Posted 11/19/09 at 03:50:14 PM by Bart Salisbury

It’s not an easy thing, conceptualizing bunches of data. Efforts at visualization range from the simple (elementary statistics), to the complex (Mark Lombardi’s Global Networks, for example). The clever jakes at Microsoft Live Labs have debuted their way of visually managing lots of data with Pivot.

According the Pivot web site: “Pivot makes it easier to interact with massive amounts of data in ways that are powerful, informative, and fun. We tried to step back and design an interaction model that accommodates the complexity and scale of information rather than the traditional structure of the Web.”

At its heart, Pivot is a database manager. It works on a “collection” of data that is tagged with an image. The image, reflective of its underlying data, is then manipulated using keywords and filters. Data can be stored locally or online, with the number of data points in complex arrangements limited only by available storage capacity. High resolution images within the dataset are manipulated using Seadragon, Microsoft Live Labs’ image manipulation software.

But wait, there's more!

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Posted 01/27/09 at 08:40:36 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Leading jobs portal Monster.com has warned its users against a fresh instance of private information theft, which happens to be the second such case in the past 18 months. The security breach has not only tarnished its security record further but also dealt a heavy blow to the trust that users have posited in it.

It issued the warning on its website, in what appears to be a less-frequented section, and opted against directly contacting the users. The company began its statement by downplaying the security breach: “as is the case with many companies that maintain large databases of information, Monster is the target of illegal attempts to access and extract information from its database.”

It claims to have taken the necessary “corrective steps” immediately after discovering the security breach. It has asked users to reset their passwords on their own, though they will eventually be forced to make the change. The company says that the exposed data includes user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data. Resumes and sensitive data is said to be safe.

Monster.com has also advised users that they need to be more vigilant and watch out for specious emails claiming to be from the company.

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Posted 08/08/08 at 07:14:39 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Microsoft’s much delayed SQL Server 2008 is available now. Despite the delay in SQL Server’s launch, MS is patting its back for having released the new version of its popular database product within two to three years of the SQL Server 2005 launch. Apart from the free version, there are a variety of paid ones for both PCs and Windows Mobile devices.

SQL Server 2008 is expected to further strengthen Microsoft’s promising database business. In fact, it made immediate impact on Microsoft’s VP Ted Kummert, who has dyed his hair orange due to the product’s release. Kummert had vowed to dye his air orange if the developers were able to meet the latest launch deadline.

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Posted 11/18/07 at 06:09:11 PM by Erin Simon

An upstart database of judicial decisions puts the public back in public domain, but it needs your help.

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Posted 08/17/07 at 12:09:57 AM by Erin Simon

A website identifies anonymous wikipedia edits with the IP addresses they originate from. Who's massaging their own entries? Just about everyone.

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