Missing
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It's a sad day in the database world. One of our own is missing at sea. As of this send, it's not clear what is going on, but for now, Jim Gray is missing.An avid sailor, he left San Francisco Sunday morning and has not been seen since. His plan was to leave in the morning and make a trip out and back. Searchers are unsure of what went wrong since the weather has been clear and calm, ideal sailing conditions.
His home page at Microsoft Research shows the various projects he worked on. The TerraServer, a huge database of maps that was the forerunner of things like Google Maps and Live Earth, was a showcase for SQL Server 7.
I was fortunate enough to have seen Mr. Gray speak a few times at various events, though never lucky enough to meet him. I've always wanted to interview him as well and I hope I'll still have the chance.
I grew up near the ocean, in Virginia Beach and spent many hours sailing, rowing, surfing, diving, and more on the ocean waves. I was often with others, but I had many times out there alone, though never out of sight of land. I learned early on to respect and admire the power of the sea.
We have a foolishness in youth
that leads us to believe we can tame the sea
With age comes respect
And the understanding that we cannot comprehend her fury
And with experience comes the reality
that the ocean is truly Mother Nature embodied,
soft, yielding and nurturing,
with a fury we cannot withstand when her mood swings.
Life at sea is full indeed
but easily lost if we forget to be humbled by the waves.
I hope that Mr. Gray comes out of this alive and well and we have the chance to learn more from this amazing person.
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Sailor's lore:
Beyond 40 South, there is no law;
Beyond 50 South, there is no God!
Gavin Baumanis
Smith and Wesson. The original point and click device.
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I was fortunate to meet Mr. Gray several times at SQL PASS conferences. He is a gentleman and an outstanding, yet humble, intellect. I'll pray for his safe return.
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It does not matter what size the body of water is...we need to have respect for each body of water and the unique set of hazards that exist on each.
We need to be sure to have backup plans and contingencies in case of problems.
No different from maintaining a DB and planning for catastrophic failures.
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That's sad news indeed. As others have said, all bodies of water need to be respected. But there is also the possibility that even after such respect is granted, the water will claim a victim anyway.
I hope he's lost but OK and is found alive and well soon. His family must be worried out of their minds.
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A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html -
" since. His plan was to . Searchers are unsure"
I am guessing that you meant to say, his plan was to leave in the morning and return in the evening?
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Jereme,
Thanks and yes. It's been corrected.
Also, the CG is calling off the search. A sad day.
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This really is a mystery. I think the facts that no debris was found (in exceptionally good search conditions) and that no emergency signals were sent out do provide some hope that Mr. Gray may still be alive.
From an ABC article: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=4990954
"Jim Gray had a safety harness, lifeboat, flare gun, radar ball, marine radio, cell phone and an emergency homing beacon that would have been activated if the boat sank. The Coast Guard insists even if the boat sank quickly, the beacon and lifeboat would have automatically activated. Also, they say there's no way it could have sunk without some other debris coming to the surface. And search conditions have been exceptional. Searchers report seeing things on the water's surface that wouldn't normally be visible."
Strange things happen on the ocean. Let's hope this works in Mr. Gray's favor this time.
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Good news today in that the Coast Guard has decided to continue and expand its search for Jim Gray.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/16598363.htm
"Today's search includes two C-130 fixed-wing aircrafts, several helicopters, three 87-foot patrol boats and several 47-foot motor lifeboats and involves personnel from as far away as Los Angeles and Crescent City.
In its fourth day since Gray was reported missing Sunday evening, the search also will head more than 300 miles to the west looking for evidence of Gray and his 40-foot yacht, Tenacious."
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Thanks Steve for posting this it is a very sad day for Microsoft and those of us who love data. I am still dazed.
Kind regards,
Gift Peddie -
One good thing is I have seen that Google and Amazon have offered to help fund the search and send bodies to help. They also have people trying to analyze data, like when his cell phone and PDA made contact with towers.
Best of luck to the Geeks!!!
Hey if someone knows Larry Ellison, ask him why his fleet of sailboats isn't helping!
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CG search over, still nothing. Others still looking, and pondering other theories.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/16601612.htm
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``It's one of the most frustrating and unusual cases we've had,'' said Coast Guard Capt. David Swatland, who has conducted numerous searches for missing craft in his 23-year career. Swatland said he couldn't recall another time when a boat the size of Gray's 40-foot C&C yacht had disappeared without a trace.
Swatland, who said visibility and ocean conditions had been good all week, added that the C-130 aircraft are equipped with search technology sophisticated enough to ``pick up a cooler floating in the water.''
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I recently saw an episode about a lost-at-sea search. It was a History Channel show about the Bermuda Triangle. I know it sounds hokey, but the episode was actually very well done, and it showed how a natural explanation was found.
The mystery started with 5 fighter planes that got lost off the coast of Florida in the WWII years (or just after). What was really bizarre is that in the search for those 5 planes, they happened to find *another* 5 fighter planes that got lost. But the second set of planes was found at the bottom of the ocean at a spot where the investigators were looking for the first set of planes. So basically they reasoned, "If the [first] fighter planes got lost in this way, we should look here." And yet they found a totally different set of 5 fighter planes in that location. I think those planes are still a mystery.
The first set of planes is not, though. For some reason, the investigators discovered, the planes turned east when they should have turned west. Most likely, the lead pilot thought he saw Key West when in fact he was seeing some islands in the Atlantic.
At any rate, sorry to be long-winded. But there was a part of the show where they illustrated a rescue exercise where the rescuers had to find an object the size of a person in the water from about 100 feet up. What was amazing was that when they showed the shot from the helicopter, I couldn't make out anything except water. The rescuer said that even with ideal weather, only about 78% of people lost at sea are expected to be found.
I don't mean this as a downer, just as something to bear in mind. It appears to be extremely difficult to find people at sea, even though most people may think that in this day and age we can find anything.
- webrunner
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A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html -
Ya I saw that too. The mystery around the plane could be explained with pocket of gas going out of the water. Pockets that when big enough could sink a ship in a few seconds (low boyancy or with a mega wave). The gas could also thin the oxygen just enough so that the combustion in the engine would stop and stall the engines, which couldn't get restarted right away.
That is a valid theory, but IIRC it would still need ot be proven but overall it seems sound to me.
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