Digital Nocturne

Lately I have been concentrating on programming and writing thesis documentation so I missed blogging for several days (or is it a week??) I had been restless specially in completing our thesis documentation because it seems to be going nowhere this week. Searching for related literature isn’t easy you know.

So rumors were true after all. Google just acquired MeasureMap which I have blogged about several times. I was surprised when I read the news. It’s still in private beta and yet Google bought it. For several weeks MeasureMap had several glitches and bugs. I had experienced a fair share of trouble with it lately. It’s in alpha stage anyway. Regardless, it’s an interesting acquisition because Google had previously acquired Urchin, which track website statatics as well. Later on it was called Google Analytics. Having MeasureMap and Analytics, Google have a complete arsenal to gather lots of data on blog traffic.

Now that MeasureMap joined forces with Google I hope that the web app will improve in performance and speed. I’m also excited about the new features that might come out soon. I’m sure that most beta testers are eagerly anticipating the effects of this acquisition. Congratulations to MeasureMap team!

Links:
MeasureMap
Google Blog: Here comes Measure Map
TechCrunch: Google Buys MeasureMap
Measure+map, Measuremap, Google, analytics, blog+traffic

It’s amazing how iTunes became so popular in 21 different countries that it had reached close to one billion downloads already. As Apple approach their one billionth purchased download, they have launched a countdown webpage to celebrate the event. Apple had also opened a contest starting from the 950,100,000th download. An iPod nano and iTunes Music Card will be awarded to user for the 100,000th song downloaded. The grand prize includes 20-inch iMac, 10 60GB Video iPods (5 white, 5 black) and $10,000 worth of iTunes downloads. In order to grab the grand prize the user must be able to purchase the one billionth song. In addition, Apple will create a scholarship in the name of the Grand Prize winner to a world renowned music institution.

Unfortunately the contest is only open to iTunes music store enabled countries.

Links:
iTunes
iTunes Music Store One Billion Songs Countdown
iTunes, countdown

I attended the launch of Windows Server 2003 R2 yesterday at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. I was able to arrive at the venue just on time. I thought I was late already because it was 8:40 AM when I arrived. Microsoft Philippines had given away portfolio bag, ballpen, quick notes and magazines for every attendees. When the event started, I was surprised that there is a special number by the Philippine Wushu Team. I was surprised that they had given this even so much preparation even if R2 is just a minor release of Windows Server. Actually even though it’s just a minor release R2 has some interesting new features that made it more than just a service pack. So it’s not a service pack but it’s not a major release hence it was called release 2 because it is a release update. That’s what I understand from what I saw in the presentation.

Before Windows Server 2003, it’s hard to predict when will Microsoft release its server OS. However starting in Windows Server 2003 Microsoft reorganized the server product line so that every four years Microsoft will ship a major Windows Server release. Two years after each major release, an R2 (release 2) version will be released. Windows Server 2003 R2 is the first R2 release.

In R2, there are 5 main improvements: Simplified Branch Server Management, Improved Identity and Access Management, Reduced Storage Management Costs, Rich Web Platform, Cost Effective Server Virtualization, and Seamless UNIX/Windows Integration.

What caught my attention is the virtualization feature in Windows Server 2003 R2. You can run 4 instances of Windows Server 2003 on top of your installation of Windows Server 2003. You also get 4 additional licenses to run virtual copies of Windows Server 2003 so you get 5 license in total. This is great way to maximize your resources. And you can also virtualize Linux in Windows Server 2003. No matter what flavor of Linux, the speaker said that Microsoft would support them in case you encounter problems to get them running.

To find out more information about Windows Server 2003 R2, visit the links below.

Links:
Microsoft Philippines: Windows Servers
What’s New in Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows+Server+2003, Philippines

I’m stuck with the database design I’m working on. It has been dragging for several days already… and I don’t know whether I should consult more pre-existing database or should I just ignore the design patterns and do it my own style.

I’m not a database designer to begin with. I’m a programmer. More appropriately a developer (web developer or software developer) so I shouldn’t be designing our database model. However, we only have one “database person” in our team so I’m also manipulating the model so that we can start with a good database design. Fortunately dealing with database is not new to me. I had several projects dealing with database design but I had never designed a database this big. How will I know if this will scale well with our application? Fine tuning and stress testing is just troublesome.

Everything is troublesome. Argh! Let me vent for a while….

After 10 months, I finally received my certificate from Dale Carnegie Training. Actually I should have picked this up at P&G office in Ayala as early as September 2005 but I was so busy for the last 2 school terms, I missed every chance to fetch it last year.

Anyway this is a certificate of achievement for “The Leadership Advantage” as set forth by Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. I’m proud to be one of the P&G scholar who participated in this training. It’s one of the best training I had. First of all it’s paid by P&G. Second, it was held in Manila Peninsula Hotel and lastly, we’re all pampered by our scholarship officer. I’m looking forward to our upcoming training this summer. I also want to apply what I have learned from this training in the near future. So far I have applied key concepts of leadership in my personal life… and I know I still have to pursue more.

While most Windows fanboys are anticipating Windows Vista, the Linux camp had been doing some great innovation in Linux desktop environment.

Novell has demonstrated XGL and Compiz, the new window manager/composition manager for Linux. It can do variety of effects including true transparent, wobbling windows, 3D cube desktop switching and other cool effects that is first seen in Linux. I was impressed when I saw the video. It’s like an imitation of Vista and OS X’s graphical effects combined with a twist. The wobbling window effect is quite original but I don’t see any advantage using it. Even the 3D cube desktop switching is fabulous but not really needed in your day to day computing. I would normally turn off these features even though they are eye candies.

Novell Linux Desktop (NLD) 10 will be able to play videos and MP3 music files, exchange music and photos with iPod and digital cameras right out of the box. It will use Gnome (view the recent mock ups here).

Most hardcore Linux users won’t be delighted by these cool graphical enhancements in Linux; however, it’s a step forward to make use of hardware acceleration to make Linux desktops more usable for beginners.

Links:
Novell Linux Desktop 10 videos
Novell.com: Novell Raises the Bar for the Linux Desktop
PCWorld.com: Novell Shows Off Linux Desktop 10
Linuxedge.com: Novell Linux Desktop Demonstration Videos
Novell, Linux, XGL, Compiz, Gnome