3.0 Encrypted Databases

An enhanced version of SQLite is available (for both versions 2.8 and 3.3) that encrypts its database files to help prevent unauthorized access or modification. The entire database file is encrypted2. To an outside observer, the database file appears to contain white noise. There is nothing2 that identifies the file as an SQLite database.

The enhanced SQLite with encryption support can continue to read and write ordinary unencrypted databases without any performance penalty. You can use the ATTACH SQL command to attach an encrypted database to an unencrypted database or to attach an unencrypted database to an encrypted one. The password to a database can be changed at any time, though doing so is an expensive operation roughly comparable to VACUUM.

The encryption extension descrypts each page of data as it is read from the disk and reencrypts it as modified versions are written back to the disk. But the primary database file and the rollback journal are encrypted. A very fast encryption algorithm is used, but even so it takes time to do all of that encryption and decryption. So when encryption is enabled, there is about a 50% performance loss.

The encrypted database enhancements for SQLite are available in source-code form for a one-time licensing fee of $2000 (US). A technical support contract is also recommended but is not required. There are no per-copy royalties. The one-time fee entitles the licensee to free copies of all future updates to the code. You can purchase a perpetual license to the SQLite Encryption Extension online or call 1.704.948.4565 or write to sqlite_sales@hwaci.com for additional information.

SQLite - Professional Support

Decorate your walls with beautiful hand painted tiles with designs from Portugal, Spain and exquisite Arab motifs. Choose from a wide range of Panels, Azulejos in relief, Cemalia, Murals and Picture frames. Any special design which you desire can be recreated exclusively for you by our talented and experienced artists.
Velha Goa, traditional hand painted azulejos comes to you from the house of Costa's, where quality has been a tradition since 1885.

These are the bomb.

Costa & Company : Velha Goa, traditional hand painted azulejos

SSRI + Triptan = Too Much Seratonin = OH FAWK.

Public Health Advisory: Durg Combinatino May Result in Serotonin Syndrome

Neat effects for javascript widgets.

Combination Effects Demo in scriptaculous wiki

iShowU allows you to capture and record anything you can see on your screen, along with audio from any compatible source. Ever been in the situation where you wanted to show someone what was going on, but couldn't? Either the person is not right next to you, not around, in another country (the list goes on). Now just record what you're doing and what you want to say, and stick it in an email!

Great software. Great support.

iShowU : Screen Video Capture for OS X

I don't maintain focus for more than an hour at a time. In fact, I can't. And being involved in cognitive science research, I can state that for sustained work, neither can anybody else. Yes, once in a while, if your current problem is intensely interesting, you can zone out and work on it for many hours straight. But most work - however interesting it is - isn't able to grab your focus in that manner. To see it from another perspective, a movie is designed to grab your attention, is created by people devoting their lives to grab your attention as effectively as possible and has about every technical means short of drugs available to grab and hold your attention. And yet, few movies are longer than two hours, because people will not be able to hold their focus for much longer than that.

If you try to force yourself by having only your work available and forcing yourself to sit on front of it, all that will happen is that after an hour or two your thoughts will start to drift, you'll get stuck in a rut reiterating old thought processes, and you may even nod off for short periods due to the imposed lack of stimulus variation. In short, "maintaining focus" is a good way to sink your productivity.

Instead, accept that you can't single-mindedly focus on any one thing for more than about 45 minutes to an hour (there's a good reason class time seems to have converged to about 45 minutes the world over). Do one of these things in combination:

* Get up, stretch and move about a bit. Go look out the window, find someone else on a break and shoot the breeze for a few minutes. Leaf through the morning paper, trade magazine, or that 2001 office supplies catalogue you never seem to get around to throw away. Go over to Accounting and ask about that missing trsvel reimbursement. In short, get yourself exposed to some new stimuli so you canh approach the next hour with a fresh mind.

* Have a secondary task you can switch to whenever you get bored with the main one. Maybe now is a good time to answer a few email, or write some documentation (there's always documentation to write). Really the same thing as above - get some new stimuli - but with more of a work focus.

* Set a goal for the day. And when it's done, quit. Sure there's more work to be done - but there's always more work to be done. You can stay 24/7 and there will still be more. Do what you set out to do, then go home. With a definite short-term goal, pacing yourself is easier, and it's much easier to focus on a comprehensible, digestible chunk of work.

Slashdot | How Do You Maintain Your Work Focus?

The US and British leaders may be getting domestic flak for their perceived mistakes in Iraq, but some observers in the Arab world see them as being quite successful - in carrying out a well-calculated plan to divide the country.

The debate dates back to July 13, 2003, when the Iraqi Governing Council was formed under Paul Bremer, the US administrator.

Sectarianism and ethnic extremism were strengthened in that council and various laws have since encouraged an aggressive sectarianism leading to a fierce militia war.

Anis Mansour, an Egyptian editor and author, believes the US is following the historical British policy of divide and rule.

He says: "What we are seeing now is just the beginning of a scheme to split the country up into regions.

"It is not true that the US has failed. It did what it wanted to do and this will last for a long time.

"It will stay the same whether a Democratic or a Republican president is to follow [George] Bush."

Divide and Rule in Iraq - Aljazeera.Net - Dismembering the body politic in Iraq

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet on the nature of boosom buddies.

Charlie Rose - An Exclusive Hour with Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates - Google Video

Plasma concentrations of racemic tramadol are predictable over a 50 mg to 100 mg single-dose range. This is also true under multiple-dose conditions. Steady state is achieved after two days of dosing Ultram by a 100 mg q.i.d. regimen (maximum plasma concentration was 592 � 177 ng/ml). The plasma half-life of tramadol following a single and multiple dosing was 6 and 7 hours, respectively. This increase in half-life upon multiple dosing is not considered to be clinically significant or to warrant dosage adjustment for chronic use.

Really long half-life. Don't overdo it.

Tramadol ( Ultram ) Half-Life

Nice intor to messing with SQLite, with concise syntax examples.

Zend Technologies - PHP 5 In Depth - SQLite Introduction