Backlash starts against 'sexy' databases

Backlash starts against 'sexy' databases

Wow, actually a good summary of this new "anti-database" movement. Of course, the whole controversy all comes back to one guy: Michael Stonebraker. He started the storm in a few different places (and seems totally misguided).

But they, it's big enough that it reached the high scalability site. Link has lots of useful information and one great quote:

SimpleDB shifts work out of the database and onto programmers which is why the SimpleDB programming model sucks: it requires a lot more programming to do simple things...Programmers like problems they can solve with more programming.

I think that last line needs to be modified: Inefficient programmer like problems they can solve with more programming. I don't like making a bunch of problems for myself, especially when it comes to useless optimization. The goal here is to program solutions that require less programming in the future. You build tools that extend your thoughts and write more code for you.

That's what an RDMS does, it's just a collection of code that manages data so that you don't have to. Seems kind of foolish to pretend that we can do better at this than the pros.

What That Car Really Costs to Own

Wow, MSN Money actually has a decent piece about Money... Oh look, it's sponsored by Consumer Reports.org. That helps with the explanation:
What That Car Really Costs to Own - MSN Autos

I can't really argue with many of their points. Consumer Reports seems to know what they're doing. I am annoyed with one thing, though it's purely philosophical. It's the concept of factoring in the resale value of the car.

Yes we have historical data, but who wants to be the one trying to sell a Honda on the year they start making lemons? Plus the resale value is only good if you plan on selling the car. Otherwise, you just drive all cars until they're worth some irrelevant amount of money and you call it a day. At that point you want the car that cost you th least to get to the end of the line. Of course, the cars that require the least repair also tend to be the cars the highest resale value.

So you're kind of "double-dinging" certain cars. Especially when they all become basically worthless after a certain time.