The time has come to evaluate MySQL as a database backend for .NET applications, in most cases replacing SQL Server rather than Access. Admittedly, Microsoft has done quite a bit over the past few years to stop the defection to open-source databases, offering SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition for small businesses as well as the free Express Edition.
However, there still is no platform independence and open-source sexiness included with any of these offerings.
Luckily, the entire MySQL-related stack is now maturing to make the switch tempting: MySQL from version 5 has support for stored procedures, triggers, views and (compiled C) functions. The MySQL Connector/Net 5.0 offers a ADO.NET driver to simplify development without resorting to ODBC. This connector can even be integrated with the Microsoft Enterprise Library which might entail ironing out some CLS compliance issues. To work with Visual Studio 2005 you can install the MySQL Visual Studio 2005 plugin to design MySQL objects right from the Server Explorer! So if you’re considering a cross-platform app, the Mono Project gives you the development platform and MySQL provides a high-performance database backend which is maturing to enterprise-readiness. It looks like C#/CLI could really become the “new Java”!
This message is displayed when a device draws more than the available power from an USB port. The correct fix it to power the device with its own power source, then reset the port. If that’s not an option you can disable the message as follows:
1) Go to the Device Manager
2) Locate “Universal Serial Bus controllers” in the list and expand.
3) Select the first USB Universal Host Controller.
4) Right click and select “Properties”
5) Go to the “Advanced” tab
6) Check “Don’t tell me about USB errors”
7) Click “OK”
Note. If you have multiple host controllers then they should all be affected by the above action.
Close Device Manager
The current politial situation in Thailand can only be understood in its historical context. The Western notion expressed by some that “the coup was justified to fight corruption of the toppled regime” is quite simplistic, legalistic and seen from a purely Western perspective. For more profound backround information, two articles stand out: Kasian Tejapira’s Toppling Thaksin (PDF download is at the bottom of the page) and Duncan McCargo’s Network monarchy and legitimacy crises in Thailand (free download after registration). Both articles were written before the coup, outlining the conficts of power which led to the putsch of September 19th.
Another article analyzing Thailand’s culture of corruption from a religious vantage point. Thailand is fundamentally a very individualistic society where social conscience is exercised only within a circle of family, village or friends. This can be observed in road traffic where strangers meet and show hardly any consideration for one another. However, as soon as some sort of contact is established, Thais are extremely friendly and helpful with excellent social skills.
The karmic viewpoint is also influential. An (apparently) rich or powerful person is perceived to be deservedly so because of a karmic advantage, while the poor deserve to be so because of bad karma. This view is deeply rooted and almost antithetical to the Christian idea of an ideal of poverty and skepticism towards wealth (”More easily shall a camel enter through the eye of a needle than a rich man into the kingdom of God”) which in turn asks for compassion for and sharing with the poor and disadvantaged. These Christian precepts in turn ideally lead to a more just society with better wealth distribution especially when institutionalized by governments as in the largely Protestant but unreligious societies of Northern and Western Europe.
Conversely Thai society relies on the communal fabric of society, friends and family share and help each other, but each individual will not have the societal benefit in mind. This has to be adopted through education and possibly a patriotic spirit, without Thais compromising their peaceful and communal lifestyle which make them some of the most welcoming people in the world.
A brilliant article detailing the corruption from cradle to grave ingrained in Thai society. Surely the described ”short-cuts” can be a very refreshing break from over-regulated Western societies, but sometimes one really learns the hard way that the rule of law has definite advantages. Thais have never subjected to rulers or rules, the villages were always rather independent. But practiced by the ruling elites, these customs have very sinister consequences in perpetuating an extreme hierarchical society with woeful wealth distribution.
Recent Comments