… and points beyond

In my world, which is corporate software systems, I have a transactional database that is usually in second normal form and has very few aggregates. Building reports directly means joining at least 4 tables, often 8, and sometimes as many as 12. Unfortunately, the new crop of data warehouse vendors have made it very difficult [...]

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I would have said no until the release of so many multi-core processors. Now they have swarmed the Top 500 supercomputer list. But not every supercomputer has a cluster design because not every challenge is solved faster on a cluster. Will there continue to be custom-designed high-performance systems or will clusters take over completely? At [...]

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Bunnie Huang’s tales from China illustrate the impact of globalization on individuals. Bunnie is making the Chumby, a digital device that’s left wide open for users to enjoy as they see fit. He sources the Chumby from Chinese manufacturers, with little hassle and great success, and has a lot to tell about the way Chinese [...]

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