the study is +/- 3 percent at the 95 percent confidence level."
As they say, the outcome is clear... ish. Ignoring the "draw" votes Bing won. There are certainly flaws in the study, but given that everyone on earth knows what google looks like, there are limitations to how the studies can be performed.
select 57.4 / 30.2 --1.9:1
select 54.4 / 33.2 --1.6:1
select 60.4 / 27.2 --2.2:1
But not to sound cynical, but who cares? There are more reasons people use Google than the sorting algorithm. Sure, if Google's algorithms were garbage, it might matter to the end user, but they're not. If we were to base our decision on which search engine was better based solely on this study, then Bing would be superior. But by how much? Google is great, Bing is greater. I also have a Gmail account. and a blogspot blog (a google product). I use youtube. I use google docs. I say "google it". I don't have nearly that much invested in Microsoft technologies when it comes to my web based suite of products. there's just not enough motivation to me to change from Google to Bing.
I think the main goal of this campaign by Microsoft was to try to remind people that Bing was there, and hope they can convert or incept enough users to make it a contender with Google. Will it work? In my opinion, no.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Relational Databases (or, How I'm Trying to Save Face)
Several months ago, I started getting active on SQLServerCentral and answered a post to a newbie about how to understand some common terminology about SQL; Rows, Columns, Fields, etc. Well, it turns out I didn't have a very good grasp on it, and the Godfather of SQL himself posted a thesis in response basically tearing me apart for not understanding the relational model correctly. (I wish I could find the article but I think at the time I was so mortified that I removed any trace of it from both my SQLServerCentral account and my email... shame on me).
That said, I think I've come up with a better way to describe a table in a relational database then analogizing it to an excel document - in laymens terms.. (Joe, if you're reading, please let me know!)
Think of a Table as an empty bank vault. At the entrance to the vault is a Guard wearing a shirt that says "Database Engine". Throughout the day, people come by to put things in the vault, remove things from the vault and change things in the vault. To do so, they have to bring in a box with a bunch of paper slips with things written on them; Words, numbers, hexadecimal expressions... and so on.
Now, when the vault was set up, the guard was given very specific instructions on what could be placed in the vault. Any box someone brought in may contain no more than some number of slips of paper. Each slip of paper must have a header on it saying what it represent (email address, phone number, etc). The guard is also responsible for making sure that certain slips of paper only have numbers of a certain length, or do not contain certain characters, and so forth. Each and every box MUST have a slip of paper with an email address. Then end result is, after the guard checks each new box, or instructions to change a box already in the vault, he gives it the OK, that it meets all the requirements set forth by the vaults creators. Over the course of the day, thousands, millions of boxes may come in and go out, but they all match the vaults requirements.
So what do you have? You have a room, with a bunch of containers with pieces of information that meet certain criteria. That's basically what a table is. The database engine constrains the types of data that enter a table so that at any time when you look in a box, you know certain pieces of information about that box. Note, this is a BIG departure from the way you would instinctively think about an Excel table, where it's basically a big (x,y) grid. Although there are parallels in how the data can be retrieve and thought about, the way the system stores the data and to understand how more complex queries work, it's critical to understand the difference.
I won't get into too much more, but you can start to see how things like joins, sorting, indexing and referential integrity flow from this. Along the indexing vein, say you want to know every box in a vault that has an email address that starts with the letter "T". Well, if all the boxes are just in a Heap on the floor (by the way, Heap is a SQL term for a table which has no "Clustered Index", or basically any logical physical ordering on the disk), you get to open each box, look at it's email slip, and then if its email starts with "T", add it to the list. How might one make this easier? Well if you physically structured the vault so that each box was placed adjacent to another box in alphabetical order, you could skim through the boxes till you found the section starting with "T", then see where the section starting with "U" started, and then just say "ok, everything between where "T" started and "U" started, has an email that starts with the letter 'T'". (again, the highly paid security guard is responsible for keeping them in order at all times.) Ok, so there's a bit more involved with indexing than just that, but when you think about a relational table like this, the operations you perform against them start to make a lot more sense.
That said, I think I've come up with a better way to describe a table in a relational database then analogizing it to an excel document - in laymens terms.. (Joe, if you're reading, please let me know!)
Think of a Table as an empty bank vault. At the entrance to the vault is a Guard wearing a shirt that says "Database Engine". Throughout the day, people come by to put things in the vault, remove things from the vault and change things in the vault. To do so, they have to bring in a box with a bunch of paper slips with things written on them; Words, numbers, hexadecimal expressions... and so on.
Now, when the vault was set up, the guard was given very specific instructions on what could be placed in the vault. Any box someone brought in may contain no more than some number of slips of paper. Each slip of paper must have a header on it saying what it represent (email address, phone number, etc). The guard is also responsible for making sure that certain slips of paper only have numbers of a certain length, or do not contain certain characters, and so forth. Each and every box MUST have a slip of paper with an email address. Then end result is, after the guard checks each new box, or instructions to change a box already in the vault, he gives it the OK, that it meets all the requirements set forth by the vaults creators. Over the course of the day, thousands, millions of boxes may come in and go out, but they all match the vaults requirements.
So what do you have? You have a room, with a bunch of containers with pieces of information that meet certain criteria. That's basically what a table is. The database engine constrains the types of data that enter a table so that at any time when you look in a box, you know certain pieces of information about that box. Note, this is a BIG departure from the way you would instinctively think about an Excel table, where it's basically a big (x,y) grid. Although there are parallels in how the data can be retrieve and thought about, the way the system stores the data and to understand how more complex queries work, it's critical to understand the difference.
I won't get into too much more, but you can start to see how things like joins, sorting, indexing and referential integrity flow from this. Along the indexing vein, say you want to know every box in a vault that has an email address that starts with the letter "T". Well, if all the boxes are just in a Heap on the floor (by the way, Heap is a SQL term for a table which has no "Clustered Index", or basically any logical physical ordering on the disk), you get to open each box, look at it's email slip, and then if its email starts with "T", add it to the list. How might one make this easier? Well if you physically structured the vault so that each box was placed adjacent to another box in alphabetical order, you could skim through the boxes till you found the section starting with "T", then see where the section starting with "U" started, and then just say "ok, everything between where "T" started and "U" started, has an email that starts with the letter 'T'". (again, the highly paid security guard is responsible for keeping them in order at all times.) Ok, so there's a bit more involved with indexing than just that, but when you think about a relational table like this, the operations you perform against them start to make a lot more sense.
Friday, September 14, 2012
(preface: drunk)
Pretty sure life was made for dying. Thats kinda sad I guess, but we're all going there. When you leave this world, whether you're good or evil, the one thing you can count on is death. And taxes, but lets face it, we dont all pay those so even that's out. So lets talk about this thing. The big elephant in the room, the Grim Reaper, and the thing you're invetiably going to come face to face with in battle, and lose to. Whether you're a good person, a catholic, a christian, a jew or an atheist, you're going to die and I can almost guarantee you whatever you think happens when you die, is wrong. I mean the spiritually or scientifically.Personally I ascribe to the belief when you die, you just... stop.The program ends. The colorful catastrophe that is life just ceases. I've done drugs, I know how troubling an idea this is. Consciousness is a beautfil thing, and in the cosmic scheme of things, not to be overlooked, but it's just the program we live. It is spectacular because our survival is predicated on the belief that experiences should be spectcular. Milleneae of evolution has taught us to seek and enjoy the things which contribute to our own survival and more so, the propagation of our own species.The fact that we've invented the word "divine" doesn't make it any less of a mechanical process. So what's my point? Like any drug experience... supernatural and evanescent, it comes to an end. COming to terms with that is never easy, but once you accept it, there is a forced reassessment of reality. You end with a sour taste in your mouth or you grin and go to sleep. So why are we so opposed to the the ending of life any more than we would be a good night out, a movie, sex, or a few hits of ecstasy? Because we're irrational. Which, when you think about it, is a pretty absurd notion. We, being mechanical beings, programmed to perceive the world around us, yet evolutionarily built with blatent flaws. We strive for perfection. We may not realize it on the subatomic level upon which we operate, or understand it in the grand scheme of things, but we do. On average, the choices and decisions of any given person are a predictable occurance, and the death of one person is accounted for when things fall into place.This is not the same as fate or destiny, it's just that like any system, there is a middle of the bell curve which occurs despite the desires and actions of any one individual. Where am I going with this? Who knows. But however you die, it's probably not going to be remembered by most of humanity now, or ever to live from this day out. So live for yourself. or devote yourself to others. or waste away in a heroin induced fog. The universe will hardly blink at your passing. Do something that makes you feel good. If that's curing cancer, f yeah dude. if that's killing yourself, sorry things didnt work out your way. If that's murdering people... well we might hate you but whatever I get you. As un-illuminating as this may be when you think about it, please, just do what you want. As a great professor once told me, "life's too short to work for assholes". Do what you want. at all times. To all people. And once you start, don't give up, or people may get pissed.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Oatmeal of the Gods
This stuff is so amazing I want to eat it all the time.
.5 Cup dried oats
1 Cup water
cubed pinapple
cinnamon
2 packets splenda
crushed walnuts
3 egg whites
1 egg
1) Make oatmeal according to recipe
2) Once it's done, put the egg whites and egg into a heated pan
3) Add oatmeal to the eggs and stir till the egg is cooked.
4) Remove egg and oatmeal mixture from pan and put it into a bowl. Add cinnamon, splenda, pinapple and walnuts (pretty much to taste).
5) ENJOY!
Monday, August 20, 2012
WARRIOR DASH 2012!
This morning I pushed through double quadricep strains and went up to the high country to compete in Warrior Dash. Got up there, and began pounding energy drinks. Finally after two bouts of pee breaks, we made our way to the starting line. A few switch backs and then about a quarter mile uphill and we got to the first obstacle.
1) Climb over 3 ft walls, under 2ft barbed wire, repeat x4
Whoo! The running is starting to catch up to me, but i push on through to obstacle... 2) balanced walk over a series of up down up down planks about 10 feet off the ground.
Crushed it, and look! I can see the next obstacle... wait, whats this quarter mile switchback I have to do? and why are my aforementioned quads stinging with every step? No time to bitch. Around the curve and up the next obstacle:
3) Climb up wooden rafters, then over the top, one rung down, you drop to the bottom.
more running.... 4) Run through tires
MORE RUNNING!
5) Jump over some fire.
Now comes the hellish ascent to the courses highest point. The grade gets gradually steeper and steeper and longer and longer, and to add insult to injury, there is another 6) up and over wooden steeple and 7) low pipes to crawl through. Made it to the top huffing and puffing, descend down a steep slope with ropes, and then get to obstacle...
9) Climb a rope over a wall, then drop down from the top of the other side to the ground.
Run some more (FINALLY DOWNHILL)
10) Cargo nets
run
11) swim through mud under barbed wire
Finish. Drink Beer. Wash. Rawr.
1) Climb over 3 ft walls, under 2ft barbed wire, repeat x4
Whoo! The running is starting to catch up to me, but i push on through to obstacle... 2) balanced walk over a series of up down up down planks about 10 feet off the ground.
Crushed it, and look! I can see the next obstacle... wait, whats this quarter mile switchback I have to do? and why are my aforementioned quads stinging with every step? No time to bitch. Around the curve and up the next obstacle:
3) Climb up wooden rafters, then over the top, one rung down, you drop to the bottom.
more running.... 4) Run through tires
MORE RUNNING!
5) Jump over some fire.
Now comes the hellish ascent to the courses highest point. The grade gets gradually steeper and steeper and longer and longer, and to add insult to injury, there is another 6) up and over wooden steeple and 7) low pipes to crawl through. Made it to the top huffing and puffing, descend down a steep slope with ropes, and then get to obstacle...
9) Climb a rope over a wall, then drop down from the top of the other side to the ground.
Run some more (FINALLY DOWNHILL)
10) Cargo nets
run
11) swim through mud under barbed wire
Finish. Drink Beer. Wash. Rawr.
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