Scraperwiki

"A community of programmers sifting information to give you the edge."


http://scraperwiki.com/

"To get at data, programmers write bits of code called ‘screen scrapers’, which extract the useful bits so they can be reused in other apps, or rummaged through by journalists and researchers. But these bits of code tend to break, get thrown away or forgotten once they have been used, and so the data is lost again. Which is bad.

ScraperWiki is an online tool to make that process simpler and more collaborative. Anyone can write a screen scraper using the online editor. In the free version, the code and data are shared with the world. Because it's a wiki, other programmers can contribute to and improve the code."

Using Google Spreadsheets Like a Database

"Create a new sheet, call it “My Queries” or something similar and in cell A1 enter the formula:

=QUERY(‘Institutional Table 2010-2011′!A1:K118,”Select A”)

What happens? Column A is pulled into the spreadsheet is what. So how does that work?

The =QUERY() formula, which has the basic form =QUERY(RANGE,DATAQUERY), allows us to run a special sort of query against the data specified in the RANGE. That is, you can think of =QUERY(RANGE,) as specifying a database; and DATAQUERY as a database query language query (sic) over that database."

http://blog.ouseful.info/2010/01/19/using-google-spreadsheets-like-a-database-the-query-formula

Topicmarks Summary of The Art of thangka midwifery

"A thangka painter however, is a facilitator or a midwife rather than an artist in the usual sense of the word. The child delivered by a midwife is not the midwife's own child. So the thangka painter is a visionary midwife. The mother of vision is creative space, so the thangka painter must be aligned with space and the thangka painted from the perspective of space rather than according to limited personal ideas. My motivation in wanting to paint thangkas was founded on the fact that the lineage of which Ngak'chang Rinpoche and I are the current Mind Lineage Holders desperately needed a thangka painter - and one who could train other painters. "

Original article: http://www.aroencyclopaedia.org/shared/text/t/thangka_midwifery_ar_eng.php

Summary: http://topicmarks.com/text/doc/93899b526fa19d9685411060d26c112d74

Get the data

GetTheData is a Q&A site where you can ask your data related questions, including, but not limited to, the following:

* where to find data relating to a particular issue;
* how to query Linked Data sources to get just the data set you require;
* what tools to use to explore a data set in a visual way;
* how to cleanse data or get it into a format you can work with using third party visualisation or analysis tools.

http://getthedata.org/


http://getthedata.org/

Database.com

http://www.database.com/

* Cloud: auto elasticity, auto security & auto backups
* Open APIs & Authentication: REST, SOAP & OAuth
* Social Data Model: profiles, feeds &status updates
* Secure: Trusted by 87,000+ businesses & governments

Microsoft admits Patriot Act can access EU-based cloud data

“Can Microsoft guarantee that EU-stored data, held in EU based datacenters, will not leave the European Economic Area under any circumstances — even under a request by the Patriot Act?”

Frazer explained that, as Microsoft is a U.S.-headquartered company, it has to comply with local laws (the United States, as well as any other location where one of its subsidiary companies is based).

Though he said that “customers would be informed wherever possible”, he could not provide a guarantee that they would be informed — if a gagging order, injunction or U.S. National Security Letter permits it.

He said: “Microsoft cannot provide those guarantees. Neither can any other company“.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/microsoft-admits-patriot-act-can-access-eu-based-cloud-data/11225

Magic/Replace - clean up data - no magic wand required

"Magic/Replace is a tool to make changes to all of the rows of a data table at once."

http://cleanupdata.com/

The Argument For Normalization

"The goal of normalization in simple terms is just this: to store each fact in exactly one place. When you put each fact in only one place, you always know where to go to read it or write it. When facts are repeated in the database, the application programmer has an increased burden to make sure they are all consistent."

http://database-programmer.blogspot.com/2008/10/argument-for-normalization.html

Very Long-Term Backup

"One side of the disk contains a graphic teaser. The design shows headlines in the eight major languages of the world today spiraling inward in ever-decreasing size till it becomes so small you have trouble reading it, yet the text goes on getting smaller. The sentences announce: “Languages of the World: This is an archive of over 1,500 human languages assembled in the year 02008 C.E. Magnify 1,000 times to find over 13,000 pages of language documentation.” "

http://kk.org/kk/2008/08/very-longterm-backup.php

The Database Programmer - table of contents

"The list below explains all topics past and future, including slots for essays I plan to revise or add to. This posting replaces our Original Table of Contents, as well as our Master Table Design Patterns List and the List of Future Topics.
As of this writing, September 2008, this blog is now about 10 months old. I have been able to produce at least one entry on most of the major topics that I hoped to cover, and can now see opportunities to flesh out and expand many topics. On top of that, I have been receiving requests for topics both via email and comments. The table below is a guide to what topics are forthcoming, which have been treated in the past, and which you will likely see in the future."


http://database-programmer.blogspot.com/2008/09/comprehensive-table-of-contents.html

revj - Diagram SQL statements

"A tool that parses SQL Select statements and generates a diagram. The diagram shows parts of the underlying SQL directly in the diagram. For example x=30 , GROUP BY (year), HAVING MIN(age) > 18. It is easy to see cartesian joins and/or loops."

http://sourceforge.net/projects/revj/

10 Useful articles about Database design

"This is a list of ten useful articles about database design which includes some tips and practical suggests to help you to design quickly databases for your web projects."

http://woork.blogspot.com/2008/09/10-useful-articles-about-database.html

Database Performance: The Web Layer

"A database application is a like a convoy of ships, it is only as fast as the the slowest ship. The three "ships" in a web-based database application are the database itself, the web layer, and the browser. Today we will continue our series on performance by examining how the web layer can efficiently retrieve data from the database."

http://database-programmer.blogspot.com/2008/06/database-performance-web-layer.html

Explore your database with Talend Open Profiler

"Open Profiler offers functions for both technical and business users. It can quickly build statistics that reflects the usability of the information within a database table. As it finds corrupt or inconsistent data, it can scrub bad information from database structures. Additionally, Open Profiler simplifies the repetitive nature of statistical analysis while reducing labor costs and errors."



http://www.linux.com/feature/140928

Database Performance: Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

"Many database performance decisions come down to "pay me now or pay me later." Some decisions will produce faster inserts and updates at the cost of slower and more complex reads, while other decisions will slow down inserts and updates but provide faster and easier reads. "

http://database-programmer.blogspot.com/2008/07/database-performance-pay-me-now-or-pay.html

How would you compress your MySQL Backup

Backing up MySQL Database most people compress them - which can make a good sense in terms of backup and recovery speed as well as space needed or be a serious bottleneck depending on circumstances and approach used."

http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com/2008/06/05/how-would-you-compress-your-mysql-backup/

How would you compress your MySQL Backup

Backing up MySQL Database most people compress them - which can make a good sense in terms of backup and recovery speed as well as space needed or be a serious bottleneck depending on circumstances and approach used."

http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com/2008/06/05/how-would-you-compress-your-mysql-backup/

Building a Database-Driven Web Site Using PHP and MySQL

"In this 10-part weekly series of articles, I'll provide a hands-on look at what's involved in building a database-driven Web site. We'll be using two new tools for this: the PHP scripting language and the MySQL relational database. If your Web host provides PHP/MySQL support, you're in great shape. If not, we'll be looking at the set-up procedures under Unix and Windows, so don't sweat it."

http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/articles/ddws/

Use command-line MySQL for additional flexibility

"The more popular ways of using MySQL are to use GUI front ends, such as phpMyAdmin or the MySQL GUI administration tools. While these tools are fantastic and make managing a MySQL database easier, the mysql command-line program works quite well also, and is more flexible."

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/opensource/?p=192&tag=nl.e011

PortaBase 1.9

"PortaBase is a small database program for creating, browsing, and editing custom tables of data. Typical uses are media inventories, reference charts, TODO lists, shopping lists, etc"

http://portabase.sourceforge.net/portabase.html