This is the last night for the DUG Conference 2008. As usual, the last night is the Be True To Your School party.
It’s a chance to get dressed up in your finest school duds and come on down for some popcorn, music and a little Guitar Hero (no, didn’t play). It’s a nice time to unwind and get ready for the trip home.
I also had a Cuban sandwich for dinner. Very tasty. It did have a bean sprout aftertaste (yuch), but it was very good. I ate at a diner down the hill from the conference hotel (Marriott Wardman Park).
I have enjoyed trying out new foods and drinks as I have gotten older. When I was young, I was a very picky eater. My poor mother would have said I was the worst. I knew what foods were fine and how they had to be prepared. Now, I am more forgiving and even willing to try it again at a different restaurant.
Progress.
Well, it had to happen.
I sat down with some colleagues and had a nice cold beverage. Yes, a Guiness. The only beer that I truly love to drink. Now, I am no longer a young man, so one beer every 6-12 months is about my limit. It was a nice way to take a break during the DUG conference. We sat down, talked a bit and got to know one another a bit better.
As much as meeting people and learning more about a subject is the focus of a conference, it also allows you to become more familiar with the people you work with every day.
Drink Guiness – for your health!
I just attended a session here that describes a product from Datatel that is designed to off-load data from your Unidata/SQL Server/Oracle backend for Colleague. This is an intriguing way of solving reporting problems.
It essentially works by making a copy of relevant data to a secondary (or reporting) server. The real trick is that no matter what database is used for the application back-end, you are reporting off a SQL compliant database with industry standard tools. Additionally, even if the application changes its data model over time (and what app doesn’t), it should not affect your existing reports. This is because when the data is copied (or extracted), only relevant fields are carried over. Those which are not typically used do not make the transition to the new database (let’s say with a name like person_extract).
For example, let’s say you have a table that describes a person. It will have typical information like name, address, city, state, zip, birthdate, social security number (a really helpful bit in tracking people. i know, a little creepy.), and perhaps maiden name for women. Now, the location for all this information may have names like first_name, last_name, etc. What you see on the reporting server is something like first_name_extract, last_name_extract, etc. However, if the data model is changed and the maiden name is then placed in another table and given a name like maiden_name or name (assuming a table name like alternate_names and a field denoting maiden name, it will not make a difference to you. You are still reporting off person_extract. Where the data comes from to populate first_name_extract or last_name_extract, you do not care. The ODS takes care of that.
Really nice for keeping old reports relevant.
In addition, you can also use several database servers to report from. Datatel’s Data Orchestrator ODS (Operational Data Store) can use Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. They are looking at MySQL as well. Moving forward, any additional SQL compliant servers they add just gives the IT department flexibility and smaller organizations a chance to save money.
The Spurs lost yesterday afternoon. I was seriously bummed out. I am still of the belief that the Spurs will make it long into the playoffs, even win it all. I think they have all the pieces. It is clear that the West is pretty tough this year.
The East is not as tough. I know that many will point out the Celts and Pistons as being indicative of the potential Finals matchup. But, they also have the benefit of being the only real contenders in their conference. If the West beats up on itself, the East can reap the benefits in the Finals. I hope that does not happen. But, history points to that possibility. The Heat and Pistons have won in recent years even with a dominant West.
