Editorials

Something Really Different in Search

Featured Article(s)
Tips for designing SQL Server 2005 tables (Part 2)
Here you can find some useful tips to design SQL Server 2005 tables.

Big News from Microsoft on SQL Server Data Services…
Microsoft’s SQL Server team today started talking publicly about concrete directions for the cloud-based services that will be offered for SQL Server solutions. Essentially, the net-net of what was announced (here in this blog) is that a specific direction and approach has been selected for the way you’ll be "talking" to the SQL Server in the cloud.

There’s a fair amount of goodness in this announcement that should really start to bring clarity to what you’ll need to be doing and what to look for, plan for and develop for as you work with data-based applications in the cloud.

Something Really Different in Search
I was watching a recent episode of GeekBrief TV – and Cali Lewis (Host) was talking about some new technologies in search. In this specific example, she’s talking about WolframAlpha, a new search service that’s evolving for release "soon" on the ‘net. As Cali points out, to take any significant steps in search and indeed to become relevant in the Internet search space, you’ll have to do something quite different from what’s out there. WolframAlpha looks like it may do this. It tries to find new questions to ask, new ways to ask for information and make connections between things you’ll see online. So far, so good. But how does this equate to databases?

The common thing you always here in working with just about anyone in tech these days is that they are having a hard time convincing end-users to explain the questions they’re trying to answer, rather than having end-users indicate the technology and approach they want to use to get there. It’s the old "begin with the end in mind."

In many cases, people don’t even know what they’re asking for. They know they need more – more information, more insights into what’s happening in their businesses, more about trends. If we could apply the same techniques and learnings that may be coming from the WolframAlpha project and use that to better define the questions to ask, we may have something really unique and a significant step forward in the Business Intelligence arena.

I think it could be very cool.

Featured White Paper(s)
Practical Guide to Database Security & Compliance
This white paper reviews 5 principles to securing your company’s databases and provides you with an approach for reconciling … (read more)