Determining the proper cursor type to use with a Recordset in ADO is often a trial-and-error effort. The text “ADO: ActiveX Data Objects” by Jason T. Roff summarizes the four types of cursors supported by ActiveX Data Objects:

• A dynamic cursor (adOpenDynamic) allows you to move freely throughout your recordset, without restrictions, except when your provider does not support bookmarks. The dynamic cursor is by far the most versatile cursor available to the ADO developer. The major drawback of the dynamic cursor is that it is extremely resource- and time-intensive because of its ability to show, in real time, changes made by other users.
• The keyset cursor (adOpenKeyset) is very similar to the dynamic cursor in functionality, with the exception of the real-time viewing of new records created, deleted, and modified by other users. Unlike with the dynamic cursor, the ability of the data provider to offer the use of bookmarks is mandatory. This is so that the keyset cursor can offer something called batch updates.
• The static cursor (adOpenStatic) is vastly different than the previous two. It still allows your application to move freely through the recordset. The difference is that you are unable to dynamically view changes made to the records by other users within your static recordset. The static cursor is like a snapshot of the data within your data source at a specific point in time.
• The forward-only cursor (adOpenForwardOnly) is the fastest available. It is similar to the static cursor in that it presents a snapshot of the data at a particular point in time, but it lacks the ability to move the record pointer backwards.

The August 2006 issue of PHP Architect contains my published article, “Integrating OpenLaszlo with PHP: Hooking Into Rich Media Applications”.

Rich Internet applications are a hot topic at present. In this article, returning author Titus Barik introduces OpenLaszlo, an upcoming technology designed to address this issue using XML and Flash. He explains how to embed OpenLaszlo applications into your PHP scripts, and how you can use PHP as a bridge to communicate MySQL data via XML.

For more information, see the PHP Architect August 2006 Issue announcement. As usual, reprints are available electronically on a limited basis upon request.

In what could only be considered a privacy nightmare, AOL has released search logs of over 658,000 users. From the CNET news article:

Although AOL had used identification numbers rather than names or user IDs when listing the search logs, that did not quell concerns of privacy advocates, who said that anyone among the 658,000 could easily be identified based on the searches each individual conducted.

Though AOL has now taken down the data, it’s already too late. The data is currently available through Mininova, USENET, and other distribution channels. Greg Sadetsky provides mirrored links to the now defunct AOL data.