What is Digg?30 Comments
- deut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Well the guy who submitted it has a digg ranking of 3 and so I guess he got all his other high ranking buddies to digg this to the front page.
BTW: The article sucks. - meez, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Do you really think that Digg readers will have problems with Excel? =o
- wayhip, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8My advice, never use Excel as a database. It is not designed for it and breaks down rapidly as the stored information becomes more complex.
- h0kiez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Anybody know of a good resource for a higher level tutorial? I use excel everyday at work, but there are still a few things I have yet to master. The local CompUSA classes don't exactly cut it...even the most advanced ones.
And believe it or not...there are some non-programmers on Digg...and if you work at a big business like I do, you'll be using Excel. I've seen personally seen people try to use it as a db, and it's not pretty...but it's insanely useful at what it's meant for if you know how to use it...so stop knocking it because some people misuse it. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Everytime I see a digg on the MS suites, everyone jumps and says its crap and suggests OpenOffice. Which is fine as I love the open software. But what good database software should people be using nowadays? besides mysql? No one seems to ever suggest an alternative!
- wvdavis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Grasshopper must start at some point. This will make an excellent reference page to those whose Excel Kung-Fu is weak.
- ramd3z, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dugg because I can send this to a user who has very basic Excel knowledge.
- Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4A guide for Microsoft software on the digg front-page?
First and last this will happen, I'm sure. - crtalbot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually a very good basic rundown of excel and its functions. Covers pretty much everything a normal user might use at first.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2no VLOOKUP, no digg.
- stupidStan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3why would some idiot digg down an honest question?
- h0kiez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2When I first started, my boss showed me how to put together a report that took him about 20 hours...most of which was spent using ctrl+f to find something, then copying and pasting it somewhere else. Now it takes me about an hour to crank out the same report using VLOOKUP and SUMIF every month. Just kills me to think that this guy gets paid 6 figures to be my boss...
- h0kiez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Anybody know of a good resource for a higher level tutorial? I use excel everyday at work, but there are still a few things I have yet to master. The local CompUSA classes don't exactly cut it...even the most advanced ones.
- BenF1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You might try these sources:
http://www.dicks-blog.com/
http://www.asap-utilities.com/
Highly recommend the free ASAP Utility. You ca see a review at:
http://www.timeatlas.com/mos/Useful_Utilities/Free/ASAP_Utilities_Provides_Excel_Users_Power_and_Flexibility/ - Justathought, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are several excellent database alternatives, from the large and powerful to the small and simple ones. For example, on the high end Firebird is a great option ( http://www.firebirdsql.org/ ). It is derived from the Interbase, a database created by Borland. Firebird also offers a smaller alternative, Embedded, which you can use as a little standalone database without the need of a server.
Of course OpenOffice has its own little database too.
Another good little one is SQLite ( http://www.sqlite.org/ ). "SQLite is a small C library that implements a self-contained, embeddable, zero-configuration SQL database engine."
And, if all you want is for it to be free as in beer, there is always IBM's DB2. - cclark2222, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What about an alternative for mac?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1mysql isn't good ok.
if you want a free and open db that's feature packed and backed up by a terrific userbase, choose postgresql
and please PLEASE just say no to ***** excel spreed sheets. excel is for SPREADSHEETS NOT APPLICATIONS
there is a difference, and no matter how tricky you or your office manager think you are with it, it's not going to work well at all. - tmilam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ h0kiez
I picked up alot about excel at work, but the guys that know it really well are the ones that took a class on it at their local college or university. Most of us try to avoid those dummy classes like How To Use A Computer 101, but the excel class might be worth it. - dengar69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The website looks so....90's.
- jackgopher, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0Here is a free tutorial videos website for Excel 2007:
http://www.microsoft-office-excel.com - johnca, on 05/12/2008, -0/+0There is a free advanced tutorial on
SUMIF.COUNTIF VLOOKUP, IF, AND, OR, NOT and a VBA manual downloadavle on http://www.mousetraining.co.uk/ms-office-training- ...
No forms editable in Word - 47f0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ditto on PostgreSQL. Solid, mature DB with a proven track record. I just migrated a company off of Access to PostgreSQL quite painlessly.
- Justathought, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@stewiesdeuce
Yes there are several open source database interface builders. Rekall is one that quickly comes to mind ( http://www.thekompany.com/products/rekall/ ). It offers exactly what you are asking about. Also, most good programming languages have libraries for working with all the databases that I mentioned. So, for example, you could use something like Dabo ( http://dabodev.com/ ) to easily create database applications in Python. The Python language is extremely easy to learn and very powerful so I think it is a great route to go. - stewiesdeuce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree spreadsheets should not be used as databases, but spreadsheets are very useful tools. But they are very diffrent too. First, for most important: Spreadsheets by nature have a human interface and presentation. Databases do not. Databases are not intuitive, and creating presentation and a human interface to them requires writing code.
That being said.. I would like to ask.. Is there an open source tool like MS Access, that allows you to create forms (for user input and display), that can work with postgresql or mysql??? - neko, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1So? Everytime I see a digg on OpenOffice, someone jumps in and says it's crap and suggests Microsoft Office.
It's digg, people. It's got evangelists for all sides. Doesn't mean the actual software being mentioned is bad, just because some unrelated humans keep posting about it all the time. - DefectiveHW, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Are those screen shots taken from OS6?
- dipswitch, on 10/12/2007, -13/+10My advice, never use MS Office as a database. It is not designed for it and breaks down rapidly as the stored information becomes more complex.
(so this includes "Access" as well) - tmilam, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Quit whining about openoffice being better. We know that it's better. Most of us are restricted from using openoffice at work by nazi IT departments that forbid 'unlicensed' software to be installed.
One decent tutorial on spreadsheet applications *cough* would be sufficient to cover both excel and the openoffice equivalent. They share alot of the same functionality. - MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0"why would some idiot digg down an honest question?"
Because it's posted twice? - dipswitch, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3If you don't have MS Excel, OpenOffice.org is just fine too!
www.openoffice.org
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