MySQL AB acquired by Sun

Today brings news that Sun has acquired MySQL AB, the corporate entity that develops the open-source relational database management system MySQL. I don't have much to say about this because I'm not sure what to think. I know that MySQL AB has been slowed since Oracle acquired Innobase, a company that provided the InnoDB database engine for MySQL that featured capabilities such as referential integrity that allowed MySQL to compete against the likes of Oracle's database offerings. MySQL AB itself had spurned Oracle's advances before, which makes this acquisition a little surprising. I have worked and continue to work on projects using MySQL. It will be interesting to see what unfolds.

MacBook Air, iTunes movie rentals and new iPhone software launch at MWSF


Side view of the new "Macbook Air"

The MacWorld San Francisco keynote by Apple CEO Steve Jobs came and went yesterday. I have to admit that I'm left pretty unimpressed. I haven't watched the full keynote, but judging from the announcements that came out, nothing really blew me away. Of course, I bring higher than reasonable expectations into each keynote. Here are my impressions of the high points.

Redesigns all around!







Top: Old Design. Bottom: New design.

For almost ten years, my church's Web site has gone relatively unchanged. The design had become dated and so had the process to add and update the content on it. Shortly after joining the church about two and a half years ago, I volunteered to take on or assist in a makeover project. It took a while for the stars to align, but after starting work a few months ago, we finally launched the redesign this week.

Trent Reznor's "sense of disappointment"

c|net's News.com has posted an interview with Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor regarding the release of songs from his collaboration with Saul Williams on the album "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust." The album, similar to the Radiohead release of "In Rainbows", was made available for $5 or free to see who was really willing to pay for high-quality, non-DRM music.

"iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry"

Wired has published an in depth article on the iPhone development process and it's long-term impact on the wireless phone industry. It speaks on the efforts, trials, and money that it took Apple to come out with the device. In the end it proclaims that despite some of the obvious knocks on the device it "...cracked open the carrier-centric structure of the wireless industry and unlocked a host of benefits for consumers, developers, manufacturers — and potentially the carriers themselves. Consumers get an easy-to-use handheld computer. And, as with the advent of the PC, the iPhone is sparking a wave of development that will make it even more powerful."

Read the full article here.