I was looking for something that would provide similar functionality in DB2 as the DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE function does in Oracle. Simple console output, it seems, is not quite possible using DB2 SQL PL alone. If you want your DB2 stored procedure or function to output something to the screen or application while executing (even if its for debugging purposes), you will have to create an external function based in either C or Java.

I came across this at ITToolbox while searching for a workaround. It might be of help to you just in case you are interested.

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I read this somewhere today. And was totally taken aback. Its not my favorite quote yet. But its somewhere up there.

“Who says you have to know everything? Who told you that you have to be perfect or no one will love you? It’s time to identify those old judgmental voices and break the power they have over you. Don’t blame. Move on.”

Personal experience(s) tell me the more “perfect” you try to be…the less love you get. As I said somewhere before in a totally different context, humans were meant to be imperfect. And they should be proud of their fallacies. After all, thats what makes us human.

What do you think?

Some more controversy over a universal document format comes Microsoft’s way (and thankfully not mine ). Considering the amount of discussions and confusion over my earlier post, I can totally understand the kind of problems Microsoft is going through trying to unify their document formats. However, this time, the battle is between Microsoft and Adobe. Microsoft would want to provide the PDF format as an output option for its Office documents, but Adobe seems unimpressed.

As the author, Doug Henschen, himself states Microsoft wont acheive much by providing Adobe’s PDF format as an output option into the Office 2007 suite. Its doesnt help Microsoft in any way, and Adobe gets to boast a lot. But one things for sure, it will change offices in a big way. No more XLS and DOC and PPTs. Only PDFs. How does that sound? Refreshing for a change. But thats not the final word. It also takes away choice and interoperability from the users. True choice lies in the user being able to use the format he wants to based on his needs. So what are the user’s real options?

The most important and globally recognized unified document format comes from Sun. Called the ODF or Open Document Format, it was given recognition as an international standard in May 2006 by ISO (International Standards Organisation). And since then it hasnt looked back. It forms a core part of Sun’s OpenOffice Suite and now Google plans to use it as the official document format for its own Office Suite. How long that takes still remains to be seen.

Last I heard, Microsoft was coming out with its own unified document format (called OpenXML) based on a ZIP (as in WinZip) archive of XML files.Whatever happened to it? What makes it even worse for Microsoft is that Google is strongly behind Sun’s ODF (Open Document Format). As this article explains, Google has a lot to gain from ODF, as does everyone. To quote:

“And this is how ODF will become the default file format for Office 2010 or 2012. It’s not whether or not you’re using Word that matters to Google. It will be whether or not you’re using ODF as a file format. The first step in taking away dependence on an application (or suite of applications) is to take away the things that make it proprietary.”

The debate continues…and I wait…

Here’s another first from Google.

Google Browser Sync is a product which queitly sits on your browser (Firefox only!!!) and remembers everything that you are doing. It remembers all the Windows you opened, all your bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords. So whats new?? Well it does that across machines!!!

So you could be using your home PC and when you switch on your Office PC, bingo!!! All your favorites, open tabs, saved passwords etc are all available on your office PC as well. Now that makes life so much more simpler for the mobile types amonst us. There’s gotta be catch right?? Well (and it clearly states that on the product home page) the startup times for Firefox shoot up while the plugin tries to download all this stuff off Google’s servers.

Yes, its true. All these details will be stored on Google’s servers. And I would not at all be surprised if Google tomorrow chose to add viewing personalised advertisements(albeit text ones) to the plugin area itself, making Firefox no different than what Opera was earlier. Besides, I am quite suspicious of the amount of personal information Google stores on its servers, and the way it uses it.

Regardless, I am still waiting for the day when this software will work across browsers.

Its a beautiful day here in Bangalore. Cloudy and rainy and windy at the same time. Temperatures not exceeding 22C. People like me who have to be in office at 6:30AM get to experience the creations of nature when they are at their best, like before and at sunrise.

Speaking of creations of nature, I just read this astounding piece of news. Titled Robots learn social skills, it talks about researchers and scientists in Italy working on the bleeding edge of robotic technology and intelligence, wanting their “creations” to develop their own language in which they communicate, instead of using human languages like English or Chinese or Italian.

First reaction: Is that crazy or what? Today they want them to create their own language, tomorrow they will want them to build their own houses (or take them from humans), and then their own jobs and careers, vehicles, industries, and who knows, maybe even planets. Are we looking at unsurpassed intelligence levels in machines that take over everything that humans do today. Are we heading towards doomsday scenarios like Terminator 3? Or am I trying to make this sound explosive already? After all its just science and research. These things stay in the laboratories, right? Well, remember quotes like:

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
- Chairman of IBM, Thomas Watson, 1943

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

So, What are the real questions here?

First, why are we so afraid of these machines? Why are we not ready to believe that they exist and will continue to exist and grow. What makes us so insecure against them? The answer could lie in the fact that humans always call themselves “imperfect”. The ability to err is considered human, while machines are considered “perfect”. The first step, therefore, is to atleast recognize this fact in itself. The rest would find itself in history books 50 years later.

And second, Are we playing GOD already? Or were we always GODs in our own rights, and just didnt know it? After all, cloning was also considered blasphemy by many. I dont know. And I will not attempt to even delve into this. It has too many repurcussions. Its a heavy discussion left as an excercise for the philosophers, moralists and religionists / atheists.

Once you think about this whole issue a little, it sounds like science fiction and history at the same time. After all, even humans evolved their communication skills and developed their own langauges through their own experiences and emotions. They eventually managed to secure themselves(to a large extent) physically by building houses and utilizing resources provided by their environment. But I dont think they ever learnt to secure themselves mentally or emotionally. Considering we are still a mentally and emotionally insecure race, should we really be trying to create another?

But then, when have humans done anything before time? It is only when things get out of hand do people realize that some action is required. I am sure this time will be no different. A doomsday is absolutely required for the human race as a whole to lay down rules, procedures, systems and specific detailed use cases for robots. Till such a tragedy happens, no one cares. I just hope that a situation does not arise where there is no one left to care after the tragedy. Remember, robots are perfect. And I am sure the three laws of robotics from Asimov are NOT a part of programming of a robot like AIBO.

The bottomline, to move forward, we should constantly look back. Neurons firing yet, anyone?

Economics is defined here as:

The study of choice and decision-making in a world with limited resources

You would assume that anyone’s choices are based on rational factors and logical thinking. This article on Value Research Online, however, touches on some of the totally ignored aspects of Economics. The author, Mr Pandya, relates economics and money matters to family, family values, emotions, and back to economics. Isnt that unbelievable?

Of course, there has to be a balance between the “Economicus” and the “Sociolus”. Otherwise, there would be no economics in the first place. Its not all about emotions. And its not all about money and power. Its a bit, and ONLY a bit about both. Keep that in mind when you read this, and when you make your “logical” decisions.

IBM is launching a first of its kind Linux based Business Intelligence solution. Called the BCU (Balanced Configuration Unit), it is a complete solution encompassing IBM hardware, Linux OS, and IBM software. This product joins the BCU for AIX, which is widely used today and available as well.

The IBM Data Warehousing Balanced Configuration Unit (BCU) for Linux is a package of:

• DB2 Data Warehouse Edition(DWE)
• eServer 326m (AMD Opteron)
• System Storage DS4800

The BCU integrates these hardware and software components and provides clients with:

• Hardware and database configuration
• Performance optimization
• Systems and Solution testing and client-side integration

Customers can complement the solution with industry-specific data models and BI software, or tools from ISVs such as those from Siebel, SAS, SAP and many others.