I spent last week in Atlanta, GA for the first ever BI Forum state-side.
I tend to write a lot during these events, but since I decided to rebuild my laptop the day before I went, I hadn't worked out all the kinks (specifically my wireless adapter), I hardly used the thing. I spent the majority of time on "my" table, the Motorola Xoom. Since getting this device, my son has owned it...which appears to be the norm in most households with young children.
Day 1, technically Day Zero
This was a Masterclass by Mark Rittman (@markrittman) and Tony Heljula (Hallelujah!) (@aheljula).
Mark was up first and spoke about OBIEE 11g Architecture and Internals (pdf). It was nice to get a big picture view from the architecture side from someone who has been working with the latest release for quite some time. From my understanding, this is the very first Fusion-like app released...but I could be wrong. Mark ran long, everyone had lots of questions which Mark graciously answered.
Big Side Note
Please bring an extra liver to these types of events, especially if you have a number of people from the UK in attendance. I have a beer or 3 regularly, but this is just nuts. I declined invitations to go out too (which got me quite a bit of ribbing). My roommate, Jason Baer (former colleague and now RM employee) was ruthless. He'd roll in around 3 AM, wake me up, give me a hard time and then get up before me, shower and dressed before I even woke up. I'm getting old.
Next up was Tony Heljula. I had never even heard of Tony before that day...either I'm losing my touch or he's hidden himself somehow on the European Internet.
BTW, you don't pronounce his name Hallelujah, but I do now. It is easier to remember.
Tony spoke after Mark on the Spatial and Mapping Integration in 11g. I've used neither of these components; the Map Viewer in OBIEE nor the spatial stuff built into the database. Very, very cool things you can do there.
Lunch. No beer. Thankfully.
Mark was up again on OBIEE 11g BI Server New Features and RPD Modeling. To summarize some of the new features:
- ID Columns for Descriptive Columns ("Double-columns")
- Lookup Tables (Yeah!)
- Support for Ragged, Skip-Level and Parent-Child Hierarchies
- Hierarchical Subject Area Columns
- LTS Priorirty Ordering
- Repository Passwords
- Deployment of Repository Files using FMW Control
I've followed the Rittman Mead blog closely since the release of 11g, so not much of this was new to me, but it was fun to see Mark speak for the first time.
To end the day, Tony spoke on SOA integration. You might wonder WTF that has to do with OBIEE...I did, at first. As he worked through his example though, it made perfect sense. The question I didn't get to ask was whether SOA was the way forward and the OBIEE write-back functionality would be deprecated eventually...I'll get an answer to that shortly I hope. Read Tony's presentation here.
For all the presentations, both in Brighton and Atlanta, check out Mark's post today.
Great first day...it had been some time since I could just relax and take-in the presentation without worry of blogging right after, which was nice.
Brighton is on year 3, this was the first event in Atlanta. Here's to making this an annual event.
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
New OBIEE Blogger: Bob Ertl
Twitter = Discovery (Part XXXIV)
Read Bob's LinkedIn profile here. According to that profile, he is the Consulting Product Manager at Oracle. Cool.
His blog can be found here. I believe that is his first post as well, Oracle BI Server Modeling, Part 1- Designing a Query Factory.
Lots of other groups or individuals blog at Oracle which is very helpful. I haven't found anyone from the OBIEE group who does so...which sucks for us.
The only other person I know of that is even related is Tim Dexter (and crew) over at the BI (formerly XML) Publisher blog.
While it doesn't appear that Bob is technically on the OBIEE development team, I will say it's a good start.
Read Bob's LinkedIn profile here. According to that profile, he is the Consulting Product Manager at Oracle. Cool.
His blog can be found here. I believe that is his first post as well, Oracle BI Server Modeling, Part 1- Designing a Query Factory.
Lots of other groups or individuals blog at Oracle which is very helpful. I haven't found anyone from the OBIEE group who does so...which sucks for us.
The only other person I know of that is even related is Tim Dexter (and crew) over at the BI (formerly XML) Publisher blog.
While it doesn't appear that Bob is technically on the OBIEE development team, I will say it's a good start.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The Blog Slog
I've been blogging for a little over 40 months. Sometimes it feels as if I just started...and other times it feels like forever. Typical.
I had pondered a year end blog, so I was looking at Google Analytics to see how this year compared to years past. I realized that it wasn't always this...easy. The first year I would be lucky to get 5 or 6 hundred a month. Why not illustrate with some pretty pictures?
Here's what it was like that first year, 2007.
126 in a week. Wow. Hard to believe...now.
A nice bump there, comparing the same time period in 2008.
Not the same week exactly.
Finally, 2010 vs 2007.
Yikes.
Here's a snapshot of the numbers comparing 2010 with 2007.
I probably could have downloaded all this data and made pretty tables for you, but I'm lazy. Screenshots will have to do.
As far as this year's numbers, I think I have my roommate John Piwowar to thank.
He occupies 4 of the top 30 slots including 2 in the top 10...
I don't like him. I have written 659 posts; in one year and 4 posts, he has managed to...well, best me. I owe him at least $0.40 and a punch in the kidney.
Ultimately the point of this post is for those of you who might have just started and are feeling a little blue that no one comes and visits. I don't know what the magic formula is, but I hope this gives you hope. Of course it's not all about page views...but it is nice that other people actually read what you write. I talk to myself, but I like humans too. So, hang in there kitty.
I had pondered a year end blog, so I was looking at Google Analytics to see how this year compared to years past. I realized that it wasn't always this...easy. The first year I would be lucky to get 5 or 6 hundred a month. Why not illustrate with some pretty pictures?
Here's what it was like that first year, 2007.
126 in a week. Wow. Hard to believe...now.
A nice bump there, comparing the same time period in 2008.
Not the same week exactly.
Finally, 2010 vs 2007.
Yikes.
Here's a snapshot of the numbers comparing 2010 with 2007.
I probably could have downloaded all this data and made pretty tables for you, but I'm lazy. Screenshots will have to do.
As far as this year's numbers, I think I have my roommate John Piwowar to thank.He occupies 4 of the top 30 slots including 2 in the top 10...
I don't like him. I have written 659 posts; in one year and 4 posts, he has managed to...well, best me. I owe him at least $0.40 and a punch in the kidney.
Ultimately the point of this post is for those of you who might have just started and are feeling a little blue that no one comes and visits. I don't know what the magic formula is, but I hope this gives you hope. Of course it's not all about page views...but it is nice that other people actually read what you write. I talk to myself, but I like humans too. So, hang in there kitty.
Monday, October 18, 2010
OOW 2010: Blogger Meetup - The Winner!
After waiting for Vanessa to get back from either OOW Detox, vacation, or just life, the winners of the Apple TV have finally been announced.
Sunil Ranka, this guy:
Won one (yes! more than 1) of the Apple TVs with his post Mapping the Maze, Online Bloggers to Real World Faces : Pythian Blogger Meetup at OOW10.
Guess who won the other one? Go ahead, take a moment.
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V
You know when the teacher says, "I need a one page paper on George Washington" and one of your classmates turns in 10 pages, like, the week before it's due? Apparently I'm that guy.
I may have scared off a few people from writing about the event. That wasn't my intention, but apparently I did want it.
So, my first Apple product (wifey does have an iPhone). It should be interesting, I'm sure I'll report back here once I figure it all out.
Thanks to Pythian, HP and OTN for supporting the event. Thanks to Pythian for giving away the Apple TV.
Sunil Ranka, this guy:
Won one (yes! more than 1) of the Apple TVs with his post Mapping the Maze, Online Bloggers to Real World Faces : Pythian Blogger Meetup at OOW10.
Guess who won the other one? Go ahead, take a moment.
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V
You know when the teacher says, "I need a one page paper on George Washington" and one of your classmates turns in 10 pages, like, the week before it's due? Apparently I'm that guy.
I may have scared off a few people from writing about the event. That wasn't my intention, but apparently I did want it.
So, my first Apple product (wifey does have an iPhone). It should be interesting, I'm sure I'll report back here once I figure it all out.
Thanks to Pythian, HP and OTN for supporting the event. Thanks to Pythian for giving away the Apple TV.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Linking
Sort of Oracle OpenWorld related, though more about the work I put in for the Blogger Meetup series (I, II, III, IV, V).
The really hard part about that series was trying to get all that information for all those people into one post. It took probably 5 hours (I would get distracted). Then I would try to script something, and get distracted again. Then I didn't like the way it was the same size as the rest of the text on the page. Anyway, it was a pain in the arse.
I also felt obligated to put that information in those posts. The last one I slacked on, but that could be forgiven, I guess, for putting everything both attendees and non-attendees on posts III and IV.
I really don't want to do that again.
So what is a fair alternative?
I thought it would be cool for everyone to have a home page, maybe like Google Profile, but I haven't seen that many of those passed around via links.
Since most of this content is "business" related, perhaps LinkedIn would be the best choice (when just linking to a person and not a specific article). A person's twitter handle, blog and company information is usually indicated there; a one-stop shop.
I don't necessarily like the, sometimes, 4 links
Thoughts? (After spending a week with Jake, I am now repeating him, what can you do?)
The really hard part about that series was trying to get all that information for all those people into one post. It took probably 5 hours (I would get distracted). Then I would try to script something, and get distracted again. Then I didn't like the way it was the same size as the rest of the text on the page. Anyway, it was a pain in the arse.
I also felt obligated to put that information in those posts. The last one I slacked on, but that could be forgiven, I guess, for putting everything both attendees and non-attendees on posts III and IV.
I really don't want to do that again.
So what is a fair alternative?
I thought it would be cool for everyone to have a home page, maybe like Google Profile, but I haven't seen that many of those passed around via links.
Since most of this content is "business" related, perhaps LinkedIn would be the best choice (when just linking to a person and not a specific article). A person's twitter handle, blog and company information is usually indicated there; a one-stop shop.
I don't necessarily like the, sometimes, 4 links
Thoughts? (After spending a week with Jake, I am now repeating him, what can you do?)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
OOW 2010: Blogger Meetup - Part V
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V
Alright, this is it. I think 5 posts is enough and I'm sure you're quite sick of it.
This was the first time (at the conference) I had met Alex Gorbachev, I asked him to do his Heisman pose for me. He looked at me like I was nuts. You know the one...
Normal Alex looks like this:
For whatever reason, I thought he would be a giant. Perhaps it's the name, I don't know.
That happened quite a lot; I had created mental images of everyone that I had never met, some matched, many didn't. Someone told me they thought I would be a lot shorter (maybe because I'm kinda round). Anyway.
Martin Paul Nash is up next. He owns one of my favorite named blog sites, ORAganism. We met on Sunday at the Exadata SIG in true geek/nerd style:
I almost left the first picture out, you know, courtesy and all that. But what the heck?
Here's a much better one of him with George Woods, though I'm not sure exactly what he's doing
George is from Tennessee (cue Rocky Top song) but I did not find out if he was a Vols fan or not. George created the list for Oracle OpenWorld attendees who are on Twitter here.
Next up, Tim Hall and Tariq Farooq. Tim is the one signing, Tariq is the one with the beard and no shirt (DQ'd right?).
Tariq was my second favorite at the event behind Jason Arneil. He came up and gave me this giant bear hug when he saw me or realized I was that guy.
Tim Hall is always at the top of my list. He gets the award for most frequent wearer of the oraclenerd T-Shirt. Check it out:
I'm pretty sure that covers at least 3 different conferences. I have another one, which I promised not to post, which has Tim...well, let's just say it came out funny.
Despite telling me I don't know how to count, I will not post the picture of her from the meetup. Eyes shut (blinding flash) and so on. I'll be nice a put this one up:
That's her, Stanley and Dan Norris there on Saturday.
I've had a run in with Stanley before...and it wasn't pretty, for Stanley that is. Can you say "fat guy in a little coat"? Poor Stanley.
Sadley I didn't get any information on Philip Mwai, other than that he was the current president of Kenya. He's in the middle there.
Flanking him are his 2 security guards. I'm guessing this was near the end of the event.
In the image below, you have Vanessa Simmons, Chen Shapira, Alex Gorbachev, Jason Arneil, Paul Vallee (maybe, it was the hair that gave it away if so), and quite possibly a Sheeri Cabral sighting. You'll note that I offended Miss Cabral the other day by thinking she was someone else. I'm sure she'll get me back someday.
Have I talked about Chen yet? Oh wait, I did.
How about Roel Hartman? I have no pictures of this guy, he scared me a little bit. On Sunday evening, he jumped out of some dark corner and attacked me. That's how it seemed anyway. Roel and I were supposed to meet at COLLABORATE, but he was foiled by the Ash Cloud. I taunted him from Vegas I'm sure which probably prompted him to scare me like that. We ran into each other again on Tuesday night as I happened to be at the same bar as the APEX meetup. I don't think he jumped out at me there. I guess we were even.
David Haimes? What, no pictures? I was slacking near the end or most likely trying to save my phone from dying. We didn't talk much at the meetup, but we ended up together for (more) drinks and dinner. For some reason I thought he was from Nebraska...but he had a funny accent, I think it was British. Apparently he's Mr. Fusion Financials (if there is such a title, if not, I'll make it one as I'm wont to do).
Sunil Ranka whom I met at COLLABORATE this year and appears in quite a few photos, though none at this event. He's an OBIEE dude and an Oracle ACE. He's also a showoff as seen here.
I'm pretty sure that's some other award he was "rubbing my nose" in (yes, I am allowed to make whatever I want up here...my blog).
I did get Mr. OTN, Justin Kestelyn to sign my shirt, but we didn't get to talk much. He seems to be in high demand.
Tim Hall introduced me to Sve...Sve...Svetoslav Gyurov. Sve I'm not going to ever say your name right, so I'm sticking with Sve. He came all the way from Bulgaria and he had actually read my blog. He was super tall as well. I asked him how often he heard, "How's the weather up there?" and no sooner did he finish did someone walk up to him and ask him that exact question.
Vanessa Simmons...have I talked about her yet? I told her from the start that she was cheating. Knowing me, it may have been completely inappropriate, so I won't rehash it here. ($10 (canadian) says she laughs when she reads this though).
Editor's Note: I just realized I left out Espen Barroso-Gomez. We didn't get to talk as long as I would have liked, but he did share with me that he loved the Yo Gabba Gabba links I put up. Or maybe it was just one of them. The one of the Banana song by the Aggrogolites. His kids have to hear it every morning! I did forget to ask him, after finding out he was from Oslo, if he knew someone from Bergen...but there have to be more than 3 people there right? I hear there's quite a rivalry between Oslo and Bergen though, so it's probably best I didn't ask.
Last, but certainly not least, were my compatriots during this week of fun. John Piwowar (author of the "PeeVoVar Challenge") and Jake "don't punch me in the kidney chet" Kuramato. John graciously allowed me to stay with him this week and didn't kick me out after the first night, like Lewis Cunningham did. I could tell you all kinds of secret info on John, but I signed an NDA...sorry.
As for Jake...that would take forever. DO NOT WANT! is the T-shirt he is wearing. I just looked it up because I was too lazy to ask him. He probably would have chided me too. I seem to have this nasty habit of answering all of Jake's rhetorical questions. So, if you get the chance, answer one of Jake's rhetorical questions and watch the fun ensue.
Oh yeah, he's a picture of Jake goosing me. It was quite shocking. I think he muttered something about "When in Rome..."
Summary
Yeah, I bet you thought I would never stop. I have. A whopping 5 part series on the Blogger Meetup alone. I'm not that good of a writer, nor am I succinct. Besides, it just felt normal to write all this.
I had an absolute blast at Oracle OpenWorld and the Blogger Meetup specifically. It was a great experience to put the names to faces...and I just don't want to forget.
Thanks again to HP, Pythian and OTN for making this possible.
Alright, this is it. I think 5 posts is enough and I'm sure you're quite sick of it.
This was the first time (at the conference) I had met Alex Gorbachev, I asked him to do his Heisman pose for me. He looked at me like I was nuts. You know the one...
Normal Alex looks like this:
For whatever reason, I thought he would be a giant. Perhaps it's the name, I don't know.
That happened quite a lot; I had created mental images of everyone that I had never met, some matched, many didn't. Someone told me they thought I would be a lot shorter (maybe because I'm kinda round). Anyway.
Martin Paul Nash is up next. He owns one of my favorite named blog sites, ORAganism. We met on Sunday at the Exadata SIG in true geek/nerd style:
I almost left the first picture out, you know, courtesy and all that. But what the heck?
Here's a much better one of him with George Woods, though I'm not sure exactly what he's doing
George is from Tennessee (cue Rocky Top song) but I did not find out if he was a Vols fan or not. George created the list for Oracle OpenWorld attendees who are on Twitter here.
Next up, Tim Hall and Tariq Farooq. Tim is the one signing, Tariq is the one with the beard and no shirt (DQ'd right?).
Tariq was my second favorite at the event behind Jason Arneil. He came up and gave me this giant bear hug when he saw me or realized I was that guy.
Tim Hall is always at the top of my list. He gets the award for most frequent wearer of the oraclenerd T-Shirt. Check it out:
Despite telling me I don't know how to count, I will not post the picture of her from the meetup. Eyes shut (blinding flash) and so on. I'll be nice a put this one up:
That's her, Stanley and Dan Norris there on Saturday.
I've had a run in with Stanley before...and it wasn't pretty, for Stanley that is. Can you say "fat guy in a little coat"? Poor Stanley.
Sadley I didn't get any information on Philip Mwai, other than that he was the current president of Kenya. He's in the middle there.
Flanking him are his 2 security guards. I'm guessing this was near the end of the event.
In the image below, you have Vanessa Simmons, Chen Shapira, Alex Gorbachev, Jason Arneil, Paul Vallee (maybe, it was the hair that gave it away if so), and quite possibly a Sheeri Cabral sighting. You'll note that I offended Miss Cabral the other day by thinking she was someone else. I'm sure she'll get me back someday.
Have I talked about Chen yet? Oh wait, I did.
How about Roel Hartman? I have no pictures of this guy, he scared me a little bit. On Sunday evening, he jumped out of some dark corner and attacked me. That's how it seemed anyway. Roel and I were supposed to meet at COLLABORATE, but he was foiled by the Ash Cloud. I taunted him from Vegas I'm sure which probably prompted him to scare me like that. We ran into each other again on Tuesday night as I happened to be at the same bar as the APEX meetup. I don't think he jumped out at me there. I guess we were even.
David Haimes? What, no pictures? I was slacking near the end or most likely trying to save my phone from dying. We didn't talk much at the meetup, but we ended up together for (more) drinks and dinner. For some reason I thought he was from Nebraska...but he had a funny accent, I think it was British. Apparently he's Mr. Fusion Financials (if there is such a title, if not, I'll make it one as I'm wont to do).
Sunil Ranka whom I met at COLLABORATE this year and appears in quite a few photos, though none at this event. He's an OBIEE dude and an Oracle ACE. He's also a showoff as seen here.
I'm pretty sure that's some other award he was "rubbing my nose" in (yes, I am allowed to make whatever I want up here...my blog).
I did get Mr. OTN, Justin Kestelyn to sign my shirt, but we didn't get to talk much. He seems to be in high demand.
Tim Hall introduced me to Sve...Sve...Svetoslav Gyurov. Sve I'm not going to ever say your name right, so I'm sticking with Sve. He came all the way from Bulgaria and he had actually read my blog. He was super tall as well. I asked him how often he heard, "How's the weather up there?" and no sooner did he finish did someone walk up to him and ask him that exact question.
Vanessa Simmons...have I talked about her yet? I told her from the start that she was cheating. Knowing me, it may have been completely inappropriate, so I won't rehash it here. ($10 (canadian) says she laughs when she reads this though).
Editor's Note: I just realized I left out Espen Barroso-Gomez. We didn't get to talk as long as I would have liked, but he did share with me that he loved the Yo Gabba Gabba links I put up. Or maybe it was just one of them. The one of the Banana song by the Aggrogolites. His kids have to hear it every morning! I did forget to ask him, after finding out he was from Oslo, if he knew someone from Bergen...but there have to be more than 3 people there right? I hear there's quite a rivalry between Oslo and Bergen though, so it's probably best I didn't ask.
Last, but certainly not least, were my compatriots during this week of fun. John Piwowar (author of the "PeeVoVar Challenge") and Jake "don't punch me in the kidney chet" Kuramato. John graciously allowed me to stay with him this week and didn't kick me out after the first night, like Lewis Cunningham did. I could tell you all kinds of secret info on John, but I signed an NDA...sorry.
As for Jake...that would take forever. DO NOT WANT! is the T-shirt he is wearing. I just looked it up because I was too lazy to ask him. He probably would have chided me too. I seem to have this nasty habit of answering all of Jake's rhetorical questions. So, if you get the chance, answer one of Jake's rhetorical questions and watch the fun ensue.
Oh yeah, he's a picture of Jake goosing me. It was quite shocking. I think he muttered something about "When in Rome..."
Summary
Yeah, I bet you thought I would never stop. I have. A whopping 5 part series on the Blogger Meetup alone. I'm not that good of a writer, nor am I succinct. Besides, it just felt normal to write all this.
I had an absolute blast at Oracle OpenWorld and the Blogger Meetup specifically. It was a great experience to put the names to faces...and I just don't want to forget.
Thanks again to HP, Pythian and OTN for making this possible.
OOW 2010: Blogger Meetup - Part IV
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V
Here's the exhaustive list that I have compiled of people I know where there. I do know that I did not meet everyone, so if I left you off, let me know and I'll add you (with a note from your doctor of course).
You can all thank me later for this list. It has taken hours to get all these links for all these people. At least next time, I won't have to do it. Plus, as I told John, I need this so I don't have to go looking someone up each and every time I want to link them up. I had a partial list before Oracle OpenWorld started, but it's now much more complete.
Here's the exhaustive list that I have compiled of people I know where there. I do know that I did not meet everyone, so if I left you off, let me know and I'll add you (with a note from your doctor of course).
You can all thank me later for this list. It has taken hours to get all these links for all these people. At least next time, I won't have to do it. Plus, as I told John, I need this so I don't have to go looking someone up each and every time I want to link them up. I had a partial list before Oracle OpenWorld started, but it's now much more complete.
- Alex Gorbachev [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Paul Vallee [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Vanessa Simmons [blog|LinkedIn|company]
- George Woods [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Martin Paul Nash [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Jason Arneil [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Sheeri Cabral [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Chen/Gwen Shapira [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- John Piwowar [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Jake Kuramato [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Tim Hall [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Jay Weinshenker [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Leighton Nelson [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Amy Wilson [blog|twitter]
- Meg Bear [blog|twitter]
- David Haimes [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Sunil Ranka [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Roel Hartman [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Martin Paul Nash [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Brian "Bex" Huff [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Dominic Delmolino [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Marc Fielding [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Jeremy Schneider [blog|LinkedIn]
- Philip Mwai
- Debra Lilley [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Kerry Osborne [blog|LinkedIn]
- Greg Rahn [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Tariq Farooq [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Espen Barroso-Gomez [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Ben Prusinski [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Svetoslav Gyurov [blog|LinkedIn]
- Kevin Closson [blog|LinkedIn]
- Fuad Arshad [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Justin Kestelyn [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Tim Hall [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Frits Hoogland [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Bjoern Rost [blog]
Friday, September 24, 2010
OOW 2010: Blogger Meetup - Part III
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V
Also known as the Wall of Shame edition.
OK, I'm going to switch it up a little bit. I've written quite a bit already in the hopes of winning that Apple TV, or not, but it's been a good exercise to help me remember everyone that I met; I win either way.
Wall of Shame
What follows is my list of those who attended Oracle OpenWorld (or some derivation there of) but didn't attend the Blogger Meetup.
Some of these people may have been there...it was a long day for me which included multiple adult beverages. If you were there and I didn't see you, just let me know and I'll remove you from the Wall of Shame.
I know there was a lot to do and many of us had to actually do some work while there.
If you know someone else who was in town, but didn't show up, let me know and I'll add them. :)
Also known as the Wall of Shame edition.
OK, I'm going to switch it up a little bit. I've written quite a bit already in the hopes of winning that Apple TV, or not, but it's been a good exercise to help me remember everyone that I met; I win either way.
Wall of Shame
What follows is my list of those who attended Oracle OpenWorld (or some derivation there of) but didn't attend the Blogger Meetup.
Some of these people may have been there...it was a long day for me which included multiple adult beverages. If you were there and I didn't see you, just let me know and I'll remove you from the Wall of Shame.
I know there was a lot to do and many of us had to actually do some work while there.
If you know someone else who was in town, but didn't show up, let me know and I'll add them. :)
- Mark Rittman [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Stewart Bryson [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Jon Mead [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- John Scott [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Dimitri Gielis [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Jeff Smith [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
- Joe Leva [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Christian Screen [blog|LinkedIn]
- Jeff McQuigg [blog]
- Lewis Cunningham [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Tom Kyte [blog]
- Charles Kim [blog|LinkedIn]
- Todd Sheetz [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Markus Eisele [blog|twitter]
- Arup Nanda [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]
- Cary Millsap [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]
OOW 2010: Blogger Meetup - Part II
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V
First, a little backstory to the event.
I finally found Oracle. Closed. World. on Thursday, or at least a schedule of events. I ran into Cary Millsap outside of Chevy's and we headed over together...we talked about performance...of the Rays and Rangers and the fact that he was going to hold me to getting him playoff tickets if the 2 played in Tampa. Fair enough.
We were the first to arrive, so I ordered a water. Then others showed up and started to order beer. I didn't want to disappoint, so I ordered one as well. Then another, and another. (How does anyone survive these events? I know I am a rookie, especially in regards to some of these people, but...goodness, it will take me a year to detox). Did I mention that I had yet to eat that day? Important point. Fortunately for me, food was eventually served...but the damage had already been done. It was 3 PM and I was quite, umm, happy.
By 4:30 or so I had left and met Jake at the 4th Street Bar crashing his party of 2. I had a beer with them...then John showed up and we headed over to Jillian's for the meetup.
Let's start with Sheeri Cabral [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. I'm waiting for confirmation from Sheeri, but I think I now know who she is/was that day (that's why I gave the backstory). I have a shirt with her signature, twice, right-side-up and upside-down. There were 3 women at the meetup. Vanessa was one and Chen/Gwen Shapira was the other. She had to be the 3rd.
As I am piecing together the events of that day, Sheeri (again, if confirmed) was at Oracle. Closed. World. as well. You see, I have an ID10T problem. Sadly I didn't talk to her that much, I have been reading about her for years and always wanted to meet her. So, Sheeri, I apologize for that. Perhaps next year I'll do better.
Editor's Note: Sheeri was not the one I had thought she was, though you would think I would have remembered seeing "Pam from The Office" look-alike. Like I said, adult beverages.
On to someone I can confirm with 100% certainty...as much as someone with multiple beverages consumed can be 100% sure of anything.
Brian "Bex" Huff [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. Like Dan, I met him last year at COLLABORATE. He's got a hot wife who I believe works for Oracle. He does UCM type stuff, similar if not the same as the kilted guy, Billy Cripe (who was like the mythical unicorn this year).
You may also remember Bex from this great Superman shot (no offense Jason):
Now on to Greg Rahn [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. Same as Sheeri (if confirmed), he was at Oracle. Closed. World. Fortunately for me, he may have had at least one beer as well. I initially thought Greg was in the wrong place...way to young and good looking to be as accomplished as he is. (Editor's Note: This may be the "best looking bloggers" post). He's also got a wicked tongue and thankfully I was not (yet anyway) on the wrong end of it (boy, that just doesn't sound right).
How about the TalentedApps crew? Amy Wilson [blog|twitter] and Meg Bear [blog|twitter] (which I keep thinking is just her handle, and not her real last name). I'm pretty sure I gave them both a hard time about never replying to my comments on their site. They promised to do better in the future. Did I mention I had one-to-many adult beverages?
Oh yeah, Amy's husband Paul has a hilarious blog on being a stay at home dad, called Big Daddy Paul. Check it out, good stuff.
Sorry guys, no pictures of Amy or Meg.
Editor's Note: Amy left a comment and told me I don't know how to count, which shouldn't shock too many people. She also sent me a picture of herself and Meg. Amy is on the left and Meg is on the right. Thanks Amy!
I have to be really nice here...as this person already suspects, or believes, that I am evil incarnate. Chen (pronounced more like Gwen) Shapira [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]. She was the inspiration behind the "faxing" meme. She thought I was only incorrigible online, but I proved otherwise. Chen signed my shirt "Gwen faxing around" to prove that she has a great sense of humor.
I don't believe I'm even close to finished, but I will call this one a wrap.
To be continued...
First, a little backstory to the event.
I finally found Oracle. Closed. World. on Thursday, or at least a schedule of events. I ran into Cary Millsap outside of Chevy's and we headed over together...we talked about performance...of the Rays and Rangers and the fact that he was going to hold me to getting him playoff tickets if the 2 played in Tampa. Fair enough.
We were the first to arrive, so I ordered a water. Then others showed up and started to order beer. I didn't want to disappoint, so I ordered one as well. Then another, and another. (How does anyone survive these events? I know I am a rookie, especially in regards to some of these people, but...goodness, it will take me a year to detox). Did I mention that I had yet to eat that day? Important point. Fortunately for me, food was eventually served...but the damage had already been done. It was 3 PM and I was quite, umm, happy.
By 4:30 or so I had left and met Jake at the 4th Street Bar crashing his party of 2. I had a beer with them...then John showed up and we headed over to Jillian's for the meetup.
Let's start with Sheeri Cabral [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. I'm waiting for confirmation from Sheeri, but I think I now know who she is/was that day (that's why I gave the backstory). I have a shirt with her signature, twice, right-side-up and upside-down. There were 3 women at the meetup. Vanessa was one and Chen/Gwen Shapira was the other. She had to be the 3rd.
As I am piecing together the events of that day, Sheeri (again, if confirmed) was at Oracle. Closed. World. as well. You see, I have an ID10T problem. Sadly I didn't talk to her that much, I have been reading about her for years and always wanted to meet her. So, Sheeri, I apologize for that. Perhaps next year I'll do better.
Editor's Note: Sheeri was not the one I had thought she was, though you would think I would have remembered seeing "Pam from The Office" look-alike. Like I said, adult beverages.
On to someone I can confirm with 100% certainty...as much as someone with multiple beverages consumed can be 100% sure of anything.
Brian "Bex" Huff [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. Like Dan, I met him last year at COLLABORATE. He's got a hot wife who I believe works for Oracle. He does UCM type stuff, similar if not the same as the kilted guy, Billy Cripe (who was like the mythical unicorn this year).
You may also remember Bex from this great Superman shot (no offense Jason):
Now on to Greg Rahn [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. Same as Sheeri (if confirmed), he was at Oracle. Closed. World. Fortunately for me, he may have had at least one beer as well. I initially thought Greg was in the wrong place...way to young and good looking to be as accomplished as he is. (Editor's Note: This may be the "best looking bloggers" post). He's also got a wicked tongue and thankfully I was not (yet anyway) on the wrong end of it (boy, that just doesn't sound right).
How about the TalentedApps crew? Amy Wilson [blog|twitter] and Meg Bear [blog|twitter] (which I keep thinking is just her handle, and not her real last name). I'm pretty sure I gave them both a hard time about never replying to my comments on their site. They promised to do better in the future. Did I mention I had one-to-many adult beverages?
Oh yeah, Amy's husband Paul has a hilarious blog on being a stay at home dad, called Big Daddy Paul. Check it out, good stuff.
Sorry guys, no pictures of Amy or Meg.
Editor's Note: Amy left a comment and told me I don't know how to count, which shouldn't shock too many people. She also sent me a picture of herself and Meg. Amy is on the left and Meg is on the right. Thanks Amy!
I have to be really nice here...as this person already suspects, or believes, that I am evil incarnate. Chen (pronounced more like Gwen) Shapira [blog|twitter|LinkedIn|company]. She was the inspiration behind the "faxing" meme. She thought I was only incorrigible online, but I proved otherwise. Chen signed my shirt "Gwen faxing around" to prove that she has a great sense of humor.
I don't believe I'm even close to finished, but I will call this one a wrap.
To be continued...
OOW 2010: Blogger Meetup - Part I
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V
There appears to be some kind of competition as a result of this years Oracle OpenWorld Bloggers Meetup. The prize is an Apple TV, which me thinks would be nice to have.
This year's event was sponsored by OTN, HP and Pythian (for the 2nd year in a row I believe).
Here are the rules:
This year's title:
So, something of a story huh? I should be able spin a yarn here.
I met Leighton Nelson [blog|twitter|LinkedIn] on the first day of the conference. We had been trading tweets for a few months now, and most recently I helped him find the Oracle client version installed on a machine by using tnsping. Twitter FTW! He's also from Jamaica and despite common perceptions, he does not have dreadlocks. Apparently not everyone from Jamaica has dreadlocks...go figure. Here's Leighton signing Dan Norris' shirt where I believe Leighton had just stabbed him...or not.
Since I just mentioned Dan [blog|twitter|LinkedIn], I might as well go on to him. I met Dan IRL last year at COLLABORATE. Nice guy who has a penchant for warm cheese curds (yuk?). He signed everyone's shirt "Dan The Exadata Man" or something along those lines. I'm pretty sure he had a beer in hand, what kind, I don't know. I do know that he likes a good glass of scotch at the end of the night...as we seemed to be together every single night. He honored me one night be wearing the offical v2 oraclenerd t-shirt and he also seems to have some kind of crush on me, or he was just aghast at the size of my skull.
Next it was Jason Arneil [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. You may know Jason from his avatar:
This is him in real life, down at the far left:
Hopefully this isn't a Superman thing where I just gave away his true identity.
I was especially happy to meet Jason as he came up to me and told me how he admired and appreciated my postings on katezilla. It's really hard for me to express how much that meant to me...for this guy that only knows me online to share that with me...pure faxing awesome. Hopefully one of these days I can make it over to the UKOUG and meet up with him again. Thanks so much Jason.
OK, this post is running long...so I'm going to do a multi-part series. I wonder if that will count towards the Apple TV? Who cares. Writing this all down helps me cement the great people I met.
Part II - Part III
There appears to be some kind of competition as a result of this years Oracle OpenWorld Bloggers Meetup. The prize is an Apple TV, which me thinks would be nice to have.
This year's event was sponsored by OTN, HP and Pythian (for the 2nd year in a row I believe).
Here are the rules:
1. the blog post must use as many names of people in attendance as possible.
2. the blog post must be readable. It needs to make sense to someone who wasn’t there. It must be a story and not a list.
3. the blog post must contain one other small tidbit of information about each individual that you’ll uncover during your “networking” as you weave your fascinating stories of the evening (like their blog name, a contact detail, favorite color, title, hobby, cat’s name, certification, what they were drinking, how much they had to drink…).
4. the entry must be posted by midnight on Sunday the 26th of September. Please reference this post in your blog and it should be automatically picked up by the blog engine and posted in the comment as a track-back (if it doesn’t appear in the comments for some reason — please do post the link in your comment!
2. the blog post must be readable. It needs to make sense to someone who wasn’t there. It must be a story and not a list.
3. the blog post must contain one other small tidbit of information about each individual that you’ll uncover during your “networking” as you weave your fascinating stories of the evening (like their blog name, a contact detail, favorite color, title, hobby, cat’s name, certification, what they were drinking, how much they had to drink…).
4. the entry must be posted by midnight on Sunday the 26th of September. Please reference this post in your blog and it should be automatically picked up by the blog engine and posted in the comment as a track-back (if it doesn’t appear in the comments for some reason — please do post the link in your comment!
This year's title:
So, something of a story huh? I should be able spin a yarn here.
I met Leighton Nelson [blog|twitter|LinkedIn] on the first day of the conference. We had been trading tweets for a few months now, and most recently I helped him find the Oracle client version installed on a machine by using tnsping. Twitter FTW! He's also from Jamaica and despite common perceptions, he does not have dreadlocks. Apparently not everyone from Jamaica has dreadlocks...go figure. Here's Leighton signing Dan Norris' shirt where I believe Leighton had just stabbed him...or not.Since I just mentioned Dan [blog|twitter|LinkedIn], I might as well go on to him. I met Dan IRL last year at COLLABORATE. Nice guy who has a penchant for warm cheese curds (yuk?). He signed everyone's shirt "Dan The Exadata Man" or something along those lines. I'm pretty sure he had a beer in hand, what kind, I don't know. I do know that he likes a good glass of scotch at the end of the night...as we seemed to be together every single night. He honored me one night be wearing the offical v2 oraclenerd t-shirt and he also seems to have some kind of crush on me, or he was just aghast at the size of my skull.
Next it was Jason Arneil [blog|twitter|LinkedIn]. You may know Jason from his avatar:
This is him in real life, down at the far left:
Hopefully this isn't a Superman thing where I just gave away his true identity.
I was especially happy to meet Jason as he came up to me and told me how he admired and appreciated my postings on katezilla. It's really hard for me to express how much that meant to me...for this guy that only knows me online to share that with me...pure faxing awesome. Hopefully one of these days I can make it over to the UKOUG and meet up with him again. Thanks so much Jason.
OK, this post is running long...so I'm going to do a multi-part series. I wonder if that will count towards the Apple TV? Who cares. Writing this all down helps me cement the great people I met.
Part II - Part III
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
COLLABORATE 10
Today I got notice that I would be granted a blogger pass for COLLABORATE 10 in Las Vegas, NV. Vegas baby, Vegas! What's more, all three groups, IOUG, OAUG and Quest approved. If you weren't aware, I had the same deal last year through OAUG. I realized, very quickly, that living up to the obligation was very tough. I wrote 13 articles over that short span of time and it was completely exhausting.
So of course I want to do it again...I'm a glutton for punishment I guess.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Make Money Blogging
Yeah, it's pretty much a futile effort, but hey, I've been paid by Google.
Only 430 posts. I think that puts me at less than $0.40 a post. 28 months would come out to less than $4 a month.
Only 430 posts. I think that puts me at less than $0.40 a post. 28 months would come out to less than $4 a month.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Freedom of the Blog
According to Wikipedia, Thomas Jefferson thoughts on the press were as follows:
Well, I've had a lot (too much?) time to think lately.
...a government that could not stand up under criticism deserved to fall.
What if you replaced "government" with "business"?
Yes, they are different. When working for a business you do not have the same rights as you do within the government (speaking of United States here). There are confidentiality rules (hopefully). Trade secrets. Etc. Those things apply when you are working at a company.
What about post-employment though?
Of course if you are under some sort of non-disclosure agreement (NDA), you can't publicly talk about your former company.
There's also the small matter of burning bridges. I never quite understood this concept. Maybe I just haven't worked long enough. I understand that you don't want to piss off someone who, in the future, will be in a position to hire you. What if you don't care? What if you would never, ever work for that person or business again? Where's the bridge? Why not burn it? You certainly don't want to travel across it again.
Oh wait, future employers. That's not technically burning a bridge though is it?
Future employers would/might see it as a bad thing. You know, if you burned one bridge, you'll burn more. I understand that...generally speaking.
...a business that could not stand up under criticism deserved to fall.
I don't necessarily believe a business should fail. Blogging about them though would let others know what it's like to work there. A warning of sorts.
Also, how would you determine who is telling the truth and who isn't? I could be a lazy, disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind. How to separate the wheat from the chaff?
Maybe that's where Jake's reputation stuff comes in...(it's not really his of course, which I'm sure he'll remind me of).
...An active press was essential as a way of educating the population. To work freely, the press must be free from control by the state. Jefferson was a person who himself suffered great calumnies of the press. Despite this, in his second inaugural address, he proclaimed that a government that could not stand up under criticism deserved to fall. (emphasis mine)Why is this important?
Well, I've had a lot (too much?) time to think lately.
...a government that could not stand up under criticism deserved to fall.
What if you replaced "government" with "business"?
Yes, they are different. When working for a business you do not have the same rights as you do within the government (speaking of United States here). There are confidentiality rules (hopefully). Trade secrets. Etc. Those things apply when you are working at a company.
What about post-employment though?
Of course if you are under some sort of non-disclosure agreement (NDA), you can't publicly talk about your former company.
There's also the small matter of burning bridges. I never quite understood this concept. Maybe I just haven't worked long enough. I understand that you don't want to piss off someone who, in the future, will be in a position to hire you. What if you don't care? What if you would never, ever work for that person or business again? Where's the bridge? Why not burn it? You certainly don't want to travel across it again.
Oh wait, future employers. That's not technically burning a bridge though is it?
Future employers would/might see it as a bad thing. You know, if you burned one bridge, you'll burn more. I understand that...generally speaking.
...a business that could not stand up under criticism deserved to fall.
I don't necessarily believe a business should fail. Blogging about them though would let others know what it's like to work there. A warning of sorts.
Also, how would you determine who is telling the truth and who isn't? I could be a lazy, disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind. How to separate the wheat from the chaff?
Maybe that's where Jake's reputation stuff comes in...(it's not really his of course, which I'm sure he'll remind me of).
Monday, September 28, 2009
Blog Update
Somewhat spurred on by the redesign of the AppsLab last week, I decided to (finally) do a little redesign myself.
Friday night I spent about 6 hours on it.
Minus a few minor modifications, I had been using the original design I started with 2 years ago. I liked it as it was fairly simple and allowed for a lot of space for code (as opposed to the limited width blogger templates). In fact, anytime a technical friend starts one up, I suggest the use of a screen wide template because inevitably, their code examples will not look so good.
First thing I did was remove almost all of the <div>/<span> tags. I've never liked them. I prefer the old <table> tag approach. Of course I am not a web guy or designer by trade, so I probably miss out on the advantages...actually, I don't use them like they do so who cares. Apparently the differences are great amongst some in the web community, religious I would dare to say. Table tags are like putting the commas where they should go, at the end of the line. The span/div tags are like putting them in front.
That was tedious to say the least.
Also inspired by Rich's redesign of their social media buttons:
I decided to do the same. A couple of times. What's up top is what I ended up with. A brief survey on Twitter has some people not liking them. What do you think?
I like them because I made them (mostly). Of the 6 hours, probably 4 were spent in Gimp trying to create those silly things. The idea was simple, I wanted more real-estate on the side and there seemed to be a bit of unused space up top.
Tell me what you think in the comments. Good? Bad? Indifferent?
While I'm on the subject of the blog, I've been trying to reconcile the differences in numbers between the statistics that are gathered. There are three services I use: GoDaddy, their default web server statistics they provide, Google Analytics which I've been using since the beginning, and most recently, Quantcast.
Here are the last 2 years from Google Analytics:
Here they are from the web server statistics (GoDaddy):
I have no idea what that large spike is...here are the numbers for the last 9 months:
Of course there is no explanation of what is a "request" and a "page request." I'm pretty sure I've never had 242K hits. I can only assume that "request" includes all the objects that are downloaded with each page (css/images/javascript/etc). Which leaves me with page requests. Neither Analytics or Quantcast has ever shown a number in the tens of thousands (though last month did show a total of about 10k page views). Not really sure what to make of it though. I'd love to say that I'm getting 60K hits per month, but I don't believe that to be the case.
Anyway, if you know the difference let me know.
Friday night I spent about 6 hours on it.
Minus a few minor modifications, I had been using the original design I started with 2 years ago. I liked it as it was fairly simple and allowed for a lot of space for code (as opposed to the limited width blogger templates). In fact, anytime a technical friend starts one up, I suggest the use of a screen wide template because inevitably, their code examples will not look so good.
First thing I did was remove almost all of the <div>/<span> tags. I've never liked them. I prefer the old <table> tag approach. Of course I am not a web guy or designer by trade, so I probably miss out on the advantages...actually, I don't use them like they do so who cares. Apparently the differences are great amongst some in the web community, religious I would dare to say. Table tags are like putting the commas where they should go, at the end of the line. The span/div tags are like putting them in front.
That was tedious to say the least.
Also inspired by Rich's redesign of their social media buttons:
I decided to do the same. A couple of times. What's up top is what I ended up with. A brief survey on Twitter has some people not liking them. What do you think?
I like them because I made them (mostly). Of the 6 hours, probably 4 were spent in Gimp trying to create those silly things. The idea was simple, I wanted more real-estate on the side and there seemed to be a bit of unused space up top.
Tell me what you think in the comments. Good? Bad? Indifferent?
While I'm on the subject of the blog, I've been trying to reconcile the differences in numbers between the statistics that are gathered. There are three services I use: GoDaddy, their default web server statistics they provide, Google Analytics which I've been using since the beginning, and most recently, Quantcast.
Here are the last 2 years from Google Analytics:
Here they are from the web server statistics (GoDaddy):
I have no idea what that large spike is...here are the numbers for the last 9 months:
Of course there is no explanation of what is a "request" and a "page request." I'm pretty sure I've never had 242K hits. I can only assume that "request" includes all the objects that are downloaded with each page (css/images/javascript/etc). Which leaves me with page requests. Neither Analytics or Quantcast has ever shown a number in the tens of thousands (though last month did show a total of about 10k page views). Not really sure what to make of it though. I'd love to say that I'm getting 60K hits per month, but I don't believe that to be the case.
Anyway, if you know the difference let me know.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Join the ORACLENERD Family - II
Part I can be found here courtesy of Jake [ blog | twitter ].
I had been thinking about this for a few months now, but I can't seem to recall the initial inspiration. In May, I asked Tiffany Morgan to do a guest post here and she came up with the ever popular, Top Ten Grammatical Errors That Make People Look Stup—Silly.....
I asked a former colleague a couple of months ago to write an article based on a short presentation he gave at work on XML Schemas (with constraints and everything!).
Now I'm asking you.
Why?
Good question. In my correspondence with Jake he asked me what my goals were:
Honestly though, I hadn't thought about it.
In talking with a couple of people tonight, I think I have a better idea now.
To Jake's questions
Drive Traffic? - Not so much. Admittedly, I check Google Analytics more than once a day. I'm fascinated by the traffic. Especially cool is the city overlay map, where I can see people from all over world have visited this site.
Money (my question)I've made $73.27. August will be 2 years. I have 294 posts.
Increase content?
Yes! That would be awesome. That can't be a bad thing.
Broaden what's covered?
Absolutely! My world lies in the database. Oracle owns about 16 million products now. I'd love to have more exposure, however small, to those technologies.
Post less?
No. I like writing. It's cathartic to me. Helps me communicate my ideas better when I have to spell them out...so no, I don't plan on going anywhere.
World domination?
Who wouldn't want this?
Why? Part II
In the 4 or so years I've been reading blogs, many have come and gone. The esteemed Mr. Kyte has posted 13 times this year. 13. Not that I blame him or anything, I never could understand how he could answer all those questions (repeatedly) and still have time to blog. I'm not calling him out...I get "life."
In that regard, maybe it would be easier for some to just contribute here? First, it's not OTN so you don't have to come up the most amazing idea ever. B, it's casual. Third, maybe it will inspire you to start your own blog (on Oracle). I would love that. I would love to be a part of that.
Summary
In conclusion (I always hated having to say that), think about it. If you are in the least bit interested, drop me a line chet at oraclenerd, or tweet me @oraclenerd, or whatever. Even if I can help you get your own started, I'd be happy to do that. Perhaps you just started and you want (slightly more) exposure? Write it up here and we'll link back to you.
Lastly, I don't have defined rules. I don't really want them either. I've suggested the WTFPL license, which is should be just fine.
Problems, issues, flames, thoughts? Bring 'em on!
I had been thinking about this for a few months now, but I can't seem to recall the initial inspiration. In May, I asked Tiffany Morgan to do a guest post here and she came up with the ever popular, Top Ten Grammatical Errors That Make People Look Stup—Silly.....
I asked a former colleague a couple of months ago to write an article based on a short presentation he gave at work on XML Schemas (with constraints and everything!).
Now I'm asking you.
Why?
Good question. In my correspondence with Jake he asked me what my goals were:
What's your goal? Drive traffic? Increase content? Broaden what's covered? Post less? World domination?Definitely the last one, World Domination.
Honestly though, I hadn't thought about it.
In talking with a couple of people tonight, I think I have a better idea now.
- I like to share.
- I want others to share.
To Jake's questions
Drive Traffic? - Not so much. Admittedly, I check Google Analytics more than once a day. I'm fascinated by the traffic. Especially cool is the city overlay map, where I can see people from all over world have visited this site.
Money (my question)I've made $73.27. August will be 2 years. I have 294 posts.
1* SELECT ROUND( ( 73.27 / 294 ), 3 ) money FROM dualIt's not about money. I still just want that $100 check from Google, then I'll decide about the ads. Sure, traffic may go up with guest posts, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect to make money at this.
2 /
PER_POST
----------
.249
Increase content?
Yes! That would be awesome. That can't be a bad thing.
Broaden what's covered?
Absolutely! My world lies in the database. Oracle owns about 16 million products now. I'd love to have more exposure, however small, to those technologies.
Post less?
No. I like writing. It's cathartic to me. Helps me communicate my ideas better when I have to spell them out...so no, I don't plan on going anywhere.
World domination?
Who wouldn't want this?
Why? Part II
In the 4 or so years I've been reading blogs, many have come and gone. The esteemed Mr. Kyte has posted 13 times this year. 13. Not that I blame him or anything, I never could understand how he could answer all those questions (repeatedly) and still have time to blog. I'm not calling him out...I get "life."
In that regard, maybe it would be easier for some to just contribute here? First, it's not OTN so you don't have to come up the most amazing idea ever. B, it's casual. Third, maybe it will inspire you to start your own blog (on Oracle). I would love that. I would love to be a part of that.
Summary
In conclusion (I always hated having to say that), think about it. If you are in the least bit interested, drop me a line chet at oraclenerd, or tweet me @oraclenerd, or whatever. Even if I can help you get your own started, I'd be happy to do that. Perhaps you just started and you want (slightly more) exposure? Write it up here and we'll link back to you.
Lastly, I don't have defined rules. I don't really want them either. I've suggested the WTFPL license, which is should be just fine.
Problems, issues, flames, thoughts? Bring 'em on!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Why You Should Blog
At COLLABORATE 09, Dan Norris introduced me to Ian Abramson, the President of IOUG, author and Data Warehouse guy.
The topic of conversation was blogging (naturally, as I was there on a media/blogging pass). Ian had just recently taken up blogging and was struggling a bit to find a reason to continue blogging.
I then (beer induced) launched into the "whys" and "what fors" for him to blog. I even sent him an email (what? he can't fire me...) which I reprint here.
I also added a section (I'm not usually known for begin succinct) about blogging in general.
August will be the 2 year mark since I began blogging. My initial reasons were to share what I have learned from my unique perspective. Someone, somewhere could get something out of it. Since then, my reasons have evolved.
1. Knowledge Base - I now find myself searching my own site for problems I have solved in the past, the use of DBMS_CRYPTO being one of them. It has become my own knowledge base.
2. Communication - It has helped me refine my ability to communicate. I now have to articulate my views in a way that other people can understand. That helps me in every facet of life.
3. Peer review - If I post something that isn't correct or is misguided, there are plenty of people out there to tell me I am wrong. I view that as a good thing.
4. Community - I have a small following (barely double digits) whom I can communicate with through the blog. I like the fact that I am plugged in or in touch with other people who do what I do.
Blogging got me fired about a year ago. It wasn't my proudest moment in life, but I definitely learned something from it. Blogging got me into COLLABORATE 09. Blogging will hopefully get me into OOW in October. Blogging hasn't helped me land a job yet, but again, it will eventually.
The point of all this rambling is that everyone, I mean everyone, has a unique perspective on the world. Someone out there will find your stuff interesting. You probably won't make money off of it ($67.45 in 21 months so far!), but if you dedicate yourself to it, you'll certainly get something out of it.
The topic of conversation was blogging (naturally, as I was there on a media/blogging pass). Ian had just recently taken up blogging and was struggling a bit to find a reason to continue blogging.
I then (beer induced) launched into the "whys" and "what fors" for him to blog. I even sent him an email (what? he can't fire me...) which I reprint here.
We talked about this briefly in the exhibit hall. You have a very unique perspective, you are President of the IOUG, 22,000 strong. You are also the Director of the Enterprise Data Group at Thoughcorp. Both positions, and your view of them, are unique. Think of all those people who are striving for success in their life. You are a success, whether you realize it or not. What you have accomplished is no small task. I believe there are many people out there who could benefit from your thoughts and views.Is it legal to quote yourself?
I shared the story of Tom Kyte with you but I'll rehash it here. I began reading AskTom in January of 2002, just before I was to start as my new job in an Oracle shop. At first I thought it was a joke, because my boss' name was Tom as well. After getting in trouble for reading at work (non-work related of course), I began to read AskTom for "pleasure," so I wouldn't get in trouble. That site was often (and still is) the first site I would go to seeking an answer. In 2005 after I had moved on from my first job, he began to blog. As I had read just about his entire site, it was a welcome retreat. His blog contained the occasional technical articles, but more importantly to me, he began to share his approach. Why do that this way? Why instrument your code? So on and so forth. I think I got far more out of his blog, from a big picture perspective, that I ever got from AskTom.
That's why I believe it is important, if you are so inclined, for you to blog.
I also added a section (I'm not usually known for begin succinct) about blogging in general.
August will be the 2 year mark since I began blogging. My initial reasons were to share what I have learned from my unique perspective. Someone, somewhere could get something out of it. Since then, my reasons have evolved.
1. Knowledge Base - I now find myself searching my own site for problems I have solved in the past, the use of DBMS_CRYPTO being one of them. It has become my own knowledge base.
2. Communication - It has helped me refine my ability to communicate. I now have to articulate my views in a way that other people can understand. That helps me in every facet of life.
3. Peer review - If I post something that isn't correct or is misguided, there are plenty of people out there to tell me I am wrong. I view that as a good thing.
4. Community - I have a small following (barely double digits) whom I can communicate with through the blog. I like the fact that I am plugged in or in touch with other people who do what I do.
Blogging got me fired about a year ago. It wasn't my proudest moment in life, but I definitely learned something from it. Blogging got me into COLLABORATE 09. Blogging will hopefully get me into OOW in October. Blogging hasn't helped me land a job yet, but again, it will eventually.
The point of all this rambling is that everyone, I mean everyone, has a unique perspective on the world. Someone out there will find your stuff interesting. You probably won't make money off of it ($67.45 in 21 months so far!), but if you dedicate yourself to it, you'll certainly get something out of it.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
OBIEE: Christian Berg
The other day I told the story of how Christian Berg went out of his way to give me some invaluable pointers, OBIEE: How to Migrate Your rpd.
Apparently I haven't been the only one putting pressure on him to share his knowledge because he started his blog yesterday. So take a stroll over to his site and welcome him, then add him to your feed reader of choice.
Apparently I haven't been the only one putting pressure on him to share his knowledge because he started his blog yesterday. So take a stroll over to his site and welcome him, then add him to your feed reader of choice.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
2008 Blog Metadata
Since I know of, or am too lazy to look for, any tool to give me metadata on my blogging last year, I did it all by hand. Lots of fun.
Posts - 113
According to Google Analytics, March was my lowest month in terms of volume, 676 visits. December was the best at 2,100. Total visits for the year, 18,247.
My highest weeks in terms of visitors were those that I either got fired, laid off or furloughed which would lead me to believe people like those sorts of things. ;) Actually, I think it's a show of support. I'm grateful to be able to share the tougher times here and receive tons of encouragement.
The application developers vs. database developer series (other than my losing my job series) was very popular. You can read part I here and part II here.
The two highest days in volume were the day I got fired, 682 (because the post that got me fired came through Google Alerts about an hour after posting so everyone in the company got to read it), and the day I posted about the passing of Carl Backstrom.
As we move on with our lives it's easy to put things aside like Carl's death. In his role as Mr. Javascript/CSS on the Application Express team, he had the opportunity to interact with a lot of people. I had nothing but positive experiences with him and so did many others. He is sorely missed by many.
Posts - 113
JAN 7Comments - 376
FEB 5
MAR 5
APR 12
MAY 15
JUN 9
JUL 19
AUG 7
SEP 11
OCT 5
NOV 7
DEC 11
According to Google Analytics, March was my lowest month in terms of volume, 676 visits. December was the best at 2,100. Total visits for the year, 18,247.
My highest weeks in terms of visitors were those that I either got fired, laid off or furloughed which would lead me to believe people like those sorts of things. ;) Actually, I think it's a show of support. I'm grateful to be able to share the tougher times here and receive tons of encouragement.
The application developers vs. database developer series (other than my losing my job series) was very popular. You can read part I here and part II here.
The two highest days in volume were the day I got fired, 682 (because the post that got me fired came through Google Alerts about an hour after posting so everyone in the company got to read it), and the day I posted about the passing of Carl Backstrom.
As we move on with our lives it's easy to put things aside like Carl's death. In his role as Mr. Javascript/CSS on the Application Express team, he had the opportunity to interact with a lot of people. I had nothing but positive experiences with him and so did many others. He is sorely missed by many.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Editorial Control Over Comments
I recently commented on a blog that's fed through OraNA. Actually, I left one, received a comment back by the author, and then commented again. The author has editorial review before posting comments publicly.
I have no problem with that, I practice it. Fortunately, I haven't had the tough choice of whether to publish or not. It can't be easy.
That said, my second comment, in response to his response to my initial comment (still with me? ;) was never published. This may have been a simple oversight (it was yesterday), but I have no idea (yet anyway).
I blog because I crave the challenge. I want people to tell me I'm completely full of sh*t. Seriously. As long as it doesn't get personal, I'm all for discussion.
I have no problem with that, I practice it. Fortunately, I haven't had the tough choice of whether to publish or not. It can't be easy.
That said, my second comment, in response to his response to my initial comment (still with me? ;) was never published. This may have been a simple oversight (it was yesterday), but I have no idea (yet anyway).
I blog because I crave the challenge. I want people to tell me I'm completely full of sh*t. Seriously. As long as it doesn't get personal, I'm all for discussion.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Blogging Safely Part II
Man, I just have too much time on my hands.
I've debated whether I should write about the specifics of my termination. Yes. No. Yes. No. Alright, no.
After counsel from a few fellow bloggers (how cool is that? A built in support group!), I've decided against it. If I were independently wealthy (read: not dependent on a salary), I might.
I am also trying to take the high-road, trying to have some class I guess.
The more I sit around the worse I feel about it too. It is/was a humbling experience.
Yes, I was ready (and looking) to leave. But to be walked out of the building is not fun (though many thought I was just playing another prank). I wish it had not happened that way.
I do have my own opinions and I will voice them, but when a decision is made, I usually just shut my mouth and either live with it or look for a new job (if I totally disagree). Many people view this as arrogance I believe. That I am not open to new ideas. That is most definitely not the case.
(can you say rambling?)
So, if you blog and haven't read my previous post on Blogging Safely, do it now. Something good must come out of this.
Discuss blogging with your employer. See if they have guidelines on blogging. If not, err on the side of caution.
Thanks to everyone for your support. It reminds me of the support I received last year at this time when my daughter fell ill. Now I have a virtual family!
I've debated whether I should write about the specifics of my termination. Yes. No. Yes. No. Alright, no.
After counsel from a few fellow bloggers (how cool is that? A built in support group!), I've decided against it. If I were independently wealthy (read: not dependent on a salary), I might.
I am also trying to take the high-road, trying to have some class I guess.
The more I sit around the worse I feel about it too. It is/was a humbling experience.
Yes, I was ready (and looking) to leave. But to be walked out of the building is not fun (though many thought I was just playing another prank). I wish it had not happened that way.
I do have my own opinions and I will voice them, but when a decision is made, I usually just shut my mouth and either live with it or look for a new job (if I totally disagree). Many people view this as arrogance I believe. That I am not open to new ideas. That is most definitely not the case.
(can you say rambling?)
So, if you blog and haven't read my previous post on Blogging Safely, do it now. Something good must come out of this.
Discuss blogging with your employer. See if they have guidelines on blogging. If not, err on the side of caution.
Thanks to everyone for your support. It reminds me of the support I received last year at this time when my daughter fell ill. Now I have a virtual family!
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