Category: Databases

BlockChain – Not the New DRM Solution

block-chain
Block Chains?

The latest hot startup fashion is Block Chain. Of course this is based on the popularity, and understanding of the advantages of BitCoin.

There are musicians running around thinking that Block Chains are going to save the day in protection of Music. I haven’t heard of Disney or others running around with their hair on fire about protecting movies with Block Chains, yet. Perhaps Block Chains will at last save Mickey Mouse from rampant copyright? Somehow I don’t think so.

Let’s quickly examine what block chain is good for, and what it won’t do.

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Personal Cloud Databases – DHX QT Shows Promise

As we have seen in previous articles, I’ve been looking at what we might call Personal Cloud Databases. There are many Cloud Data tools out there. I found a review article here, and then looked at these and other alternatives.

  • ZOHO Creator – 3 apps free. $15/mo basic plan.
  • Dabble DB – free public data. $24/mo for private data. Very cool concepts.
  • Web Office – $53/mo includes data.
  • Google Docs – Free. No database. Spreadsheet only.
  • BaseCamp – No free option. Starts at $24/mo.
  • Windows Azure – Clearly not personal. Impossible to tell what it would cost.

And there are more, mostly pitched at small businesses and enterprises, and expensive. At least very expensive compared with Blogging or Photo Galleries. So my question is: Why are database tools so expensive compared with Blogging and Photo tools, which are usually free or almost free? The reason I believe is Open Source.

I think there is a very interesting opportunity for a platform, like WordPress for personal data tables.

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DHX Quick Tables

As you may remember from a previous article, I have been using ZOHO creator to store MMO game data while I play the game to keep track of my characters and their loot. I was not happy with the ZOHO solution due to it’s high cost – $15/mo beyond 3 databases [applications]. While I have not yet exceeded that, I desire a solution that will live on my hosting service where I have unlimited storage/databases.

I have found a solution with DHX Quick Tables, and for now I’m using that as we will see. Continue reading “DHX Quick Tables”

2Moons – Management Database

Managing a stable of characters in an RPG is a complicated process. My limited experience with MMORPGs indicates that it can be more efficient to build more than one character at a time. At least it is more interesting. In the two MMORPGs that I’ve tried I’ve built several characters to try to learn more about the game and the character classes. In 2Moons I’m currently running six characters. This is efficient since as they level up all the interesting loot is saved for the other characters and one higher level character can finance a lower level character’s purchase of expensive items.

But, the downside of doing this is you have to keep track of all the loot that each character has and what they need. In Guild Wars this was easy because there is an account-wide storage facility where all the loot is kept. But with 2Moons, each character has a separate stash, or storage locker, so you have to remember what’s in each one to avoid wasting time with items that you already have collected.

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MySQL Unable to Restore

When building a database of my DVD collection which includes BLOB images of png images of the covers, the database can be backed up, but it cannot be restored. This of course makes the backups useless. The images are 475×475 pixel PNG images.

UPDATE: Problem solved. Parameter max_allowed_packet is the packet size for requests. This defaults to 1M and needs to be larger to allow this restore to work. Setting the max_allowed_packet parameter to 10M allowed the restore to complete successfully.
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