Obama has too many supporters...

[NightWatcher]

Obama Donor Lists Too Large For FEC To Process



http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10609.html

FEC computers can't handle Obama jackpot

Obama’s January fundraising report, detailing the $23 million he raised and $41 million he spent in the last three months of 2007, far exceeded 65,536 rows listing contributions, refunds, expenditures, debts, reimbursements and other details. It was the first report to confound basic database programs since 2001, when the Federal Election Commission began directly posting candidates’ fundraising reports online in an effort to make political money more accessible and transparent to voters.

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Ha! I love it!

:rofl:

[Thrill]

2. What are they going to do when the Clinton supporters jump on board?

They're really going to be overwhelmed.

[DogPoundPup]

4. What? ?? Did you mean underwhelmed?

Cause ya' know.

[mcg]

42. and those keeping their powder dry,

I'm waiting a little bit longer to make a big contribution.

[DogPoundPup]

3. WOO-HOO A real problem

NOT so much for Obama though! GOOD FOR HIM!

[Spazito]

5. ROFL, love it!

The FEC never saw beyond the lobbyists and the fact that the people might want to have a say and use their dollars to speak in a powerful voice.

This is the old politics being changed by the new, the people over the powerful, imo.

[IDemo]

6. The FEC can't afford Office 2007?

The 65536 row/256 column limit got bumped up to 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns after Excel 2003. I don't know about Open Office or other apps, but I'd be very surprised if they weren't in the same region.

[Kierkegaard]

14. They shouldn't be using Excel anyway.

Surely they could afford MySQL?

[IDemo]

16. That (MySQL) would be my choice

[Kierkegaard]

24. Anything but a spreadsheet app.

I'd choose Oracle personally, but since MySQL is free/open source, there'd be no obstacle to them having the latest version/updates.

[BlooInBloo]

25. Whether or not relational structure is needed depends *entirely* on the use of the data...

It could perfectly well be that csv is all they need, so that Excel would be just fine. (Well, except for the sheet-size limitation at least - heh!)


EDIT: typo.

[Kierkegaard]

26. Needing this data in a real DB isn't just about the availability of relational structure.

[BlooInBloo]

31. Needing a relational db depends *entirely* on the need to use a relational model...

Not not modelling the data relationally = no need for rdbms.

If all of our data modelling needs were perfectly served by single flat tables, relational dbs wouldn't even exist, and Codd would be a lunatic.

[Kierkegaard]

33. Sorry. We'll just have to disagree.

Using toys for critical data storage is not a good practice for a number of reasons.

[BlooInBloo]

34. Uh... no-one disagrees with that. The *storage* is the *file* though...

Not the application used to *read* the file.

[Kierkegaard]

37. *sigh*

You win. Excel it is. Although, my collegues and I will quietly continue to disagree with you.

[mcg]

39. I'd choose PostgreSQL ...

open-source and Oracle compatible, more advanced than MySQL,
there's a free edition and an Enterprise Edition that's very inexpensive.

[Kierkegaard]

41. Another good choice. n/t

[Prophet 451]

27. Probably not

I blast MS as much as anyone in the IT business but their profiteering on the Office line should really make them ashamed.

Open Office (which I use) is in the same region.

[populistdriven]

38. Wiki Entry Comparing Maximum Number Of Rows in most popular Spreadsheet Apps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Calc

I bet OpenOffice is redimensioned soon!

[blogslut]

7. So, maybe the FEC will be hiring new database managers?

Looks like an upgrade is in order. :)

[dbmk]

23. New?

Think the word is "some". :)

[blogslut]

32. good point

:hi:

[nxylas]

8. Will nobody think of the database administrators?

Damn that Obama! :sarcasm:

[RazBerryBeret]

15. hey look!

he's creating new jobs even before he's in office~

[Prophet 451]

28. *hands prize*

If that doesn't make the DUzys, it's a travesty.

[mcg]

40. I second the nomination for a DUzy award. nt

[flor de jasmim]

9. Love it!

[dkf]

10. That looks like the max rows for an excel spreadsheet.

I've run into that problem myself.

[IDemo]

11. See post #6

[Cirque du So-What]

12. Gleefully recommended!

Populism in the truest sense of the word!

[Tippy]

13. K&R

[boobooday]

17. He's going to destroy the system!

It wasn't set up to handle participation!

:yoiks: :yoiks: :yoiks:

[rainbow4321]

18. Wonder if they had the same problem with HRC debt list???

Just askin'......

[nichomachus]

21. Yes

By March, the reports filed by Clinton, a New York senator who attributes Obama’s victories in several states to her own lack of money, also could no longer be downloaded into spreadsheets using basic applications.

[dbmk]

22. They did. its in the article

Obama crossed the threshold in January, Hillary in March.

[Window]

19. Hot damn!

Way to go Sen. Obama and supporters.

[dbmk]

20. It happened back in January as far as I can tell

Same happened in March for Hillary.

But that the FEC would handle stuff like that in Ecxel sheets and not load them into a real database is rather astonishing. And not in a good way.

[ClassWarrior]

29. At first I thought your title was HRC's latest talking point.

:rofl:

NGU.

[POAS]

30. Which is why

Clinton should be the nominee.

PS :sarcasm:

PPS Sorry it's just too easy anymore and I can't stop myself!

[RichardRay]

35. As a software engineer with a specialty in databases....

I find that hilarious. :rofl:

The Excel guess was my first one, too. OTOH 65,536 is MAXLONGINT for any 16 bit application and lord knows what the FEC is running!

If they're really wedded to Excel (especially for analysis and reporting) they could do quite nicely with MS SQL Server Express (free) and a few hours of SQL query writing. Excel works quite nicely as a front end to any SQL backend, but it's a complete slam dunk if you stay inside Microsoft's bailiwick.

[uponit7771]

36. hillary will be using this as a talking point in 5....4.....3....