lol. Well, at least it isn’t IE7! Man…I think I would quit. Note the browser on this reply! Using my development box…see…I do use a proper browser. BlockSite and AdBlock Plus ftw!

Ugh – being forced to use IE should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. I really think this is a violation of human rights – you should look into suing your employer for inhumane work condition, mental anguish and etc… ;)

Oh, and before you all laugh at me for using IExploder, again, I have no say on the applications on my work computer…well..not the one directly connected to our intranet. I usually use Firefox (though am playing around with Safari).

Actually, I use Access to do some minor data manipulation…it’s quicker and easier than dicking around in some huge and powerful SQL database. But that’s about it. And I only use it because it comes bundled with the Office suite that is foisted on us anyways. I certainly don’t write any applications with it. Well, except one to determine who has who for our family’s Kris Kringle thing at Christmas, and to keep track of my billable hours on projects.

It’s actually kinda scary to think that Airlines would use Access. 8O

@Luke Maciak: Nowadays I have everything imported into OO.o Base of course. The sad thing is that the only reason my dad knows Access is because they uses them all the time at a major airlines (previously dBase and Paradox) for various things. Access definitely doesn’t fit there.

@Jake – actually, I think you nailed it. That’s the niche – quick and dirty databases for personal use. You are right – if you wanted to keep track of your CD collection you could:

1. use Excel (that’s n00bish)
2. write a custom application to track it (a lot of work)
3. just use Access

If you planned to sell the CD’s or include the list in some application, then it would probably be best to export it into a better DB. But for personal use it’s perfect.

Back when I got my first PC, my dad set up databases for me (I was roughly 5) to keep track of my CD’s and books in Access 2.0. I have always enjoyed using these type applications ever since. The forms are an excellent way to quickly input data and I have grown to rather like it. Call me n00bish, but they’re actually pretty nice for some things.

@Jason – I never really used Filemaker so I have no opinion about it. But I firmly believe that databases should be handled by database admins, or people who have some idea about database management, SQL and relational algebra.

I really don’t think end users can design a properly normalized relational DB, with foreign key constraints, triggers, indexes and build efficient, optimized queries just by dragging and dropping icons in a GUI.

I do think that a DBA is a very important position, and that every organization should have one.

@SourceView – interesting. To tell you the truth I never really used the db in Open Office. I always assumed it was an Access clone.

well, actually, the database in Openoffice compares quire favorably to derby, only lots faster, and also java. it vis a great frontend to postgresql. Now, for cweb, access may not be your cup of tea, but for lots of stuff it is great too!