Oracle related rants (and lots of off-topic stuff)…
In today’s video we demonstrate blockchain tables, introduced in Oracle database 21c.
The video is based on this article.
As I mention in the video and the article, blockchain tables are a niche feature, but it’s good to know they exist in case you come across a requirement where they would be useful.
The star of today’s video is Martin Klier. 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we demonstrate some of the enhancements to qualified expressions in Oracle database 21c.
The video is based on this article.
If you are new to qualified expressions, and don’t already know about the FOR LOOP enhancements in 21c, these may be helpful.
The star of today’s video is Mike Hichwa. Everything you know and love about APEX started with this guy!
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we demonstrate the FOR LOOP iteration control enhancements in Oracle database 21c.
The video is based on this article.
If you’re not already got up to speed with qualified expressions in 18c, you might want to check this out also.
The star of today’s video is Alex Nuijten, of PL/SQL and in recent years APEX fame.
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we demonstrate using expressions in initialization parameters, introduced in Oracle database 21c.
The video is based on this article.
The star of today’s video is Deiby Gómez, who is a fellow Oracle ACE Director, and was kind enough to take me sightseeing when I visited Guatemala for a conference.
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we demonstrate the JSON_TRANSFORM function, introduced in Oracle database 21c.
This video is based on the following article, which has a lot more information and examples than the video does.
I’ve written a bunch of stuff on JSON and ORDS, and there’s a YouTube playlist.
The star of today’s video is Tom Kyte. Here are two funny (to me) stories about my interactions with Tom.
On my first visit to OpenWorld in 2006, Tom walked up to me and introduced himself. I was blown away he even knew who I was. It was a massive ego trip. On my next visit to OpenWorld in 2007, I walked up to Tom and said casually, “Hi Tom”. He looked at me, looked down at my conference badge, looked at me again and said, “Hi Tim”. Needless to say, my ego was placed firmly back where it belonged. I still laugh when I think about it now.
At a later OpenWorld I was sitting at a table and someone was fanboying me. Tom came along and asked if he could sit at the same table. I said sure. My fanboy turned and said in a rather snarky tone, “And who are you?” Tom replied, “Hi. I’m Tom Kyte”. Fanboy’s face immediately dropped and at that exact moment in time I became invisible, and fanboy began to fanboy Tom. It was priceless!
Good times!
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we’ll quickly demonstrate long identifiers, introduced in Oracle database 12.2.
The video is based on this article.
I was moved to make this because I saw someone on Twitter complaining about the 30 character limit in Oracle. I figured they were probably using an old version of the database, but that’s their fault. A short video was convenient, as I was working this weekend, and didn’t have much free time. 🙂
The star of today’s video is Marcelle Kaye, in honour of her recent birthday. Hopefully we will get to meet up again one day…
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we’ll demonstrate how to use virtual columns, introduced in Oracle 11g.
The video is based on this article.
The star of today’s video is Scott Wesley of APEX fame. I think he’s into gardening too, because he has a blog about grass or something… 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we’ll discuss read-only partitions and subpartitions, introduced in Oracle 12.2.
This is based on the following article.
You might find these useful too.
The star of today’s video is Chris Saxon of AskTom fame. You can check out his YouTube channel here.
Cheers
Tim…
In today’s video we’ll discuss Invisible Indexes, introduced in Oracle 11g.
The video is based on this article.
The star of today’s video is Chris Muir, who was instrumental in me becoming a presenter. He invited me down to Australia to speak at a couple of AUSOUG events, which were the first proper conferences I ever presented at.
Cheers
Tim…
Buying equipment can be really confusing because the reviews are very inconsistent, with a mix of 5 star and 1 star ratings. Also a lot depends on your experience level. If you are a beginner, simplicity is probably your number one priority. As you get more experienced, people often want greater levels of control (not me). So I thought I would give out a breakdown of what I use at the moment, just in case it helps anyone who is a bit confused.
I’ve given links to Amazon where possible.
I tried several USB microphones before I got to this setup. I think this was the cheapest I’ve used and it seems to be the most consistent for my voice. I’m sure I could get better quality with an XLR mic and a mixer, but I really don’t need the extra hassle. I just plug this in and start.
I use a wind screen and a pop filter, yet I still get plosive noises all the time. I used to use a separate adjustable pop filter, but I was constantly readjusting it, which drove me mad, so I changed to one attached to the mic.
Every frame and backdrop I looked at has extremely varied reviews. Most of the frames were described as flimsy in the reviews, so I spent more and got something that was really solid, which is both height adjustable and can adjust from 4 feet (121 cm) to 10 feet (305 cm) in width. The green screen is thick, and is so wide I have it folded double when I’m using the 6 feet width I’m currently using.
It’s early days, but I’m really happy with the result.
I only bought the following brick background because there was a delay with the above green screen, but then the green screen came the next day.
I tried using normal lighting with the green screen and it was OK, but there were green screen artefacts, especially at the creases on the green screen. As a result I decided to get some lights. As soon as these were on and pointing to the green screen, not me, all the artefacts disappeared, even on the heavy creases. These are the lights I got.
I checked out the reviews and this webcam seemed to have a good mix of price and features. There are loads to choose from. You could of course use a proper camera if that is your thing, but it’s far too much work for me, so a webcam is fine.
Nothing to complain about here. The quality is fine. It would be even better if I had some reasonable lighting. 🙂
So that’s it. If you’re involved in the video world you will notice it’s all really basic, and most of all really easy to use. Nothing fancy going on here.
Cheers
Tim…
PS. If you only use Zoom or Teams for conferencing, I would suggest using the virtual backgrounds to hide your messy life behind you. You get artefacts on screen, but why would you spend money on all this crap if you can use them for free? 🙂