Follow @DBDebunk Follow @ThePostWest


1.
Some housekeeping. The posting to the blog and multiple static pages is a bit of a hassle. I am also facing some work on my seminars and papers. Until further notice:

• There will be one post/week--alternating articles and Site Updates (I may skip the latter on certain weeks, if absolutely necessary);
• Quotes and links to LAUGH/CRY? and FP ONLINE will be posted directly into Site Update posts (like below); the respective static Pages will be updated at the end of each month.

Some tool that would automate posts and updates in one shot would have helped. I looked into it, but for various reasons (including Google's Blogger updates), nothing is available (if you know of any, preferably from experienc, please recommend).

2.
Quote of the Week:

...the relational model has no relationships since Codd decreed that all relationships must be represented by foreign keys, which are exactly the same as "attributes" ... Consider if we had a bunch of tables, each containing the thing A. Now what is the population of A? It cannot be found in any one of the tables. It is actually the union of all the populations of A plus more if we allow A to exist (i.e., be of interest to us) but does not appear in any of the tables. That would be the case of a master reference list of "codes" for which we would then build a separate table. But even that is insufficient. We would also have to define and enforce referential integrity everywhere an A appeared. All of this is handled explicitly and correctly in ORM -- we model objects (each one appears only once in a data model diagram) and relationships. There are no attributes. As I said before, an attribute is an object playing a role in a relationship with another object.
--LinkedIn.com

3.
To Laugh or Cry?

What’s the Best Way for Structured Data Computing in Java?

4.
FP Online:

Let's innovate....database

5.
Good advice:

Designing a Database: 7 Things You don't Want To Do

But why it bothers me?

6.
And now for something completely different.

NSA claims inability to search agency's own emails

Clueless doctor sleeps through math class, reinvents calculus…and names it after herself. At least the doctor re-invented something in a different field. Data professionals do it all the time in their own field.

You can't make these things up.

Follow @DBDebunk Follow @ThePostWest


See Relationships and the RDM Part 1: Kinds of Relationships

Follow @DBDebunk Follow @ThePostWest


07/19/13: I have also added my latest post at All Analytics to the FP ONLINE page.

07/18/13: This update referred to items that were erroneously dated 7/3/13 instead of 7/15/13. This has now been corrected. 



1.
The 'Quote of the Week' was posted   to the QUOTES page.

2.
A 'To Laugh or Cry' item was posted on the LAUGH/CRY page.

Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.
--Albert Einstein

3.
A link to an exchange I participated was posted on the FP ONLINE page.

4.
And now for something completely different.

If You Search, Advertise on, Invest in, or Have Kids Who Use Google, You Must See

Too much power is always dangerous, no matter who holds it.

Follow @DBDebunk Follow @ThePostWest


I shared the links to my recent three-part series on foreign keys (and integrity constraints in general) on LinkedIn. Comments on the second installment raised an important issue about keys (discussed in more depth in Business Modeling for Database Design), which deserves attention.

NK: Let me first affirm my position that I believe foreign keys are the fundamental bases on which relational database managements system operate. Foreign keys provide the relationship in database normalization. Foreign keys are like the framework of a building structure. While some developers may have the notion that constraints and integrity checks can be handled better at the application layer, I would want to refer them to tools like ER Studio, ERWIN, and Visual Studio ... A good database design starts at the logical design level. Abstracting constraints and integrity checks from this layer to the application layer can lead to corrupt database designs. A simple case in point; How would you enforce a unique constraint on a table with 10 million rows? Will it make better sense to have a unique index on the table\field or have the application layer enforce the constraint?

Follow @DBDebunk Follow @ThePostWest


1.
On the SCHEDULE:

A private database design seminar, October 9-10, Milan, Italy (sponsored by Microsoft and SolidQ)

A public presentation to the SQL Server User Group Italy (UGISS), October 8, Milan, Italy.

Details forthcoming. Contact Davide Mauri @SolidQ.


2.
The 'Quote of the Week' is an online question that is too long to post to the QUOTES page, so I posted the link to the exchange it initiated.


3.
A 'To Laugh or Cry' item was posted on the LAUGH/CRY page.

Remember my claim that we are regressing to this?


4.
A link to an exchange I participated was posted on the FP ONLINE page.


5.
Life and Work of Ted Codd (YouTube)

Is everything accurate?


6.
And now for something completely different.

How the Hum of a Coffee Shop Can Boost Creativity

The logical conclusion and real risk of digitizing everything in sight.

Follow @DBDebunk Follow @ThePostWest


Note: For a more in-depth discussion see Business Modeling for Database Design.

Chris Date once wrote a paper titled Models, Models Everywhere, Nor Any Time to Think, deploring the confused and distorted way in which fundamental concepts and terminology in general and relational ones in particular, are used in the industry. But no matter how many times a misconception is debunked, the abuse continues and will do so given educational failure and disregard for precision. Data model is a case in point (see Unmuddling Modeling, Parts 1,2) and What Is a Data Model?)

Follow @DBDebunk Follow @ThePostWest


1.
The following were added to the SCHEDULE:

• Private database design seminar, October 9-10, Milan, Italy (sponsored by Microsoft and organized by SolidQ)

• Public presentation to the SQL Server User Group Italy (UGISS), October 8, Milan, Italy, organized by SolidQ.

2
The 'Quote of the Week' was posted on the QUOTES page.

3.
My latest All Analytics column was posted on the FP ONLINE page.

Two of the previously posted exchanges have new comments:
Different Types of DBMS
Comments on my Foreign Keys, Part 2 The Costs of Application-Enforced Integrity

4.
A 'To Laugh or Cry' item was posted on the LAUGH/CRY page.

5.
A link to an exchange I participated was posted on the FP ONLINE page.

6.
And now for something completely different

European data protection watchdogs are closing in on Google, with Spain charging the software giant with six legal infringements punishable by up to €1.5m (£1.3m) in fines, while France has given it three months to rewrite its privacy policy.
...
On the same day, France's Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) gave Google formal notice that it risks a fine of up to €150,000 and a second of €300,000 if it fails to rewrite its privacy policy within three months.
--Google and privacy: European data regulators round on search giant

I'm sure this will put stop to abuses cold.