How to send mail from database?

Similar question has been asked many times on mailing lists and on IRC. Sometimes it's not mail sending, but file/directory creation, or something else that generally requires some interaction with “world outside of database".

Can it be done? Sure. How, then?

Continue reading How to send mail from database?

What would Roy Merritt do?

Some time ago, I was listening to This week in tech and I heard Leo Laporte raving about book Daemon by Daniel Suarez. Did some research, got the book, read it. Relatively soon I heard that there is second part – Freedom ™ (polish comment: czemu polski tłumacz wywalił to “tm" z tytułu?!). Of couse I read it too. Well – it's more like devoured it as I found it simply amazing, and read it all in one go.

Today, I got information from alerts that somebody wrote about it on blog. Went to read, and was astounded to read this sentence:

Turns out it’s only half the story because there is apparently a sequel. I don’t think I’m going to read the next book.

(this is about Daemon).

Well, I did comment there, but just in case, and for Google purposes let me put my answer in here:

Freedom ™ is not a sequel in common meaning of the word. Personally, I think about them as of single text with single story, that was just printed (for whatever reason) as two separate volumes.

Personally I found Freedom ™ much more enjoyable, as it takes the ideas presented in Daemon much further. Daemon is short-time extrapolation “what-if", with common gadgets, and todays technology (well, after some tweaking). Freedom ™ shows what it can lead to – it's social and political consequences.

So, if you haven't yet read these books – go get them. And if you, for some unknown reason, read just the Daemon – get also this “sequel".

Just one warning – if you read Daemon long ago, and now you'll get Freedom ™ – reread Daemon first, as Freedom ™ is literally next part of the same book – with no re-introduction, reminding of events, people, items – nothing like this.

If you don't understand the tile – well – get the books 🙂