PostgreSQL can be both a beautiful thing, and an infuriating mess. Occasionally I look through the logs on one of our database servers to see if I can’t optimize some queries. It’s good practice, and is an excellent way to monitor basic system performance by watching for queries that take longer than might otherwise be possible. Sometimes performance can be fixed by tweaking an index, or manually rewriting the query and convincing a developer to integrate the changes.

At this rate, I may actually finish the Honor Harrington series before the heat death of the universe. Having just finished Flag in Exile by David Weber only fifteen years late, I think I’m getting the hang of this series. Though a friend at work recommended the series, and due to the length, I was suspicious it would be throw-away pulp; I’m willing to admit now that that my fears were mostly unwarranted.

“Son, let me tell you somethin’. Anyone says truth is stranger than fiction, really means he just saw somethin’ impossible happen, an’ can’t believe it ain’t. Nothin’s stranger than fiction, an’ whoever denies it only wants to run away from the truth. The truth is mean, Son, an’ cold. It ain’t no fairy tale; that you can believe.” A figure in the background sniggered. “You crazy, man!” shouted another. A low rumble of agreement met their skepticism.

Once again, I’ve spent another few days with David Weber reading Field of Dishonor and regardless of how the series continues, I think he’s finally come up with something truly great. I fully understand the series is supposed to be a space opera–the painstaking descriptions of galactic fleets, impeller drives, and relativistic weapons reinforces that point admirably–but there was precious little of that here. This time, it’s all an exclusive font of character building, and the Harrington universe is much stronger than if Honor had simply defeated another immanent naval threat.

I kinda have a thing for Matt Tiabbi. I never would have expected a Rolling Stone columnist to constantly harangue and brutally deconstruct the players of the economic fiasco. Without remorse, restraint, or mercy, he absolutely eviscerates everything from Goldman Sachs and AIG to the current administration and everything in-between. It really is a thing of beauty, and one of the best reasons investigative journalism had better survive the media reorganization caused by the internet.