Posts

Showing posts from 2013

All the world's problems are solved

All the world's problems will be solved, if only people do only the things they are qualified to do. In any area of interaction, one of the most frustrating experiences is when you encounter some idiot in a position of authority or power.  It is an unmovable roadblock.

What is the Easiest way to copy a database to/from SQL Azure?

Image
The answer: use SQL Server 2012 Moving a SQL database to and from your PC to SQL Azure used to be a horrendous nightmare.  With the new functionality in SQL Server 2012 and the Azure portal, this is now a breeze with just a few clicks.  You are not required to learn or understand data-tier applications or BACPAC, the underlying method used in the import/export. This article assumes you already have an Azure subscription up and running. The functionality in SQL Server is actually the SQL Server Data Tools . However, it is totally invisible once it is installed. Download it here . Deploying An On-Premise SQL Database to SQL Azure  Let's start with moving a database from your PC to Azure. First of all, your on-premise database can use only those features supported by SQL Azure . To deploy a database in SQL Server 2012 is pretty easy and fast.  In SSMS Object Explorer, right click your database and select Deploy Database to Sql A zure... under T asks: Figure 1 - Depl

Revenge of the Koel

Image
Last week, we discovered a nest being constructed by a bulbul. It was located among some creepers just under the roof of the porch. Nest when about half done.  See the yellow-vented bulbul? The construction work was done solely by the female bulbul.  The male partner kept a distance, providing some form of air cover.  Hundreds of trips were made, each time with a little material. Bulbul struggling with the construction material.  It took many attempts for it to get this piece of tissue off the barbed wire. Now you might understand the etymology of birdbrain . When about half done, the bulbuls caught the attention of a female koel.  This was about ten times the size of the bulbul. Female koel gazed fixed at the bulbul's nest And tagging along as consort was a male koel.  One day, I found the male koel pecking an object on the ground.  On closer look, it was an egg.  But it must belong to some other bird, perhaps a kingfisher, as the bulbul hadn't laid any yet.  A

"Messier" Marathon

Image
[For a chronicled metamorphosis of the Painted Jezebel, see here .] There is this crazy event where astronomy enthusiasts attempt to spot all 110 Messier objects in one night . I can see about ten different types of butterflies flying around at the same time where I live.  I thought it would be interesting if all ten could be photographed in one day.  It looks impossible, especially with a cheap lousy camera , and the butterflies in constant motion, stopping for rarely a second each time. So what you see here is just a lazy attempt over different days.  The only criteria is that I have to be no more than 30 feet from the external walls of my apartment.  All pictures taken at 3 Mpixels or less and not touched up. If you know the names of any of these creatures do share the information.  Current ones identified with help from Commander, Raj and Simon.  Thanks. #1 Leopard Lacewing ( Cethosia cyane ) #2  Blue Pansy ( Junonia orithya ) #3  Common Mime ( Chilasa clytia )

Democracies

Coming from an uneducated person, but who is trying hard to be aware of some of the things I do not know, I think the whole idea of democracies has not run its full course. More surprises are in the offing. At this time, it seems that all democracies will mature toward an equilibrium of two halves of the governed in the ratio of about 50:50.  The US appears to be in the lead. Come to think of it, that is only the nature of man.  Who would want to be disadvantaged so that someone else can take the advantage? This inward instinct is different from the rich paying more taxes.  The rich do not mind paying more taxes for a selfish reason: so that the system around them do not collapse and deny them the safe environment to spend their wealth. It is a different thing altogether if, in order to preserve a happy orderly society, you are asked to surrender your right to own a car so that someone else might own a car, for example. The fairest and best is still a democracy.  Let me know

Pointing your own domain name to a (Blogger) blogspot.com site

Image
Google's instructions on this subject are terribly misleading, and in an attempt to make them comprehensible to the layman make them worse. Look at this screen shot by Google when you ask for instructions to set up spqr.mydomain.com to point to your own blogspot site: It's incorrect. www.example.com is NOT a top-level domain. www.example.com is no different from foo.example.com as far as "levels" are concerned. 90% of the world have the impression that www is something special. "www.abc.com" (it should be "www.abc.com.") is a domain, just like "abc.com", or "com". Many people have difficulty understanding this, but that's how the Internet domain name system is defined, and works.  Do invest a minute to let this sink in. The next error: you cannot add two CNAME records to a domain and still be meaningful.  A CNAME record is, like 99.99% of the time, used to create an alias for a domain name.  When we say, lazily,