Oracle OpenWorld Live Watch it here.

Labels: oow09

  ¶ 10/09/2009 02:46:00 AM   1 Comments Links to this post

  Random Things: Volume #6 News
Of course the big news of the week is the latest release of the Oracle database, 11gR2. Everyone and their mother wrote about it, including yours truly. Seemed like a fun game to get a post out as quickly as possible.

Eddie Awad has compiled a pretty nice list of links to the "What's New" documentation section for the past 6 releases.

Sun + Oracle is faster

Oracle and Sun together are hard to match. Just ask IBM. Its fastest server now runs an impressive 6 million TPC-C transactions, but on October 14 at Oracle OpenWorld, we'll reveal the benchmark numbers that prove that even IBM DB2 running on IBM's fastest hardware can't match the speed and performance of Oracle Database on Sun systems. Check back on October 14 as we demonstrate Oracle's commitment to Sun hardware and Sun SPARC.

EU Investigates Oracle Bid for Sun
Two weeks ago the Department of Justice approved the Oracle/Sun deal. Now the EU has set a January 10, 2010 deadline for it's response delaying the acquisition further. I know both Oracle and Sun are international/global companies, but they are based in the US. How exactly does the EU have authority? A monopoly you say? Bollocks I say. There are plenty of choices out there. Oh well.

Coding
What is the deal with mixed-case PL/SQL? I have a pretty strong aversion towards it. PL/SQL is not Java, Ruby, .NET or any other programming language. Pick a case, any case, just don't mix them.

DBMS_PROFILER
Back in July I had a nice conversation with Cary Millsap over email. I had asked him to explain the difference between logging, debugging and instrumentation. He suggested checking out DBMS_PROFILER. I've been able to try it out recently (details/examples coming soon) and it's pretty freaking cool...and scary. I got to see the (many) steps that are taken while performing a specific task.

OpenWorld
Last week I announced I wasn't going, recanted and then this week recanted the recant. Fun huh?

Labels: dbms_profiler, oow09, random

  ¶ 9/04/2009 12:03:00 AM   0 Comments Links to this post

  No OpenWorld For Me: Part II To say it has been a crazy week or so would be a gross understatement.

Last week, I bowed out from the race to attend Oracle OpenWorld.

Two days later, Justin then Jake then Billy (and here) started a movement to get me there.

All of this in conjunction with 100+ tweets and re-tweets on Twitter. Bradd even got his shirt today. He was one of the first of 15 so far to make the purchase...ostensibly to get my fat ass (Bradd didn't say that) to San Francisco and OOW.

Here's some of the backstory, which Jake alluded to in his post.

The night after Part I, I went to my parents begging for money. Our mortgage was nearly a month late. When I got home that evening, I saw Justin's post and subsequent tweet...I easily separated the 2 events in my head. Borrow money from parents != Community supports my efforts to go to OOW.

Easy right?

Then it came down...How could you do that when you just borrowed money?

I think you know where this is headed.

Unless I win the lottery so that I can pay back all those I owe, I will not be attending OOW this year.

While I think my T-Shirts are really cool, I know many of you (all?) bought them to help me get there. I could not take that money in good faith.

I'd like to donate it to something or someone. It's not a lot, approximately $100 as of right now.

I would like your help in deciding.

I'll repeat myself, to say that I've been humbled by these events would be a gross understatement. Thank you so much for your support...

Labels: failed, humility, oow09

  ¶ 9/01/2009 05:53:00 PM   16 Comments Links to this post

  Random Things: Volume 5 Oracle OpenWorld
Earlier this week I threw in the towel in my attempt to go to OpenWorld. I applied for and received the Oracle blogger pass, but nothing else had fallen into place (flight, hotel, expenses).

Then Justin stepped in. Then Jake. Then Billy.

I've been absolutely overwhelmed at the support:



I can't really say it enough, but thank you.

oraclenerd T-Shirts in the Wild



Get yours today. I've even heard you can order your own colors!

Data Modeling
I began following @datachick recently. She is the first person, I've seen, who tweets almost exclusively about the art of data modeling. I keep trying to get her to do a guest post, but I've been unsuccessful.

In the years that I've been reading blogs, I can't say I've found someone who writes consistently on the importance of design, specifically, data modeling. It's definitely an under appreciated skill.

Oracle In The News
Deadline for Early Bird registration ends today, so go get your Oracle OpenWorld pass now.

Larry Ellison is now making only $1 a year! I can't say I've ever had a problem with him making gobs of money, I like the gesture though. He's allowed me and many others to make a pretty good living and I'm certainly thankful for that.

Department of Justice greenlights the Oracle/Sun deal. Not real sure why they are involved, I suppose it has something to do with anti-trust.

Labels: oow09, random

  ¶ 8/28/2009 01:00:00 AM   0 Comments Links to this post

  A Very Humbling Thank You I don't really know what to say...other than Thank You!

It started here:



Then here:



And then it continued...















How effin' awesome is that?!

We're not through yet though, Justin Kestelyn, aka @oracletechnet, also wrote up a nice little blurb on his blog.

As I just realized, Jake beat him to the punch.

After giving up on the effort just a couple of days ago...I'm working twice as hard to go now.

1. Oracle OpenWorld Blogger Pass? Check.
2. Time off from work? Check (finally).
3. Air-fare, hotel and expenses...in progress.

I don't know how to automagically update the count on the number of shirts sold...so it will be manual. The new site has a better margin of profit (plus lower-priced shirts), so pick one up and help a guy out. :)

I can't tell you enough how much this means to me. Thank you all so very much.

Blogging, FTW!

Labels: humility, oow09

  ¶ 8/27/2009 12:05:00 AM   3 Comments Links to this post

  No OpenWorld For Me Sadly, I will not be able to attend Oracle OpenWorld this year.

Among the various excuses I could come up with:

1. Lack of vacation time. I might be able to get the time off, but I would not be able to replace that paycheck.
2. Lack of a plane ticket. If not for #1, I think I could have eventually scored a ticket by begging or borrowing.
3. Lack of a place to say. Same as #2. I'm sure I could have found somewhere to crash. I could move around from friend to friend's hotel room so I would not wear out my welcome. I've never had a problem sleeping on the floor.
4. Lack of beer money. I actually don't believe this would have been much of a problem, if COLLABORATE 09 was any indication.

I was hoping to meet thousands upon thousands of people, but I'll have to wait until next year.

I'll still keep up the page with all the links that I find to the event.

Perhaps I'll have a Oracle OpenWorld unconference session at my house?

Labels: oow09

  ¶ 8/24/2009 06:37:00 PM   0 Comments Links to this post

  How To: Oracle OpenWorld Free Passes Just wanted to list a couple of ways to get free passes to Oracle OpenWorld.

I received mine last week through the Blogger program. That's one way.

Another way is to enter the Application Express Developer Competition. David Peake also wrote about it here.

The following prizes will be awarded for the APEX Developer Competition based on the judges rankings:

• First Place - An Unconference Session and One complimentary ticket to Oracle Openworld 2009* in San Francisco October 11 - 15.
• Second Place - One complimentary ticket to Oracle Openworld 2009* in San Francisco October 11 - 15.
• Third Place - One complimentary ticket to Oracle Openworld 2009* in San Francisco October 11 - 15.
• Fourth through Twelfth Place - One copy of the book Pro Oracle Application Express, Apress Publishing, written by John Scott & Scott Spendolini.

You have until August 24th to get your application complete and submitted. So hurry.

I tweeted or re-tweeted this one, but hadn't read it until now. The title of the post is The Show for a Song, which I had assumed meant you could create a video or sing a song for a ticket, but that's not the case. It's the Oracle OpenWorld Discover program, which I am not familiar with at all. It wasn't real clear, nor were any links provided, on the registration page. It's not free, but it only costs $50, which is a steal. Click through to find details.

Check out the registration page for other ways to get in.

You could also just annoy @oracleopenworld on twitter for a pass. I did the same thing to @OAUG back in February. The worst thing they can say is "No."

Update 08/10/2009
Found another one today courtesy of Todd Sheetz. Todd found it via the My Oracle Support blog here. All you need to do is take a survey and give your thoughts on the My Oracle Support Community, direct link to the survey is here.

Update 09/17/2009
Just found this on the Oracle OpenWorld blog:

Just make a 30-second video describing why you want to go to Oracle OpenWorld 2009.Use any camera you have close at hand—Webcam, cell phone, handheld. Give us your best, most creative, most innovative pitch, and post your video as a response to ours above on the Oracle Web Video YouTube channel before September 30.

The post is here. Good luck!

Labels: howto, oow09

  ¶ 8/01/2009 08:39:00 PM   0 Comments Links to this post