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In hopes of stemming the massive explosion of open source database use, Oracle is preparing an “express” version of it’s Oracle Database 10g line: Oracle Database XE. Like many things on the web right now, it’s currently in beta, with a full release planned for late this year.

Courting the open source set is an interesting move for Oracle. PHP developers are the obvious target right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the focus shifted to Rails developers in the near future.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the features/limitations:

• available for Windows or Linux
• stores up to 4GB of data
• will only use one processor (crippled to keep their Enterprise clients no doubt)
• will only use up to 1GB of RAM (ditto)
• upgradeable to other Oracle Database 10g editions (of course)

I haven’t downloaded it to play yet, but there seems to be some fairly detailed instructions on both install and integration on the PHP end.

Some interesting news on the Google front: there’s been sightings of a new Google universe which looks more than a little scary, especially in light of the mockumentary-with-a-stright-face known as EPIC 2014.

What are they planning? If its present growth and expansion continues, will Google be subject to anti-trust legislation or will it claim it isn’t because it is simply aggregating content?

The only thing I know for sure is that Google-rage is going to grow.

I’ve had a few interesting things come through my inbox of late and I thought I would share them with you:

• The CT Forum will be hosting A Conversation… Thomas Friedman & Malcolm Gladwell on 6 April 2006 in Hartford, CT. This should be pretty interesting to witness as Gladwell’s Tipping Point and blink. have been incredibly influential in the business world and Fiedman’s The World is Flat is also starting to make some heads turn. Not sure if I am going yet or not, but it looks to be pretty cool.
• For those of you looking for socially responsible places to donate money for victims of Katrina, Radical Reference has compiled a great list for your reference.
• I’m a little late on this one, but today is the deadline for applications to intern at the League of Young/Independent/Pissed Off Voters. There are a ton of positions availble in New York City for the fall. This is a great organization and I highly recommend hooking up with them if politics is your bag. To apply, send a statement of interest and any relevant resume to erubinstein@indyvoter.org with “INTERNSHIP” in the subject line.

It’s funny, but the more I take on, the more zen I get about work. Perhaps it’s the recent addition of a daily trek to the gym in the wee hours of the morning which is getting my day off to a better start. Or maybe it’s the Pragmatic philosophy which is beginning to take hold since finishing The Pragmatic Programmer and starting Agile Web Development with Rails. Who knows, but I am thankful for the calm.

So what else have I added to my already overfull plate? Well, I recently joined the staff of A List Apart as a copy editor. In fact Ross Howard’s High-Resolution Image Printing (in Issue 202) marks my editorial debut at the famed publication. I am very excited about getting to work with Erin, Jeffrey, Eric, Jason and the rest of the ALA all-stars as I have been an avid reader since I discovered it back in 2000. If you are reading an article and notice an overabundance of <abbr> and <dfn>, there’s a good chance I am to blame.

I am also pleased to confirm that I will be speaking at SXSW Interactive in March of 2006. At present, I am working on one session with Jeremy Keith and two other panels which are still in the formative stages. I will have more details to provide you all in the coming weeks.

Also to come are some great award announcements, a few more articles, and another potentially big announcement in the web standards arena. In the mean time, I am preparing for a private web standards training session down in North Carolina and next week’s trip to Silicon Valley, where Molly, Andy and I will be putting on a great 3-day training session as part of the Web Design and Project Management Tour from WOW.

Congress in going back into session after their summer recess and they will be taking a vote on the Estate Tax (or “Death Tax” as some people like to call it). It is a hotly contested issue that I feel very strongly about. The truth is that a lot of public services depend on the revenue generated by the estate tax and the number of people affected by it is less than 1.4% of the population. I should be so lucky to be wealthy enough for my children to have to pay the Estate Tax.

I recently wrote to my Senators and Representative to let them know how I feel and I thought I’d share it with you. Maybe you’d like to write to yours.

Dear Senators Dodd and Lieberman and Congresswoman DeLauro,

I am a small business owner and I support preserving the Estate Tax. I owe my life and business to the America the Estate Tax has helped build.

The Estate Tax provides the needed revenue to create wonderful services and opportunities for many companies. Without the internet (which the Estate Tax helped fund), I would not be able to be the successful Web Designer I am. In fact, my career path would never have been an option. Likewise, I may not have had the education to do my job—nor my employees, theirs—had it not been for the public school system, also funded in-part by the Estate Tax. Without a stable mail service, I would not be able to send the invoices and receive the payments my buisiness depends on. Without the infrastructure our public highways and roadways provide, I would not be able to travel to meet with clients and my business would suffer. The same goes for air travel: it would not be as safe or reliable if the Federal Government had not used tax revenues (including the Estate Tax) to make it so.

If I should become so wealthy that my children would even have to pay the Estate Tax, I do not feel it would be unfair for the U.S. Government to ask for a little back to repay the society that has made my business, job and lifestyle a reality. In order to ensure future generations can acheive the success that I have, we need to keep the Estate Tax.

Sincerely,

Aaron Gustafson