When’s the last time we had some WebNews? Thanks to NetNewsWire‘s post to blog attribution mechanism, It’s now easy to take in what I usually see around the net and post directly here to my blog.

• MySQL reaches Beta status
• Watusi cow with big-assed horns
• Terri Schiavo’s blog
• Computer crash survey
• XDR RAM
• Think twice with Apple

MySQL reaches Beta

‘Most Important Ever’ MySQL Reaches Beta

An anonymous reader writes “The open source database company says it is ‘fixing 10 years of critcism in one release’, and is aiming at boosting enterprise take-up.” Store procedures. Triggers. Views. It’s like it’ll be a real DB!

via Slashdot

Rejoice! MySQL has been like the Apache of databases: fast, free, and working. in fact I never knew it was even on alpha status since it worked so damn well. My site uses it, hell over six million sites use it. Though it has its limitations which still put other DB servers in the running, it is the fastest of all the DB servers out there, which is perfect for web applications/sites which rely on speed more than data integrity.

But as one commenter would say, it would be nice to have the added features that make DBs like MS SQL server cool (stored procedures, etc.), but I hope they don’t sacrifice the speed for any new features… unless of course they’re planning to move out of the web-market niche.

Watusi Cow

Watusi cow with the largest horns I’ve ever seen

Mark Frauenfelder: If I had horns this big on my head, I’d be laying down, too.

Link (Thanks, Robyn!)

via Boing Boing

Now those are horns that can make even Satan say “Damn, those are big-assed horns!”.

Evil Blog

Some sick person put up a weblog; mocking Mrs. Schiavo in the meanest way possible. I’m ashamed to say that mean or not, I laughed the first time I saw it. I think the whole irreverence of the situation was really hilarious to some extent, morals aside. Plus take careful note that there are archives! Now that is some cleverly though shit! Dispicable, cleverly thought shit at that.

After the laugh trip, I felt bad of course – why did they have to pick on someone who couldn’t defend herself? And the comments, my God, downright appalling. Apparently, some people are really pissed at her – for what reason, I don’t know.

Then I saw a comment about Mrs. Schiavo living off the people’s taxes, then I just kinda left the mob to their own devices – since I obviously wasn’t in any position to judge them for feeling that way.

How People React to Computer Crashes

Computer Crash Reactions Examined

dankinit writes “MSNBC has an amusing story about research showing how people react to computer crashes and losing data. Among the numbers, 7% of those surveyed hit the computer, 13% yell at first, and another 13% try to “sweet-talk” their computer. The article also has results from a study done at the Univ. of Maryland. In that study, “One restaurant manager who was so upset with his laptop that he threw it into deep fryer. That destroyed the laptop … and deep fryer, too.”"

via Slashdot

Personally, I’m a variant of the first… meaning I swear, but not yell. Something along the lines of calmly saying “oh f&$k, here we go again.”

Are DDR’s days numbered?

Toshiba First to Produce Speedy XDR RAM

Toshiba is lining up the world’s fasters memory chips. Testing has begun and they should be on sale in the second half the year, the company said. The 512MB XDR (extreme data rate) DRAM chips run at 4.8GHz – about 12 times faster than typical desktop PC memory. Even better, Samsung and Elpida are on route to deliver the new chips in around the same time-frame—just in time for use in the Playstation 3, in fact. (Thanks, Luke!)

via Gizmodo

Better try to hold out till then before thinking of upgrading your PC system.

Unswitch?

This morning, I switched my default browser from Safari to Firefox. Next, I think I’ll look at moving from Mail.app to Thunderbird. Maybe I’ll go back, but I’m increasingly starting to feel uncomfortable in Apple-land. [Update: lots of people wrote me , about good stuff including good Gnome typography, Camino, OmniWeb, and various Safari enhancements. Thanks. Will update.]…

via ongoing

That’s from Tim Bray of ongoing. And in case you’re wondering why his opinion should even matter, he participated as an Invited Expert in the work at the World Wide Web Consortium that led to the creation of XML, serving as co-editor of XML 1.0 and Namespaces in XML.

But back to the topic, its about his growing disinterest with Apple in general, which I can totally understand even upon buying my powerbook. Particular statements I agreed with:

They control the message, nothing that’s not part of the message can be said, nobody is allowed to say anything except for Steve, and they’ll sue your ass if you step out of bounds.

and

They’re basically adopting the position that they know everything, and they don’t have to talk to the world except in oracular outbursts, and they don’t need, particularly, to listen to what the world’s saying.

For me, it all boils down to the fact that the MAC cult should stop being retarded as to supporting Apple come hell or high water. That’s what put Mr. Gates on the top in the first place. And of course we need no proof that Microsoft has become mostly incompetent as far as knowing what the “end users” want.

Same goes for Apple, and what makes it worth mentioning is that Apple is growing to be an “arrogant” company, even while having such a small userbase… I can only imagine how it would be once it gains the same status as Microsoft.

Though Mr. Bray is pissed of the whole courtroom drama, I more of want to stick to the arguments I’ve been posting in my blog ever since (just check the archives)

Time for a little consistency here… if the Mac cult agrees with the whole Firefox campaign against IE (of course it’s not just that, but it’s a BIG chunk of the issue in the Windows world), they should also start viewing Apple (and all companies) with a more critical eye.

Windows users may be as loyal as Mac users, but you can still see them diss Microsoft if need be. Apple users on the other hand usually roll over and just swallow everything Jobs feeds them – hook, line and sinker. Sure Apple makes great products, but just imagine if their users were more critical… I’d imagine seeing some really spectacular innovation! Innovation driven to please the people instead of trying to dictate what should please them.

This issue is really worth mentioning as I’m beginning appreciate the Apple world, and I really want it to thrive. Not thrive with the loyal cult following that simply ensures them financial stability, but to really get out there and start kicking MS ass, which they have started doing… slowly, but surely.

I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing, but I joined the Apple bandwagon at the center of change. As much as I see and appreciate the world I’ve been missing when I was Windows-only person, I also see how everything is “getting to their heads” (both company and userbase). And unsurprisingly, the really sane Mac users are the real tech-heads, and they too have the same gripes any other critical person would have… gripes you’ll never hear from any self-proclaiming-power-user.