Tag: free

Let’s Encrypt : Free Certificates on Oracle Linux (CertBot)

My website has been using HTTPS for over 18 months now. A couple of months ago I came across Let’s Encrypt and thought, “Free Certificates? That’s interesting!”, so I gave it a shot for some other stuff I look after, just to see how I got on with it.

The certificates only last 3 months, but you can automate their renewal using CertBot. You set it up to check every day, and the certificates get renewed if they are within 30 days of expiring. Since I set it up a little over 2 months ago, the first round of renewals happened a couple of days ago. No dramas.

Having seen the first automated refresh happen successfully, I decided to switch the main website to use the Let’s Encrypt certificate today. That means no more buying certificates for me! 🙂

I put together this article when I did the initial setup, just to document it for myself.

I didn’t mention it at the time as I wasn’t really sure about how it would work out, but now I’m using it I thought it might be interesting to any other cheapskates out there. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Oracle Database 12c: Installation and Administration (1Z1-062) beta exam : Free Voucher Competition

I’ve just been sent 5 free vouchers for the Oracle Database 12c: Installation and Administration (1Z1-062) beta exam! Here is an excerpt from the email…

“We are piloting this program with the Oracle Database 12c: Installation and Administration (1Z1-062) beta exam. … we have provided five (5) vouchers for free beta exams. You can use them for a giveaway on your blog if you like. Simply send the voucher number to the winner. They will enter this voucher in the appropriate field during exam registration at Pearson VUE. This beta exam is scheduled to end on October 19, 2013.”

I’m about to leave for OpenWorld 2013, so this is going to be brief. Here are the rules of the competition…

  1. The beta exam closes on the 19th October, so unless you think you can be ready to sit the exam by then, don’t bother entering. You’ll just be wasting a spot someone else could take.
  2. The voucher is only redeemable for the 1Z1-062 beta exam. You can’t use it for any other exam! You can’t wait and use it for the production exam! It’s just for this beta exam so you have to get your ass into gear!
  3. The competition will close on Saturday 28th September. I’ll announce the winners when I get back from OOW2013.
  4. You need to tell me why you need the free voucher in the comments below this blog post. Facebook and Google+ comments will not be included in the competition!
  5. Extra credit will be given for funny and/or rhyming entries. Even the slightest effort to rhyme will rocket you up the ratings, because it will make the judging more fun! You have a week, so try and be creative!
  6. I’ll be sending the voucher codes via email and confirming the email address and winning names with Oracle, so you must include a real email address and name when posting the comment.
  7. I may seek the help of friends and colleagues to help me judge the winners. I guess it depends on how many entries there are and how hard it is to judge. 🙂
  8. It’s late, I’m tired and I should be packing for OOW, so if I’ve forgotten anything, I reserve the right to modify this post a little, so keep an eye on it over the week…

Good luck!

Cheers

Tim…

QUICK LINKS

 

Prize Winners : Oracle E-Business Suite R12 Integration and OA Framework Development and Extension Cookbook

A couple of weeks ago I started a competition to win 2 copies of Oracle E-Business Suite R12 Integration and OA Framework Development and Extension Cookbook by Andy Penver. Thanks to Packt for donating the prizes. The competition closed yesterday and the lucky winners are:

  • Arun
  • Ajay Sharma

I’ve sent your email addresses to my contact at Packt, who will contact you to deliver your e-book.

Cheers

Tim…

Win A free copy of the Oracle E-Business Suite R12 Integration and OA Framework Development and Extension Cookbook

Following on from last weeks book competition, the kind people at Packt have offered another prize. This time 2 e-book copies of
Oracle E-Business Suite R12 Integration and OA Framework Development and Extension Cookbook by Andy Penver.

The competition will run for about two weeks, so I’ll be selecting the winners on 10th May 2013. To enter, comment on this post, telling me why you think you need this book and what you hope to gain from it. The two lucky winners will be selected based on their comments on this post (not Facebook, Google+ or Twitter), so try and be creative or you won’t stand out from the crowd. 🙂 The winners will be contacted via email, so please use your real email address when posting your comment.

You can read more about the contents of the book and the author on the Packt website, but here is a little marketing message about the book.

“Oracle E-Business Suite R12 Integration and OA Framework Development and Extension Cookbook is an
extensive guide for both beginners and intermediate users that describes how to develop extensions in Oracle
E-Business Suite. The book also discusses some of Oracle E-Business Suite’s vital features, such as creating and
distributing BI Publisher template files to the file system, authoring, managing, delivering highly-formatted
documents using BI Publisher and configuring a browser.

This is a practical hands-on guide, designed to demonstrate the newest features in Oracle E-Business Suite
Release 12. With an in-depth knowledge of personalizing OA Framework pages in Oracle E-Business Suite,
readers will not only be able to install JDeveloper with OA Extension and set up a development environment,
but also deploy an OA Framework page within Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.”

Good Luck!

Cheers

Tim…

PS. Connor, death threats will not work this time. 🙂

Free Book: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Michael McLaughlin‘s blog has a post about a free MS SQL Server book (Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012) available here. If you are into MS SQL Server, you can’t get a better deal than that. 🙂

Remember, you can still get hold of a free copy of Tom Kyte‘s book (Expert Oracle Database Architecture, 2nd Edition) from Red Gate.

Cheers

Tim…