April 10, 2014
Is Query Optimization a “solved” problem? If not, are we attacking the “right” problems? How should we identify the “right” problems to solve? I asked these same questions almost exactly 25 years ago, in an extended abstract for a Workshop on Database Query Optimization that was organized by the then-Professor Goetz Graefe at the Oregon […]
Read moreFebruary 24, 2014
After hanging out exclusively with the database community for 35+ years, I’ve recently become more involved with the systems research community. I have a few observations and recommendations to share.Much of the work published in systems conferences covers topics that would have a natural home in database conferences. For example, transactions and data streams are […]
Read moreDecember 11, 2013
In 2011, I was traveling on the Kolkata Metro when I made an interesting observation. Nearly every passenger around me was using a computing device of some sort. Some were playing with their smartphones, some with their tablets, some listening to music on their iPod Touches. Each was a consumer of structured data of some […]
Read moreOctober 30, 2013
“Both theoretical and empirical research may be unnecessarily complicated by failure to recognize the effects of heterogeneity” – Vaupel & Yashin Big Data is daily topic of conversation among data analysts, with much said and written about its promises and pitfalls. The issue of heterogeneity, however, has received scant attention. This is unfortunate, since failing […]
Read moreSeptember 30, 2013
The title I chose is triggered by the lack of concern shown by computer scientists when public disclosures that companies like Apple, Google, HP own pay amazingly low taxes. These companies are derided in the press [look here for references]. The critiques provide little background, and often just repeat assertions that it’s all perfectly legal. […]
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