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0 pointsMinor49er4y ago0 comments

Like the article is titled "Ten Database Commandments", but the entire intro is all about the 25th anniversary of Biggie's sorrowful death. Then it gets into the "commandments" which are just the author taking lines out of Biggie's songs and stretching to reinterpret them as database advice (except the 9th one which is "Never talk to the police about your database"?). The advice itself is really weak, like "never run your app on the same server as your DBMS", which is already common knowledge to database admins.

The article ends with the author asking readers to call a tip line if they have info on Biggie's death, as if DB admins on a site called Ottertune would have any real chance of harboring some secret knowledge about a 25-year-old drive-by-shooting that they wouldn't have given to the police already in the last quarter century.

All of this underneath a gigantic illustration of Biggie fist-bumping a cartoon otter.

Is this article meant to be for Biggie fans? Database admins? Is it in memory of Biggie or making fun of him? And what does The Notorious B.I.G. have to do with databases in the first place?

I wouldn't think twice about this if it was on the author's personal homepage, but it's published on the company's website by one of the co-founders as a way to sell OtterTune.

0 comments

apavlo4y ago

I'm the author. Let's go through this.

> Like the article is titled "Ten Database Commandments", but the entire intro is all about the 25th anniversary of Biggie's sorrowful death.

I am huge fan of 1990s hip-hop. I try to incorporate elements of it (e.g., Biggie, Tupac, WuTang) in my academic courses on databases (https://www.youtube.com/c/CMUDatabaseGroup) and at the OtterTune company.

We even put out our own record label for database/otter-themed hip-hop music:

https://ottertune.bandcamp.com/

> The advice itself is really weak, like "never run your app on the same server as your DBMS", which is already common knowledge to database admins.

The commandments are targeting anybody deals with databases, not just DBAs.

Never get high on your own supply is obvious too but it's still one of Biggie's commandments.

> Is this article meant to be for Biggie fans?

Yes.

> Database admins?

Yes.

> Is it in memory of Biggie or making fun of him?

The former, not the latter.

> And what does The Notorious B.I.G. have to do with databases in the first place?

I'm not sure how one can listen to Biggie's lyrics and not think of databases.

Minor49erOP4y ago

> The commandments are targeting anybody deals with databases, not just DBAs.

Someone who is green to databases will probably not come across this article before finding other resources. If they did, they would probably learn more about The Notorious B.I.G. than databases.

I think that you are the intended audience for your own article. There's nothing wrong with that, but it should probably something that's posted on your own personal site rather than your company's blog. Otherwise, I would fear that the heavy-handed niche humor and topic conflation would confuse or put off potential customers. Thankfully, this seems to be an exception to the blog's typical content which is more focused.

Edit: Formatting

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0 pointsMinor49er4y ago0 comments

All of this underneath a gigantic illustration of Biggie fist-bumping a cartoon otter.

Is this article meant to be for Biggie fans? Database admins? Is it in memory of Biggie or making fun of him? And what does The Notorious B.I.G. have to do with databases in the first place?

I wouldn't think twice about this if it was on the author's personal homepage, but it's published on the company's website by one of the co-founders as a way to sell OtterTune.

0 comments

apavlo4y ago

I'm the author. Let's go through this.

> Like the article is titled "Ten Database Commandments", but the entire intro is all about the 25th anniversary of Biggie's sorrowful death.

We even put out our own record label for database/otter-themed hip-hop music:

https://ottertune.bandcamp.com/

> The advice itself is really weak, like "never run your app on the same server as your DBMS", which is already common knowledge to database admins.

The commandments are targeting anybody deals with databases, not just DBAs.

Never get high on your own supply is obvious too but it's still one of Biggie's commandments.

> Is this article meant to be for Biggie fans?

Yes.

> Database admins?

Yes.

> Is it in memory of Biggie or making fun of him?

The former, not the latter.

> And what does The Notorious B.I.G. have to do with databases in the first place?

I'm not sure how one can listen to Biggie's lyrics and not think of databases.

Minor49erOP4y ago

> The commandments are targeting anybody deals with databases, not just DBAs.

Someone who is green to databases will probably not come across this article before finding other resources. If they did, they would probably learn more about The Notorious B.I.G. than databases.

Edit: Formatting

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse