Month: September 2008

OCA PL/SQL Developer and stuff…

Today has been a bit of a rare day…

I hurt my back last night at Karate. I managed to get in on a cancellation at my osteopath, so off I went this morning to get everything straightened out.

I left the osteopath just in time to get to the Prometric test center down the road to sit the “Program with PL/SQL (1Z0-147)” exam, which I passed. The exam was pretty easy, but then I have been doing this stuff for 14 years. I sat the “Introduction to Oracle: SQL and PL/SQL (1Z0-001)” as part of my Oracle 7.3 OCP, so I guess I’m now an “Oracle PL/SQL Developer Certified Associate”.

The reason for doing this is I quite fancy doing the “Oracle Database 11g: Advanced PL/SQL” exam, currently in beta, to get the “Oracle Advanced PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional”. The OCA PL/SQL Developer is a prerequesite. I’ve been teaching most of the content of the “Oracle Database 11g: Advanced PL/SQL” this year so it shouldn’t be a problem. I just don’t know if I’ll have time before I hit the road, and the beta period will be over by the time I get back…

What made the whole day a bit more problematic, was I had a Diabetes clinic appointment today and I wasn’t allowed to eat before it, so I was really hungry. My appointment was at 15:30 and I hadn’t eaten since about 17:00 the previous day. Back pain and hunger aren’t the normal things you expect to deal with during an exam. Never mind, it’s sorted now… 🙂

By the way, I might be doing a couple of talks at the Swedish Oracle User Group in December (10th-11th). Nothing definite at the moment. I’ve been invited, but it’s all in the ether. The world tour continues… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Bangkok Dangerous…

One of the good things about being off work is you get to go to the cinema during the day when it is practically empty and only costs £3.45 to see a film. I didn’t really fancy Bangkok Dangerous, mostly because of Nicolas Cage. I read a review of a film of his some years back that said, Nicolas Cage doesn’t act, he performs. I liked some of his earlier stuff, but on the whole he gets on my nerves.

As it was, it wasn’t a bad film. Nicolas Cage was OK, except for his terrible hair which needs shaving off big style. The film was not really action packed, but it had enought going on to keep me interested. It’s no RocknRolla, but is was worth £3.45. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

RocknRolla…

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was cool. Snatch was good. Revolver is a great, and totally underrated film, but RocknRolla is complete class. It’s an 11 out of 10. Guy Ritchie has done an awesome job with this film. It’s a combination of gruesome, clever, funny and stupid. All the cast are great, but Mark Strong and Toby Kebbell are exceptional. I think this is probably the perfect UK gangster film. Even better than The Long Good Friday, and that’s going some.

I love US gangster stuff like Goodfellas and Casino, but I guess something a bit closer to home always resonates a bit more.

I’m really chuffed now. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Oracle Certified Profesional (OCP) Database 11g…

I passed the Oracle Database 11g: New Features for Administrators (1Z0-050) exam today. It’s a bit of a relief because I feel like I’ve been preparing for this exam for a year. My first OCP revision article was written about 1 year ago, when I was hoping to be ready for the beta exam. Unfortunately, all the presentations and teaching I’ve been doing this year proved to be a bigger distraction than I’d hoped, which meant I missed the deadline for the beta exam, and overshot the start of the production exam by about 6 months. 🙂

Well, now the exam is over it presents me with some new issues.

1) There are some gaps in my revision notes that need filling. I did a lot of reading during the preparation, and pulled out the areas and facts I thought were most important. Based on the events of today, this didn’t necessarily match up with the contents of the exam. It didn’t affect me, as I had done the additional reading, but as it stands I think it’s touch-and-go whether my revision notes alone will get someone through the exam. This means I’m going to have to go through and revise a few of the articles to fill the gaps.

2) There are a couple of OCP revision articles I’ve not published yet. I got a little impatient and sat the exam before I had finished prettying them. They will follow shortly, conferences permitting.

Like all the OCP exams, this is just the first steps towards learning this release…

Cheers

Tim…

PS. I suppose it’s a little premature to call myself an OCP 11g. I guess that’s not official until Oracle send through the certificate. 🙂

PPS. Before anyone asks, I used the Oracle manuals to prepare for the exam, so I can’t give certification guide suggestions…

Unemployed…

Friday was my last day at work, so today I’ve officially joined the ranks of the unemployed…

My current plan is to take the rest of the year off and start thinking about getting a job in the new year. I’ve got a lot going on over the next few months, so I don’t think I’ll get a chance to get bored. If I do, there’s always Diagnosis Murder and Murder, She Wrote to keep me occupied… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Babylon A.D…

I went to see Babylon A.D. at the weekend. On the whole the film wasn’t too bad.

Vin Diesel is exactly what you would expect if you’ve seen any of his other films. Michelle Yeoh is in it, which means it’s worth going to see if only so see her.

The fight sequences lack clarity. It’s pretty hard to see what’s going on a lot of the time. This is a shame because both of these actors are more than capable of doing good fight scenes. Saying that, the pace of the film was OK and nothing stood out as exceptionally good or bad… Until the end…

The last 2 minutes was the biggest waste of time. Quite possible the most pointless ending I’ve ever seen in a film. It’s like they sent the writers home early on the day they were writing the final scene.

You’ve got to start and end a film with some impact, and this film definitely ended on a lame note. If you can look past the last scene and you like dumb-ass action films, then I think you’ll enjoy it. If not, steer clear… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…