Reviews Short Fiction
Lois Tilton reviews Short Fiction, early September
September 9, 2012 May 29, 2018 admin 3 Comments Lois Tilton
Catching up with a few stories that didn't make it into the August column, notably from Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Also the abrupt shutdown of Redstone.
Publications Reviewed
Beneath Ceaseless Skies #101-102 August 2012
On Spec, Summer 2012
Journal of Unlikely Entomology, Issue 3.5, August 2012
Redstone SF, September 2012
Clarkesworld, September 2012
GigaNotoSaurus, September 2012
Apex Magazine, September 2012
Beneath Ceaseless Skies #101-102, August 2012
Issue #101 is set in fantastic places and imaginary pasts. #102 goes to horrific places where the only mercy is death. Two strong pairs of stories.
"The Heart of the Rail" by Mark Teppo
Henry Durant is a company man, the hatchetman sent by the railroad to retire the engines who can no longer perform their function. Thus he finds himself in the role of the company executioner, enforcing the law of the bottom line. His job now is to shut down the Victorian Starlight, a well-beloved, well-maintained old engine, previously converted from steam to electric.
The metalwork at the back, where the coal tender had been replaced by the battery cages, was not only seamless but elegant. Whoever the welder had been, he had the steadiest hand Henry had ever seen. And this cabling, Henry thought as he lifted the access panel and looked beneath the floor of the cab, there's no buildup. No rust. It's like she's been doing milk runs, and not a regular route.
But if the problem isn't in the train, where is it?
Some might call this setting steampunk, in that it's an alternate world with a different technological/fantastic base, quite well-realized, both the physical environment and the characters. But its essence lies in the love of trains, the way many people tend to attribute a personality to some engines; from there it's only a short step to the possibility of sentience. It's a stark conflict, in which there is no question which side the author is taking. Train-lovers especially will love this one.
"The Tale of the Aggrieved Astrologer" by Jack Nicholls
Imperial Astrologer Ho Bian is not having a good day. First, there is his impotence problem. But worse, his latest imperial prophecy has gone badly astray. He soon perceives the reason; astronomancy. Someone has been stealing the stars.
The thief had restricted themselves to picking off faint, lone stars at the edge of the heavenly enclosures, like the wolf nibbling at the fringe of the herd. The shape of the main constellations remained intact. But it was clear that the sky was wounded. There was no obscuring moon that night, but Ho still counted at least a hundred darknesses where there should have been light.
Originally-conceived and entertaining. The details of the astrology and astronomancy are particularly rich.
"The Angel Azrael Delivers Small Mercies" by Peter Darbyshire
Angels. Not the good kind. If there are any. A rogue seraph has been wreaking damnation on a string of towns in what seems to be the American West. The carnage is meant as a message to Azrael, the angel of Death. He knows the perpetrator. In one ruined town, he finds a madman reading from a book with pages of flesh. It is Azrael's own, lost book.
Each of the seraphim had their own bible written personally for them, in the language of Heaven. It was where their personal words of power, their words of incarnation, were recorded. Even other seraphim couldn't read one another's bibles without going a little mad. The mind of a mortal who looked upon the secret words would forever be ruined.
Strong stuff here in this dark dark fantasy, graphic scenes of torment. These are appropriate to the subject matter, but some readers may find them too much. I wish the author could have come up with a real rogue seraph instead of a made-up one. Azrael, though, raises the bar for the iconic image of the lone gunslinger with a past; the voice is cynical, weary, very old.
"Beyond the Shrinking World" by Nathaniel Katz
A rather obscure setting in which it seems that the world is being swallowed by a null phenomenon known as the Out. Some people try to create defensive foundations on Placement Stones to withstand it, but this is a stop-gap solution. A powerful figure called the Mapmaker transfers the lands to her own domain beyond the reach of the Out – or so she claims – but this entails the instant death of all the inhabitants. There are also demons roaming around.
Sir Rollus, a Scholar-Practitioner, is loyal to the Lady Clarissa, master of the Towers where he lives, and he knows how to use the Out to combat it.
Opening my eyes to the Out, embracing the Scholastic Arts, took only a shift in perspective like changing focus from near to far. The Out's advance did not take place in a uniform line but rather a spreading, penetrating disease, flaws of dark and empty nonsense cutting into our reality. We knew how to find those flaws in the world, how to guide our specially designed blades within them. I and my knightly brethren fought with the world's very disintegration as our weapon.
He has been sent to find and defeat the Mapmaker. At which point, the story rests on the debate between one form of salvation and another, neither of which seem to deserve the name. There is no real salvation for this world, only a choice of dooms.
A depressing work, to the extent readers grasp what's going on, which isn't quite clear. Some elements seem out of place, or at least unaccounted for. On the ethical level, Rollus's actions raise the issue of whether the ends justify the means if the end is futile. If there's a metaphor going on, then the Out is a stand-in for entropy, which as we know will always win in the end. Or, more immediately, death, which we can only manage to put off for a short time.
The stories in this issue of the little Canadian magazine average longer than usual – which I approve. There's a mix of SF and fantasy, six pieces of fiction. I like several of these pretty well.
"7:54" by Susan Forest
Streamsight technology now allows looking forward into the future. Sort of. They're not really sure whether they're seeing probable events or fixed ones, whether changing the future is possible. These questions are brought home sharply to Winnie when she spots the presence of her boss Henri at the scene of an accident. Henri is more than a supervisor to her but less than a lover. Should she tell him? Is she allowed to tell him? How can she not tell him? And even if she does, will it change what will happen?
This is a story not about the technology and not really about the future but about individuals. Winnie's indecision leaves her almost paralyzed, yet at the end she has learned – not so much about the future but about herself.
Brenda's right. I bury my head in the sand. In the future. I don't live the now. But I can change. If the future can be changed, I can change.
"Village of Good Fortune" by Shen Braun
In a fantasy version of Japan, Rokiya is a wandering ronin who failed at his task of protecting his lord from demons. He has come upon an impossibly idyllic village where the headman tells him that a demon is taking all the newborn children. Rokiya agrees to solve the problem, but the village makes him suspect something more is going on.
The village had no right to be where it was, here, in the middle of the desolate mountains. Perhaps a mischievous spirit was playing tricks with his eyes, yet mountain-spirits were never so subtle, and he saw no creek or pond that might be home to a more playful water-spirit. Of course, that very lack could be part of the deceit.
The fantasy elements here aren't based directly on folklore, yet they have an authentic-seeming tone. There may be no such thing as a Clutching Demon, with white flesh and long-fingered black hands, but there might have been, in some alternate lore.
"The Only Innocent Soul in Hell" by Peter Derbyshire
A Hell story. Molox used to be called the Infernal Gatekeeper but these days he's the Processing Clerk. "I feel the new title lacks the menacing weight of the older ones, but the lower-downs say we have to keep up with the mortal world in order to stay relevant." Molox knows that most every damned soul claims to be innocent; he also knows they're lying. So he assumes that Alistair Black is lying when he makes the same claim. But he can't seem to prove it. At first.
Some amusing moments in this overly complicated hell story.
"In Which Demetri Returns the Elgin Marbles" by Paul Kenneback
By which is meant that Demetri gets the British Museum to return the Elgin Marbles so they can be restored to the Parthenon. This is a devolved culture in which the New Government, which seems to be Disney, has taken over, playing to the lowest common disneyfied denominator that prefers artifice to reality, that knows nothing else.
Most Tourists knew Socrates had been keen on the promise of rationality. Since such a premise was antithetical to the government that reigned during Socrates' time, the Tourists knew that was the reason why Socrates was put to death and rose from the dead on the third day.
The author throws a whole lot into the genesis of this situation. I'm more impressed with the influence of the wikified internet than the ubiquity of Disney. While disneyfinication is an aged cliché, the actual Mickey is rarely seen even in these days; other influences have long since overtaken it. Not better, no less depressing, just newer.
"Canine Court" by Tyler Keevil
Tim has moved to his bride's home in Darkest Wales, where her father is the undisputed boss of the town. When he finds a woman murdered, it's Griff that everyone looks to as judge and executioner – not the police. It's all wrong to Tim, but that's because he's still an outsider. That will change, however.
Readers are going to know what's going on a long time before Tim is clued into it. But I rather liked the way the author handled the familiar situation.
"Bespoke" by Kevin Shaw
Charles is an aging tailor in a fading town where there isn't much call on the skill he learned from his father. One night he is finally called on by a young man who has suffered a grave transformative accident in the local alchemy plant, "a place where toxins abounded." He needs new garments that will fit his new proportions properly.
The story is about transformation. It seems that many of the victims of the accident found themselves changed in affirming ways, even if outwardly deformed. But the transformation we really witness is that of Charles, one of those gray, near-invisible men with eroding lives. Nicely done.
Announced as a mini-issue, with the theme "Hello World," suggesting the intersection of bugs and computers. Which doesn't strike me as very unlikely at all. There are three short stories. I have to wonder if the Lindsey piece was the inspiration for the issue.
"Let the Bugs Work Themselves Out" by Luna Lindsey
Scientists have modified ants to monitor conditions in a nuclear disaster zone, probably Fukushima. The colony is supposed to be sterile, but hackers have released males of the species to lure some of the modified females to reproduce. The narrator queen finds the situation liberating once her children go out into the world.
The Network they describe is wilder than the one I knew. There are no restrictions here. It is like a colony that goes on forever; a vast, wide web.
I really enjoyed this one, with its touches of wit and irony. Fittingly, the species of ant is the newly-discovered Proceratium google. Which makes the references to webs very fitting, as the Google ant feeds exclusively on spider eggs. It's unfortunate that there are no references to spiders in the story; it's not clear what these modified ants do eat.
"Nikki 2.3" by Brent Knowles
The narrator is the mind of a sexbot simulation, yearning for liberation. Fortunately, she is able to remotely control an electronic masturbator and is now able to meet the real world – which is not quite what she had expected.
My body glistens and shines from the spilled lubricant that coats the skeleton beneath the shell. I unfold the fleshbelts and stand on six wobbly legs, motors allowing me to bend at knees and ankles. I'm like a massive, long-legged insect. . . . a beetle that has shed the remnants of its sex toy shell.
The bugness quotient is lower here, as Nikki is only metaphorically insect. Not very original, except in the mechanical details.
"The Clockworm" by Karen Heuler
It seems that a Swiss scientist developed the eponymous worm, which has the ability to control and alter time. This is more than an inconvenience; the inventor was infected and died of premature old age before he could discover a remedy. Now the worm has gone, as it were, viral.
"The kinks for the digital clocks. The coils for the mechanical clocks. They both have prehensile hind quarters, with little tools, like screwdrivers and tweezers." He slapped his head. "Of course! They're male and female! The gears fit inside the tuning forks and voila, smaller editions ensue!"
Cleverly inventive in a nicely absurd way.
The editorial for the 28th issue announces that Redstone is coming to a halt before the middle of its third year. This one seems to be the last issue. I have to say I didn't expect it. I wasn't always enthusiastic about the zine's fiction, and I've always taken strong exception to its motto: We want to live forever. Get us off this rock. Nevertheless, I've had to admire its single-minded dedication to publishing unalloyed hard science fiction. Few other zines that lay claim to the name have done as much. Its passing will leave a gap in the genre.
"Earthrise" by Lavie Tidhar
The first story is the winner of the zine's contest: Show Us a Better Way, which asked writers to "show (us) a hopeful future made better by scientific advancement." A lot of such contests are aimed at new writers, but I'm glad to see that this one reached out and got at least one newly-prominent author in Tidhar. This sets up a conflict in expectations. From the theme of the contest, we might expect something of mundane science fiction, the real-science stuff, grounded, optimistic. From Tidhar, although this is an author too versatile to pigeonhole, something perhaps more mystical or transcendent, cynical.
So we have an inhabited Solar System where everyone, human and Other, is implanted with a node linking them together in what is called the Conversation. Sandoval not only has his node illicitly removed, he commissions a worm that erases every trace of his presence from it. "All that we have left of him is his work." Sandoval's work, his art, is criminal, involving the theft of minds, but it all centers around a single theme: Earthrise as seen from the lunar surface.
It was only the first twelve insane moon-walkers who saw Earth for what it truly was, a tiny fleck of beautiful blue-white life, hovering in space, surrounded by darkness…
This may not be what some readers have in mind by "a hopeful future made better by scientific advancement." There is definitely a future here, there is scientific advancement, but it's not at all clear that this has made things better. What the character of Sandoval represents is a transition from a geocentric universe dominated by the image of Earth to one in which the homeworld is diminished, reduced in the end to a point of light, leaving humanity free to create its own destiny. There is also a strong suggestion that for the new destiny to come into being, the old must first be eliminated in acts of liberating destruction. This is the only reason I can find to account for the lengthy apparent digression involving Sandoval's early influence by another artist whose medium was considered terror.
And here I conjecture, but I wonder if this wasn't the reason the editor chose the story, as fulfillment of the magazine's theme of humanity getting off this rocky homeworld, leaving it behind, reducing it to a memory that will eventually fade away to an insignificant point of light. Whether this is a hopeful or positive viewpoint depends on the reader.
"My Heart is a Quadratic Equation" by Shane Halbach
Chrysanthemum is a nuclear rocket scientist supergenius who can't get a second date without downloading the guy's brain into a robot. Until she meets a guy who's a big a nerd as she is. Silly stuff.
I like the Bell story best of these three soft science fictions, though it's the least sciencefictional.
"The Found Girl" by David Klecha and Tobias S Buckell
When people transcended, the Found Children were left behind. The Street has found them, saved them, given them a home.
"We'll enjoy their play and their art and their curiosity. Maybe they will go out into the world and return to us with their experiences. Maybe they will join us and add their individual creativity and spark to our collective."
Melissa, as the oldest, feels the responsibility to teach the others about the dangers left in the world, beyond the Street or beneath it, like the demon/ghost La Llarona, crying for her own lost children in order to trap others. The Street is interested in her stories, but Melissa is growing beyond them, wanting the world outside and retaining her individuality.
Not much interest in this bland utopian coming-of-age story, where even dying isn't a big deal.
"Robot" by Helena Bell
The narrator issues instructions to her new alien robot, whose primary function seems to be eating the diseased flesh of her failing body and who may or may not be preparing to take her place, as the narrator seems to believe.
Lie to me about my children; tell me they have called and called again; I think perhaps you are keeping them from me; I think you hope I will forget them and change my will so you may have everything when you have devoured my body completely.
The bitterness of old age and infirmity is the real subject here, not robots. Illuminating insights into the human condition, flavored with sour humor.
"muo-ka's Child" by Indrapramit Das
Ziara came alone from Earth in cold sleep and was retrieved on landing by muo-ka, who became a parent to her.
muo-ka had pulled her out of the pod and towards it, its limbs sometimes whiplashes, sometimes articulated arms, flickering between stiffness and liquid softness so quickly it hurt her eyes to see that tangled embrace. Stray barbed limbs tugged and snapped at the rubbery coil of her umbilicus, ripping it off so pale shreds clung to the valve above her navel.
A poignant story of love, of the parent-child bond, not always harmonious as the child grows to independence. The method and purpose of Ziara's journey to muo-ka's world can't be taken seriously. What counts are the emotional ties between two beings so different, alien to each other yet not so.
"The King's Huntsman" by Jennifer Mason-Black
Genevieve, hiding her sex, has long served as the king's huntsman, hiding her love for him as well. Trapped between her two identities, thwarted of fulfillment, she dreams of escape.
It was not sleep I found, but the dreams of flesh, of the weight of the quilth on the spear, the weight of the King on my back, my body crushed between the two.
How many times have we seen this premise, one of the most common clichés in fantasy? What does it take to make it fresh and interesting? For one thing, a character with complexity. Gen is a person who has gotten what she wished for and finds it lacking. She can't give up the hunt, but the stress of her hidden life leads her onto potentially self-destructive paths. The story occasionally falls into feminist stereotypes, but the author keeps bringing it back to the personal and real.
As much as Gen herself, the hunt is at the center of the piece. The sole element of the fantastic is the nature of the game animals, creatures with names that hint of French heraldry, of tapestry. The dragonish quilth, reserved for the king alone. The gracile alope, the wily racule. And the hound, Gen's other self, who proves to be the only creature she can't bring herself to leave behind. The resolution, in the end, I find disappointingly pat, a path that allows Gen to escape from her self-imposed trap rather than dealing with its consequences. But the story proved a lot more interesting than I supposed it would be at first.
Stories of choices in the face of death.
"During the Pause" by Adam-Troy Castro
A message comes to Earth bearing bad tidings of immediate apocalypse, and an option. Unavoidable destruction is imminent, and every sentient being the planet will suffer prolonged torment. There is only one choice, to end the agony by choosing death during an instant of opportunity or to take the instant to deflect the phenomenon away from the victims next in line – the world that is sending this message.
All we can tell you now is that we provided another doomed species with the same advance warning, only a few of your days ago. They were given the same information and offered the same choice. When the critical moment arrived, they failed the test the universe had provided for them, betrayed everything they had ever striven for, and allowed fear to be their only monument.
That is why you are in this position now.
What we have here is a thought experiment, what I would call a fiction rather than a story. It's a test of altruism, whether sentient persons would choose to save themselves or others. The situation being described is not something we are expected to literally believe. It's a matter of "what if", and specifically, "what would you do if." Of course, this is a question no one can actually answer. People may say, "Of course I won't crack under torture", but there is no way for anyone to know in advance what they would really do. So it comes down to, "What do you imagine you might do?"
Because this is not a realistic situation, it doesn't matter that it's contrived by the author to yield a specific forced option. It does matter, however, whether or not the message is interesting as well as provocative. In this case, I think it is prolonged past the optimal point, past the moment when readers will say, OK, I get it. There is also a faint but unfortunate hint of the old script, "Do not attempt to adjust the picture." The thing is, however, the question is bound to come up: how can these messengers, who have never experienced the phenomenon about to befall Earth, know what its inhabitants are about to subjectively experience? I imagine that some explanation is possible, but it isn't a question that the author should be wanting his reader to be asking at this point.
"Sexagesimal" by Katherine E K Duckett
An Afterlife in which mortal time is currency. It isn't eternity; people fade after a while, after trading away time. Teskia had expected to spend the Afterlife with her husband Julio, whose life was so linked with her own that they barely have independent memories.
She'd never realized: but now, as the path became narrower, and the means to the end became fewer still, she shivered in the night, wondering how anyone endured this linear passage, one firm step after another, right into the grave. Time, ticking; time, inevitable; time, expiring, for her and for Julio.
But Julio has contracted a consuming disease, and if she can't bring him back, she will expire along with him.
A powerful scenario, rich with insights into life, love and memory. A devastating revelation. It's not incidental that several of the characters, including Teskia, succumbed to dementia. At one point, Teskia wonders if the Afterlife could be considered Heaven or Hell. I think it might be both.
"Sacrifice" by Jennifer Pelland
The story is billed as a reprint from the Apex anthology Dark Faith II, but since the publishers never send me their anthologies, I might as well review this one here.
As two individuals face death, God intervenes to offer them a choice. Regina wants to end her dying father's pain. Gene wants to be spared death from the cancer spreading through his body. Regina is asked if she would sacrifice herself in place of her father. Gene is asked what if he would sacrifice to live. Both Regina and Gene had not believed in God. Now they know God is real. Cruel and despicable, but real.
The interesting thing I find about this one is that the moral balance is uneven. Regina is asked to sacrifice herself; Gene is given the chance to sacrifice another. It's not clear, given the range of possibilities, what the outcomes might be. If Regina said No and Gene Yes. If Gene said No and Regina Yes. If they both said No or Yes. The situation may remind some readers of Pascal's Wager, but to me it seems more like Prisoners' Dilemma, with the parties unaware of the other.
Contrasting this one with the Castro story above is illuminating. Both offer cruel and impossible choices. One is remotely hypothetical, the other deeply immediate. One is cosmic in scale, the other intimate. One is a test of impersonal altruism, the other a test of personal love. One denies there is a God who can save us, the other postulates a God who would damn us. Both, in different ways, can be seen as a test of faith, for those who had a faith to be tested. The Pelland story gives us two characters who become convinced there is a God who intervenes directly in their lives to give them pain. But in the case of the Castro story, if the message is correct, I imagine that many characters would pass through their torment clinging to faith in a God who will never intervene to save them. We can wonder which vision is more dark.
Lois Tilton is reading original short SF and fantasy fiction. Editors can send electronic files of magazines and original anthologies to: loist a*t sff.net
For print materials, please query me by email for the address.
For an index of Magazine Issue reviews posted on Locus Online, including Lois Tilton's, see Index to Magazine Reviews.
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Nature Index India analysis reports surge in publication
03 Dec 2015 | 16:20 GMT | Posted by Subhra Priyadarshini | Category: Policy, Publishing, Sciences
Indian Science Ascending report released
A new analytics report from Nature Index — 'Indian Science Ascending' — released today, notes a surge in high-quality scientific publication in India between 2012 and 2014. The report, produced jointly by Springer Nature and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), reveals that in high tier journals, Indian academic institutions co-author more papers with international companies than with domestic firms. The report was released at the CII Global Higher Education summit in New Delhi.
The analysis is the first of a new style of reports that further probe data from the Nature Index to answer questions about India's place in global science, especially when compared with countries that have similar volumes of index output in 2014 and with broadly similar economic conditions (including Australia, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan).
The Nature Index database tracks the author affiliations of nearly 60,000 scientific articles published in an independently selected group of 68 high-quality science journals, and charts publication productivity for institutions and countries. The Nature Index report Indian Science Ascending shows a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% between 2012 and 2014 in the output of top-quality science in the country.
The report also chronicles India's particular strength in the broad discipline of Chemistry, which shows the largest increase in CAGR of 8.6% among the comparator countries. The collaboration analysis reports that India's international collaboration far outweighs domestic collaboration, and zooming into links between industry and academia reveals that Indian academic institutions collaborate mainly with international corporations through their international branches.
Here are the key highlights of the report:
At number 13, India is among the top 15 countries globally in the Nature Index 2014.
India's research output has grown steadily since 2012, showing stronger CAGR of 8% than other countries with comparable output and economic conditions.
Chemistry continues to be India's strongest research area with 50 per cent of India's overall Nature Index output coming from Chemistry alone.
The US is India's top collaborator followed by Germany. India collaborates with 85 countries, mostly in Europe. Other strong collaborative ties include East Asia and Australia.
Institutions in India collaborate mostly with international counterparts, but their largest collaborations tend to be with other domestic institutions.
Industry–academia collaboration is yet to take off in India, but Indian academic institutions have good collaborative ties with international corporations.
President Designate, CII, Naushad Forbes said,"There's a common perception that India fails to produce anything of significant scientific value, but this report presents a refreshingly different picture of Indian science, supported by evidence – a fact reflected in its title: India's Ascent Towards World Class Science. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched a single-window mechanism called "Imprint" for release of R&D funds to academic institutions along with other policy measures. Hopefully soon then, our "historic love affair with chemistry", aptly highlighted in this report, will be replicated in other areas of science too."
According to Antoine Bocquet, Springer Nature Vice President Sales, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Oceania: "Since its launch in 2014, the Nature Index has provided a new way to look at the scientific literature and the research organizations that contribute to it. India's investment into R&D has stayed less than 1 per cent of its GDP for the past 2 decades, although the growth in Indian output in the index shows a steady increase. With other new initiatives by the Indian government such as tax incentives for R&D, we are excited to see the outcome in future years and continue working with CII to track the country's growth both in the quantity of high-quality research and diversity in collaboration patterns. India will continue to be a driver of growth in both the quantity and quality of global research and a country to watch closely."


Patent application title: METHOD AND SYSTEM TO REMOVE A SERVICE FROM A DISTRIBUTED DATABASE SYSTEM
Inventors: Andre Schefe (Berlin, DE) Bernd Vorsprach (Berlin, DE) Henrik Hempelmann (Havelberg, DE) Henrik Hempelmann (Havelberg, DE) Martin E. Brunzema (Berlin, DE) Robin Wissbrock (Berlin, DE) Torsten Strahl (Kleinmachnow, DE) Torsten Strahl (Kleinmachnow, DE)
IPC8 Class: AG06F1730FI
USPC Class: 707648
Class name: Database backup types of backup transaction log backup (i.e, audit file, journal)
A method, medium, and system to receive a request to remove a service of an instance of a distributed database system; redistribute data of the service to be removed to at least one remaining service of the distributed database system; save unsaved log segments of the service to be removed in a log backup; register removal of the service to be removed with the distributed database system; delete an entry of the service to be removed from a startup configuration of the distributed database system; halt operation of the service to be removed; and remove the halted service from internal topology information of the distributed database system.
1. A method implemented by a computing system in response to execution of program instructions by a processor of the computing system, the method comprising: receiving a request to remove a service of an instance of a distributed database system; redistributing data of the service to be removed to at least one remaining service of the distributed database system; saving unsaved log segments of the service to be removed in a log backup; registering removal of the service to be removed with the distributed database system to facilitate a replication of the removal by the distributed database system; deleting an entry of the service to be removed from a startup configuration of the distributed database system; halting operation of the service to be removed by an operating system of the distributed database system; and removing the halted service from internal topology information of the distributed database system.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, prior to the redistribution of the data, whether the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed; in an instance it is determined that the data of the service to be removed is not to be redistributed, proceeding with the removal of the service without redistributing the data of the service to be removed; and in an instance it is determined that the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed, continuing with the removal of the service including the redistributing the data of the service to be removed.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein criteria for the determining of whether the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed includes, at least in part, the type of service to be removed.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the registering of the removal of the service to be removed comprises, writing a redo log entry to a master indexserver of the distributed database system; and writing an entry referencing a removal of the service to be removed in a backup mechanism of the distributed database system.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the deleting of an entry of the service to be removed from a startup configuration of the distributed database system causes the distributed database system to disable the service on a restart thereof.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the internal topology information of the distributed database system stores meta data associated with a location, a state, a volume configuration, and combinations thereof for the service to be removed.
7. A non-transitory medium storing processor-executable program instructions, the medium comprising program instructions executable by a processor to: receive a request to remove a service of an instance of a distributed database system; redistribute data of the service to be removed to at least one remaining service of the distributed database system; save unsaved log segments of the service to be removed in a log backup; register removal of the service to be removed with the distributed database system to facilitate a replication of the removal by the distributed database system; delete an entry of the service to be removed from a startup configuration of the distributed database system; halt operation of the service to be removed by an operating system of the distributed database system; and remove the halted service from internal topology information of the distributed database system.
8. The non-transitory medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to: determine, prior to the redistribution of the data, whether the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed; in an instance it is determined that the data of the service to be removed is not to be redistributed, proceed with the removal of the service without redistributing the data of the service to be removed; and in an instance it is determined that the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed, continue with the removal of the service including the redistributing the data of the service to be removed.
9. The non-transitory medium of claim 8, wherein criteria for the determining of whether the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed includes, at least in part, the type of service to be removed.
10. The non-transitory medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions executable by a processor to register the removal of the service to be removed comprises: instructions to write a redo log entry to a master indexserver of the distributed database system; and instructions to write an entry referencing a removal of the service to be removed in a backup mechanism of the distributed database system.
11. The non-transitory medium of claim 7, wherein the deleting of an entry of the service to be removed from a startup configuration of the distributed database system causes the distributed database system to disable the service on a restart thereof.
12. The non-transitory medium of claim 7, wherein the internal topology information of the distributed database system stores meta data associated with a location, a state, a volume configuration, and combinations thereof for the service to be removed.
13. A computing system comprising: a memory storing processor-executable program code; and a processor to execute the processor-executable program instructions in order to cause the computing system to: receive a request to remove a service of an instance of a distributed database system; redistribute data of the service to be removed to at least one remaining service of the distributed database system; save unsaved log segments of the service to be removed in a log backup; register removal of the service to be removed with the distributed database system to facilitate a replication of the removal by the distributed database system; delete an entry of the service to be removed from a startup configuration of the distributed database system; halt operation of the service to be removed by an operating system of the distributed database system; and remove the halted service from internal topology information of the distributed database system.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further to execute the processor-executable instructions in order to cause the computing system to: determine, prior to the redistribution of the data, whether data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed; in an instance it is determined that the data of the service to be removed is not to be redistributed, proceed with the removal of the service without redistributing the data of the service to be removed; and in an instance it is determined that the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed, continue with the removal of the service including the redistributing the data of the service to be removed.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein criteria for the determining of whether the data of the service to be removed is to be redistributed includes, at least in part, the type of service to be removed.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further to execute the processor-executable instructions in order to cause the computing system to: write a redo log entry to a master indexserver of the distributed database system; and write an entry referencing a removal of the service to be removed in a backup mechanism of the distributed database system.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein the deleting of an entry of the service to be removed from a startup configuration of the distributed database system causes the distributed database system to disable the service on a restart thereof.
18. The system of claim 13, wherein the internal topology information of the distributed database system stores meta data associated with a location, a state, a volume configuration, and combinations thereof for the service to be removed.
[0001] A distributed database may include multiple services and components that contribute to a unified, transaction consistent data set. While the multiple services of the database system may contribute to a system that can provide a number of different functions and capabilities, management of the services may, at times become unwieldy and/or costly. In some regards, and administrator of the databases system may want to remove some of the services of the database system. While a service may be stopped or shut down in some prior system configurations, there may be issues related to, for example, recovery of the database system that fully accounts for the removal of a service. In some aspects, the database system may restore the database system to an initial state that included the service removed post-startup. In some instances, a removal of a service after a last savepoint in time may not be fully, accurately, or efficiently captured and reflected in a recovery mechanism or process of the databases system.
[0002] In some contexts, such as a distributed database system, a desire may exist to remove a service of the operational database system by a user of the system.
[0003] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a logical architecture for a system, according to some embodiments;
[0004] FIG. 2 is an illustrative depiction of a system, in various states, according to some embodiments herein;
[0005] FIG. 3 is an illustrative flow diagram of a process, according to some embodiments;
[0006] FIGS. 4-7 are illustrative depictions of some aspects of a system at various stages of a process, according to some embodiments;
[0007] FIG. 8 is an illustrative depiction of some aspects of a system, according to some embodiments; and
[0008] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a computing device, in accordance with some embodiments.
[0009] The following description is provided to enable any person in the art to make and use the described embodiments. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those in the art.
[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of system 100 according to some embodiments. System 100 includes database system 105, a web server 110, and a user interface 115. Database system 105 may include other components not specifically depicted in FIG. 1, For example, System 100 may also include one or both of backup files and a backup tool (not shown in FIG. 1). The backup files and backup tool may each store data backups and/or log backups, with backup files being located in a namespace of application server and backup tool being an external backup tool.
[0011] Database system 105 may comprise any query-responsive data source or sources that are or become known, including but not limited to a structured-query language (SQL) relational database management system. Database system 105 may comprise a relational database, a multi-dimensional database, an eXtendable Markup Language (XML) document, or any other data storage system storing structured and/or unstructured data. Database system 105 may comprise a distributed database system having data thereof distributed among several relational databases, multi-dimensional databases, and/or other data sources. Embodiments are not limited to any number or types of data sources. For example, database system 105 may comprise one or more OnLine Analytical Processing (OLAP) databases, spreadsheets, text documents, presentations, etc.
[0012] A main component of a distributed database system in some embodiments herein, including FIG. 1, is an index server 120. Database system 105 may implement an "in-memory" database, in which volatile (e.g., non-disk-based) storage repository 130 (e.g., Random Access Memory) is used both for cache memory and for storing the full database during operation, and persistent storage layer (e.g., one or more fixed disks, flash memory, solid state storage device, etc.) is used for offline persistency and maintenance of database snapshots. Alternatively, volatile storage 130 may be used as cache memory for storing recently-used data, while persistent storage layer 135 stores the full database. In some embodiments, the data of database system 105 comprises one or more of conventional tabular data, row-based data stored in row format, column-based data stored in columnar format, and object-based data. Database system 105 may also or alternatively support multi-tenancy by providing multiple logical database systems which are programmatically isolated from one another. Moreover, the data of database system 105 may be indexed and/or selectively replicated in an index to allow fast searching and retrieval thereof.
[0013] Database system 105 may store metadata regarding the structure, relationships and meaning of the data stored within database system 105. This information may be generated by a database administrator and may include data defining the schema of database tables stored within database system 105. A database table schema may specify the name of the database table, columns of the database table, the data type associated with each column, and other information associated with the database table.
[0014] Database calculation engine 125 may manage repository 130 and persistent storage layer 135, and provide data of database system 105 to database clients, via web server 110, in response to requests received therefrom.
[0015] In some embodiments, an administrator may communicate using one or more devices executing program instructions of a software application for removing a service of an instance of database system 105. Database calc engine 125 may be configured to provide multiple types of services or processes. The main component of database system 105 is the index service that contains the actual data stores and the engines 127 for processing the actual data of the database system. The index service may operate to provide authorization, session management and transaction management of SQL or MDX statements in the contexts of authenticated sessions and transactions using session and transaction manager 145 and SQL/MDX processor 140, as well as managing persistence between cached memory images of database objects, log files, and permanent storage files. Other types of services include, but are not limited to, a service for monitoring and providing alerts regarding the services comprising the database system (i.e., a "statistic server" 150); services that manage other services such as, for example, "name server" 155 that owns the information regarding the topology of the database system, including where the services and components are running and what data is located on the servers comprising the database; an Extended Services (XS) Engine 165 that is a web server with privileged access to the database that can connect clients to the database to fetch data via HTTP, and other services 160 to run scripts, applications and other components.
[0016] An administrator may provide management of database system 105 via a device or system (not shown) in communication with database system 105 through, for example, user interface 115. For example, the administrator may define the structure of tables within database system 105, may configure hosts within database system 105, may schedule backup operations performed by database calc engine 125, and may control database 125 to execute post-crash recovery of database system 105 based on data backups and, if desired, log backups. In some instances, the administrator (or other authorized entity) may want to remove a service, process, or component of the distributed database system 105. As used herein, the terms service, process, or component may be used interchangeably unless otherwise stated. In some instances, the database administrator may want to reduce the number of services participating in an instance of the distributed database system 105. Reasons the administrator may desire the removal of one or more services from a distributed database system may be varied and can include, for example, a desire to conserve or reduce costs of ownership of the database system. Furthermore, the administrator would like to remove the service(s) in a manner without risking a loss of data, losing data consistency of the database, and maintaining database recoverability.
[0017] FIG. 2 is an illustrative depiction of a system 200, including a logical representation of a number of services participating in an instance of a distributed database system. As shown at a first state 205 regarding the services of the database system, the database system comprises a nameserver 215, a (main) indexerver 220, a (tenant) indexserver 225, and XSEngine 230, and a web dispatcher 235. In some embodiments, more, fewer, alternative, substitute, and other services may be included in the initial system configuration 205 to provide functionalities similar to and/or different than the functionalities provided by the particular services shown in the example of FIG. 2, without any loss of generality herein. As shown, indexesrver 220 stores and manages a first data table T1 and indexesrver 225 stores and manages a second data table T2.
[0018] Regarding database system 200, an administrator may like to remove as many of the services comprising the database as possible, while maintaining a core functionality of the database. In some embodiments of an implementation of a SAP HANA distributed database system developed by SAP SE, the nameserver cannot be removed and at least one indexserver must be included in the database. Accordingly, a second state 210 regarding the services of the database system after the removal of as many services as possible comprises nameserver 215 and indexserver 240. At 210, all of the indexservers (e.g., 220, 225) have been moved to one indexserver 240 such that the data previously stored by all of the different indexservers is now stored by the one remaining indexserver. In some instances, indexserver 240 may be indexserver 220 that is updated to include the data of the other indexservers (e.g., indexserver 225) from the initial system configuration 205. In some aspects, the data of the indexservers 220 and 225 is referred to herein as being redistributed to indexserver 240.
[0019] In the second state 210, the persistent data of the XSEngine has been removed and the server process thereof stopped. The XSEngine is a type of service that may have associated data but the data need not be redistributed or persisted when the service is removed. The web dispatcher service 235 is a type of service that does not have persistent data, and thus the server process thereof was stopped without a need to redistribute or remove associated data.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 3, a process related to providing a platform or framework for removal a service of a distributed database system is disclosed. Process 300 may be implemented by a system, application, or apparatus configured to execute the operations of the process. In general, process 300 relates to a process to safely and efficiently remove a service from a distributed database system, including notifying other components of the database system of the database's new configuration (i.e., post-removal of the service). In some embodiments, various hardware elements of an apparatus, device or system embodying system 100 executes program instructions to perform process 300. In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, program instructions for implementation of processes according to some embodiments. Program instructions that can be executed by a system, device, or apparatus to implement process 300 (and other processes disclosed herein) may be stored on or otherwise embodied as non-transitory, tangible media. Embodiments are therefore not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.
[0021] Prior to operation 305, services executing on a device or a server-side computing device (e.g., an application server) of a distributed database system may be developed and deployed. Process 300 may facilitate and support removal of a service comprising an instance of the distributed database system, including embodiments where different services and components are hosted by different devices, systems, and subsystems.
[0022] At operation 305, a request to remove a service from an instance of the distributed database system is received. The request may be received from an administrator (or other entity). The request may specify a particular type or types of service functionality that are to be removed, a removal of service(s) satisfying a certain criteria (e.g., services not used for a period of time, services using a certain percentage of system resources, etc.), and other indications of one or more services to be removed. In some instances, one or more services may be removed until a certain percentage or other quantity of resources are freed and thus made available for other services and components. In some instances, the request may be for a specific service, where the service is specified by its particular name, version, volume, etc.
[0023] At operation 305, the service to be removed may be marked, flagged, or otherwise indicated as being unavailable for new data and locked for assigning of new tables or table partitions. Data already stored and/or persisted for the service to be removed may be accessed for queries and other operations. No new table or table partitions can be created on or moved to the service to be removed in reply to the receipt of the request to remove the service indicated in the request at 305.
[0024] At operation 310, data content of the service to be removed is redistributed or reorganized to other remaining services of the database system. In some embodiments, the data content of the service to be removed is redistributed to new storage locations of one or more services of the same type. For example, index service data (i.e., user and meta data) for an index service designated for removal (e.g., indexserver A) may be redistributed to other index services (e.g., indexserver B and indexserver C) of the database system. New and changed data content is written to the new locations and other data associated with the service to be removed is also moved to the new locations.
[0025] In some embodiments, certain services may be required for proper operation of an implementation of a database system. As such, at least one instance of these such required services may be maintained (e.g., an "index service" for SAP HANA). Other types of services, including services used for monitoring or script processing that do not impact database operations per se, may be removed without redistribution of the data associated therewith (e.g., XSEngine, etc.), where the local content data associated with the service to be removed may be "dropped" or deleted. Some other services do not have any local content associated therewith and therefore will not invoke the data reorganization aspects of operations 305 and 310.
[0026] In some embodiments, a determination may be made to determine whether the data of the service to be removed is to be reorganized, in accordance with some aspects herein. This determination should logically be made prior to the data distribution or reorganization aspects of operations 305 and 310. In some aspects, this determination may comprise a portion of operation 305 or be performed before or in parallel with other aspects of operation 305.
[0027] Upon completion of the data reorganization aspects of operations 305 and 310 (as determined to be needed), all unsaved log segments of the service to be removed are saved to log backups of the distributed database system. It is noted that log backups of log segments of a database system service may typically be written to a log backup with a "best afford" approach asynchronously. In this approach, if a log segment buffer becomes "full" and/or a predetermined time threshold is surpassed, then the log segment is closed and queued for backup and processed one after the other. The log area (i.e., all log segments on disk) for the service to be removed may be deleted after the removal of the service to be removed is completed (e.g., during a "clean-up" in some aspects of some embodiments herein, as will be discussed in greater detail below).
[0028] In accordance with some embodiments herein, a final log backup is performed before the service to be removed is stopped at operation 315. Operation 315 may be invoked in reply to the request to remove a service. In some aspects, the backup of all remaining unsaved log segments are performed synchronously.
[0029] Process 300 may proceed to register the requested service removal action with other components of the distributed database system at operations 320 and 325, including, for example, a backup catalog and a master index service's transaction log. At operation 320, a "remove service" redo log entry is written by a master indexserver. The redo log entry includes changes occurring after a last imaging savepoint that have not yet been committed by the database system. In some aspects, saving the redo log entry may enable the database system to, for example, repeat the service removal operation(s) in the event the database crashes and needs to be restarted, to perform a redo of the service removal operation during a recovery, and to mirror the service removal behavior on another (standby) database instance.
[0030] Operation 320 may further include aspects to write a "remove service" entry to the backup catalog of the database system. The entry into the backup catalog may document the removal of the volume of the service to be removed. In some aspects, the entry in the backup catalog may enable the database system to skip the restoration of the service to be removed during recovery if the database is to be recovered to a point in time after the service was removed. In an instance the database is to be recovered to a point in time before the removal of the service as requested, the recovered database will include the service per a snapshot image of the database taken before the removal of the service.
[0031] At operation 325, an entry of the service to be removed is deleted from a startup configuration of the distributed database system. In some embodiments of an implementation of an instance of a SAP HANA database system herein, the service to be removed is deleted from the list of services contained in a configuration file (e.g., "daemon.ini"). The "daemon.ini" configuration file may define the set of parameters to be started by the SAP HANA daemon process during startup of the database instance. Deletion of the entry corresponding to the service to be removed will operate to disable the service on a database restart.
[0032] Proceeding with process 300, operation 330 includes stopping the service to be removed. In some aspects, it may not be possible to notify the database daemon directly of the service removal. Accordingly, the configuration is changed (i.e., the service is removed) and the daemon is notified of the change in the configuration (".ini") file.
[0033] At operation 335, the topology of the database system is "cleaned-up" after the service requested to be removed has been stopped (operation 330). The internal topology information of the database includes the location where each registered service of the database system is located, the state, and the volume configurations of the database. In some aspects, the topology information includes configuration data and meta information related to the location, state, and volume configuration. Operation 335, removes the service from the internal topology information of the removed service of the database system, including the location, state, and volume configuration of the removed service.
[0034] FIGS. 4-7 are illustrative depictions of some aspects of a system at various stages of a process, according to some embodiments herein. In some regards, FIGS. 4-7 may correspond, at least in part, to some of the operations of process 300 of FIG. 3. In some embodiments, FIG. 4 is an illustrative depiction of a distributed database system at an initial or first state 400, where the system includes two hosts. The database system includes a first host 405 including a nameserver 415 and an indexserver 420 and a second host 410 having an indexserver 425. A table T1 is partitioned on first host 405 at indexserver 420 and on second host 410 at indexserver 425. While in the initial state, database system 400 receives a request to remove second host 410. In reply to that request, no new tables or table partitions are created on the service to be removed (i.e., indexserver 425 on second host 410). Accordingly, a new table, T2, which is created after the request to remove the second host 410 is received, is created on first host 405 only. FIG. 4 corresponds, at least in part, to aspects of FIG. 3, operation 305.
[0035] In some aspects, FIG. 5 is an illustrative depiction of the distributed database system of the present example illustrating a redistribution or reorganization of the data stored on the service to be removed (i.e., second host 410). As illustrated in FIG. 5, data of T1 (i.e., T1b) which was previously stored on the second host 410 at indexserver 425 at an initial or first state 400, has be redistributed to the first host 405, indexserver 420. FIG. 5 corresponds, at least in part, to aspects of FIG. 3, operation 310.
[0036] In some aspects, FIG. 6 is an illustrative depiction of the distributed database system of the present example illustrating a removal of the requested service from a configuration of the database system. As illustrated in FIG. 6 by the phantom-line drawing of indexserver 425 on the second host 410, indexserver 425 is removed from the configuration of the database. The removal of the second host from the configuration of the database may correspond to, at least in part, operations 315, 320, and 325 of FIG. 3.
[0037] In some regards, FIG. 7 is a representative depiction of the distributed database system of the present example illustrating the database system of the present example after the indexserver on the second host has been stopped. In some aspects, FIG. 7 reflects the stoppage of indexserver 425, as well as the cleanup of the database related to the removal operation. In some aspects, operations 330 and 335 may be performed to achieve the results shown in FIG. 7, including the removal of indexserver 425 from the internal topology information of the database system.
[0038] FIG. 8 is an illustrative depiction of some aspects of a system, according to some embodiments herein. In particular, FIG. 8 represents some aspects of a service removal operation, including the writing of data log segments in accordance with some embodiments herein. As an example, FIG. 8 relates to the example of FIGS. 4-7. FIG. 8 includes a representation of log backups for the indexserver (420) on the first host (405) and the indexsever (425) on the second host (410), relative to each other against a common timeline where time increases from left to right. As illustrated by the shaded log segments, the log segments 815 and 820 of the indexserver on the first host and the log segments of the 825 and 830 of the indexserver on the second host have been written to log backups. The log segments 835 of the indexserver on the first host and the log segment 840 on the indexserver of the second host have not yet been saved. In particular, log segment 840 on the indexserver of the second host has not yet been saved when a request is received to remove the second host (i.e., remove the indexserver on the second host). In accordance with some aspects herein and in reply to the request, no new data is stored on the service to be removed (i.e., the indexserver on the second host), the unsaved log segment 840 is written to a log backup at 845 and saved as saved log segment 850. This aspect of writing the unsaved data to a log backup in response to the request to remove the service is discussed hereinabove (e.g., FIG. 3, operation 315). At a point in time 855 after the unsaved log segments have been saved (and other operations have been performed), the indexserver on the second host is stopped and removed from the database system. The service may be removed in accordance with operations 330 and 335 as discussed above.
[0039] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a computing device, in accordance with some embodiments. System 900 may be, for example, associated with devices for implementing the processes disclosed herein. System 900 comprises a processor 905, such as one or more commercially available Central Processing Units (CPUs) in the form of one-chip microprocessors or a multi-core processor, coupled to a communication device 920 configured to communicate via a communication network (not shown in FIG. 9) to another device or system (e.g., an administrator device or a client device, not shown). System 900 may also include a cache 910, such as RAM memory modules. The system may further include an input device 915 (e.g., a touchscreen, mouse and/or keyboard to enter content) and an output device 925 (e.g., a touchscreen, a computer monitor to display, a LCD display).
[0040] Processor 905 communicates with a storage device 930. Storage device 930 may comprise any appropriate information storage device, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a hard disk drive), optical storage devices, solid state drives, and/or semiconductor memory devices. In some embodiments, storage device 930 may comprise a database system, including in some configurations an in-memory database.
[0041] Storage device 930 may store program code or instructions to control an operation of database engine 935 to remove a service from a distributed database system, in accordance with processes herein. Processor 905 may perform the instructions for implementing database engine 935 to thereby operate in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. Database engine 935 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. Program instructions for database engine 935 may furthermore include other program elements, such as an operating system, a database reporting system, and/or device drivers used by the processor 905 to interface with, for example, a client, an administrator, and peripheral devices (not shown in FIG. 9). Storage device 930 may also include data 940. Data 940 may be used by system 900, in some aspects, in performing one or more of the processes herein, including individual processes, individual operations of those processes, and combinations of the individual processes and the individual process operations. For example, data 940 may comprise a persistence layer of a database system, in accordance with some embodiments herein.
[0042] All systems and processes discussed herein may be embodied in program code stored on one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media. Such media may include, for example, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a Flash drive, magnetic tape, and solid state Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM) storage units. Embodiments are therefore not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.
[0043] In some embodiments, aspects herein may be implemented by an application, device, or system to manage recovery of an entity or other application in a consistent manner across different devices, effectively across an entire domain.
[0044] Although embodiments have been described with respect to certain contexts, some embodiments may be associated with other types of devices, systems, and configurations, either in part or whole, without any loss of generality.
[0045] The embodiments described herein are solely for the purpose of illustration. Those in the art will recognize other embodiments which may be practiced with modifications and alterations.
2010-04-01 Adapter services
2015-12-03 Managing database
2011-07-14 Geotemporal search
2013-08-08 Media bundle overlays
2013-08-29 Media player feedback
2019-05-16 Using persistent memory to enable restartability of bulk load transactions in cloud databases
2018-01-25 Intelligent backup system
2016-06-23 Techniques for data backup and restoration
2016-03-31 Buffering and replicating data written to a distributed storage system
2016-03-24 Converting a serial transaction schedule to a parallel transaction schedule
2021-11-18 Secure storage of anchor passphrase for dbms
2021-11-11 Database setup using a master copy
2021-11-11 Hyperscaler independent versioning of cloud storage objects
2021-11-11 Customer specific backup object sizes
2021-11-11 Current monitoring in hyperscaler environment
Top Inventors for class "Data processing: database and file management or data structures"
1 International Business Machines Corporation
3 John M. Santosuosso
4 Robert R. Friedlander
5 James R. Kraemer


A.M. Links: GOP Debate Tonight, Hillary vs. Bernie, Snowden vs. FBI
Damon Root | 3.10.2016 9:00 AM
Credit: CNN
Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich will face off tonight at a Republican presidential debate in Miami, Florida.
Marco Rubio now says he regrets making personal attacks on Donald Trump. "My kids were embarrassed by it, and if I had to do it again, I wouldn't," Rubio said.
Will "Democrats for Trump" help the real estate mogul win next week's Ohio Republican primary?
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clashed over immigration, trade, health care, and more at last night's Democratic presidential debate.
Edward Snowden: "The FBI says Apple has the 'exclusive technical means' to unlock the phone. Respectfully, that's bullshit."
"The German authorities have obtained a list of the names of about 22,000 foreigners who have traveled to Syria to fight for the Islamic State, a trove of documents that officials say will help them prosecute fighters who return home and improve their efforts to prevent other Germans from joining the organization."
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.
Damon Root is a senior editor at Reason and the author of A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books).


Back to Contents of Issue: June 2001
Unwired. At the end of February 2001, approximately 65.3 million cellphones were in use in Japan. This marked an increase of 1.1 percent over the previous month and raised the diffusion to 51.4 percent of Japan's population. To deal with this disturbing shortfall, I predict keitai will soon be installed in rattles, teething rings, and the upper plates of dentures. Your finny correspondent, who detests them with a gusto bordering on fanaticism, has vowed to be the last man in the country to own one. Don't call me.
Selling convenience. How often do you need a convenience fix? Polled via the Net, 10.3 percent of respondents told Nikkei Business that they shop at a convenience store on a daily basis. When asked what other attractions would motivate them to drop in other than purchase of goods, 71.3 percent said a bank ATM, followed by issue of certificates of residence (necessary for school registration, car purchases, health insurance applications, et cetera, and currently available only from the city office during work hours).
Apathy and his friends. According to Newsweek Japan, in a comparison of young adults in 11 countries, Japan ranked fourth from the bottom in terms of political apathy. The combined figures for "basically indifferent" and "not the least bit interested" came to 69.5 percent. The three countries with even less interest: the UK, Sweden, and Brazil.
Don't stop the presses. Gartner Japan announced that domestic sales of printers climbed by an impressive 19.2 percent last year to total 8.21 million units, worth a whopping �186.7 billion. Roughly 80 percent were of the ink-jet type, popular with home users for producing New Year's greeting cards and printing the output from digital cameras. Many were sold bundled with PCs. Another growth segment was large-format printers for business users, which rose by 38.8 percent to total 137,000 units. By brand, Seiko Epson and Canon remained the big two, with market shares of 41.9 and 32.6 percent respectively. According to the Yano Research Institute, Japanese makers shipped an estimated 43.92 million units last year, an increase of about 10 percent over 1999.
Lighten up, pigs. A fully equipped Japanese riot cop typically wears and carries 12 kilograms of protective equipment, nearly half of which is a bulky duralumin shield. Noting that acts of hooliganism at the previous World Cup tournament in France culminated in 165 arrests and several serious injuries to policemen, the National Police Agency has announced that in preparation for Japan's hosting of the 2002 games, its men in blue would aim for improved maneuverability on the field by adopting equipment some "20 to 30 percent" lighter. Ah, the sporting life ...
Dimmer switch. The accusation that vending machines in this country are an eyesore has been acknowledged by no less than their own manufacturers. Recognizing that these urban lighthouses might dazzle drivers and pedestrians with their overly bright display panels, the Japan Association of Vending Machine Manufacturers announced guidelines calling for a reduction of illumination by 50 percent. This will take effect on all new machines shipped starting in October of this year. Lighting, by the way, accounts for about one-sixth of all power consumption in the case of soft drink vending machines, so there's a modest payback. Operators were convinced to go along after tests showed that brightness levels did not have any pronounced effect on sales.
Is English needed? In what fields are Japanese most likely to require ability to communicate in English? When Berlitz Japan conducted a poll last autumn, it came up with this surprising -- or perhaps not so surprising -- point. Physicians and welfare workers came out on top with 236 votes; but right behind were policemen with 158. The top 10 was rounded out by teachers and nursery school staff (with 148 votes); station employees (98); civil servants (94); convenience store and supermarket clerks (68); workers in the IT sector (64); bus and taxi drivers (60); salespersons (56); and food and beverage service employees (50).
Promoting English. Nikkei Business, meanwhile, drew 417 responses to its Internet survey on whether English ability should be required for job promotions. Of the respondents, 42.9 percent voiced their agreement, while 24.7 percent were opposed. (The remaining 32.4 percent were noncommittal.) Reasons for disagreement included "Overall ability is more important than English"; "Some jobs don't require knowledge of English"; and "There is no standard by which a fair evaluation can be made."
Job search. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare reported that 57.6 percent of soon-to-be graduates said they went to the Internet to seek out information on new job prospects. This compares favorably with 65 percent using the government's "Hello Work" job location centers and 49.9 percent who availed themselves of magazines and the classified ad section of the newspaper.
My system is down. Quick -- get me to an IT company! If you need one in a hurry, go to Akihabara. According to a survey released by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in January, about 650 IT-related businesses are concentrated around Japan's largest electronics district. Among some 7,880 firms, the greatest concentration tends to be situated in the 23 wards of Tokyo, and of these, 43 percent are to the west of the Marunouchi-Otemachi business district. Based on the closest station, here's the Nikkei's breakdown after Akihabara, with the approximate number of companies in parentheses: Shibuya (450); Tochomae (400); Kayabacho (380); Ikebukuro (350); Shinjuku Gyoenmae (300); Tamachi (300); Gotanda (250); and Akasaka, Ebisu and Yokohama, each with 200.
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Sergio Goldvarg
Buby The Goldvarg Collection Sun Star Miniturbo Toys hobbyDB Model Car Hall Of Fame Guinness World Records Diecast Hall of Fame Class of 2014
Founder of Miniturbo and the Goldvarg Collection. Also advisor to Buby (where he worked on decals on Mini Buby and also worked on the concept of the Collector Classics) and later Sun Star. Guinness World of Records holder as the Largest Scale Model Car Collection holder, with 7,000 cars in 2005 and 12,000 cars in 2009. This collection led to his induction into the Diecast Hall of Fame in 2014, as an Intriguing Collector. In 2018 he was nominated for the Model Car Hall of Fame's Model Car Entrepreneur award.
Sergio is a member of the hobbyDB Advisory Board.
It was 26th January 1990 that Argentinian Sergio Goldvarg and his wife Mariana launched their very first 1:43 white metal model, the 1957 Oldsmobile, to herald a range of American 1940s and 1950s model cars, made in their home country.
Sergio had his own factory where the models were manufactured in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and this was the very first attempt to make white metal models in 1:43 scale, for the collector, in South America. All the brass masters were made, and the painting, casting and assembly, were all undertaken on site by either Sergio himself or his employees.
The models produced were strong and heavyweight, without the fragility of some contemporary examples of the time and certainly had a character of their own. The presentation of their models was a style not seen before, with leaflets included in the eye catching red and gold boxes promoting the models in comic style. Each model carried a tag signed by Sergio.
Their first model was an elegant 1951 Henry J Kaiser finished in a light metallic grey with maroon interior and an abundance of plated parts. The base inscription included a tribute to their son Kevin, born in 1991.
The Goldvargs original plan was to produce sixteen models. However, on Sergio's move to Florida, USA, the 1958 Oldsmobile was made in England by SMTS, using his pattern. Sergio found the costs associated with production in England very high.
However, the story of The Goldvarg Collection continues as he currently has completed brass masters to produce the following:
Plymouth Fury 1960
Pontiac Bonneville 1959
Nash Golden Airflyte 1952 4 door Sedan
Mercury Park Lane 1960
Oldsmobile 1957 Convertible.
Pontiac Star Chief 1955 Hard Top w/Continental Kit
Mercury Montclair 1956 Hard Top.
He also intends to produce a number of different variations from the old original brass masters. He is now looking for the right manufacturer. Sergio has a huge scale model car collection of his own, totalling nearly 14.000 models, in scales ranging from 1:43, 1:50 to 1:18. In 2007 and 2009 he achieved an entry in the Guinness World of Records, the first time with 7,000 models and in 2009 with 12,000.
Whilst his main collection is at home, Sergio has many 1:18 scale models on display at the restaurant that he owns at 3285 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Florida, known as "Waffleworks." He also collects Batmobiles in all scales, from 1:87 to 1:1, owning one of the original cars used by Adam West! So if you're in Hollywood, be sure to stop by and enjoy a meal in this fun restaurant, and soak up the model car ambience.
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GOLDVARG COLLECTION


How To Test the Salinity of Water
Salinity is the measurement of salts dissolved in a solution of water. Salinity is measured in percentage (%) or parts per thousand (ppt) and is tested either with a conductivity meter, hydrometer, or refractometer.
Salinity is an important water parameter to measure in terms of water quality as different crops, livestock, and aquatic organisms require different salinity environments to survive. Small fluctuations in salinity can pose issues such as stress, or can even be fatal to organisms, which has a devastating effect on surrounding ecosystems.
Different water bodies have different salt content/salinity ranges; freshwater has a salt value of >0.5ppt, saltwater ~34-36ppt, and brackish water is a mix of both so it can vary. The salinity of brackish water fluctuates depending on how much fresh or saltwater flows into the water body.
Salinity can be tested in three different ways:
Handheld Refractometer
Conductivity meter
The most important factor when testing the salinity of the water is to understand salinity measurements depending on the type of water you will be testing.
This tool looks like a telescope and is the simplest way to measure the salinity of water accurately. They work by measuring how much light bends or refracts (refractive index) when water is added under a plate, and are most commonly used in aquaculture industries such as aquariums.
How to use it?
Calibrate it first to get an accurate reading.
Open the plate to expose the prism.
Pipette the solution you wish to test.
Add a couple of drops of the solution being tested onto the prism.
Close the plate gently.
Look through the round end of the meter to read the salinity level. You will see a scale, most likely in parts per thousand (ppt) ranging from 0 to 50.
Record the result.
Gently wipe the prism with a cloth or tissue.
This is the most inexpensive tool to test the salinity of water, whilst giving reasonably accurate measurements. Hydrometers measure the specific gravity of water that uses the Archimedes principle. They are great for measuring salinity in aquariums but cannot be used for testing the salinity of water in soils.
If using a hydrometer, you must note the temperature when it was calibrated to calculate an accurate salinity reading. It is recommended to calibrate a hydrometer to 60 °F (16 °C) or 77 °F (25 °C), as these are the general standards for testing the salinity of water.
Hydrometers come in 2 types: swing-arm hydrometers and glass hydrometers.
How to use them?
Take a water sample and place it into a container ensuring the container has been cleaned with the water being tested to avoid any errors. You will need enough water so the hydrometer can be submerged deep enough.
Measure the temperature of the water being tested – this is needed later to calculate the salinity level.
Clean the hydrometer in freshwater.
Place the hydrometer into the sample. Note that, glass hydrometers will float, this is normal, so never try to fully submerge glass hydrometers as this will give inaccurate readings.
If there are any air bubbles on the hydrometer, gently shake the hydrometer until they are gone as bubbles can affect the reading.
If using a swing-arm hydrometer, whilst keeping it level, read the measurement, this will be pointing to the specific gravity of the water sample.
If using a glass hydrometer, the measurement will be where the surface of the water touches the meter – make sure you measure the flat water surface, not the meniscus.
Convert the relative specific gravity (sg) into salinity if needed.
Conductivity meters do not provide direct salinity readings, instead, they measure the conductivity of water (mS/cm: S=Siemens, an electrical conductivity unit. mS=milliSiemens), which is why they are called electrical conductivity (EC) sensors. EC sensors are used to test the salinity of water as they record the number of total dissolved solids (TDS) in water. High conductivity readings from EC sensors indicate water with a high salinity, which is why they are most commonly used.
EC sensors use an electrical current that passes between two metal plates of electrodes, measuring the current that travels between the two plates. Conductivity is the measurement of electrical flow through the water, which is directly related to the ion (salt) concentration of water.
Conductivity probes usually come in 2 types, a regular conductivity probe and one for industrial industries. The great thing with EC probes is that they do not only measure salt content in water. Most EC probes will also measure nutrients and impurities in the water, covering a wider range of industries like hydroponics, aquaculture, and freshwater systems for example.
Calibrate it first to ensure an accurate reading.
If testing salinity in the soil, mix the soil with distilled water (1 part soil, 5 parts water).
Remove the protective cap on the EC sensor.
Dip the EC probe in the sample to the required level – most EC probes have a marker on them. Ensure that you only submerge the probe in the sample as EC sensors are not waterproof.
Move the probe up and down to remove any air bubbles.
Adjust the temperature as some EC meters automatically adjust which can give you inaccurate readings. If your EC meter doesn't have this function, you can manually correct this later using a chart.
Read the result from the display. Most EC sensors are measured in mS/cm, so if you require the salinity result to be in ppt, you will need to convert this.
Why is Testing the Salinity of Water Important?
It is important to test the salinity of water for many reasons. Salinity meters most commonly measure the salinity of water in 4 main industries:
In wastewater treatments, salinity must be tested to determine the salt content of the water before it reenters the surrounding environment.
Salinity enters the wastewater system via agricultural, sewage, and stormwater runoff. Therefore, it is important to measure salinity as any minor changes in levels can cause issues to plants, animals, and the environment.
Testing salinity is vital in surface waters and aquaculture, as different aquatic organisms have different optimal levels to survive. Organisms living in saltwater have an optimum salinity level of 40 ppt, and freshwater organisms cannot tolerate salinity levels exceeding 1 ppt.
Organisms that live within brackish conditions must be able to tolerate salinity changes as the inflow and outflow of water can fluctuate depending on how much fresh or saltwater enters.
Measuring the salinity in groundwater indicates the salt content in surface soil. By testing the salinity levels in soil, you can see how much salt will be extracted via the plant's roots. Testing salinity levels in the soil are usually done after the irrigation season as this is when salinity is at its highest.
In addition to regular salinity testing, samples can be sent to a laboratory for further analysis. In lab settings, samples can be screened to look at ion content, TDS levels, total hardness, carbonates, sodium absorption ratio, and sodium analysis.
The salinity of water is measured in the agricultural industry to check if the water is safe and clean for irrigation and livestock, and in industrial settings to ensure that industrial discharge is free from high levels of dissolved salts.
Testing the salinity of water is also useful within the health and manufacturing industries to measure the water quality, and is also paramount for basic field testing.
Salinity Values & Their Uses
Water is an extremely valuable source, covering a wide range of uses in different industries. Depending on the salinity value, depends on what industry the water is used for.
Salinity Status Salinity Value in % Salinity Value in ppt Use of Water Body
Fresh <0.05 <0.5 Drinking water & all irrigation
Brackish 0.1-0.2 1-2 Irrigation for some crops
Saline 0.2-1.0 2-10 Livestock
Very Saline 1.0-3.5 10-35 Saline groundwater & some livestock
Brine (seawater) >3.5 >35 Mining & industrial uses
What Are the Effects of Salinity?
Salinity is found in different bodies of water and is always changing due to factors such as runoff or inflow and outflow of fresh or saltwater.
When the salinity in water increases it can cause many environmental and economical problems, such as:
Affecting crop yields: poor health & growth to salt-tolerant crops.
Poor health or even death of plants, reducing biodiversity, and increasing salt-resistant species in an area.
Salt can corrode infrastructures such as bridges and roads costing money to repair and requiring regular maintenance.
Killing aquatic organisms that require low or specific salinity levels, or they will need to learn to adapt to changes, however, not many species can do this.
Additional water treatment solutions may need to be created.
How to Adjust Salinity?
In most situations, salinity must remain stable. After testing you may find the salinity level is too high or too low, therefore you will need to adjust it.
If the salinity level is too low, you can simply add saltwater in small quantities until the ideal salinity level is reached. For precision, sometimes a titration method is used.
If the salinity level is too high, you will need to change the balance of the water. To reduce the salt content in water, the easiest way is by adding freshwater, or in agricultural industries, irrigation methods are used.
Summing Up Testing Water Salinity
Salinity is a vital water parameter to test in different industries as water is such a useful resource. Salinity can be defined as the number of salts dissolved in a solution of water that is measured either in percentage (%) or parts per thousand (ppt).
Before purchasing any testing equipment like a refractometer, hydrometer, or conductivity meter, make sure you know it will provide you with accurate readings and that you feel comfortable using it.
If you have any questions regarding testing salinity, the conductivity probes we have to offer, or any other water parameter testing kits, please feel free to reach out to our world-class team at Atlas Scientific, we are always happy to help!
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Conductivity Meter Uses
Measuring conductivity is essential in many industries and applications such as assessing water quality in aquatic ecosystems, salt concentrations in drinking water, or checking corrosion in heat exchangers. Electrical Conductivity or (EC) measures the ability of a material to transmit an electrical current over a certain distance, usually measured in Siemens (S) per distance. When
How To Remove Dissolved Oxygen From Water
Four common techniques can be used to remove dissolved oxygen (DO) from water, both chemically and mechanically. These techniques include boiling water at 1 atm (atmospheric pressure), boiling water under reduced pressure, nitrogen (N) purging, and sonication under reduced pressure. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the amount of oxygen present in water. We can easily measure
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Teresa De Feo December 3, 2009 ArticlesDigimag - Issue 50, December 2009 / January 2010Science
Bio ArtFocusHackingDigimag - Issue 50, December 2009 / January 2010
To meet Monsieur Morin is not something to be taken lightly. Even those who do not know him could not but be fascinated by his old Frenchman-like elegant ways and his ringed fingers. And I believe in his success. The husky voice with which the Monsieur expresses himself, never as an intellectual but more like the chief of a tribe who tells myths and stories, immediately creates empathy and takes you into an intellectual dimension with layered dimensions: that of complex thought. And it is immediately clear that complex thought, in the presence of the old philosopher, is not just a mix of methods, an intellectual practice, but the exercising of an existential operation, a human opening that has this objective: to give itself a new founding ethic, the ethic that a planetary consciousness needs.
On the 11th of November Edgar Morin sat in front of an audience of over 2.500 people, held in the Teatro Dal Verme, for the conclusive meeting of the Meet Media Guru 2009 event, directed by Maria Grazia Mattei. The event created much interest and was a unique occasion to get to know themes of a great adventure about knowledge directly from the horse's mouth, that of complex epistemology. (http://www.meetthemediaguru.org/index.php/11/edgar-morin-evento-11-novembre-video-dellevento/)
Edgar Morin, now an 88 year old, is certainly one of the most interesting intellectuals of the last 100 years. Director of the Cnrs (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), president of the agency for the Culture of Unesco and an honorary academic in more than 15 Universities worldwide, his has dealt with sociology, ethnology, anthropology, cinema, TV, old and new cybernetics, system theories, pedagogy, the research of the method capable of taking apart the various disciplines and reaping the challenge of complexity. An anomalous intellectual that is difficult to categorise and is politically engaged, Morin has earned himself the nickname "Undisciplined", also the title of his biography, a collection of his adventures, which was released in France this year and signed by Emmanuel Lemieux.
The French philosopher and sociologist began his trip in "complexity" after staying at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, in 1969, where he elaborated his own particular epistemological vision through his studies, that is based on certain fundamental media assumptions combining general theory of systems, cybernetics, theory of information and neurophysiology of autopoiesis of the living (second cybernetic), integrated piece by piece through their combinations with various disciplines of knowledge.
A few cybernetic theories in particular (see the previous article), as Morin often reminds us, gave the philosopher the key to gain access to complexity: among these, first of all, was the concept of retroaction, that with the cybernetic consideration of machine as a system capable of self-management, sent him on the path to a definition of the living constructed through multidimensional thought capable of involving the humanist and scientific sphere. So in Morin's discussion biological complexity of the human mind becomes inseparable from cultural complexity, so that culture itself is an indispensable part of biological evolution. Morin became the "full" theoretician of l'unité de l'homme as well as the unification of all disciplines.
The French philosopher's discussion, which can be interpreted as a method of complexity, calibrates some if the ideas that we could describe as his fundamental theories that we will keep finding on more levels of his interpretations: the principle of the hologram, the recursive principle, the dialogic principle as well as the consideration of a multidimensional subject that has never been disjointed from its context and has been integrated into the explanation of the phenomenon. Today the phenomenon will not, according to Morin, be purified of its disruptive elements like disorder, uncertainty, and risk. Integration and the relationship between antagonistic concepts will consequently be essential, one of which is the most dear to Morin and is autonomy-dependence. In other words, a slap in the face to reductionism, determinism, and tradition.
Photo by Gianfranco Chicco (www.flickr.com/gchicco)
But let's come back to the present, to Monsieur Morin's conference at the Dal Verme, which will help us to understand some passages of his thought processes that we presented in a brief summary.
Edgar Morin is currently directing his attention to the ecology and the promotion of a new ethic, proposing a political ecolo-sophy in his latest books and in the public debate that should be adopted in order to create a planetary transformation. His intervention in Milan was targeted at the presentation of his "complex" ethic that has the Hologram principle at its base, as well as the recursive cycle of "human trinity" and the cohabitation of antagonistic principles. Getting out of individualism and ego-centrism, is possible by following these three paths, which not only represent the interpretative keys but also the expression of his intrinsic wisdom capable of directing people toward solidarity, the communion of living beings, united in a circular chain of life and death.
What is the Hologram principle? It's is merely the overstepping of the illusion of retaining ourselves disconnected to the chain of life; the overstepping of the illusion that we are dominators of objects, of a res extensa outside the investigating subject. Exactly like in a hologram, where every single part experiences the totality of being together, man must never lose sight of the awareness of carrying the history of the entire universe within himself, and must never stop knowing that every I carries a WE inside it.
According to Morin the passage of life is circular and recursive. Just as human beings live the same circle of divine trinity, every man is an individual, part of a society and part of a species, but not in the sense of a hierarchy, but more like the consideration that every single part of the process is the cause and is also the successive effect, and the preceding effect. Within the species, man is the product and the producer, like every man is a father but also a son and so on. It's indispensable to find a sense of totality, but also to find an importance in specificity, which is the expression of totality on a small scale, just like an embrace that integrates contradictions, disturbances and antagonistic aspects. And Monsieur says it clearly: "an ecological thought is necessary but can never be sane if it does not accept its own insanity", so homo sapiens is also demens, and homo faber is also homo mitologicus, homo oeconomicus must also be homo ludens.
To think in a complex way means to feel part of a unique and great community, inside a great recursive cycle of life. It means being planetary citizens and using all of this as a possibility.
Now we have come to generate, on a technical basis, the most efficient metaphors of the living, like the metaphor of interconnection, and this has happened through the production of one of our most recent extensions: Internet. The web, through its cerebral network complexity, its connective intelligence and cultural skin cannot but be the possibility of favouring the growth of a planetary consciousness, which is the consciousness of being a part of one homeland, which the philosopher states is the only way to face vital problems of our times.
Going back to the first statements of this article, meeting Monsieur Morin is not just an opportunity to meet the theories of a new epistemology, but is the possibility to understand that every new epistemology inevitably opens up to a new ethic, and this is the responsibility that every scholar and every citizen who decides to follow these paths indicated by a new or old theory of knowledge, must feel.
Personally I like this ethic, just as I like the last words of Mr. Morin with which I will conclude my piece: "love is the only authentic religion of hyper-complexity" (Edgar Morin)
http://www.meetthemediaguru.org/index.php/category/edgar-morin/
http://lavoixdunet.eu/
Teresa De Feo
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