As well all know Relational databases are a pain (you know where)… They force us to twist are object data to fit a particular RDMS (Relational Database Management System)…

Well then why use it??? Why not shift over to a loosely defined class of non-relational data stores that break with a long history of relational databases… These data stores may not require fixed table schemas, usually avoid join operations and typically scale horizontally… Academics and papers typically refer to these databases as structured storage…

Get used to names like Dynomite, CassandraDB, CouchDB, BigTable, MongoDB, Hypertable, SimpleDB, etc… These are all members of NoSQL movement… The movement was started by Google’s BigTable and its clones such as Hypertable (ZVent)… Amazon is doing SimpleDB on Dynamo (not called a database, but a highly available key-value data store)… Facebook is doing CassandraDB… Apache CouchDB is a free, open source, document-oriented database written in Erlang programming language… MongoDB is a collection of JSON documents ( no rows or columns), an open source document-oriented DB written in C++ programming language…

So what is common between all these Databases :

• They can blow through enormous volumes of data. For example, Google’s BigTable with its sister technology MapReduce processes as much as 20 petabytes of data per day… We have not seen this volume in RDBMSs…
• They run on clusters of cheap PC Servers… Google has said that one of BigTable’s bigger clusters manages as much as 6 petabytes of data across thousands of servers… Oracle’s RAC (Rapid Application Cluster) can get there but at a much higher cost.
• They beat performance bottlenecks…  The phrase used here is “eventually consistent”, trading off consistency to maximize availability and scalability…
• While conceding that relational databases offer an unparalleled feature set and a rock-solid reputation for data integrity, NoSQL proponents say this can be too much for their needs… Hence the mantra is “no overkill”…

I think this is exciting development… When people started working on RDBMS, they could not imagine the kind of scalability and data volumes being talked about now… It’s only natural that new approaches must be innovated to handle the demands of the Internet era… Eric Brewer of UC Berkeley floated the idea of this in his research work at least 6-7 years ago…

Although NoSQL movement is not a threat to mainstream database community yet, this may change in next 3-4 years time…

Cheers…

I am NEVER a fan of Farmville… In fact, based on what I’ve learned, I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid playing it… I know it would eat a lot of my limited time if I get hooked to it, just how Twitter made me an addict these days… My Facebook life is limited only to posting my thoughts, commenting on my friend’s posts and chatting…

I find that FarmVille could have been just another stupid Facebook fad… It would have gone away… Just like when everyone used to pick their favorite five something or other… By far FarmVille is the most pointless of all the pointless Facebook applications AND the most visible thing on my home page…

Its like whenever i log into facebook i recieve a nice message…. “OH NO! MY FRIEND WHO I HAVEN’T SPOKEN TO IN YEARS JUST FOUND A LOST BLACK SHEEP ON THEIR FARM!!!” Now I remember why I haven’t spoken to you in years. OR “”YOUR FRIEND HAS BEEN PROMOTED TO PROFESSIONAL PLOWER STATUS!!!” (um, congratulations???

I never realized that farming is so attractive to people… If they can only channel their Farmville addiction to actually working in the farms to produce agricultural products, then we would be assured of food sufficiency… Our country is facing a food crisis and Agriculture sector is now on a decline… So guys grow up instead of becoming virtual agriculturists…

BTW guys got a great business idea…… Lets open a Rehab Centre for those addicted to Farmville…

Google co-founder Sergey Brin on hand for the launch of Google Buzz Photo: REUTERS

Google has announced a new social networking service called “Buzz” that looks like Facebook but feels like Twitter… Buzz basically integrates your Gmail account and based on your location lets you share links, photos and videos, status updates with your contacts from your mobile device (supports iPhone, Android and Google has released a new version of Google Maps for Mobile for Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 devices)…

Apart from working directly inside Gmail, it can pull content from Twitter, from Flickr, and from various other popular social sites from across the web. Currently social services supported include:

• Flickr
• Twitter
• Picasa Web
• YouTube
• Blogger
• Any feed connected to your Google profile (like your blog)

Binged.it is not yet public and is currently available only for internal use… Bing’s employee @fareologist has been using binged.it to shorten URLs when tweeting…

I don’t see Binged.it gaining much traction… As compared to other URL Shortener its basically too long… Google’s shortener, goo.gl, is 5 characters. Facebook’s is 4 characters. Bing’s is 8 characters… Dunno why Microsoft decided to use a name which is longer than its original domain name (Bing.com)…

Now i feel its rightly said that sometimes Microsoft’s stupidity can reach AWESOME heights…

It is a good way to put out thoughts without having to write a full blog.  It is also a great way to consistently keep up with friends.  I enjoy being able to log in to Twitter and see what friends, acquaintances, and random other posters are doing during the day without the clutter of Facebook.  It is one more way to feed my need to be constantly connected(its hard to admit this addiction ).

A question came to my mind while posting on Twitter.. Are micro-blogs becoming more important than actual blogging???

I’m not sure how to answer this question..  I’m not sure if i would keep tweeting the same way i blog. I know it is much easier to post a short message to Twitter than sit and write a long blog. I think this says that i maybe lazy to write long posts on blog but this could also mean that I like to stay connected more than blogging allows.. its a hard question to answer..

Lets look at it from a different view.. Which form of communication allows more information to be passed?? With multiple posts a day, does micro-blogging get more information out, or do longer normal blogs let you say more??? i feel different forms of communication become more popular at different times and become a part of daily life like instant messenger..

But one question that bothers me is whether micro-blogging is just a trend or if it has long-term possibility as a communication medium?? Personally, while I love the concept of micro-blogging, I do believe that it is something that will pass, if not entirely away, then into another form.  I do not believe that the Twitter format of micro-blogging will be a permanent thing, just as Twitter pulled its format from status updates on sites like Myspace and Facebook.

So, what do you think?  Is Twitter more important than blogging?? Will twitter be around for a long time??

Follow me on twitter at itsAnimesh