Monthly Archives: March 2011

Why Data Modeling Fall Sideways?

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Ron Keler

One of the most surprising aspects I have come to expect during the years of data integration and warehousing consulting is how little data modeling is actually being practiced in this field. While it is hard to find a database … Continue reading →

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Data Visualization Lesson from 6 Years Old

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Ron Keler

“Daddy, you have a lot of audio, not a lot of photos, a little more apps then photos, and you have free space more than the photos and apps, but not as much as the audio”. That is what my … Continue reading →

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The dilemma of the expanding and shrinking universe

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Ron Keler

One of the most fundamental questions you will need to answer as you begin designing your meta data strategy can be borrowed from astrophysics. In much the same way that our cosmos adhere to great expending forces that stem from … Continue reading →

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How I got flash to run on my iPad and iPhone

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Ron Keler

Like so many others, I really like my iPhone and my iPad, but I get very annoyed when I try to browse to a web site that is flash based, or try to even pull up some of my blog … Continue reading →

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Defuse the tension between designers and technologists – educate on your BI tools capabilities upfront

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Ron Keler

When working with designers, or users who are interested in designing their dashboards, you will undoubtedly run into tensions between what “should be” and what “can be”. While you can argue that with software there are really no limitations, and … Continue reading →

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Good to Great Dashboard

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Ron Keler

In his famous book “Good to Great”, Jim Collins describes his research into eleven great companies that presented consistent outstanding results, compared to other companies that were in seemingly similar situation, but failed to achieve sustainable greatness. Collins describes the … Continue reading →

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Scale matters

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Ron Keler

Charts have become an invaluable way to communicate information and articulate data. Charts help us not just convey data, but to also “tell a story”. With Charts, we can highlight certain points and help the people who need to act … Continue reading →

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Broken windows theory applied to BI – clean up your reports so they don’t end up in the trash

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Ron Keler

The broken windows theory is a social sciences theory. It claims that maintaining the form of the environment prevents crime and social disorder. Malcolm Gladwell discusses this theory in his book The Tipping Point and examines how it was used … Continue reading →

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Spin the bike wheel and track your performance

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Ron Keler

While working out at the gym today, I thought up this little Xcelsius dashboard to track biking performance. While the hardware components needed are a bit out of reach for me right now, the illustration below would have to suffice … Continue reading →

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Automatically Close Xcelsius Dashboard When User Is Idle

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Ron Keler

A colleague approached me the other day with a requirement to “Logoff” users when they have not been active in an Xcelsius dashboard for a certain amount of time. I am sure there are many approaches and ways to accommodate … Continue reading →

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