There’s an axiom in behavioral psychology: examine what someone is doing , rather than simply accepting what they’re telling you. Someone might claim that they don’t care about anyone, yet their actions betray a deep care for a family member. Or maybe they claim they love their … | Continue reading
It’s oddly difficult to find a detailed history of Business Objects, a seminal forerunner to the modern wave of self-service data analytics. The company was acquired by SAP in 2007, and most people nowadays only know about Business Objects as part of SAP’s “BODS” package - unawa … | Continue reading
Growing up on The Internet, most of my online expeditions were subject-centric: I would seek out particular forums that I found relevant - an EverQuest forum, a message board dedicated to the odd anime that I’d just watched - and explore the communities therein. It was a re … | Continue reading
When I learned about Xenogears, I knew that I had to play it. It was an irresistible package, seemingly tuned to my idiosyncrasies: a Japanese RPG from the 1990s golden era, featuring a famously deep (and convoluted) plot, and with a fanbase that still discusses its underrated s … | Continue reading
Twitter is easy to pick on; it feels increasingly incoherent. For the average user, the experience now amounts to watching tweets endlessly (and algorithmically) flow down a timeline, hoping for a fleeting gem: a fresh meme, a particularly inspired presidential tweet, or an endo … | Continue reading
Teradata is a large enterprise software company; SAP is a larger enterprise software company. At one point, the two were partners, working extensively on ways to harmonize their respective products. Then things fell apart - dramatically; and in June, Teradata sue … | Continue reading
Steve Jobs once quipped, "if VisiCalc hadn't debuted on the Apple II, you'd probably be talking to someone else". Released in 1979, VisiCalc was the original electronic spreadsheet - and its widely recognized as the killer application that landed the personal computer on de … | Continue reading