#custom database software development

[grootsoftwares01]

Why Is Custom Database Software Essential for Businesses?

A custom database software development service provides tailored solutions that align with your specific business requirements, ensuring better data handling, improved security, and seamless integration with existing systems.

[8techlabs-blog]

How to Balance Fixing Performance Issues and Adding New Features in Web Applications?

In today’s digital landscape, web applications are essential for business operations, marketing, and consumer involvement. As organizations expand and consumer expectations rise, development teams are frequently confronted with the difficult task of balancing two key priorities: addressing performance issues and introducing new features.

While boosting performance improves the user experience and increases efficiency, new features are required to remain competitive and meet market demands. Prioritizing one over the other, on the other hand, might have negative consequences—performance concerns can lead to a poor user experience while failing to innovate can result in a competitive disadvantage.

This blog delves into how to balance improving performance and introducing new features to web apps, allowing firms to satisfy technical and market demands efficiently.

Why Balancing Performance and New Features Is Crucial

A web application‘s success depends on both its performance and its features. However, relying entirely on one might result in imbalances that impair both user happiness and business progress. 

Performance:Performance is an important component that directly influences user retention and happiness. Users can become frustrated and leave if the application has slow loading times, crashes, or problems. Ensuring that your web application runs smoothly is essential since 53% of mobile consumers would quit a site that takes more than three seconds to load. 

New Features:On the other hand, constantly adding new features keeps users interested and promotes your company as innovative. New features generate growth by attracting new consumers and retaining existing ones who want to experience the most recent changes.

The dilemma is deciding when to prioritize bug fixes over new feature development. A poor balance can harm both performance and innovation, resulting in a subpar user experience and stagnation. 

Common Performance Issues in Web Applications

Before balancing performance and features, it’s important to understand the common performance issues that web applications face:

Slow Load Times: Slow pages lead to higher bounce rates and lost revenue.

Server Downtime: Frequent server outages impact accessibility and trust.

Poor Mobile Optimization: A significant portion of web traffic comes from mobile devices and apps that aren’t optimized for mobile fail to reach their potential.

Security Vulnerabilities: Data breaches and security flaws harm credibility and user trust.

Bugs and Glitches: Software bugs lead to poor user experiences, especially if they cause the app to crash or become unresponsive.

Strategic Approaches to Fixing Performance Issues

When performance issues develop, they must be handled immediately to guarantee that the online application functions properly. Here are techniques for improving performance without delaying new feature development: 

Prioritize Critical Issues:Tackle performance issues that have the most significant impact first, such as slow loading times or security vulnerabilities. Use analytics to identify bottlenecks and determine which areas require urgent attention. 

Use a Continuous Improvement Process:Continuously monitor and optimize the application’s performance. With tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, you can track performance metrics and make incremental improvements without major overhauls. 

Optimize Database Queries:Slow database queries are one of the leading causes of web app performance issues. Optimize queries and ensure that the database is indexed properly for faster access and retrieval of data. 

Reduce HTTP Requests:The more requests a page makes to the server, the slower it loads. Minimize requests by reducing file sizes, combining CSS and JavaScript files, and utilizing caching.

  5. Leverage Caching and CDNs:       Use caching strategies and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to deliver content quickly to users by storing files in multiple locations globally.

Why Adding New Features is Essential for Growth

 In the rapidly changing digital environment, businesses must continually innovate to stay relevant. Adding new features is key to maintaining a competitive edge and enhancing user engagement. Here’s why:

User Expectations:Today’s consumers expect personalized experiences and constant innovation. Failure to add new features can lead to customer churn, as users may feel your web application no longer meets their needs.

Market Differentiation:Introducing new features allows your application to stand out in the marketplace. Unique functionalities can set your app apart from competitors, attracting new users and increasing customer loyalty.

Increased Revenue Opportunities:New features can lead to additional revenue streams. For example, adding premium features or new integrations can boost the app’s value and lead to increased sales or subscription rates.

  4. Feedback-Driven Innovation:       New features are often driven by user feedback. By continuously developing and adding features, you create a feedback loop that improves the overall user experience and fosters customer                 satisfaction.

Read More: https://8techlabs.com/how-to-balance-fixing-performance-issues-and-adding-new-features-in-web-applications-to-meet-market-demands-and-enhance-user-experience/

[digitalhub-solution]

Upgrade Your Business Strategy with Powerful Company Database Software

In the current digital world, data is considered valuable. The way businesses acquire, save, and make use of this data can greatly impact their continuity and growth. Since the data keeps on multiplying at an enormous rate, businesses require powerful resources to manage it efficiently. One of the most critical resources at a business's disposal is company database software. With an appropriate database system in place, a business can optimize its processes, improve its decision-making, and increase productivity overall.

This article will analyze the importance of company database software, the impact of database engineering in developing many efficient systems, and why a database for business is essential to a company.

 

What is Company Database Software?

At its most fundamental level, company database software is a program that enables users to store, manage and retrieve information in a well-structured manner. This software is used to process and store a lot of information, which makes it simple to retrieve data when needed. Unlike simple spreadsheets, company database software is built for scalability, flexibility, and speed. It allows businesses to store all sorts of crucial information including customer details, sales, and inventory data.

With modern database software, data integrity, data updating, automated backup, and access restrictions are also features of the package. It is a vital component for businesses that depend on precise and up-to-date data to make essential decisions.

 

The Purpose for Developing a Database

The first step toward building a database is understanding its purpose, developing a query language and data models, designing its schemas, and developing reports for data retrieval and analysis. The accuracy of the data and its retrieval system along with the performance of the database system is the prime goal for these steps. 

Most companies that adopt a company database software would often prefer it to be custom made so that it mirrors the company’s data and processing needs. A retail store would, for instance, want to have a database to maintain their inventory levels while a financial institution may need a complex system to manage their transactions securely.

Considering businesses have so much data and information, maintaining accuracy along with providing value for insight-access freedom is paramount. Hence, correct optimization structure helps make and achieve certain business objectives on the reliability of the information obtained. And, for that reason, the data system should incorporate a progression to support any increase in the volume of a company’s data.

 

What Is the Importance of Maintaining a Database for Your Business?

Firms have to implement an efficient database for the business for them to operate in the current market environment. Here are some key reasons why a business database is essential for any organization:

Increased Productivity: For a firm, data retrieval and entry is one of the most hectic tasks that consumes a lot of time. With the right business database software system, most tasks can be automated eliminating the need for constant human intervention. Consider if a customer file or inventory level needs to be updated. With an automated system, it can be done without manual intervention.

Enhanced Data Quality: Errors can hamper considerably influence the outcomes of the decision-making process. A company database software system ensures that users access current data by eliminating discrepancies. To enhance the quality of information provided to those who make the decisions, rules can be set that would eliminate bad data entries from the system.

Improved Efficiency: A database for business enables decision makers to have real-time access to the information that is most relevant to making sales, following customer activity, or monitoring market activity. A sophisticated database system allows for rapid report generation and swift data manipulation.

Scalability: An increase in business revenue directly correlates with the amount of data that needs to be processed. A thoroughly designed database system guarantees that the database is able to scale up as the business grows, and more data is available without degrading the performance of the system. This is especially important for companies that want to succeed in the long run.

Data Security: Maintaining sensitive business data security is a matter of importance for any company. Most contemporary database software comes with user's rights management, data protection and regular data backup features that can be set at the company level. With these systems in place, it is possible to ensure that company data is secure against unauthorized access, theft, or damage.

Improved Collaboration: Employees from different divisions can now get the data they require at their fingertips courtesy of cloud-based systems. This helps promote collaboration as people from various teams can share information, monitor developments, and make decisions based on the same data.

 

 

Tailored Database Solutions for All Business Types and Sizes

Every organization has different needs in terms of managing data. Company database software can address a majority of needs, but sometimes, a custom database offers a better solution. Custom database development makes it possible for businesses to develop a system that meets their requirements, making certain that the software accommodates intricate workflows, processes, and industry standards.

As an illustration, an e-commerce company might need a database that interfaces with online payment processing, manages order tracking, and inventory control in real-time. Meanwhile, a healthcare provider might need to have a more sophisticated system for patient records, appointment scheduling, and billing information management.

Outsourcing the data management system also allows deeper integration of the database with other business systems, for example, customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource Planning (ERP) or accounting systems. This integration enables all departments to work with one single system and result in more effective and timely business decisions.

 

Conclusion

Effective data management is critical in business these days. Company database software makes it easy for businesses to organize, store, and access their data. Companies that invest in database systems development ensure that their database systems are accurate, scalable, and secure so the business and its environment can grow together.

In addition, the right business database design allows companies to make better decisions which increases the efficiency of business operations, productivity, and customer satisfaction. As businesses continue to use data as a tool for boosting their competitive edge, the need for proven, bespoke database solutions will continue rising.

[kbizsoftsolutions-blog]

FileMaker Custom Development: Create Robust Custom Applications with Kbizsoft

Discover how Kbizsoft’s expert FileMaker custom development services can help you design tailored, robust applications. From idea to implementation, we deliver solutions that enhance productivity and efficiency. To learn more about our custom FileMaker development process contact us today.

[geeconglobal]

Streamlining Application Development and Maintenance in London: Best Practices for Success

In the heart of London's bustling tech scene, businesses are continually seeking efficient and effective methods to develop and maintain their applications. With the rapid pace of technological advancement and the high expectations of consumers, it's crucial for companies to adopt best practices that ensure success. Here are some strategies to streamline application development and maintenance in London:

1. Adopt Agile Methodologies

Agile methodologies, including Scrum and Kanban, promote iterative development, collaboration, and flexibility. By adopting Agile, development teams in London can respond quickly to changes, ensure continuous improvement, and deliver high-quality applications that meet user needs.

2. Leverage DevOps Practices

DevOps combines development and operations to create a culture of collaboration and efficiency. Implementing DevOps practices such as continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) can significantly reduce the time to market, improve product quality, and enhance the reliability of applications.

3. Embrace Cloud Computing

Cloud computing offers scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency, making it an essential component for modern application development and maintenance. By utilizing cloud services from providers like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, companies can easily scale their applications based on demand and ensure robust performance and security.

4. Invest in Automation

Automation tools can greatly enhance productivity and reduce the risk of human error. Automated testing, deployment, and monitoring can help ensure that applications are thoroughly tested, reliably deployed, and continuously monitored for issues, allowing for quick resolution and minimal downtime.

5. Focus on User Experience (UX)

A great user experience is critical for the success of any application. Conducting user research, usability testing, and continuous feedback loops can help ensure that applications are intuitive, efficient, and meet the needs of their users. In London’s competitive market, a superior UX can be a significant differentiator.

6. Ensure Robust Security

With increasing cyber threats, security must be a top priority. Implementing best practices for application security, such as regular security assessments, penetration testing, and adherence to security standards like ISO/IEC 27001, can help protect sensitive data and maintain user trust.

7. Continuous Learning and Improvement

The tech landscape is constantly evolving, and staying ahead requires continuous learning and adaptation. Encouraging a culture of continuous improvement, providing ongoing training for development teams, and staying updated with the latest industry trends and technologies can help maintain a competitive edge.

By adopting these best practices, companies in London can streamline their application development and maintenance London processes, delivering high-quality, reliable, and secure applications that meet the demands of today's fast-paced market. Embracing these strategies not only enhances operational efficiency but also drives innovation and growth in one of the world's leading tech hubs. Visit more information for your website

[ms-demeanor]

fucking client emailed in requesting a license last night at 10, called today before nine asking for the license and if I could hurry this along because it was urgent; being the person that I am I went to go find some more information and discovered that the customer wants to do an in-place upgrade on a nine-year-old free license to a recent server license which is.

A) not possible with the service pack they have installed B) probably not compatible with the two kinds of software they have talking to the database C) probably not compatible with their actual server, which blew up spectacularly in January.

(all of which is to say nothing about the wide variety of possible ways to purchase and install the license, but probably standard is what they want even if they're technically too big for it)

I talk to my team, most of whom do not have much experience with upgrades/migrations for this software and we all agree that more research into their environment is needed, including possibly calls with their other software vendors and also possibly maybe replacing their twelve year old server.

Call the client at 2pm and let him know that this project is going to be more rigorous than just ordering a license, let them know that this isn't being dropped or ignored, but we need more information and will be in contact when more of the team knows what's going on.

5:14 PM, my coworker messages me "hey, do we have a tenant for this client?"

I message my coworker: "fucking lol, this is about their license, isn't it?"

It is about their license. They have sent in an emergency after hours ticket describing the issue as urgent: they have purchased the license on their own from a consumer vendor unaware of the fact that they need admin access to a tenant to download the software.

I create a tenant for the client and document the information, then provide the tenant ID.

And then since it's urgent, it's an emergency, I begin gathering data and composing an email.

The license won't populate to the tenant for hours at least and probably not for a full day.

They didn't actually tell us what license they've got, but if they plan to use it with one flavor of software they've got they probably need a secondary license they were totally unaware of.

I have found no evidence whatsoever that this license is compatible with their other software.

I hop into an after hours meeting with one of our tier three consultants to get the exact version number of the software and confirm that there is not a straightforward upgrade path between the license they have and the license they want.

I send an email advising that if their developer wants to make an upgrade they MUST back up the database because we have emergency backups, not database backups, let them know in writing "per our conversation this afternoon, this is why we don't think this will work" and thank them cheerfully, letting them know to reach out if they have questions about licensing.

hit send at half past eight.

Combined after hours work on this "emergency" "critical" "urgent" ticket is now probably about half the hardware cost of a better server.

I get that emergencies happen, but buddy if I tell you "hey, I know you are in a rush with this but we have to take our time to do this correctly" and you ignore me and make me stay late to handle your "critical" ticket, you and I both are not going to have a good time.

[mythalism]

i know everyone is really excited for the oblivion remake because i was too. oblivion was the first real video game i ever played when i was a kid, and is literally the reason i am a gamer today, but BDS has called for a microsoft boycott, and that includes anything made by bethesda.

this isn't just a "oh they have some obscure business partnerships in isr*el" or "oh they donate to this or that lobby" sort of boycott either, although those are important too. my tone is not meant to be flippant about them, but rather i want to emphasize the gravity of how microsoft directly and deliberately contributes to the palestinian death toll daily, in a way that is uniquely cruel and complicit.

microsoft has had a $35 million dollar contract with the isr*eli military since 2002. they provide cloud storage for surveillance data of gazan civillians, and an artificial intelligence program called a "mass assassination factory" to assist in planning and targeting their attacks, many of which are on civilians or involve mass civilian casualties.

microsoft's service agreements with the isr*eli military also includes the CPU responsible for the military's tech infrastructure, military intelligence units that develop spy technology used against palestinians and lebanese, the maintenance of the palestinian population registry that tracks and (illegally) limits the movement of palestinains in the west bank and gaza, their air force targeting database, and much more. they work closely with isr*eli military intelligence agencies on surveillance systems used to monitor palestians, provide specialized consulting, technical and engineering support, hosts training software for the IOF, provide financial support to organizations based in the illegally occupied west bank, and have repeatedly invested in isr*eli start ups specializing in war technology.

in 2020, internal and external pressure forced microsoft to pull out of its 74 million dollar investment in an isr*eli company that violated international law due to its use of facial recognition technology for military surveillance.

in 2021, microsoft signed a new, 3-year contract with the isr*eli ministry of defense worth $133 million dollars. the isr*eli military is microsoft's second largest military customer. the first? the united states.

you can read more (w/ sources) about microsoft's complicity here.

BDS asks us to boycott microsoft products whenever possible.

microsoft is directly complicit in countless isr*eli war crimes, and the money you provide them will further proliferate this violence. i know the oblivion remake was exciting, but please, consider the lives of palestinians above your own nostalgia. no one is free until everyone is free.

[xbsoftware]

Developing a web application, you are always concerned about data. The major issues are how to manage it efficiently and store it securely. In some simple cases, you can solve them by applying sharding or partitioning, but if you’re looking for absolute control, working with multiple databases can help. A solution we provide here may use multiple databases. We suggest using the approach described in the Aarticle to keep the sanity of the development team building such an application.

[tech-ahead-corp]

Digital Marketing Services

TechAhead offers comprehensive digital marketing services that encompass various strategies and techniques, including SEO, social media marketing, content creation, and more, to help businesses establish a strong online presence and drive growth!

[misfitwashere]

April 11, 2025

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 12

READ IN APP

On April 4, Trump fired head of U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and director of the National Security Agency (NSA) General Timothy Haugh, apparently on the recommendation of right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who is pitching her new opposition research firm to “vet” candidates for jobs in Trump’s administration.

Former secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall wrote in Newsweek yesterday that the position Haugh held is “one of the most sensitive and powerful jobs in America.” Kendall writes that NSA and CYBERCOM oversee the world’s most sophisticated tools and techniques to penetrate computer systems, monitor communications around the globe, and, if national security requires it, attack those systems. U.S. law drastically curtails how those tools can be used in the U.S. and against American citizens and businesses. Will a Trump loyalist follow those laws? Kendall writes: “Every American should view this development with alarm.”

Just after 2:00 a.m. eastern time this morning, the Senate confirmed Retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan Caine, who goes by the nickname “Razin,” for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a vote of 60–25. U.S. law requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to have served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of staff of the Army, the chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the commandant of the Marine Corps, or the commander of a unified or specified combatant command.

Although Caine has 34 years of military experience, he did not serve in any of the required positions. The law provides that the president can waive the requirement if “the President determines such action is necessary in the national interest,” and he has apparently done so for Caine. The politicization of the U.S. military by filling it with Trump loyalists is now, as Kendall writes, “indisputable.”

The politicization of data is also indisputable. Billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) claims to be saving Americans money, but the Wall Street Journal reported today that effort has been largely a failure (despite today’s announcement of devastating cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that monitors our weather). But what DOGE is really doing is burrowing into Americans’ data.

The first people to be targeted by that data collection appear to be undocumented immigrants. Jason Koebler of 404 Media reported on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been using a database that enables officials to search for people by filtering for “hundreds of different, highly specific categories,” including scars or tattoos, bankruptcy filings, Social Security number, hair color, and race. The system, called Investigative Case Management (ICM), was created by billionaire Peter Thiel’s software company Palantir, which in 2022 signed a $95.9 million contract with the government to develop ICM.

Three Trump officials told Sophia Cai of Politico that DOGE staffers embedded in agencies across the government are expanding government cooperation with immigration officials, using the information they’re gleaning from government databases to facilitate deportation. On Tuesday, DOGE software engineer Aram Moghaddassi sent the first 6,300 names of individuals whose temporary legal status had just been canceled. On the list, which Moghaddassi said covered those on “the terror watch list” or with “F.B.I. criminal records,” were eight minors, including one 13-year-old.

The Social Security Administration worked with the administration to get those people to “self-deport” by adding them to the agency's “death master file.” That file is supposed to track people whose death means they should no longer receive benefits. Adding to it people the administration wants to erase is “financial murder,” former SSA commissioner Martin O’Malley told Alexandra Berzon, Hamed Aleaziz, Nicholas Nehamas, Ryan Mac, and Tara Siegel Bernard of the New York Times. Those people will not be able to use credit cards or banks.

On Tuesday, Acting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Melanie Krause resigned after the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security agreed to share sensitive taxpayer data with immigration authorities. Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes, in part to demonstrate their commitment to citizenship, and the government has promised immigrants that it would not use that information for immigration enforcement. Until now, the IRS has protected sensitive taxpayer information.

Rene Marsh and Marshall Cohen of CNN note that “[m]ultiple senior career IRS officials refused to sign the data-sharing agreement with DHS,” which will enable HHS officials to ask the IRS for names and addresses of people they suspect are undocumented, “because of grave concerns about its legality.” Ultimately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signed the agreement with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Krause was only one of several senior career officials leaving the IRS, raising concerns among those staying that there is no longer a “defense against the potential unlawful use of taxpayer data by the Trump administration.”

Makena Kelly of Wired reported today that for the past three days, DOGE staffers have been working with representatives from Palantir and career engineers from the IRS in a giant “hackathon.” Their goal is to build a system that will be able to access all IRS records, including names, addresses, job data, and Social Security numbers, that can then be compared with data from other agencies.

But the administration’s attempt to automate deportation is riddled with errors. Last night the government sent threatening emails to U.S. citizens, green card holders, and even a Canadian (in Canada) terminating “your parole” and giving them seven days to leave the U.S. One Massachusetts-born immigration lawyer asked on social media: “Does anyone know if you can get Italian citizenship through great-grandparents?”

The government is not keen to correct its errors. On March 15 the government rendered to prison in El Salvador a legal U.S. resident, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whom the courts had ordered the U.S. not to send to El Salvador, where his life was in danger. The government has admitted that its arrest and rendition of Abrego Garcia happened because of “administrative error” but now claims—without evidence—that he is a member of the MS-13 gang and that his return to the U.S. would threaten the public. Abrego Garcia says he is not a gang member and notes that he has never been charged with a crime.

On April 4, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered the government to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. no later than 11:59 pm on April 7. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which handed down a 9–0 decision yesterday, saying the government must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release, but asked the district court to clarify what it meant by “effectuate,” noting that it must give “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

The Supreme Court also ordered that “the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”

Legal analyst Joyce White Vance explained what happened next. Judge Xinis ordered the government to file an update by 9:30 a.m. today explaining where Abrego Garcia is, what the government is doing to get him back, and what more it will do. She planned an in-person hearing at 1:00 p.m.

The administration made clear it did not intend to comply. It answered that the judge had not given them enough time to answer and suggested that it would delay over the Supreme Court’s instruction that Xinis must show deference to the president’s ability to conduct foreign affairs. Xinis gave the government until 11:30 and said she would still hold the hearing. The government submitted its filing at about 12:15, saying that Abrego Garcia is “in the custody of a foreign sovereign,” but at the 1:00 hearing, as Anna Bower of Lawfare reported, the lawyer representing the government, Drew Ensign, said he did not have information about where Abrego Garcia is and that the government had done nothing to get him back. Ensign said he might have answers by next Tuesday. Xinis says they will have to give an update tomorrow.

As Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor recently warned, if the administration can take noncitizens off the streets, render them to prison in another country, and then claim it is helpless to correct the error because the person is out of reach of U.S. jurisdiction, it could do the same thing to citizens. Indeed, both President Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt have proposed that very thing.

Tonight, Trump signed a memorandum to the secretaries of defense, interior, agriculture, and homeland security calling for a “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions.” The memorandum creates a military buffer zone along the border so that any migrant crossing would be trespassing on a U.S. military base. This would allow active-duty soldiers to hold migrants until ICE agents take them.

By April 20, the secretaries of defense and homeland security are supposed to report to the president whether they think he should invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to enable him to use the military to aid in mass deportations.

—

[amessageonthewind]

PC Storage System

The Pokémon Storage System was invented by Bill in 1995 with Lanette as a co-developer of the software, designed for people to be able to store more than six Pokémon in a global database where their Pokémon could be converted into raw data and safely kept somewhere they could be easily accessed through interacting with a PC or an otherwise capable link in order to access the database. It is capable of storing both Pokémon kept in Poké Balls and Pokémon eggs in their natural states.

The Pokémon Storage System is managed my multiple different people globally in order to troubleshoot, improve, and maintain it. Bill maintains it in Kanto and Johto.

Celio maintains it in the Sevii Islands and also runs the Pokémon Network Centre on One Island which is responsible for providing a method of facilitating global trading. He also helped develop the Global Terminal in Johto and Sinnoh for this same purpose.

Lanette maintains it in Hoenn and is primarily in charge of the user interface and enabling personal Trainer customization of the Box System with wallpapers and giving Trainers the ability to change the names of boxes and the like as well as streamlining the process and making the interface more user-friendly.

Bebe maintains it in Sinnoh and actually built it from scratch as a computer technician based on the previous designs of the system by Bill and Lanette, earning their respect, and developing a way to make it so that the system can be accessed by Trainers from anywhere without the need to access a PC.

Amanita maintains it in mainland Unova and developed it based on the previous designs of Bill, Lanette, and Bebe, introducing a new feature of a Battle Box where Trainers can store a team they use specifically for battling and making it so that Trainers start out with eight boxes available to them and that each time each box is storing at least one Pokémon, the capacity will increase by another eight boxes and then by another eight boxes once the same conditions are met again, making the total capacity of Unova’s PC Storage System seven-hundred-and-twenty Pokémon per Trainer.

Cassius maintains it in Kalos and despite being a capable computer technician, he has made no significant contributions to the operations or design of the PC Storage System. In fact, his sole role is keeping it maintained and was personally tasked by Bill himself to take on that role.

Molayne maintains it in Alola and runs the Hokulani Observatory and, like Cassius, makes no significant contributions to the operations or design of the PC Storage System and simply maintains it.

Brigette (Lanette’s older sister) and Grand Oak (relation to Professor Samuel Oak unclear) manage the PC Storage System everywhere else and in every other capacity, typically on a more global scale. They maintain a more centralized PC Storage System that acts as the bridge between all the others and the network that facilitates global trading. Brigette is credited with upgrading the Pokémon Storage System with the ability to hold fifteen-hundred Pokémon per Trainer, as well as the ability to select and move multiple Pokémon at once. She is also the developer of the Bank System, which acts as an online cloud where Pokémon can be transferred if their Trainers have to move regions and need to access them from the local PC Storage System in their target region and other similar purposes. Grand Oak, however, is more interested in completing a comprehensive National Pokédex by collecting the data from Pokédex holders all over the globe into one central database.

Taglist:

@earth-shaker / @little-miss-selfships / @xelyn-craft / @sarahs-malewives / @brahms-and-lances-wife

-

@ashes-of-a-yume / @cherry-bomb-ships / @kiawren / @kingofdorkville / @bugsband

Let me know if you'd like to be added or removed from my taglist :3

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Matt Davies

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 11, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Apr 12, 2025

On April 4, Trump fired head of U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and director of the National Security Agency (NSA) General Timothy Haugh, apparently on the recommendation of right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who is pitching her new opposition research firm to “vet” candidates for jobs in Trump’s administration.

Former secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall wrote in Newsweek yesterday that the position Haugh held is “one of the most sensitive and powerful jobs in America.” Kendall writes that NSA and CYBERCOM oversee the world’s most sophisticated tools and techniques to penetrate computer systems, monitor communications around the globe, and, if national security requires it, attack those systems. U.S. law drastically curtails how those tools can be used in the U.S. and against American citizens and businesses. Will a Trump loyalist follow those laws? Kendall writes: “Every American should view this development with alarm.”

Just after 2:00 a.m. eastern time this morning, the Senate confirmed Retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan Caine, who goes by the nickname “Razin,” for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a vote of 60–25. U.S. law requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to have served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of staff of the Army, the chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the commandant of the Marine Corps, or the commander of a unified or specified combatant command.

Although Caine has 34 years of military experience, he did not serve in any of the required positions. The law provides that the president can waive the requirement if “the President determines such action is necessary in the national interest,” and he has apparently done so for Caine. The politicization of the U.S. military by filling it with Trump loyalists is now, as Kendall writes, “indisputable.”

The politicization of data is also indisputable. Billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) claims to be saving Americans money, but the Wall Street Journal reported today that effort has been largely a failure (despite today’s announcement of devastating cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that monitors our weather). But what DOGE is really doing is burrowing into Americans’ data.

The first people to be targeted by that data collection appear to be undocumented immigrants. Jason Koebler of 404 Media reported on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been using a database that enables officials to search for people by filtering for “hundreds of different, highly specific categories,” including scars or tattoos, bankruptcy filings, Social Security number, hair color, and race. The system, called Investigative Case Management (ICM), was created by billionaire Peter Thiel’s software company Palantir, which in 2022 signed a $95.9 million contract with the government to develop ICM.

Three Trump officials told Sophia Cai of Politico that DOGE staffers embedded in agencies across the government are expanding government cooperation with immigration officials, using the information they’re gleaning from government databases to facilitate deportation. On Tuesday, DOGE software engineer Aram Moghaddassi sent the first 6,300 names of individuals whose temporary legal status had just been canceled. On the list, which Moghaddassi said covered those on “the terror watch list” or with “F.B.I. criminal records,” were eight minors, including one 13-year-old.

The Social Security Administration worked with the administration to get those people to “self-deport” by adding them to the agency's “death master file.” That file is supposed to track people whose death means they should no longer receive benefits. Adding to it people the administration wants to erase is “financial murder,” former SSA commissioner Martin O’Malley told Alexandra Berzon, Hamed Aleaziz, Nicholas Nehamas, Ryan Mac, and Tara Siegel Bernard of the New York Times. Those people will not be able to use credit cards or banks.

On Tuesday, Acting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Melanie Krause resigned after the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security agreed to share sensitive taxpayer data with immigration authorities. Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes, in part to demonstrate their commitment to citizenship, and the government has promised immigrants that it would not use that information for immigration enforcement. Until now, the IRS has protected sensitive taxpayer information.

Rene Marsh and Marshall Cohen of CNN note that “[m]ultiple senior career IRS officials refused to sign the data-sharing agreement with DHS,” which will enable HHS officials to ask the IRS for names and addresses of people they suspect are undocumented, “because of grave concerns about its legality.” Ultimately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signed the agreement with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Krause was only one of several senior career officials leaving the IRS, raising concerns among those staying that there is no longer a “defense against the potential unlawful use of taxpayer data by the Trump administration.”

Makena Kelly of Wired reported today that for the past three days, DOGE staffers have been working with representatives from Palantir and career engineers from the IRS in a giant “hackathon.” Their goal is to build a system that will be able to access all IRS records, including names, addresses, job data, and Social Security numbers, that can then be compared with data from other agencies.

But the administration’s attempt to automate deportation is riddled with errors. Last night the government sent threatening emails to U.S. citizens, green card holders, and even a Canadian (in Canada) terminating “your parole” and giving them seven days to leave the U.S. One Massachusetts-born immigration lawyer asked on social media: “Does anyone know if you can get Italian citizenship through great-grandparents?”

The government is not keen to correct its errors. On March 15 the government rendered to prison in El Salvador a legal U.S. resident, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whom the courts had ordered the U.S. not to send to El Salvador, where his life was in danger. The government has admitted that its arrest and rendition of Abrego Garcia happened because of “administrative error” but now claims—without evidence—that he is a member of the MS-13 gang and that his return to the U.S. would threaten the public. Abrego Garcia says he is not a gang member and notes that he has never been charged with a crime.

On April 4, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered the government to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. no later than 11:59 pm on April 7. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which handed down a 9–0 decision yesterday, saying the government must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release, but asked the district court to clarify what it meant by “effectuate,” noting that it must give “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

The Supreme Court also ordered that “the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”

Legal analyst Joyce White Vance explained what happened next. Judge Xinis ordered the government to file an update by 9:30 a.m. today explaining where Abrego Garcia is, what the government is doing to get him back, and what more it will do. She planned an in-person hearing at 1:00 p.m.

The administration made clear it did not intend to comply. It answered that the judge had not given them enough time to answer and suggested that it would delay over the Supreme Court’s instruction that Xinis must show deference to the president’s ability to conduct foreign affairs. Xinis gave the government until 11:30 and said she would still hold the hearing. The government submitted its filing at about 12:15, saying that Abrego Garcia is “in the custody of a foreign sovereign,” but at the 1:00 hearing, as Anna Bower of Lawfare reported, the lawyer representing the government, Drew Ensign, said he did not have information about where Abrego Garcia is and that the government had done nothing to get him back. Ensign said he might have answers by next Tuesday. Xinis says they will have to give an update tomorrow.

As Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor recently warned, if the administration can take noncitizens off the streets, render them to prison in another country, and then claim it is helpless to correct the error because the person is out of reach of U.S. jurisdiction, it could do the same thing to citizens. Indeed, both President Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt have proposed that very thing.

Tonight, Trump signed a memorandum to the secretaries of defense, interior, agriculture, and homeland security calling for a “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions.” The memorandum creates a military buffer zone along the border so that any migrant crossing would be trespassing on a U.S. military base. This would allow active-duty soldiers to hold migrants until ICE agents take them.

By April 20, the secretaries of defense and homeland security are supposed to report to the president whether they think he should invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to enable him to use the military to aid in mass deportations.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[allaboutkeyingo]

SQL Server 2022 Edition and License instructions

SQL Server 2022 Editions:

• Enterprise Edition is ideal for applications requiring mission critical in-memory performance, security, and high availability

• Standard Edition delivers fully featured database capabilities for mid-tier applications and data marts

SQL Server 2022 is also available in free Developer and Express editions. Web Edition is offered in the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) program only.

And the Online Store Keyingo Provides the SQL Server 2017/2019/2022 Standard Edition.

SQL Server 2022 licensing models 

SQL Server 2022 offers customers a variety of licensing options aligned with how customers typically purchase specific workloads. There are two main licensing models that apply to SQL Server:  PER CORE: Gives customers a more precise measure of computing power and a more consistent licensing metric, regardless of whether solutions are deployed on physical servers on-premises, or in virtual or cloud environments. 

• Core based licensing is appropriate when customers are unable to count users/devices, have Internet/Extranet workloads or systems that integrate with external facing workloads.

• Under the Per Core model, customers license either by physical server (based on the full physical core count) or by virtual machine (based on virtual cores allocated), as further explained below.

SERVER + CAL: Provides the option to license users and/or devices, with low-cost access to incremental SQL Server deployments.   

• Each server running SQL Server software requires a server license.

• Each user and/or device accessing a licensed SQL Server requires a SQL Server CAL that is the same version or newer – for example, to access a SQL Server 2019 Standard Edition server, a user would need a SQL Server 2019 or 2022 CAL.

Each SQL Server CAL allows access to multiple licensed SQL Servers, including Standard Edition and legacy Business Intelligence and Enterprise Edition Servers.SQL Server 2022 Editions availability by licensing model:  

Physical core licensing – Enterprise Edition 

• Customers can deploy an unlimited number of VMs or containers on the server and utilize the full capacity of the licensed hardware, by fully licensing the server (or server farm) with Enterprise Edition core subscription licenses or licenses with SA coverage based on the total number of physical cores on the servers.

• Subscription licenses or SA provide(s) the option to run an unlimited number of virtual machines or containers to handle dynamic workloads and fully utilize the hardware’s computing power.

Virtual core licensing – Standard/Enterprise Edition 

When licensing by virtual core on a virtual OSE with subscription licenses or SA coverage on all virtual cores (including hyperthreaded cores) on the virtual OSE, customers may run any number of containers in that virtual OSE. This benefit applies both to Standard and Enterprise Edition.

Licensing for non-production use 

SQL Server 2022 Developer Edition provides a fully featured version of SQL Server software—including all the features and capabilities of Enterprise Edition—licensed for  development, test and demonstration purposes only.  Customers may install and run the SQL Server Developer Edition software on any number of devices. This is  significant because it allows customers to run the software  on multiple devices (for testing purposes, for example)  without having to license each non-production server  system for SQL Server.  

A production environment is defined as an environment  that is accessed by end-users of an application (such as an  Internet website) and that is used for more than gathering  feedback or acceptance testing of that application.   

SQL Server 2022 Developer Edition is a free product !

[earhartsease]

things that might have hinted to us sooner that we're autistic include our two year stint in the mid 2000s working customer services for a "buddhist ethical gift business" doing phones and computer stuff, mainly troubleshooting wholesale deliveries - during which we developed the following two habits that have not so far left us

every time we sent an email we'd murmur "fly like the wind!" as we'd just seen Toy Story 2 and that was our takeaway

we discovered a hack in the database software that allowed us to sort orders in reverse order by hitting the E key, and this started us intoning "eeeee" happily whenever we hit that key - which turned into a strange talismanic relationship with drawing a lowercase e in the air with our index finger to express appreciation (nobody knows that's what we're doing so it's a great stealth stim)

anyway it's a testament to our three fellow customer service workers that nobody batted an eyelid at any of this, but in retrospect all four of us were luminously on the spectrum

[ai-cyber]

Ubuntu is a popular open-source operating system based on the Linux kernel. It's known for its user-friendliness, stability, and security, making it a great choice for both beginners and experienced users. Ubuntu can be used for a variety of purposes, including:

Key Features and Uses of Ubuntu:

Desktop Environment: Ubuntu offers a modern, intuitive desktop environment that is easy to navigate. It comes with a set of pre-installed applications for everyday tasks like web browsing, email, and office productivity.

Development: Ubuntu is widely used by developers due to its robust development tools, package management system, and support for programming languages like Python, Java, and C++.

Servers: Ubuntu Server is a popular choice for hosting websites, databases, and other server applications. It's known for its performance, security, and ease of use.

Cloud Computing: Ubuntu is a preferred operating system for cloud environments, supporting platforms like OpenStack and Kubernetes for managing cloud infrastructure.

Education: Ubuntu is used in educational institutions for teaching computer science and IT courses. It's free and has a vast repository of educational software.

Customization: Users can customize their Ubuntu installation to fit their specific needs, with a variety of desktop environments, themes, and software available.

Installing Ubuntu on Windows:

The image you shared shows that you are installing Ubuntu using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). This allows you to run Ubuntu natively on your Windows machine, giving you the best of both worlds.

Benefits of Ubuntu:

Free and Open-Source: Ubuntu is free to use and open-source, meaning anyone can contribute to its development.

Regular Updates: Ubuntu receives regular updates to ensure security and performance.

Large Community: Ubuntu has a large, active community that provides support and contributes to its development.

[geeconglobal]

Super Useful Tips To Improve Process Analysis

Improving process analysis is essential for enhancing efficiency, identifying bottlenecks, and optimizing workflows. Here are some super useful tips to help you improve process analysis:

Define Clear Objectives: Clearly define the goals and objectives of the process analysis. What specific outcomes are you looking to achieve? Having clear objectives will guide your analysis and ensure that it remains focused on the most critical aspects of the process.

Map Out the Process: Create visual process maps or flowcharts to document the current process from start to finish. Mapping out the process visually helps to identify the sequence of activities, decision points, and dependencies involved.

Identify Stakeholders: Involve key stakeholders who are directly or indirectly impacted by the process. Their insights and perspectives can provide valuable input during the analysis phase and help ensure that all relevant factors are considered.

Gather Data: Collect quantitative and qualitative data related to the process, including performance metrics, cycle times, error rates, and feedback from stakeholders. Use a variety of methods such as surveys, interviews, observation, and data analysis tools to gather comprehensive data.

Identify Pain Points and Bottlenecks: Analyze the process data to identify pain points, bottlenecks, and areas of inefficiency. Look for recurring issues, delays, redundancies, and unnecessary steps that may be hindering productivity or quality.

Benchmark Against Best Practices: Compare your current process against industry best practices and standards. Identify opportunities to adopt proven methodologies, tools, or techniques that can help streamline operations and improve outcomes.

Brainstorm Solutions: Once you've identified areas for improvement, facilitate brainstorming sessions with relevant stakeholders to generate ideas for optimization. Encourage creativity and innovation in exploring alternative approaches or solutions.

Prioritize Improvements: Prioritize improvement opportunities based on their potential impact, feasibility, and resource requirements. Focus on addressing high-priority issues that offer the greatest return on investment in terms of efficiency gains or cost savings.

Implement Changes Incrementally: Implement changes incrementally rather than attempting to overhaul the entire process at once. Break down larger initiatives into smaller, manageable steps and monitor the effects of each change before proceeding to the next.

Measure and Monitor Performance: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the effectiveness of process improvements over time. Continuously monitor performance metrics and solicit feedback from stakeholders to ensure that the process remains optimized and aligned with organizational goals.

By following these tips, you can enhance your process analysis efforts and drive continuous improvement within your organization. Visit more information for your website