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If I’m building a system that needs a full audit trail, what exactly am I gaining from your approach vs just doing insert-only rows with metadata (version, timestamp, user etc)? I mean, besides a nicer UI?

Also, when you say “immutable, off-host” — are we talking like another SQL Server instance on a diff machine? Or something else entirely?

And can this be queried directly with SQL too? Or is it locked behind some API/UI?


Hey, appreciate the thoughtful questions — you’re asking exactly the right things.

??? “What exactly am I gaining from your approach vs just doing insert-only rows with metadata?”

--- Short answer:

You're skipping 3–5 days of implementation and months of future pain — and replacing it with a 1-minute install that works across all your SQL Server databases, out of the box.

--- Longer answer:

Sure, you could roll your own audit trail — insert-only pattern, version columns, triggers, etc. But in practice, across dozens (or hundreds) of databases, that gets messy fast. Every table structure is different. You’ll need custom scripts per DB. Version control is painful. Permissions get tricky. Debugging requires deep institutional knowledge. Not to mention… good luck making that GDPR/HIPAA/FDA-compliant in a way that auditors actually trust.

SqlSafeKeep:

1. Auto-generates a dedicated audit database and Lighthouse dashboard per app DB 2. Tracks every INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE row-level change — no code changes needed 3. Gives you instant lineage for any record, like: "How did this field get this value? What was it before? Who changed it and when?" 4. Surfaces changes visually, lets you search changes across databases, and offers a UI and raw SQL access 5. Reduces the typical 9-step debug workflow down to 2 steps (No breakpoints, no spelunking through controller code or stale logs)

Example: just last week, a customer hit a bug in code I hadn’t touched in years. Pre-audit, I’d be in debugger hell for 45 minutes. With SqlSafeKeep, I saw the DB change, traced it back to a controller in 2 minutes, fixed it with confidence — zero breakpoints needed!!!!!!!

??? “Off-host” = different SQL Server instance?

--- Not necessarily. We spin up a separate audit DB and audit-Lighthouse DB on your same SQL Server host, locked down to a minimum-permissions service account. These are append-only, write-only from our triggers, read-only for you. The goal is immutability + isolation without needing extra infra.

??? “Can I query it directly in SQL?”

--- Yes. 100%. Nothing is hidden behind API walls. You can build your own tools, do reporting, or plug into your data pipelines. Think of it as structured time-series logs per table, per operation, per row — fully queryable.

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We're looking for early adopters to give feedback and try it out. Would you be open to a free trial or demo? Worst case, you walk away with a bulletproof audit DB infrastructure for your app — no strings attached.

Let me know, happy to show it off. Appreciate the dialogue — it helps us make this stronger.


Was expecting a product I can try out. But still, not disappointed.


This is super cool and I would love to try it out. We use SEMrush and they are basically charging us +$1000 dollar for the basic plan, with every other feature as an add-on for addition $200 - $400.

Question: Do you have (or plan to provide) features like -

-- Questions around the seed keywords

-- Keyword exports for external analysis with details like volume, difficulty, etc,

-- Can I tag keywords if I save them in a particular list?

In my work, I do SEO research almost every day and have a very extensive keyword strategy. So above features are what's keeping me stick to SEMrush.


Hey, Thank you!

We're planning to add premade filters for "Questions" and "Long tail" and a couple of others filtersets.

Keywords Export is coming for sure.

You can't tag just yet, but we will add this to backlog and implement according to our roadmap.


what would it take to build a SEMRush alternative?


Quite some time but we'll get there one day


I am from marketing, so maybe I don't really understand the technical value here but how is it different than me opening a new Google doc?

I currently have a single doc file that I use like notes, as soon as I type "note" in my address bar, my browser automatically fills in the rest of the URL for the file (since I open is frequently).

The Doc file allows me to paste images, add links, or anything else essential for note taking. I don't need to save, or find the URL from browser history. Simply type and close.

For any new file, I can type Doc.new. It will work the same way.

Please explain how is it different?


The google docs experience is so spririt crushingly bad on an ipad (my preferred casual browsing / reading device) that I immediately bookmarked this site for those moments when I need to write and don't want to fetch my laptop.


Google Docs stores things on Google's servers. This site doesn't send anything to anyone, it stays on your device only.


You're right. Most are design patents. Only 10.75% are utility patents.


Hello nullptr,

Thanks for sharing feedback about website and content. I will share it ahead with the authors. I think it wasn't their intention to advertise Apple here but if it is feeling like an advertisement, then they sure can improve they way they have portrayed this analysis.

About their internal tool. I would be open to share your feedback about this as well if you share it with me.

Would be open to hear feedback from other readers too. Please reply to my comment and I can share it ahead. Thanks.


Hello ChrisMarshallNY,

I know the author, thanks for sharing your views. I will share your feedback ahead. I do not think their intention is to advertise Apple because most of their articles are on analysis based on patent data.


I think he meant the article is an ad for GreyB:

> You can learn much about a company’s market value and upcoming business plans by analyzing patterns in its IP strategy. Being a pioneer in the IP R&D space, GreyB has the expertise and resources to help you cut through the noise and get actionable insights on a company or innovator.


Yes, it was an ad for GreyB.

It does look like they have a legitimate BI product. It isn't what I need, but I did appreciate the insight.

Like I said, even though it is an ad, it is one that is actually useful as legitimate information.


Oh, okay. Yes it makes sense.

Will share this ahead as well. Thank you.


This opening, “I appreciate you sharing this with me”, in rebuttal template -2 is a great negotiation tactic. This sentence takes off the guilt of saying a no from the speaker’s conscience (who happens to be a buyer) and suddenly puts him into a much favourable position where he has helped the seller.


Microsoft patented the way to power these data centers using tidal energy in ocean itself. They patented in 2017.

http://www.whatafuture.com/microsoft-underwater-data-centers...


"All of Orkney's electricity comes from wind and solar power"


If they patented it in 2017, I'm guessing it probably didn't make it in to this one, but the assumption is that the next version may have that technology.


That's a good enough reason to pull it out, replace/upgrade the equip, and drop it back in with the new setup (new sources of energy), and if they get the whole thing to transmit wireless-ly with a 1% failures per 2 years (8 out of the 855 servers) then it's a truly set-and-forget thing. And they can be bringing them up every 2-5-10 years to replace/upgrade the HW and drop it back in.


One would imagine that the signal to noise ratio for wireless data transmission in the ocean would be pretty abysmal. That said, there's no reason why they couldn't just run a fiber optic cable out from it, as long as it's designed to rotate around said cable.


I thought of the cable solution, but that would have some wear and tear if the capsule gets to move around. I was imagining a periscope-y antenna, in the form of a buoy.


Short range high power wireless to cable. Basically cable but with a wear buffer.


Microsoft probably has enough money that they could leave the original one in, and pop down a new one with the new green energy.

(Of course, individual projects still have finite budgets.)


I assume that the project approved by the UK government specifies some requirements about environment protection and the fate of the material.


Building a new one would take more time


Yes, but they can build multiple in parallel.


It would need an antenna buoy as wireless does not transmit well in salt water.


If that was the reason, we'd know about it from the PR release. This must have been a failure.


Still quite interesting if it becomes a reality.

Let's see what other thinks.


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