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Mobile data sync solution in SQL and NoSQL space

I was working on mobile data sync from last two years but could not find a reliable solution, but finally I found these interesting solutions in both SQL and NoSQL Space-

One in the SQL space called Zumero and other in the NoSQL space called CouchBase lite.

Zumero provides support for SQL lite at the mobile endpoint and SQL Server / SQL lite at the server endpoint.

CouchBase lite supports a NoSQL document based and key-value based databases at both the ends.

Both seems interesting & I am going to experiment further with both of these..

http://www.couchbase.com/communities/couchbase-lite
http://zumero.com/

BBC Global Dimming Documentary about Global Warming

A BBC documentary about how unintentional increased reflectance due to manmade pollution has actually hidden the affects of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Search is not a solved problem

10 Top Big Data Startups to Watch

After more than 4,000 votes were cast, the final Big Data startup rankings are in. Keep in mind that while voting was weighted heavily, it was not the be-all-and-end-all consideration. Other criteria included big-name end users, VC funding, the pedigree of the management team and market positioning.

Here are the final rankings, along with why they finished where they did:

1. ParStream actually finished second in the voting, but customers turned out to comment on Startup50, expressing support, and there was even an end user who emailed us directly with a lengthy explanation of why ParStream is the top Big Data startup today. Fanatical end user support and unique positioning as a "Fast Data" company pushes ParStream to No. 1.

2. MapR Technologies finished third in voting, has raised $59 million in VC funding and has a strong management team. Customers include Ancestry.com, Rubicon and comScore.

3. Cloudera actually finished sixth in voting, but with $140 million in funding and an impressive customer list, it's hard not to push them up a few slots. Customers include CBS Interactive, eBay, Expedia, Monsanto and Samsung.

4. ScaleArc finished fifth in voting, has raised $18 million in funding and has a Big Data solution that focuses on optimizing SQL query traffic, whereas most Big Data companies have set their sights on NoSQL, Hadoop, etc. Existing customers include Demand Media and Disney UTV.

5. LucidWorks did well in the voting, has solid funding ($16 million) and is uniquely positioned in this roundup with their focus on Big Data search. However, they'll need to get more on-the-record customers on the books to climb higher than this.

6. SiSense actually finished lower than 6 in voting, but they offer a fast, flexible, coding-free Big Data solution that even smaller companies on tight budgets can take advantage of. At the same time, major enterprises have bought into SiSense's approach, as well. SiSense has attracted an impressive list of top-tier customers, including NASA, ESPN and eBay. The company is also backed by $14 million in funding.

7. Cloudant's Database-as-a-Service has attracted more than 12,000 multi-tenant customers, including Samsung, DHL, Monsanto, Salesforce.com (Heroku), SourceFire, Hot Head Games, Flurry, AppAdvice, and LiveMocha. The company closed a $12 million second round of funding in May, bringing total funding to $16 million.

8. If we didn't take voting into account, Skytree would probably rank in the top 5. We like their machine-learning approach to Big Data analytics, and they raked in $18 million in their Series A funding round (closed in April 2013). Despite being such a newcomer to this space (founded in 2012), they can already claim eHarmony, SETI, USGA and Adconion Media as customers.

9. SumAll is positioned in one of the more competitive Big Data sub-sectors: social media, sales and marketing analytics. They're backed by $7.5 million in two rounds from Battery Ventures, Wellington Partners, Matrix and General Catalyst. Customers include Siemens, Diamond Candles and Urbio.

10. Somebody had to finish tenth, and Xplenty is probably disappointed by that. They shouldn't be. This list of 10 Big Data Startups to Watch was culled from more than 100 recommendations. Then, after posting a list of 42 nominees on Startup50, they had to beat out not just the 32 startups that didn't make the final cut, but also the numerous Big Data startups that we overlooked and had to consider when putting the final list together.

Xplenty should be proud. Now, they should probably set their sights on fundraising and getting customers on the record.

Jeff Vance is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who focuses on next-generation technology trends. Follow him on Twitter @ JWVance

http://www.cio.com/article/736377/10_Top_Big_Data_Startups_to_Watch_Final_Rankings?page=1&taxonomyId=600010

VS extension for SQL Lite

Found this excellent VS extension for SQL Lite.

Features:
• Visual database designer and editor
• Create / Manage Tables in VS Server Explorer
• EF Connecter for dot net 4

Download here for VS 2010/ Dot Net FW 4/x86:
http://system.data.sqlite.org/downloads/1.0.81.0/sqlite-netFx40-static-binary-bundle-Win32-2010-1.0.81.0.zip

For other versions/ editions:
http://system.data.sqlite.org/index.html/doc/trunk/www/downloads.wiki

thanks!

~ Sumit Pranav

My experience with MonoTouch that allows development of iOS apps with C# and .NET

I have tried my hands on monotouch that allows iPhone and iPad apps with C# and .NET.

My experience had not been good, few of the reasons below:

• ·         It has own IDE which is slow and crashes at times
• ·         It’s SDK does not support all the native functionalities
• ·         Code, once written for iPad needs rewrite of many components (specially UI) to port it on Android.
• (The advantage of sharing code between Mono for Android and MonoTouch applications is greatly diluted because the UI definitions, proprietary SDK function calls, and even resource assets are mostly specific to each target platform.)
• ·         The bulky Mono runtime that has to be either compiled into the application's resource bundle or installed as a separate runtime adds considerable overhead and start-up time, especially for small applications.
• ·         Learning - development on monotouch for android and iOS is not straight forward, it needs the developer to be familiar to native development concepts of both of these platforms (like, Activities, Intents, UIControllers, View, Sub-view, NavigationControllers, …)
•  
• But, monotoch for iOS and Android generates nearly true native code that’s a plus.
• Monotouch suits a use case where we want a native app and we don’t have objective c developers.

Modernize Your Dev

Modernize Your Dev

• ASP.NET MVC
- Maturation of your .NET Roots
• Client-side Development
- Do more in the browser
• Abandon Post-back and ViewState
- Client-side network calls are here to stay
• Separate Concerns
- Don’t Comingle Markup, Design and Code

DNS Changer Malware- its effects and how to secure your computer from this

DNSChanger Malware has been infecting computers from November last year.

The roughly half a million devices are still infected with DNSChanger.

Infected machines had their Domain Name System settings altered so websites would redirect to servers controlled by the criminals. The scammers reportedly earned millions in affiliate and referral fees by diverting users through those sites.

Computers affected with this Trojan will not be able to access Internet after 9th July.

If infected machines are not fixed by then, their Internet connections will go dark.

On Google, infected computers will see a warning atop their screen when completing a search (see below). 

  

Read more about this Malware and how to check whether your computer has been infected by this here in FBI’s Publication

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911/DNS-changer-malware.pdf

Canvas vs. SVG

Canvas vs. SVG

With the advent of Canvas and SVG (scalable vector graphics), developers now have better choices for doing graphics on the Web than in the past.

Before Canvas, plug-ins such as Flash or Silverlight were the standard way to create animations on the Web. The alternative was to create a collection of good old-fashioned HTML, JavaScript and images, and bundle them into a collection of moving parts—a tedious task at best.

Two primary types of graphics are used on the Web:

·         Raster graphics are arrays of pixels arranged on a grid, also known as a bitmap. Common raster file extensions are .jpg, .bmp, .png, .tiff and .psd. Because Canvas uses pixels, it is raster based.

·         Vector graphics use mathematical metadata contained in a file to describe the graphic. The V in SVG stands for vector. Common vector file types are .svg, .eps and .xps.

Canvas and SVG have a few features in common. Both Canvas and SVG have an Open Source library ecosystem, and you never need plug-ins for either technology.

Side-by-side comparison of common Canvas and SVG characteristics.

Canvas	SVG
Single DOM element	Multiple DOM elements
Script language	Markup language
Raster graphics	Vector graphics
No file format	.svg file format
Must reset canvas to change drawn shape	Can edit shapes after drawing
Not accessible	Accessible
Doesn’t support event handlers	Supports event handlers
Non-searchable, can’t index	Searchable, can index
Non-compressible	Compressible
Can use hardware acceleration	No hardware acceleration

Canvas tends to be well suited for highly interactive games, especially when combined with Internet Explorer 9 GPU offloading.
Canvas is a great choice for image editing, and although you can’t edit , you can save the context state to allow the user to undo actions, essentially to do real-time editing.

SVG is great for graphic basics such as displaying a resolution-independent company logo that scales to any screen size without pixel distortion.
Fractals and Mandelbrot sets are just two types of complex data visualizations that are well suited for SVG.