Looks like we finally got hit in London (UK).
For the latest information take a look at the BBC News.
Not good!
Oracle related rants (and lots of off-topic stuff)…
Looks like we finally got hit in London (UK).
For the latest information take a look at the BBC News.
Not good!
The UK’s popularity is pretty low at the moment. We really need this Olympics to rebuild some of the bridges we’ve burnt recently. I hope we don’t mess it up!
Cheers
Tim…
I’m struggling to come to terms with the fact that 10g Release 2 is still not available for download. If you’re struggling to cope with its absense you can get ahead of the game by reading these articles:
Oracle Database 10g: Top Features for DBAs – Release 2 Features Addendum
Some very cool stuff has been added in this release!
Oracle has continued it’s spending spree. See: Oracle goes shopping again.
We often talk about the lack of security on wireless networks, but could we find ourselves in court if we use them? Sounds like the answer could be yes! See:
Man Arrested for Using Open Wireless Network
Cheers
Tim…
PS. Did I mention I was still waiting for 10g Release 2?
I’ll start this post by stating the few facts:
That said, I think this link is really cool: Lego Start Destroyer
I just think it’s really funny. Imagine the scene, it’s midnight and you decide to build an enormous Lego model of a star destroyer that takes you 10 hours to complete. On top of that you decide to film it using your webcam to create a time-lapse recording of the event for the world to see. Fantastic!
I love technology 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
I’ve just noticed that Robert Freeman has removed the ability to add comments to his blog and may stop blogging altogether, see his post entitled Removal of comments…
I hope he’s able to carry on blogging. I think it’s good to hear a variety of opinions and I like to read peoples off-topic posts as they give an idea of the personality behind the blog.
Cheers
Tim…
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Another year older and supposedly another year wiser.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I seem to have missed a few years between 18 and 36. Where did they go and what was I doing? It’s all a blur.
I was sure that Larry was going to release Oracle 10g Release 2 in time for my birthday!
I’m off to hit the books.
Cheers
Tim…
How well do we as Oracle professionals cope on the worldwide stage?
I was struggling to answer a question on my forum yesterday. My gut reaction was that both the question and answer were simple, but I seemed incapable of grasping the issue. The reason for my difficulty was that English was not the first language of the person asking the question. This made me feel guilty on a couple of levels:
This got me thinking about how we in the English speaking Oracle world must be percieved on the world stage.
I did a quick scan on the net and found a Population by Country breakdown. When you take a look at the numbers you’ll see that in comparison to China and India most countries seem relatively insignificant in population terms. Both these countries have recently seen a boom in their IT industries to the point where they are fast becoming IT superpowers. With that in mind, our myopic view of the IT industry seems very much like being a big fish in a small pond.
In actual fact, the IT industry is more than aware of this fact. So much so that even a certain company with the motto “Don’t be evil.” thinks nothing of censoring its content to get its foot in the door. Of course, they’re not the only people at it:
To return to my initial questions:
I would be interested to know the reactions of people on both sides of the debate. If English is not your first language do you feel left out in the cold, or have you come to accept that English is a prerequisite in the IT industry?
Cheers
Tim…
Some thoughts about my perfect development environment. Of course it will never happen 🙂
Compulsory PL/SQL APIs
Client application developers would have no direct access to tables. Not even for queries. All access would be provided by PL/SQL APIs. I like this because:
J2EE abolished
I like Java, but I dislike J2EE. When I look at the way J2EE applications interact with the database it worries me. Perhaps I’ve been unlucky, or perhaps I’m missing the point, but I think it’s shocking. Using container managed persistence (CMP) to generate SQL on the fly worries me. I want to know at development time what is going on. I want to be able to cut and paste the SQL, not try and capture or trace it during a run. At least with bean managed persistence (BMP) you get this, but Java developers seem to avoid BMP like the plague.
Even when J2EE developers use BMP with calls to PL/SQL APIs, the containers have some strange ideas about what’s sensible. To update a record the container requests a query, update and requery of the data, rather than just a query and update. What’s this extra work for? I know what the state of the data is. I’ve just updated it. Even if someone does sneak an update in after me, the bean is being destroyed so the extra query was pointless.
I’m not saying that J2EE is pointless, I just think that 90% of the people out there don’t know, or care, how badly their applications interact with the database. Maybe some Java guru will tell me why I’m talking rubbish, but I can only judge this on my experience and that tells me that J2EE applications are not performant.
Miscellaneous
Just a few extra points to throw into the mix.
Perhaps the most important point is that I would be presented with lavish gifts whenever I entered the room.
Cheers
Tim…
One of the guys from work has just pointed out the Livemark feature of Firefox, which allows you to create dynamic bookmarks based on XML feeds.
The resulting bookmark is dynamically generated from the contents of the feed.
I think it’s neat, but now I have to decide between Bloglines, Thunderbird and Firefox as my blog reader 😉
By the way, the blogger spellcheck tries to substitue the word “Asthma” for “AskTom” 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
This is a random collection of thoughts on personal development, both in and out of the workplace.
Developing your skillset
Jeff Hunter has a very nice post on the relevance of certification called Does Certification Matter Anymore? The comments section includes some of my own thoughts.
On a more general note we all have to make choices about whether to try and progress our skillsets or stick with what we have. I’m reading and learning constantly, but now and then I start “the next big push” and for a moment I’m filled with dread. The more I learn the more I understand the process of learning and the more I realise there are no short cuts. The only way to understand something is to chip away at it until it all makes sense.
Putting yourself on the line
The first time I posted on a forum I was terrified. I watched the thread for ages waiting to see if someone trashed my answer, which they did. My choices were to (a) stop posting or (b) get myself up to speed and try again. I picked (b).
The same thing happened again when I started to write articles for my website. I hate to think what rubbish is still lurking on my site, but at the time I wrote it I believed it to be true…
Even after all these years it’s still happening to me. I’ve just sent out a batch of books all over the world to get reviewed. I could have picked people who would say good things out of loyalty to me, but instead I picked people who would tell me the truth. If the reviews say the book is rubbish I would rather people didn’t waste their money on it. If the reviews are positive then I know I’m moving in the right direction. Either way these reviews will have a positive affect on my life. This conveniently links into my next point.
All experiences are good
The dedication in by book reads,
“This book is dedicated every person I’Â’ve met, every place I’Â’ve been and every event I’Â’ve experienced.”
OK, it sounds a little cheesey, but I believe it’s true. Sometimes even the worst situations turn out to be the source something good.
I carry a small effigy of Ganesha, a Hindu deity who is known as “the remover of obstacles”, a well-timed present from a friend. Ganesha is part man, part elephant, part God and part demon. Now the interesting thing about Ganesha is that he also places obstacles in your path, as a way of teaching you a lesson. I’m not a religous person, but I love what he represents. We can learn a lot about ourselves by our reactions to both good and bad situations.
Acknowledge your ego
We all have an ego. It’s a contributing factor in our desire to progress. I heard this quote a few years ago,
“To deny your own ego is the most egotisitcal thing you can do.”
I can’t remember the source, but I think it’s pretty neat. I guess we all need to keep our egos in check from time to time 😉
Closing statements
I have two quotes to round off this post. The first is from a great sage called Jeff Hunter who said,
“Can’t we all just get along?”
I don’t know where I got this next one from, probably some hippy Yoga teacher,
“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”
Cheers
Tim…