Viper is what I work on :)

"The ability to truly marry the unstructured and structured worlds is, to many, a database nirvana."

I work on the yet to be released version of DB2 v9.1 code name Viper. It is the database with native XML support, in the simplest terms This relational database stores XML as XML. As our rivals ..we dont store XML as relational table making wrapper around the database. The beauty is the new query language, the XQuery. We have Don Chamberlin in our team who was one of the pioneers who made SQL standards. XQuery is a W3C standard. Viper also has SQL/XML (2003) standard with which you can make you database queries return XML data. You can construct a XML node tree using you SQL. Isnt that beautiful.. Yes it is .. Its the world of unstructured data (XML) coexisting with structured data ( relational).
Hear from our leaders

Aura is working :)

10% of the Brain Myth

10% of the Brain Myth:

"There is no scientific evidence to suggest that we use only 10% of our brains. In other words, the statement, 'We use only 10% of our brains' is false; it's a myth. We use all of our brain. Let's look at the possible origins of this myth and the evidence that we use all of our brain."

Common Cold

Common Cold: "This site provides a comprehensive, updated and referenced source of information on the common cold. The goal is to provide a framework for critical thinking which will allow informed decisions about medical care for the common cold."

Resources for Programming Language Research

A wonderful collection of information and resources for research in programming language theory, design, implementation, and related areas.

HealthyComputing -

"Positioning or using your computer improperly can lead to various injuries, from the short term discomfort of headaches to potentially debilitating conditions like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. HealthyComputing.com's assembled the world's foremost experts to provide unbiased information on computer-related health and safety. Developed through the joint efforts of nearly a dozen leading ergonomists, physicians, and physical therapists, HealthyComputing com is the premier source for office ergonomics."

About Haskell

About Haskell: "Haskell is a computer programming language. In particular, it is a polymorphicly typed, lazy, purely functional language, quite different from most other programming languages. The language is named for Haskell Brooks Curry, whose work in mathematical logic serves as a foundation for functional languages. Haskell is based on lambda calculus, hence the lambda we use as a logo."

Existential Primer

Existential Primer: Home Page: "Existentialism attempts to describe our desire to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. Unfortunately, life might be without inherent meaning (existential atheists) or it might be without a meaning we can understand (existential theists). Either way, the human desires for logic and immortality are futile. We are forced to define our own meanings, knowing they might be temporary. In this existence…
"

All you need is love

CODEPENDENCY: WHEN CARING BECOMES A DISEASE

CODEPENDENCY: WHEN CARING BECOMES A DISEASE: "So you've tried to 'stop caring' and found that it makes life dreadful? Maybe you don't have to relinquish core standards to be happier. Perhaps you're trying to eliminate the foundation and expect the building to continue standing. Maybe it's okay to 'care too much.' Can you 'care too much' and be happier than you are now? That would take a lot of re-evaluation...of yourself, of your spouse, of your family, maybe even your past. Now that's a challenge"

Computer Languages

I was always facinated by computing languages ..especially the way they have grown from the machine code ..to the very high level. It has been increasingly easier for user to write programs day after day .. May be the next version of Java ..the mustang
or the Visual studio for Longhorn.

Robert W Floyd, In Memoriam by Donal E Knuth

Biography by Knuth

"Nobody has influenced my scientific life more than Bob Floyd. Indeed, were it not for him, I might well have never become a computer scientist. In this note I’ll try to explain some of the reasons behind these statements, and to capture some of the spirit of old-time computer science. Knuth"

Aura..

Find a IBMer from the Internet ?

Click here !!
Search eg
If you want my details search here with Lastname as 'Nair' and First name as 'Kiran'

Aura ..

I was aired live

I was aired (both audio and video) couple of times live to more than 100 colleges of VTU EDUSAT session I was talking about Apache derby and DB2 software’s . This is frist time that I am talking to such a wide audience..it was really a nice experience .. in fact at many places I went out of words ..but I was given a recording cd for the same ..which I kept on playing in computer to see how it went . It had a peculiar sensation ...I was kind of attaint..But next time I saw my self I felt better..and it was very fine ..may be the 5th time I saw it .

Google Portal

Google has a portal now ...do try it ..its really use full ..you can search ..get news ..guotes ..check mails all in one window and set you page in your style

Google

Google launches Video Upload Program

An Unfair and Unbalanced look at the left.<"Google launched the Google Video Search not to long ago and now they're offering to host your videos with the new Google Video Upload Program now in beta.

Submitted videos won't be available for viewing right away and will have to be approved by Google before being made available to the public but the service claims that you'll be able to make your videos available on Google for others to search, preview, (optionally) purchase, and play it."

Top 10 XML Specifications Rejected by the W3C

This URL is has some fun: "Top 10 XML Specifications Rejected by the W3C

10. WS-IrishSpring: for scented, more pleasing SOAP packets

9. WS-UPS: for sending SOAP packets in real envelopes

8. WS-USPS: for sending SOAP packets that dont need to get there

7. WS-PrisonShower: for picking up the dropped SOAP packets

6. X-Wife: protocol for monetary transfer

5. WS-Insecurity: dating protocol for web services programmers

4. WS-Monopoly: protocol used to keep antitrust penalties to manageable levels

3. NICKLE: for encoding smaller binary attachments

2. SFFCI: Syndication Format for Complete Idiots

1. WS-XXX: bringing a business model to XML, e.g.


the storeroom


saucy


Chris Sells, Jason Whittington, Tim Ewald, Becky Dias & Brian Jepson
Presented at the Applied XML Developer's Conference West 2003
July 10th, 2003"

Malayalam language

Malayalam is the major language of the state of Kerala, in southern India. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, spoken by around 30 million people. A person who speaks Malayalam is called a "Malayali" (or rarely, a "Keralite").

Decisions !!

"Somewhere along the line of development we discover what we really are, and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else's life."

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in the lack of understanding, but in the lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Have courage to use your own understanding! Enlightenment means taking full responsibility for your life.


Thanks,
Kiran

Can complexity be explained ?

... while we all know that unmastered complexity is at the root of the misery, we do not know what degree of simplicity can be obtained, nor to what extent the intrinsic complexity of the whole design has to show up in the interfaces. We simply do not know yet the limits of disentanglement. We do not know yet whether intrinsic intricacy can be distinguished from accidental intricacy.
-- E. W. Dijkstra, Communications of the ACM, Mar 2001, Vol. 44, No. 3

Calendar & Easter History

Calendar & Easter History
I was wondering how easter dates are calculated, when my friend and collegue from Romania told me he is having it on May first and that He is a Chirstian Orthodox. I was confused. I have many orthodox friends in India, they never said they have easter on another day.
When I investigated and found that easter is calcuted in 3 ways and these three ways used in diffrent parts of the world.

METHOD 1 - The original calculation based on the Julian calendar

METHOD 2 - The original calculation, with the Julian date converted to the equivalent Gregorian date

METHOD 3 - The revised calculation based on the Gregorian calendar

And the link provides algorithms for calculations for these Easter dates.


~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
WESTERN ORTHODOX
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
23 April 2000 30 April 2000
15 April 2001 15 April 2001
31 March 2002 5 May 2002
20 April 2003 27 April 2003
11 April 2004 11 April 2004
27 March 2005 1 May 2005
16 April 2006 23 April 2006
8 April 2007 8 April 2007
23 March 2008 27 April 2008
12 April 2009 19 April 2009



Definition of Easter Sunday Date
Easter Sunday is the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date for the year. In June 325 A.D. astronomers approximated astronomical full moon dates for the Christian church, calling them Ecclesiastical Full Moon (EFM) dates. From 326 A.D. the PFM date has always been the EFM date after March 20 (which was the equinox date in 325 A.D.).

Easter Sunday date is the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date
The PFM is the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon (EFM) date after March 20
PFMs are pre-defined (see above)
EFMs are approximated astronomical full moon dates, not actual astronomical full moon dates