For those that don't understand the reference.
I didn't ask for bread, I didn't break any of the rules...but I will not be attending Oracle OpenWorld this year.
Family matters require that I be home.
I'm sure I've suffered from some level of depression over the years since Kate was born, it hasn't kept me from working (an escape, to be sure), but it has affected me. I don't think I've understood the extent to which it has affected my family, as a whole though.
So I'm taking some time to help where I can.
Of course I'll miss seeing my friends, hanging out with the smart people...in other words, being there.
Family is simply more important.
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
OOW: Predictions
I haven't seen too many (ok, none) of these this year, but one today hit home:
Predicting OBIEE 11.1.1.6 by Joe Leva.
I've been lucky enough to hang out (err, stalk, as he would say) with Joe in the recent past, he's a smart dude. Here's his prediction in short:
Now wouldn't that be cool, an OBIEE machine a la Exadata or Exalogic? I'll take 1, or 2.
Do you have any predictions for what will be announced this year? FMW will be big I'm sure. There's a big announcement on September 21st (Wednesday), maybe it's the Exadata Mini(-me)?
Let's hear some more fun predictions...
Predicting OBIEE 11.1.1.6 by Joe Leva.
I've been lucky enough to hang out (err, stalk, as he would say) with Joe in the recent past, he's a smart dude. Here's his prediction in short:
Prior keynotes have brought us Exadata (and Exadata 2) and Exalogic. The Oracle database is clearly a pillar of their business, it was a good first choice for a machine. The middleware stack is another large area of the Oracle product line, hence Exalogic. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could run OBIEE on the Exalogic? What would we call an OBIEE machine? ExaIntelligence? The Oracle BI Machine?
Now, just in case I’m right on this, how do I support this? The packaged software and hardware in the “machines” is a way for Oracle to capture revenue that would otherwise go to implementation partners. The BI machine is a logical inevitable progression, if it doesn’t come this year it will be next year. The economics demand it.
Now, just in case I’m right on this, how do I support this? The packaged software and hardware in the “machines” is a way for Oracle to capture revenue that would otherwise go to implementation partners. The BI machine is a logical inevitable progression, if it doesn’t come this year it will be next year. The economics demand it.
Now wouldn't that be cool, an OBIEE machine a la Exadata or Exalogic? I'll take 1, or 2.
Do you have any predictions for what will be announced this year? FMW will be big I'm sure. There's a big announcement on September 21st (Wednesday), maybe it's the Exadata Mini(-me)?
Let's hear some more fun predictions...
The Exadata Mini - Exclusive Picture!
Early this morning ZDNet's Larry Dignan reported that Oracle would be announcing the "Exadata Mini" edition: Oracle's 'Exadata mini' would aim for midmarket
Well, through tireless research and a lot of hacking, I've found a picture of said machine:
Vern Troyer, the actor who plays "Mini-me" from the Austin Powers movies, stands 32 inches tall, which for the rest of the world, is 81.28 centimeters.
It stands at 20" tall, and as Mr. Dignan reports, this could fit under your desk.
If you're curious to know how Oracle was able to reduce the size...check out this video:
Well, through tireless research and a lot of hacking, I've found a picture of said machine:
Vern Troyer, the actor who plays "Mini-me" from the Austin Powers movies, stands 32 inches tall, which for the rest of the world, is 81.28 centimeters.
It stands at 20" tall, and as Mr. Dignan reports, this could fit under your desk.
If you're curious to know how Oracle was able to reduce the size...check out this video:
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Prepping for Oracle OpenWorld 2011
SQL> SELECT TO_DATE( 20111001, 'YYYYMMDD' ) - SYSDATE time_to_oow 2 FROM dual; TIME_TO_OOW ----------- 15.8921065Wow. Just a little over 2 weeks to go. Time certainly flies.
As I'm wont to do, I've put off just about everything. For the last 2 weeks I've been scrambling to get a room. Two days ago I looked at the prices in downtown San Francisco and I thought I might be living sleeping on someone's floor, or sleeping on the street (don't think I haven't done that). It was even more serious because I had promised a friend of mine that I would cover his accommodations; he had helped me out last year when Kate got sick by buying me a ticket to get home immediately (end of the month, I was out of funds).
Yesterday I finally scored a place through airbnb. Somewhere on Lombard street, Russian Hill? Whatever. It's 1.7 miles to the Moscone Center.
In San Francisco, 1.7 miles is nothing. Far too many great distractions (people watching) for it to feel like a long walk. Bonus points for staying (getting) in shape while there. Bonus points for helping the effects of the beer wear off before sleep. Negative bonus points if I get lost, which I will, especially if I am alone. No sherpa this year unfortunately.
As soon as I booked my room, I booked my flight. They're still cheap too.
I haven't even looked at the sessions yet. Shocking.
Lots of activities planned though:
- Sunday - Oracle ACE dinner thingy.
- Monday - Customer meeting and OTN party.
- Tuesday - Nothing yet.
- Wednesday - Blogger meet-up, Appreciation Event
- Thursday - Nothing
- Friday - OBIEE Meetup thingy with product development.
Somewhere in there I'm supposed to fight with Kellyn Pot'Vin. Additional fun will be a repeat of last year's game, The Piwowar challenge. Personally, I like Pot' Wen(ch), but that might get me punched again.
I've been throwing a little bit too. They have this Home Run Derby...area, where I can go and throw my arm out trying to see how hard I can throw after 10 years. I may be in a sling after the first day.
It's gonna be a hoot. So excited to hang out with a bunch of smart, passionate people and talk shop (or beer). I don't think I've left my house in weeks, I really need to get out.
OOW 2011 Twitter List
For the past couple of years George Woods has been compiling a list of Twitterites who will be attending Oracle OpenWord. 2009 and 2010. I realized this year I hadn't seen it yet, so I emailed him. Unfortunately he will be unable to attend, he's working with that other database right now.
There is no planned event for us yet, but it can't hurt to have if something does come up.
If you plan on attending, please fill out this simple form; twitter handle is the only thing required.
You can find the document here. If I can figure out how to embed the list here, I will do so.
OK, I just stole the iframe method from the above form. It's ugly, but it's better than nothing.
If you know of a better (and easy) way, let me know.
There is no planned event for us yet, but it can't hurt to have if something does come up.
If you plan on attending, please fill out this simple form; twitter handle is the only thing required.
You can find the document here. If I can figure out how to embed the list here, I will do so.
OK, I just stole the iframe method from the above form. It's ugly, but it's better than nothing.
If you know of a better (and easy) way, let me know.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
SOUG: Cary Millsap
We (SOUG) have the fortunate pleasure of hosting Mr. Cary Millsap.Perhaps you've heard of him?
The topic is Thinking Clearly About Performance.
Here's the abstract:
Creating high-performance as an attribute of complex software is extremely difficult business for developers, technology administrators, architects, system analysts, and project anagers. However, by understanding some fundamental principles, performance problem solving and prevention can be made far simpler and more reliable. This paper describes those principles, linking them together in a coherent journey covering the goals, the terms, the tools, and the decisions that you need to maximize your application’s chance of having a long, productive, high-performance life. Examples in this paper touch upon Oracle experiences, but the scope of the paper is not restricted to Oracle products.
Here's Mr. Millsap's Bio (note the inclusion of the word "teacher", my favorite description):
Cary Millsap / @CaryMillsap / cary.millsap@method-r.com
Cary Millsap is a public speaker, author, teacher, software designer and developer, entrepreneur, and software technology advisor. In 2008, he founded Method R Corporation, a company dedicated to making people's application software run faster and more efficiently. Mr. Millsap's technical papers are quoted in many Oracle books, in Wikipedia, in blogs all over the world, and in dozens of conference presentations each month. His blog reaches thousands of people each month. He has presented at hundreds of public and private events around the world. He wrote the book "Optimizing Oracle Performance" (O'Reilly 2003), for which he and co-author Jeff Holt were named Oracle Magazine's 2004 Authors of the Year.
Cary Millsap is a public speaker, author, teacher, software designer and developer, entrepreneur, and software technology advisor. In 2008, he founded Method R Corporation, a company dedicated to making people's application software run faster and more efficiently. Mr. Millsap's technical papers are quoted in many Oracle books, in Wikipedia, in blogs all over the world, and in dozens of conference presentations each month. His blog reaches thousands of people each month. He has presented at hundreds of public and private events around the world. He wrote the book "Optimizing Oracle Performance" (O'Reilly 2003), for which he and co-author Jeff Holt were named Oracle Magazine's 2004 Authors of the Year.
RSVP here.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
KScope 11 Awesomesauce
I had planned on writing about each session I attended, but I just can't seem to pull it off. Previous years, I've blogged while on site...but it was difficult this year as I didn't have a lot of down time.
This was my very first Kaleidescope conference, and I would vote it as my favorite. The biggest difference between the others, intimacy. This event is smaller than COLLABORATE by a few thousand and smaller than OOW by a few million. I ran into Brent from Regina, SK, CANADA about 32 times. (He kept telling me it rhymed with...nevermind). I witnessed Brent drink a pint of Guiness in 3 seconds across the street from the convention center at the Auld Dubliner, along with a few others. Yikes. I can't, and don't, do that anymore.
But it was fun to run into him every 39 minutes as he would remind me that Regina rhymed with...
Of course there was work to be done.
Sunday was the symposium for the Database Development track, which I orchestrated (yo @ddelmoli, you like that?). You can read about my preparation here and here. I never did write it up officially, but it was fun.
Monday I did write up, here. Along with Cary Millsap's presentation on My Case for Agile Methods, Maria Colgan's presentation on Top Tips to Get Optimal SQL Execution All the Time and Jean-Pierre Djicks presentation on Managing Parallel Execution without Tuning in 11gR2.
One I didn't write up was Lonneke Dikman's Business Logic: The Debate Continues.... This one was fun because it was Lonneke vs. me, Eddie Awad, Mark Farnham, Dominic Delmolini and Paul Dorsey. If I didn't mention, Lonneke's presentation was in the Fusion Middleware tract...so I thought it would be fun. Unfortunately, those "put it in the middle tier" people didn't show up.
Here's Lonneke telling us how much business logic should go in the database
Then her reminding us that it should go over here, in the application tier
Seriously though, it was a fun hour. I think we all came away with a better understanding that the business logic should be in the database. :)
Did I mention the Queen Mary party, I mean event? That was fun, a lot of fun.
I'm going to work hard to participate in this again next year...
Next year's registration is open, FYI.
If you are a hardcore technical person, this is where you want to be. The people are great, the content is great and you can hear Brent tell you about Regina.
This was my very first Kaleidescope conference, and I would vote it as my favorite. The biggest difference between the others, intimacy. This event is smaller than COLLABORATE by a few thousand and smaller than OOW by a few million. I ran into Brent from Regina, SK, CANADA about 32 times. (He kept telling me it rhymed with...nevermind). I witnessed Brent drink a pint of Guiness in 3 seconds across the street from the convention center at the Auld Dubliner, along with a few others. Yikes. I can't, and don't, do that anymore.
But it was fun to run into him every 39 minutes as he would remind me that Regina rhymed with...
Of course there was work to be done.
Sunday was the symposium for the Database Development track, which I orchestrated (yo @ddelmoli, you like that?). You can read about my preparation here and here. I never did write it up officially, but it was fun.
Monday I did write up, here. Along with Cary Millsap's presentation on My Case for Agile Methods, Maria Colgan's presentation on Top Tips to Get Optimal SQL Execution All the Time and Jean-Pierre Djicks presentation on Managing Parallel Execution without Tuning in 11gR2.
One I didn't write up was Lonneke Dikman's Business Logic: The Debate Continues.... This one was fun because it was Lonneke vs. me, Eddie Awad, Mark Farnham, Dominic Delmolini and Paul Dorsey. If I didn't mention, Lonneke's presentation was in the Fusion Middleware tract...so I thought it would be fun. Unfortunately, those "put it in the middle tier" people didn't show up.
Here's Lonneke telling us how much business logic should go in the database
Then her reminding us that it should go over here, in the application tier
Seriously though, it was a fun hour. I think we all came away with a better understanding that the business logic should be in the database. :)
Did I mention the Queen Mary party, I mean event? That was fun, a lot of fun.
I'm going to work hard to participate in this again next year...
Next year's registration is open, FYI.
If you are a hardcore technical person, this is where you want to be. The people are great, the content is great and you can hear Brent tell you about Regina.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
KScope 11: Managing Parallel Execution without Tuning in 11gR2
I've gotten to see Jean-Pierre Djicks speak a couple of times over the last month or so, and he doesn't disappoint.Last month at the BI Forum, it was Big Data: Achieve the Impossible in Real-Time, which was really cool because he talked about the fusion of data capture/mining/whatever in regards to sailing, specifically the BMW-ORACLE sailing team.
It wasn't quite as exciting as that, but some pretty cool nuggets came out of it.
As a pseudo dba, or someone who's never had to manage some of the massive systems that many of you have to manage, memory management has been...well, intimidating (theme for the week, month and year).
Throw parallel into the mix and I'm pretty much a lost cause.
Now I can enable parallel, I have rudimentary knowledge of it...but you don't want me managing that on my own.
Enter Managing Parallel Execution without Tuning in 11gR2 (if I find the presentation, I'll link it up).
The one item that really stuck out at me was the idea of queueing. Prior to 11gR2, if all other resources were taken up by other SQL statements, your SQL statement would run serially. That's no longer the case (if enabled). Now, Oracle will queue up your SQL statement to run with the amount of resources that has been designated for it. In my experience, that's a good thing.
Prior to this release (and again, if you have it enabled), your SQL statement would run at the same exact time at the others, but since there are no resources for it, it would be slow as...well, slow. Now, you may have to wait a little bit for it to actually run, but it will run with the parallel resources that were intended (excuse my lack of articulation, I'm sure someone will correct me).
Monday, July 4, 2011
KScope 11: All Hail the Queen
The big event was hosted on the historic Queen Mary this year.
All I can say is, wow.
Let me try to run through a list of things to do on board...it won't be complete, I'm sure, but it should give you an idea.
- Food. +1 - lots of food, everywhere.
- Booze. +1 - again, everywhere.
-- Beers available: Corona, Heineken and something else. No fancy IPAs or anything, but I'm perfectly OK with that.
-- Wine and liquor was also available, but I rarely partake in either of those. This is especially true with liquor, it's why it took me close to 10 years to graduate from college. Bad things man...
- Events. +1
-- Ghost Tours - I didn't partake, but it was available. Check out the site for more details.
-- Live Band - I can't seem to remember the band's name, but they were apparently quite the hit. Playing requests from the crowd and heckling them a bit too.
-- Poker - Missed this one too, but many people did not. Reports suggest that the poker room was packed the entire night.
-- Dueling Pianos - I missed this one too, but rumor has it that Maria Colgan had quite the time there.
-- The Champagne Room, I mean VIP room. I believe this was for the Presenters and volunteers for KScope, a special section near the top (?) of the boat with a great view of the band and the aft side.
-- Don McMillan. +2 He had 2 shows, each with slightly different content tailored to the ODTUG/KScope crowd. If you don't know who he is, check out his page or watch this video.
Myself and Patrick Hurley (@phurley) were eating dinner and Mr. McMillan joined us for a spell. Remember, this is the guy (whom I didn't know at the time) who had interviewed me earlier in the week (oh yeah, I'm not that shy). I got to share my dream of being a comedian someday and shared with him my story of...well, I can't really share it here, but if you've met me and there was beer involved, you've heard it.
Throughout the day, we were told of a mystery guest...none of us could figure it out. Kathleen McCasland gave us a small clue, inadvertently, in a video address after lunch...it was a boy.
9:30 rolls around and the lovely ladies of ODTUG/KScope were trying to get us to go upstairs to where the band was, and the mystery guest would be making an appearance shortly.
Wow. Young MC. He seems to have the same problem as me...once a good looking, thin dude...now, not so thin. However, he was a huge hit and I have to admit it was fun seeing him live.
Sometime after that, I was caught in a "decent" picture of myself with a few others:
From left to right, that's Marc de Oliveira, Patrick Hurley, Dominic Delmolino, me, Cary Millsap and Eddie Awad. Picture by Sheeri Cabral.
To end the night, fireworks off of the back (aft) side of the ship. Awesome.
Thanks to everyone at KScope and ODTUG for a fantastic night. I had an absolute blast and many of the people I talked to did as well.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
KScope 11: Top Tips to Get Optimal SQL Execution All the Time
This was my final session of the conference.
Prior to this one was Jean-Pierre Djicks on Managing Parallel Execution without Tuning in 11g Release 2. Conveniently, it was in the same room. Especially convenient given that it was in the same room the day after the Queen Mary event. I did want to see JP's other talk, Speed Up Your Data Warehouse with in-memory Processing, but it was just too much effort for me.
Besides, I had never seen Maria speak and I was trying to broaden my horizons. I wish I had seen her speak years ago...would have made life a lot easier.
Maria is not on Twitter but you can find her writing at the Oracle Optimizer blog.
The optimizer subject has always been a bit intimidating to me. I don't know why, it just has. I've mostly glossed over it.
No longer.
Despite my state (post Queen Mary event), a lot of things came together. The optimizer really isn't magic. Surprise!
The importance of statistics, which I've always known but never truly understood, was made clear. Extended statistics? Neat. Histograms, explained (better).
Awesome stuff...and really not as magical as you might think. Take a gander at the Optimizer group's Explain the Explain Plan for more details.
Prior to this one was Jean-Pierre Djicks on Managing Parallel Execution without Tuning in 11g Release 2. Conveniently, it was in the same room. Especially convenient given that it was in the same room the day after the Queen Mary event. I did want to see JP's other talk, Speed Up Your Data Warehouse with in-memory Processing, but it was just too much effort for me.
Besides, I had never seen Maria speak and I was trying to broaden my horizons. I wish I had seen her speak years ago...would have made life a lot easier.
Maria is not on Twitter but you can find her writing at the Oracle Optimizer blog.
The optimizer subject has always been a bit intimidating to me. I don't know why, it just has. I've mostly glossed over it.
No longer.
Despite my state (post Queen Mary event), a lot of things came together. The optimizer really isn't magic. Surprise!
The importance of statistics, which I've always known but never truly understood, was made clear. Extended statistics? Neat. Histograms, explained (better).
Awesome stuff...and really not as magical as you might think. Take a gander at the Optimizer group's Explain the Explain Plan for more details.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
KScope 11: Day Uno
A few weeks ago I decided to rebuild my laptop. I never bothered to test the wireless connection at home, naturally. That leaves me carrying around a 4 pound brick plus the backpack...joy. I suppose it is good for my weight loss efforts.
Anyway, I am typing on a tablet so no links for you.
Like I mentioned yesterday, I had to be well rested for my first Cary Millsap presentation. I missed the keynote and apparently Don McMillan, an IT focused comedian. I mention that because later in the day, some super tall dude puts a camera in my face and starts asking questions...turns out it was Mr. McMillan. When I find the video I'll link it up.
Following that I had to head back to the hotel to deal with a small work emergency.
Then...a blur.
Oh wait, back to the conference...and the day's sessions were over. I walked around for a bit trying to find this fabled bar of 300 beers on tap. I couldn't find it, but I did find Kevin McGinley. He offered a beer, I accepted. (I was heading back to the conference hall to write up Sunday's events, so I was trying to be good.)
Seven rolls around which meant it was time for the Database Guru Panel:
Tom Kyte
Cary Millsap
Steven Feurstein
This was an hour and a half of answering questions from the audience, Yuri from Australia (via twitter) and Facebook. Of course I didn't miss the opportunity to ask this panel some questions.
Finally it was time for dinner (more beer) are the Congregation Ale House, which had a fine selection of beers I had not tried before.
Yay for KScope and ODTUG!
Anyway, I am typing on a tablet so no links for you.
Like I mentioned yesterday, I had to be well rested for my first Cary Millsap presentation. I missed the keynote and apparently Don McMillan, an IT focused comedian. I mention that because later in the day, some super tall dude puts a camera in my face and starts asking questions...turns out it was Mr. McMillan. When I find the video I'll link it up.
Following that I had to head back to the hotel to deal with a small work emergency.
Then...a blur.
Oh wait, back to the conference...and the day's sessions were over. I walked around for a bit trying to find this fabled bar of 300 beers on tap. I couldn't find it, but I did find Kevin McGinley. He offered a beer, I accepted. (I was heading back to the conference hall to write up Sunday's events, so I was trying to be good.)
Seven rolls around which meant it was time for the Database Guru Panel:
Tom Kyte
Cary Millsap
Steven Feurstein
This was an hour and a half of answering questions from the audience, Yuri from Australia (via twitter) and Facebook. Of course I didn't miss the opportunity to ask this panel some questions.
Finally it was time for dinner (more beer) are the Congregation Ale House, which had a fine selection of beers I had not tried before.
Yay for KScope and ODTUG!
Monday, June 27, 2011
KScope 11: Cary Millsap
Today was a big day for me, my first Cary Millsap (@carymillsap) presentation.
I slept in, preparing my mind and body for the event (and missing the keynote) (it had nothing to do with beer consumed either).
My Case for Agile Methods
Not only is it my first time seeing him speak (yesterday counts, sort of), but it's something I can actually understand and have a very strong opinion about. Not that Thinking Clearly About Performance is way over my head, but it doesn't affect me as much as methodology does.
I fight with methodology on a daily basis, mostly resulting in me hitting my head against the closest wall.
I find that when I don't tweet or I'm not inclined to check my mail or twitter, something is going on that has my attention. That was the case this morning (minus a small family emergency that was eventually averted).
The slide deck itself was minimal, but very well done.
With his reputation as a technical leader in the Oracle community, you know you're going to get great content.
The good stuff is in Cary's style or delivery.
He tells stories.
I love stories. I live for stories. If you've met me, I'm sure I've told you a few as well.
It's easier, I think, to relate to stories. You can see yourself in the other person's shoes. Or something like that.
As to the content...I don't think it was anything ground breaking and I believe Cary knew that. What was ground breaking is the audience.
Database developers and DBAs in the Oracle ecosystem, seem to think it a dirty word. That's of course a gross generalization, but save for my very first IT employer, it's been true (1 for 8, batting.167 .125 (thanks Cary)) for me.
I want to see more of this type of talk, the "how" and "why" as opposed to just the technical details of doing a particular task. I can read the docs, I can figure that out. Putting it all into context is the hard part.
I slept in, preparing my mind and body for the event (and missing the keynote) (it had nothing to do with beer consumed either).
My Case for Agile Methods
Not only is it my first time seeing him speak (yesterday counts, sort of), but it's something I can actually understand and have a very strong opinion about. Not that Thinking Clearly About Performance is way over my head, but it doesn't affect me as much as methodology does.
I fight with methodology on a daily basis, mostly resulting in me hitting my head against the closest wall.
I find that when I don't tweet or I'm not inclined to check my mail or twitter, something is going on that has my attention. That was the case this morning (minus a small family emergency that was eventually averted).
The slide deck itself was minimal, but very well done.
With his reputation as a technical leader in the Oracle community, you know you're going to get great content.
The good stuff is in Cary's style or delivery.
He tells stories.
I love stories. I live for stories. If you've met me, I'm sure I've told you a few as well.
It's easier, I think, to relate to stories. You can see yourself in the other person's shoes. Or something like that.
As to the content...I don't think it was anything ground breaking and I believe Cary knew that. What was ground breaking is the audience.
Database developers and DBAs in the Oracle ecosystem, seem to think it a dirty word. That's of course a gross generalization, but save for my very first IT employer, it's been true (1 for 8, batting
I want to see more of this type of talk, the "how" and "why" as opposed to just the technical details of doing a particular task. I can read the docs, I can figure that out. Putting it all into context is the hard part.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
KScope 11: The Journey
Somehow I managed to fall asleep before midnight...which was good, because I had an early morning flight to California.
You might be shocked to learn but I didn't bother to pack for the trip or prep my computer ahead of time (VNC).at
I think I was in denial, I haven't flown since October, so the nerves kicked in again. Flying itself isn't too bad, its thinking about flying which bugs me. My mind concocts all kind of silly scenarios.
I typically just imagine all my other friends who do this way more than I do...which has a bit of a calming effect.
Yes, I find it amusing that someone so "logical" and stuff has these fears...whatever.
I'm currently sitting in Phoenix at Sky Harbor International debating whether or not I should have a beer so that i can earn my 5 State badge on Untappd,it is 1 PM eastern time, so technically not the morning for me. I'll probably pass this time, perhaps on the way back?
I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow...the Tools, Tools, Tools symposium which I got to help organize takes place. If you are at KScope, I certainly hope you will attend, it is going to be pretty fun.
Now, off to Long Beach.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
ODTUG Kscope 11: Super Ambassador Program
Just received an email from ODTUG Board member Monty Latiolais (@monty_odtug).
Looks like a great opportunity to help out with the event this year.
Half day of work for VIP status? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, appeals to my "only-child attention seeking" side.
Looks like a great opportunity to help out with the event this year.
Super Ambassadors
Many of you that have been coming to Kscope for years are familiar with our ambassador program. This year, we’ve stepped it up a notch and launched the Super Ambassadors! Here’s how the program works:
Duties of a Kscope Super Ambassador
Many of you that have been coming to Kscope for years are familiar with our ambassador program. This year, we’ve stepped it up a notch and launched the Super Ambassadors! Here’s how the program works:
Duties of a Kscope Super Ambassador
- Commit to being present in the same presentation room for a half day (either morning or afternoon). You can pick the room where the sessions you were already planning on attending will be held.
- Assist the speaker, if needed, remind the participants to fill out session evaluations, and complete the session information form for each session.
- Report any problems/concerns to the conference staff.
- Ask the presenter if the slides he/she is using are the same as what is loaded on the Web site. If not, copy them on to the Super Ambassador flash drive. If the presenter has not loaded the slides, copy them on to the flash drive and tell him/her that we will load the slides.
Half day of work for VIP status? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, appeals to my "only-child attention seeking" side.
Monday, June 6, 2011
OOW: And So It Begins
Registration has been open for a month or 2 now for OOW 2011. What wasn't open was the blogger registration...until...until recently. I didn't seen an announcement of it on Twitter, I just happened to be perusing the site. Go here for blogger registration. It was kind of hidden under "Additional Package Types."
Mine is complete. Now I wait.
As I explored, I learned that Sting and Tom Petty will be playing. Very cool. Now if I could only find the desire to 1, wait in long lines for the bus, 2, spend time on a bus (sans beer) and 3, fight the crowds at the event, I might attend.
Yay...the Tap and Brew is back. I don't drink coffee, so I don't care about the "Brew" part. Speaking of beer, anyone want to loan me a liver for the week?
I found this little gem too:
Combine the 2 items above and there is a strong possibility that I will come home with my arm in a sling.
Can't wait though. One week a year doesn't seem like enough time to hang out with John (@jpiwowar) or Jake (@jkuramot) or all the other very smart, very passionate, very fun people. I guess I'll make due though.
Mine is complete. Now I wait.
As I explored, I learned that Sting and Tom Petty will be playing. Very cool. Now if I could only find the desire to 1, wait in long lines for the bus, 2, spend time on a bus (sans beer) and 3, fight the crowds at the event, I might attend.
Yay...the Tap and Brew is back. I don't drink coffee, so I don't care about the "Brew" part. Speaking of beer, anyone want to loan me a liver for the week?
I found this little gem too:
Combine the 2 items above and there is a strong possibility that I will come home with my arm in a sling.
Can't wait though. One week a year doesn't seem like enough time to hang out with John (@jpiwowar) or Jake (@jkuramot) or all the other very smart, very passionate, very fun people. I guess I'll make due though.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
BI Forum: Day 1 (Atlanta)
Here's the schedule:
Jeff McQuigg - Advanced OBIEE Metadata Topics
Kevin McGinley - Mobility & OBIEE: There are Options
Suyog Rao - BIEE Security: Deep dive into understanding and troubleshooting security aspects
Phillipe Lions - What's coming in OBIEE 11.1.1.5, and Hidden Gems of OBIEE 11g
Panel Discussion 1 - OBIEE 11g - Was it worth the wait?
Stewart Bryson - Agile Data Warehousing with Exadata and OBIEE 11g
Jeff McQuigg
I've heard and read lots of good things about Jeff (none of them true by the way) so I was very much looking forward to his presentation. Bonus points to Jeff for running Brew Palace (I couldn't find Natural Light though...dangit). I seem to surround myself with beer people, good beer people (also known as beer snobs), so I do drink decent beer away from home.
The highlights based on his presentation agenda:
- Combo Tables - Basically tables that mix attributes and measures. In short, create 2 logical tables using the same physical source. Put your attributes in the Dimension and your measures in the Facts. I know this method which makes me appreciate one of my mentors even more.
- Make Dims & Facts Reach - Surprising result to me, putting the bridge table along with the Fact table is more performant. I thought it was the other way around. Something learned. Bonus.
- Non-Conformed Dimensions - Solution #2 involved setting the levels, though not necessarily at the table (Content) level, but at the metric level...for every single metric. That was counterintuitive, of course, but what can you do. I thank the mentor again though.
- Canonical Time - First, thanks mentor. Second, Jeff calls this the old-school way or the Siebel way. It's the method I have used. Though if left to my own I would probably go the other way, creating a different (aliased) date dimension for each slice. I think what Jeff said is true, it's more intuitive this way.
I'm pretty sure at this point my brain was full. So you'll have to go through the presentation yourself on the last 2.
- Selecting a Logical Table Source
- Controlling Join Paths
Kevin McGinley
So the first 2 guys had shaved heads, a sign of good things to come.
Kevin presented on the mobile aspects of OBIEE. I follow Jake at the AppsLab, so I'm fairly up to speed with the concepts in general. I did get to show Kevin Untappd, which is a Foursquare like web app for the phone, but for beer, not locations (see how this is all tying in?). I understand the native vs. web app, in most circumstances I would choose the web app first and then consider a native app. Unfortunately, it's difficult to change skins in the presentation layer. I need to attend a nice session on doing that one of these days.
BTW, check out Kevin's appendix, lots of really good information there.
Suyog Rao
If there ever was a villain, it was Suyog.
Security was a hot topic. I won't pretend I know a lot about security in 10g or 11g so I won't really opine. All I do know is that there was quite a lot of audience participation (i.e. WhyTF did you do that? That won't work! etc.). I wish I could have stayed the whole time, but I got a migraine and ducked out for the remainder of the day.
If I did get anything from that session, it's that Suyog gives a shit. That's a good thing.
So I missed Phillipe's and Stewart's presentations and also the panel discussion. I had planned on taking the side of "It was worth the wait" just because I didn't believe it was, but no go for me.
Jeff McQuigg - Advanced OBIEE Metadata Topics
Kevin McGinley - Mobility & OBIEE: There are Options
Suyog Rao - BIEE Security: Deep dive into understanding and troubleshooting security aspects
Phillipe Lions - What's coming in OBIEE 11.1.1.5, and Hidden Gems of OBIEE 11g
Panel Discussion 1 - OBIEE 11g - Was it worth the wait?
Stewart Bryson - Agile Data Warehousing with Exadata and OBIEE 11g
Jeff McQuigg
I've heard and read lots of good things about Jeff (none of them true by the way) so I was very much looking forward to his presentation. Bonus points to Jeff for running Brew Palace (I couldn't find Natural Light though...dangit). I seem to surround myself with beer people, good beer people (also known as beer snobs), so I do drink decent beer away from home.
The highlights based on his presentation agenda:
- Combo Tables - Basically tables that mix attributes and measures. In short, create 2 logical tables using the same physical source. Put your attributes in the Dimension and your measures in the Facts. I know this method which makes me appreciate one of my mentors even more.
- Make Dims & Facts Reach - Surprising result to me, putting the bridge table along with the Fact table is more performant. I thought it was the other way around. Something learned. Bonus.
- Non-Conformed Dimensions - Solution #2 involved setting the levels, though not necessarily at the table (Content) level, but at the metric level...for every single metric. That was counterintuitive, of course, but what can you do. I thank the mentor again though.
- Canonical Time - First, thanks mentor. Second, Jeff calls this the old-school way or the Siebel way. It's the method I have used. Though if left to my own I would probably go the other way, creating a different (aliased) date dimension for each slice. I think what Jeff said is true, it's more intuitive this way.
I'm pretty sure at this point my brain was full. So you'll have to go through the presentation yourself on the last 2.
- Selecting a Logical Table Source
- Controlling Join Paths
Kevin McGinley
So the first 2 guys had shaved heads, a sign of good things to come.
Kevin presented on the mobile aspects of OBIEE. I follow Jake at the AppsLab, so I'm fairly up to speed with the concepts in general. I did get to show Kevin Untappd, which is a Foursquare like web app for the phone, but for beer, not locations (see how this is all tying in?). I understand the native vs. web app, in most circumstances I would choose the web app first and then consider a native app. Unfortunately, it's difficult to change skins in the presentation layer. I need to attend a nice session on doing that one of these days.
BTW, check out Kevin's appendix, lots of really good information there.
Suyog Rao
If there ever was a villain, it was Suyog.
Security was a hot topic. I won't pretend I know a lot about security in 10g or 11g so I won't really opine. All I do know is that there was quite a lot of audience participation (i.e. WhyTF did you do that? That won't work! etc.). I wish I could have stayed the whole time, but I got a migraine and ducked out for the remainder of the day.
If I did get anything from that session, it's that Suyog gives a shit. That's a good thing.
So I missed Phillipe's and Stewart's presentations and also the panel discussion. I had planned on taking the side of "It was worth the wait" just because I didn't believe it was, but no go for me.
Monday, May 9, 2011
ODTUG Kscope 11: Tools Tools Tools v2.0
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the cool Sunday Symposium I have been allowed to put together for KScope11.
Well, someone had to back out. I won't mention names, but they didn't really verify the time and dates. Said person had the audacity to take a vacation!
I wasn't going to name names, but I will, it's Jeff Smith, aka @HillbillyToad.
I'm not really mad (just don't tell him, I like to keep him on his toes). I like Jeff's presentation style a lot, he came down and spoke to our user group about a year ago. He makes me almost want to use Toad. Almost.
Anyway, since he couldn't speak, I had to find another speaker.
Hmmm...
Ideas?
Wait, I heard there was a big name attending last week didn't I?
That's right, none other than Mr. Thomas Kyte.
Maybe he would "fill in" for Jeff?
As is my mantra, the worst thing anyone can say is "No."
So I asked, and he accepted (and I must find a gift for his wife...).
So to recap:
Cary Millsap will be kind of a facilitator. Kris Rice will be speaking twice. Robyn Sands, Sten Vesterli, Sue Harper, Marc de Oliviera and finally the Dominic Delmolino. Wow. It's gonna be a great day!
Well, someone had to back out. I won't mention names, but they didn't really verify the time and dates. Said person had the audacity to take a vacation!
I wasn't going to name names, but I will, it's Jeff Smith, aka @HillbillyToad.
I'm not really mad (just don't tell him, I like to keep him on his toes). I like Jeff's presentation style a lot, he came down and spoke to our user group about a year ago. He makes me almost want to use Toad. Almost.
Anyway, since he couldn't speak, I had to find another speaker.
Hmmm...
Ideas?
Wait, I heard there was a big name attending last week didn't I?
That's right, none other than Mr. Thomas Kyte.
Maybe he would "fill in" for Jeff?
As is my mantra, the worst thing anyone can say is "No."
So I asked, and he accepted (and I must find a gift for his wife...).
So to recap:
Cary Millsap will be kind of a facilitator. Kris Rice will be speaking twice. Robyn Sands, Sten Vesterli, Sue Harper, Marc de Oliviera and finally the Dominic Delmolino. Wow. It's gonna be a great day!
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