Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Perfect Job
Since I am no longer tethered, I can talk about my perfect job without fear of offending.
Company Size
I don't necessarily care how big the company is, but I know the bigger it is, the more bureaucratic it gets. Small usually means more nimble. I like large companies because that's a lot of people to get to know.
Culture
Casual. Definitely casual. I've been spoiled the last 6 months...shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops to work everyday. I met a recruiter the other day and I actually had to wear (long) pants and a button-up shirt. Yuk. I like to dress up...just not every day.
Cursing. Have to have cursing.
More points if you add in a swear jar.
Even professional. I want to work with people who have Jedi skills. I want to work with Good Lazy people, not Bad Lazy.
Benefits
Health Insurance, 401k plans, vacation time...all of those are important. On site gym? WIN! Even though I fail to go, it's nice to have that option. That was one of the big selling points in moving to Tampa. WellCare had a massive (to me anyway) campus, weight room, basketball and racquetball courts. They even had a softball field.
The last place I worked had a great gym and a car wash guy that came every week or so (though I never partook).
Environment
This definitely crosses path with some of the other categories, but I decided to create a new one because I wasn't sure exactly where it fit.
By environment, I mean your desk set up. Must haves:
--2 or more 21 inch monitors
--kick ass desktop machine
--a very nice chair. If I spend a lot of time in that thing, in better be comfortable.
--Ergonomic keyboard. I've been using Microsoft's Natural Keyboard (the rounded one) since I started using a computer in 1996 or 1997. I even take it to work if they don't provide one. I left mine at the last place and sent a frantic email to the HR lady to retrieve it for me.
+1 if this is your setup.
Location
I don't want to work at home all of the time, but I do want to be close. Spending more than an hour on the road a day is a waste of time. Traffic sucks too. The past couple of months I would have baseball practice at 6:30 on Mondays and Tuesdays which means I had to leave the office no later than 5:15. I'd then swing by home, pick up LC in the driveway and off to practice we went. Thursdays were similar with tutoring at 6.
I'd also like to be able to work from home once in awhile. Some places never let you do it...I work a lot and I get into the zone at night typically. If you don't want to allow me to work from home once in awhile, why should I work at home at all?
More than anything I just want the flexibility.
So what's your perfect job? Anything like mine?
Company Size
I don't necessarily care how big the company is, but I know the bigger it is, the more bureaucratic it gets. Small usually means more nimble. I like large companies because that's a lot of people to get to know.
Culture
Casual. Definitely casual. I've been spoiled the last 6 months...shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops to work everyday. I met a recruiter the other day and I actually had to wear (long) pants and a button-up shirt. Yuk. I like to dress up...just not every day.
Cursing. Have to have cursing.
More points if you add in a swear jar.
Even professional. I want to work with people who have Jedi skills. I want to work with Good Lazy people, not Bad Lazy.
Benefits
Health Insurance, 401k plans, vacation time...all of those are important. On site gym? WIN! Even though I fail to go, it's nice to have that option. That was one of the big selling points in moving to Tampa. WellCare had a massive (to me anyway) campus, weight room, basketball and racquetball courts. They even had a softball field.
The last place I worked had a great gym and a car wash guy that came every week or so (though I never partook).
Environment
This definitely crosses path with some of the other categories, but I decided to create a new one because I wasn't sure exactly where it fit.
By environment, I mean your desk set up. Must haves:
--2 or more 21 inch monitors
--kick ass desktop machine
--a very nice chair. If I spend a lot of time in that thing, in better be comfortable.
--Ergonomic keyboard. I've been using Microsoft's Natural Keyboard (the rounded one) since I started using a computer in 1996 or 1997. I even take it to work if they don't provide one. I left mine at the last place and sent a frantic email to the HR lady to retrieve it for me.
+1 if this is your setup.
Location
I don't want to work at home all of the time, but I do want to be close. Spending more than an hour on the road a day is a waste of time. Traffic sucks too. The past couple of months I would have baseball practice at 6:30 on Mondays and Tuesdays which means I had to leave the office no later than 5:15. I'd then swing by home, pick up LC in the driveway and off to practice we went. Thursdays were similar with tutoring at 6.
I'd also like to be able to work from home once in awhile. Some places never let you do it...I work a lot and I get into the zone at night typically. If you don't want to allow me to work from home once in awhile, why should I work at home at all?
More than anything I just want the flexibility.
So what's your perfect job? Anything like mine?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
How to Use Social Media to Increase Productivity
I kept seeing these announcements on Twitter for ODTUG Kaleidiscope 2010 and the call for papers.
Since I have nothing better to do right now, I wrote something up just to see what happens.
How to Use Social Media to Increase Productivity
Social Media has been on the rise over the last few years, but many in the development community (especially Oracle) have yet to truly embrace it. I would like to convey my own experiences with Social Media (specifically Twitter and Blogging) and how it has helped me to become a better Oracle Developer.
Abstract
In the past year I have received free passes to COLLABORATE 09 (http://www.oraclenerd.com/2009/03/collaborate-09-oaug-forum.html) and Oracle OpenWorld (http://www.oraclenerd.com/2009/07/whos-going-to-oow-09.html). I have also been able to have conversations with some of the industry experts, solely because of my use of Twitter. I had a great email exchange with Cary Millsap on the differences between Logging, Debugging and Instrumentation, which I eventually posted on my blog (http://www.oraclenerd.com/2009/07/logging-debugging-instrumentation-and.html).
Christian Berg, of OBIEE fame, saw my plea for help on Twitter and responded with a full explanation via email. Read it here: http://www.oraclenerd.com/2009/03/obiee-how-to-migrate-your-rpd.html
Thanks to Twitter or my blog, I have been able to have (technical) conversations with some industry heavyweights: Alex Gorbachev, Eddie Awad, Chen Shapira, Jake Kuramoto, Matt Topper, Lewis Cunningham, John Scott, Dimitri Gielis...I could go on and on.
I would like to encourage other Oracle people to add these tools to their repertoire and show the real benefits that can be achieved through their use.
Summary
I would like to encourage other Oracle people to add Blogging and Twitter to their repertoire and show the real benefits that can be achieved through their use.
Benefits
Benefits of of using Twitter.
Benefits of Blogging.
Building your social/professional network.
This being my first submission, I have no idea if it is what they want or need. As far as content, I believe Blogging and Twitter in particular, are underutilized. There is a vast community of Oracle experts out there who love to help...why not help others tap into that?
Free Oracle Developer/dba
There is a serious lack of work in the Tampa market and desperate times call for desperate measures.
Now, I've always wanted to do this, but was never in a position to do so financially...I'm still not, but something is way better than nothing.
I'm going to offer my services for free.
Not forever mind you, somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks. It is negotiable.
If it works out, i.e. you like what I can bring to your organization, I prove that I pick new systems up quickly and I fit in well with your team; and I like working in your organization, then you pay me for that time worked and I sign up full-time either as a permanent employee or some sort of contract.
If it doesn't work out, we part ways and no one is worse for wear. You get free work from me and I get to experience a new environment (i.e. meet new people, expand my network, etc).
You can view my resume here (permanent link up top coming soon).
Some basic highlights:
PL/SQL: Expert (I don't like that term)
DBA: Junior to Mid-level (or DBA in lowercase, "dba")
APEX: Worked with up to version 3.2, admittedly rusty, but passionate about the product.
Design: Love modeling data. Model just about everything in my head (in normal life). Use Visio extensively for visual representations. Experience with SQL Developer Data Modeler, ERwin, etc.
Documentation: Give me a wiki or something similar and I'll document just about everything that I do.
That's it. Contact info is on my resume or up top on the "email" icon.
It's now posted on craigslist as well.
Now, I've always wanted to do this, but was never in a position to do so financially...I'm still not, but something is way better than nothing.
I'm going to offer my services for free.
Not forever mind you, somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks. It is negotiable.
If it works out, i.e. you like what I can bring to your organization, I prove that I pick new systems up quickly and I fit in well with your team; and I like working in your organization, then you pay me for that time worked and I sign up full-time either as a permanent employee or some sort of contract.
If it doesn't work out, we part ways and no one is worse for wear. You get free work from me and I get to experience a new environment (i.e. meet new people, expand my network, etc).
You can view my resume here (permanent link up top coming soon).
Some basic highlights:
PL/SQL: Expert (I don't like that term)
DBA: Junior to Mid-level (or DBA in lowercase, "dba")
APEX: Worked with up to version 3.2, admittedly rusty, but passionate about the product.
Design: Love modeling data. Model just about everything in my head (in normal life). Use Visio extensively for visual representations. Experience with SQL Developer Data Modeler, ERwin, etc.
Documentation: Give me a wiki or something similar and I'll document just about everything that I do.
That's it. Contact info is on my resume or up top on the "email" icon.
It's now posted on craigslist as well.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Followup Question for Mr. Ellison
In my first year in IT, I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by my employer to go to Oracle OpenWorld. This was way back in 2002. Hard to remember that far back isn't it?
Anyway, I attended Larry's keynote, and if I remember correctly, he wasn't there. He was in Australia (or somewhere) in the middle of a some sort of boat race. I do remember being dared, during the question and answer period, to ask him for a job. Amazingly I didn't do it.
One thing that stuck with me though...
He was talking about the internal operations of Oracle. He stated that there were something like 500 databases in use throughout the company. With those 500 databases there was the requisite staff to support those databases. His goal was to get all of Oracle into a single database.
So my question to Larry, or anyone else that might remember this particular speech; Did this ever happen?
I was reminded of this last week at the SOUG meeting. Charlie Garry gave a "where we have been" type presentation. The title of the first slide was Oracle Database: 2000-2009, which I thought was a misprint, until he got started. The gist of the talk was that way back in 1999 (before I was IT born), they set out a plan for the database for the next 10 years. I can't remember specifics because that's the time I started to come down with The Plague. In essence, this phase of Oracle database development has been completed with the release of 11gR2. Pretty interesting presentation (stupid Plague).
* I still have The Plague, so pardon the haphazard ramblings
Specifically what reminded me of Mr. Ellison's statement back in 2002 was Mr. Garry telling us that all of his files were in a database somewhere.
Seven years later, I'm asking the followup, Did Oracle ever get down to a single database?
Anyway, I attended Larry's keynote, and if I remember correctly, he wasn't there. He was in Australia (or somewhere) in the middle of a some sort of boat race. I do remember being dared, during the question and answer period, to ask him for a job. Amazingly I didn't do it.
One thing that stuck with me though...
He was talking about the internal operations of Oracle. He stated that there were something like 500 databases in use throughout the company. With those 500 databases there was the requisite staff to support those databases. His goal was to get all of Oracle into a single database.
So my question to Larry, or anyone else that might remember this particular speech; Did this ever happen?
I was reminded of this last week at the SOUG meeting. Charlie Garry gave a "where we have been" type presentation. The title of the first slide was Oracle Database: 2000-2009, which I thought was a misprint, until he got started. The gist of the talk was that way back in 1999 (before I was IT born), they set out a plan for the database for the next 10 years. I can't remember specifics because that's the time I started to come down with The Plague. In essence, this phase of Oracle database development has been completed with the release of 11gR2. Pretty interesting presentation (stupid Plague).
* I still have The Plague, so pardon the haphazard ramblings
Specifically what reminded me of Mr. Ellison's statement back in 2002 was Mr. Garry telling us that all of his files were in a database somewhere.
Seven years later, I'm asking the followup, Did Oracle ever get down to a single database?
APEXposed 2009
and "..you down with OPP(2009)?". Sorry, couldn't resist. Was it 1991 that song came out? Were freshmen in college even born yet? You know you're old when you start saying stuff like that...
The event takes place in Atlanta, GA, November 10-11th.
My point is, I wouldn't have remembered this even if I weren't neighbors (so to speak) with Dan McGhan, the Tampa APEX guru. Am I not plugged in to the right communities? Half of this event is PL/SQL...I should know about events related to that. I think they need more press to get the word out...
Of course I want to go and since I have free time now, all I need is a pass. Now...wait for it.
You knew I was going to ask someone didn't you? I still don't qualify as a new media douchebag though.
It's funny, I always thought that this blogging thing would one day pay off in terms of a job or conference attendance. The latter was realized last May when I attended COLLABORATE 09 and almost realized for OOW earlier this month. No job yet though. I've asked John and Dimitri. I've asked Scott too. No takers yet. They've probably read my history. :)
The event takes place in Atlanta, GA, November 10-11th.
Join PL/SQL and Application Express experts Steven Feuerstein and Scott Spendolini for two days of Seriously Practical training that can immediately be applied to your daily duties at work.Admittedly, I've been out of the Application Express community for a couple of years now, but I still use the tool on occasion for smallish (personal) applications and I still follow blogs of those I do know. I still try to sell the tool at every organization I join (maybe APEX is the reason I keep losing (actually, I haven't lost any of them, I know right where they are) my job?). And yes, that list is long...especially recently.
Are you interested in optimization, PL/SQL tools, or writing maintainable code? OPP 2009 is the place for you.
Are you interested in tuning, debugging, or APEX and the Oracle Database? Sign up now for APEXposed 2009.
Want to learn a little of both? Sign up for one conference and attend sessions at either conference. This provides you with a great opportunity for cross-over training.
My point is, I wouldn't have remembered this even if I weren't neighbors (so to speak) with Dan McGhan, the Tampa APEX guru. Am I not plugged in to the right communities? Half of this event is PL/SQL...I should know about events related to that. I think they need more press to get the word out...
Of course I want to go and since I have free time now, all I need is a pass. Now...wait for it.
You knew I was going to ask someone didn't you? I still don't qualify as a new media douchebag though.
It's funny, I always thought that this blogging thing would one day pay off in terms of a job or conference attendance. The latter was realized last May when I attended COLLABORATE 09 and almost realized for OOW earlier this month. No job yet though. I've asked John and Dimitri. I've asked Scott too. No takers yet. They've probably read my history. :)
Random Things: Volume #10
First up, the plague has visited our household. All 4 of us have it to some degree or another. The funny/cool part though, Kate seems the least affected. With her breathing issues in the past, we've either shipped her off to the grandparents or shipped ourselves off to the grandparents...if it's me, I'm usually just shipped downstairs. She's a tough little one and likes to kick hardship/illness/death in the balls whenever she can.
On the job front, nothing remarkable to speak of. Mr. Cunningham...while not getting/giving me a job, at least posted some helpful resources. Rumor also has it that he's weighing in at a svelte 219. I tried to compete with him for awhile, but as is my habit, went the other way again.
I currently have feeds from Indeed, Twitter, and Dice in Google Reader. I love it when the job search companies provide RSS capabilities.
I definitely like being at home. I like being around my family more. I know I have to pay the bills, but if I can swing it, I'm shooting for something closer. Forty minutes each way isn't terribly bad, but it's an hour and a half I could be doing something with my family.
I have revived a couple of personal projects though, 1 is the basic testing tool that will generate PL/SQL stubs. I'm not completely convinced of it, but it's a fun exercise. 2, fine-grained dependencies. OK, I can look in %_DEPENDENCIES and see that there is a dependency on TABLE_A, but what kind? Is it read-only (SELECT) or is it doing something (UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE). 3, I just came up with this the other day for some reason. I was told that a certain website had 10,000 pages. WTF? I'd like to build a little app that will find all the links within that website...if only to confirm that ridiculously high number.
On the job front, nothing remarkable to speak of. Mr. Cunningham...while not getting/giving me a job, at least posted some helpful resources. Rumor also has it that he's weighing in at a svelte 219. I tried to compete with him for awhile, but as is my habit, went the other way again.
I currently have feeds from Indeed, Twitter, and Dice in Google Reader. I love it when the job search companies provide RSS capabilities.
I definitely like being at home. I like being around my family more. I know I have to pay the bills, but if I can swing it, I'm shooting for something closer. Forty minutes each way isn't terribly bad, but it's an hour and a half I could be doing something with my family.
I have revived a couple of personal projects though, 1 is the basic testing tool that will generate PL/SQL stubs. I'm not completely convinced of it, but it's a fun exercise. 2, fine-grained dependencies. OK, I can look in %_DEPENDENCIES and see that there is a dependency on TABLE_A, but what kind? Is it read-only (SELECT) or is it doing something (UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE). 3, I just came up with this the other day for some reason. I was told that a certain website had 10,000 pages. WTF? I'd like to build a little app that will find all the links within that website...if only to confirm that ridiculously high number.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Father, Husband, Employee, Coach, Tutor
I had been pondering a post on how impossibly busy I have been lately. You know, the 45-60 hours in the office, the 2 hours on the road back and forth, coaching a bunch of 6-7-8 year olds and tutoring someone in database concepts. And blogging of course.
It doesn't seem to have quite the punch now.
Here's what it would have looked like anyway...
Father
With all that has happened in the last couple of years, I still get to come home to people that like me no matter what. LC and his battle stories with the girls at school and Kate...well, she just is. Her smile lights up the room. The infectious laugh...the hugging (finally!)...she just makes my day.
Husband
Intentionally left blank.
Employee
Move along...nothing to see here.
Tutor
It's been about 4 weeks since I began tutoring. I thought I would post more on it, but I've been so busy with everything else that I just never go to it. That should change now though, at least for awhile.
There is nothing like having to communicate complex systems to those who don't know the first thing about databases. Where do you start?
Last week was especially difficult. We had to diagram some tables based on one paragraph of requirements. This was more inline with logical modeling as well, which I don't have a lot of experience with. Which means, you have to represent (as I understood it anyway) your relationships without use of an intersection table. WTF?
Coach
One of the best things in the world. If you ever have the opportunity to coach young children, take it! Yes, it's painful at times. Yes, it is like herding cats. Yes, they do not listen. <-- does that even make sense?
But...you can yell at them for an hour straight. I don't mean the jerk kind of yelling, I mean the fun, obnoxious kind of yelling. Whatever that is.
For whatever reason, I'm naturally loud. Amazingly, I get louder on the baseball field.
There is no better way to turn your day around than by yelling at a bunch of kids. The best stress-reliever of all time possibly.
It doesn't seem to have quite the punch now.
Here's what it would have looked like anyway...
Father
With all that has happened in the last couple of years, I still get to come home to people that like me no matter what. LC and his battle stories with the girls at school and Kate...well, she just is. Her smile lights up the room. The infectious laugh...the hugging (finally!)...she just makes my day.
Husband
Intentionally left blank.
Move along...nothing to see here.
Tutor
It's been about 4 weeks since I began tutoring. I thought I would post more on it, but I've been so busy with everything else that I just never go to it. That should change now though, at least for awhile.
There is nothing like having to communicate complex systems to those who don't know the first thing about databases. Where do you start?
Last week was especially difficult. We had to diagram some tables based on one paragraph of requirements. This was more inline with logical modeling as well, which I don't have a lot of experience with. Which means, you have to represent (as I understood it anyway) your relationships without use of an intersection table. WTF?
Coach
One of the best things in the world. If you ever have the opportunity to coach young children, take it! Yes, it's painful at times. Yes, it is like herding cats. Yes, they do not listen. <-- does that even make sense?
But...you can yell at them for an hour straight. I don't mean the jerk kind of yelling, I mean the fun, obnoxious kind of yelling. Whatever that is.
For whatever reason, I'm naturally loud. Amazingly, I get louder on the baseball field.
There is no better way to turn your day around than by yelling at a bunch of kids. The best stress-reliever of all time possibly.
Wu Wei
...is an important concept of Taoism (Daoism), that involves knowing when to act and when not to act. Another perspective to this is that "Wu Wei" means natural action - as planets revolve around the sun, they "do" this revolving, but without "doing" it; or as trees grow, they "do", but without "doing". Thus knowing when (and how) to act is not knowledge in the sense that one would think "now" is the right time to do "this", but rather just doing it, doing the natural thing.From Wikipedia.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Starting Over...Again.
On Friday I was told, "They're [things] just not working out..." and let go from my job. The job counter was up to a whopping 189 days though...which is encouraging. That was my longest un-interrupted stint of employment in 17 months.
On the surface, it looks terrible; there's no doubt about that. I cringe at my record over that time. Two firings, one layoff and one furlough. Ouch.
The first firing was self-inflicted. Not something I am proud of...I had interviewed, was offered and accepted a position with RevolutionMoney prior to that though, so you could say I was checked out or just looking for an easy escape. I still wish it had gone down differently but I can't change the past.
That self-inflicted would, combined with the most recent news, looks pretty bad for me as an employee.
Do I work well with others?
Am I a good employee?
Do I lie, cheat or steal?
How do I compare to my peers?
What is my skill level?
All perfectly valid questions for a potential future employer.
I should defend myself right?
I have no idea right now.
I think the best thing I can do right now is engage potential employers, answer any and all questions, as openly and honestly as possible, and hope for the best. I know the market isn't great right now...but I'll do what I need to do find a job.
I find myself envious of those who have been with companys for a long period of time. Amusingly, had I been a bit more patient, I would have probably found WellCare to be a nice home for awhile. I still have a lot of great friends from there I think mostly because they were my support system when Kate got sick.
I took the job at RevolutionMoney because it was a startup and offered an opportunity to do all kinds of really cool stuff. None of the "really cool stuff" came to fruition though and all of the people behind that push either left or were let go.
I had just gotten comfortable in my recent job, was in a bit of groove...but "things just weren't working out."
So I'm looking.
If you know anyone out there looking for a lazy Oracle developer/modeler/little dba, send them my way.
On the surface, it looks terrible; there's no doubt about that. I cringe at my record over that time. Two firings, one layoff and one furlough. Ouch.
The first firing was self-inflicted. Not something I am proud of...I had interviewed, was offered and accepted a position with RevolutionMoney prior to that though, so you could say I was checked out or just looking for an easy escape. I still wish it had gone down differently but I can't change the past.
That self-inflicted would, combined with the most recent news, looks pretty bad for me as an employee.
Employee Oriented
Am I a team player?Do I work well with others?
Am I a good employee?
Do I lie, cheat or steal?
Technical
Do I have technical skills?How do I compare to my peers?
What is my skill level?
All perfectly valid questions for a potential future employer.
I should defend myself right?
I have no idea right now.
I think the best thing I can do right now is engage potential employers, answer any and all questions, as openly and honestly as possible, and hope for the best. I know the market isn't great right now...but I'll do what I need to do find a job.
I find myself envious of those who have been with companys for a long period of time. Amusingly, had I been a bit more patient, I would have probably found WellCare to be a nice home for awhile. I still have a lot of great friends from there I think mostly because they were my support system when Kate got sick.
I took the job at RevolutionMoney because it was a startup and offered an opportunity to do all kinds of really cool stuff. None of the "really cool stuff" came to fruition though and all of the people behind that push either left or were let go.
I had just gotten comfortable in my recent job, was in a bit of groove...but "things just weren't working out."
So I'm looking.
If you know anyone out there looking for a lazy Oracle developer/modeler/little dba, send them my way.
Friday, October 16, 2009
"They're just not working out..."
Yup, let's stop the clock.
189 days isn't so bad is it?
Read the timeline for more info on my brief stint in Tampa.
189 days isn't so bad is it?
Read the timeline for more info on my brief stint in Tampa.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
My Love Waits There in San Francisco...
A tad dramatic? Yes.
Rough week "watching" everyone at OpenWorld. I gave it the old college try, but I didn't have the heart for it, it and it.
June
I submitted my registration to attend as a blogger.
July 27th
I received notification that I had landed one of those coveted prizes.
August 1st
I published How To: Oracle OpenWorld Free Passes which has become the 3rd most viewed article on my site.
While wrestling over silly things like:
August 24th
I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to be able to make it. This was spurred on by a visit to my parents to beg for money to pay our mortgage.
August 25th
I found this tweet from Justin Kestelyn, aka Mr. OTN:
That linked to his post here, Jake followed suit a short time later here.
I decided, again, to give it the old college try.
August 27th
I thanked everyone for their support.
September 1st
And 4 days later, I bowed out again.
September 28th
Someone bought 100 oraclenerd T-Shirts!
September 30th
Posted a blurb with links and everything to all that I could find concerning OpenWorld.
October 9th
Word starts to trickle out of the Oracle ACE Directors meeting...in their schwag bag is the official oraclenerd T-Shirt!
October 11th
OpenWorld officially begins.
October 14th
The Blogger meet-up.
Looks to me that it was a complete success. Alex Gorbachev organized the event. Doug Burns has a nice wrap-up here.
I kept trying to get people to send me pictures of them wearing their super cool oraclenerdT-Shirt, but I only got 3 action shots. I'd say Alex won that battle as well. ;)
Backtrack: October 9th 12:16 A.M. EST
I received this email:
But...I am starting to save up now for OOW10! Spreadshirt is offering free shipping if you buy 2 or more oraclenerd T-Shirts. The deal is good until October 26th so hurry up if you want to take advantage. For US buyers, use the code TREAT9, for Canadians, use CADTREAT9.
Rough week "watching" everyone at OpenWorld. I gave it the old college try, but I didn't have the heart for it, it and it.
June
I submitted my registration to attend as a blogger.
July 27th
I received notification that I had landed one of those coveted prizes.
August 1st
I published How To: Oracle OpenWorld Free Passes which has become the 3rd most viewed article on my site.
While wrestling over silly things like:
- Travel
- Hotel
- Expenses (no vacation time in the bank)
- Mild fear of flying
August 24th
I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to be able to make it. This was spurred on by a visit to my parents to beg for money to pay our mortgage.
August 25th
I found this tweet from Justin Kestelyn, aka Mr. OTN:
That linked to his post here, Jake followed suit a short time later here.
I decided, again, to give it the old college try.
August 27th
I thanked everyone for their support.
September 1st
And 4 days later, I bowed out again.
September 28th
Someone bought 100 oraclenerd T-Shirts!
September 30th
Posted a blurb with links and everything to all that I could find concerning OpenWorld.
October 9th
Word starts to trickle out of the Oracle ACE Directors meeting...in their schwag bag is the official oraclenerd T-Shirt!
October 11th
OpenWorld officially begins.
October 14th
The Blogger meet-up.
Looks to me that it was a complete success. Alex Gorbachev organized the event. Doug Burns has a nice wrap-up here.
I kept trying to get people to send me pictures of them wearing their super cool oraclenerdT-Shirt, but I only got 3 action shots. I'd say Alex won that battle as well. ;)
Backtrack: October 9th 12:16 A.M. EST
I received this email:
Anyway, I also askedObviously I turned it down...just not enough time for me to make the appropriate arrangements (work/family). Oh well.redactedif he knew of any bloggers who were interested being sponsored to go to OOW. My client isredactedand they asked us to reach out to some bloggers to sponsor in order to attend the show. At present we have two bloggers who have agreed to be sponsored. One is primarily shooting video and the other guy is a general tech/business blogger.redactedmentioned that you might be interested in a sponsorship? You are certainly well versed with Oracle and ERP, so your participation would be a nice addition. In return we would hope you would spend a little time getting to knowredactedand perhaps covering some of the activities the company is doing during the show.
Please let me know ASAP if you are interested and if there is any more information you would like from me. We would make your travel arrangements. (emphasis mine)
But...I am starting to save up now for OOW10! Spreadshirt is offering free shipping if you buy 2 or more oraclenerd T-Shirts. The deal is good until October 26th so hurry up if you want to take advantage. For US buyers, use the code TREAT9, for Canadians, use CADTREAT9.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
OOW 09: Day 3 Wrap Up
Today was the big keynote from Mr. Larry Ellison himself.
Ian Abramson, President of the IOUG, calls it LarryDay.
Larry was joined by the governor of California, also known as the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Blogger meet-up seemed to be a resounding success, Doug Burns does a brief wrap-up here. I'm going out on a limb here, but Doug might have a few...problems.
Alex Gorbachev organized this years meet-up, but he doesn't have a post up about it yet. However, he does have some interesting pictures here. He's got a few Pythian OOW Diary videos on YouTube as well.
Wednesday
Steward Bryson from Rittman Mead starts off the day with this post. As does George Trujillo.
Debra Lilley, released some screenshots of some Fusion apps here (I still have no idea what Fusion is, do you?). You may know Debra from her travels with Stanley.
Todd Sheetz (one of the best last names ever), aka the Cheesehead DBA, talks about his Wednesday here.
Richard Foote wraps up Day 3 here (I think I'm a day behind...or ahead...whatever).
Oracle Closed World
Moans Nogood seems to have started the Unconference's unconference, aka, Oracle Closed World. Read about it here and here. Something else I'll have to keep in mind for next year...how to gain entry into this exclusive club.
That's pretty much all I've got. Fusion seemed to be the big announcement today, but like I said, I don't really know WTF it is yet...other than some vague notion of middle-ware. Not much this year on database related announcements, all those came prior to OOW.
Tonight is the big party at Treasure Island with Aerosmith, Roger Daltry, The Wailers and some others. I'm sure it will be a fun time.
Ian Abramson, President of the IOUG, calls it LarryDay.
Larry was joined by the governor of California, also known as the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Blogger meet-up seemed to be a resounding success, Doug Burns does a brief wrap-up here. I'm going out on a limb here, but Doug might have a few...problems.
Alex Gorbachev organized this years meet-up, but he doesn't have a post up about it yet. However, he does have some interesting pictures here. He's got a few Pythian OOW Diary videos on YouTube as well.
Wednesday
Steward Bryson from Rittman Mead starts off the day with this post. As does George Trujillo.
Debra Lilley, released some screenshots of some Fusion apps here (I still have no idea what Fusion is, do you?). You may know Debra from her travels with Stanley.
Todd Sheetz (one of the best last names ever), aka the Cheesehead DBA, talks about his Wednesday here.
Richard Foote wraps up Day 3 here (I think I'm a day behind...or ahead...whatever).
Oracle Closed World
Moans Nogood seems to have started the Unconference's unconference, aka, Oracle Closed World. Read about it here and here. Something else I'll have to keep in mind for next year...how to gain entry into this exclusive club.
That's pretty much all I've got. Fusion seemed to be the big announcement today, but like I said, I don't really know WTF it is yet...other than some vague notion of middle-ware. Not much this year on database related announcements, all those came prior to OOW.
Tonight is the big party at Treasure Island with Aerosmith, Roger Daltry, The Wailers and some others. I'm sure it will be a fun time.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
OOW 09: Day 2 Wrap Up
The sheer volume of information coming out of OpenWorld is astounding. There are thousands of tweets and maybe close to 100 blogs per day. For those of us not there, it's pretty easy to stay informed. So here's today's roundup:
Two from Rittman Mead:
Beginning Day 2 at OpenWorld by Stewart Bryson
Open World 2009 – Monday & Tuesday – BI Applications 7.9.6.1 Released by Venkatakrishnan J
Jonathan Lewis on Richard Foote's Unconference session (very few questions about David Bowie apparently).
To complete self-referential integrity, I give you Richard Foote's Oracle OpenWorld 2009 - Day 2 Highlights.
Chen (or is it Gwen?) Shapira, aka prodlife, tells us the Most Important Thing I've Learned at OOW09, which includes a reference to Jonathan Lewis. BTW, she asked me to create a shirt for her...and I still haven't heard back from her yet. If you see her, tell her it's here:
Arup Nanda, who doesn't blog nearly enough for my tastes (yes, I know he writes elsewhere), has OOW Day 2.
Here's another wrap-up from Monday by Dave at Experiences as a new Oracle Apps 'DBA'.
Dain Hansen talks about 1. Umbrella. 2. Espressos and the Innovation Across the Stack at the Data Integration and Management blog.
Alexander Kornbrust shares his thoughts on his SQL Injection Presentation.
Tim Hall talks about...Today's Oracle WaterWorld Sessions...
As far as Twitter goes, it was raining. Dan Norris was talking about Exadata. More rain. Michael Dell spoke today. Something about virtualization. The Blogger meet-up was relocated...due to rain.
Found this video via Mr. OTN, Ted Farrell the Chief Fusion Architect at Oracle
If you want to see the list of Oracle press releases during the event so far, check them out here.
And the (late) wrap up from Jake which is quite amusing. I think his style should catch on more...
One from Jared Still, a "Certifiable Perl Evangelist" or is it just certifiable?
Courtesy of fourquare, I was able to find some people I know as well:
Two from Rittman Mead:
Beginning Day 2 at OpenWorld by Stewart Bryson
Open World 2009 – Monday & Tuesday – BI Applications 7.9.6.1 Released by Venkatakrishnan J
Jonathan Lewis on Richard Foote's Unconference session (very few questions about David Bowie apparently).
To complete self-referential integrity, I give you Richard Foote's Oracle OpenWorld 2009 - Day 2 Highlights.
Chen (or is it Gwen?) Shapira, aka prodlife, tells us the Most Important Thing I've Learned at OOW09, which includes a reference to Jonathan Lewis. BTW, she asked me to create a shirt for her...and I still haven't heard back from her yet. If you see her, tell her it's here:
Arup Nanda, who doesn't blog nearly enough for my tastes (yes, I know he writes elsewhere), has OOW Day 2.
Here's another wrap-up from Monday by Dave at Experiences as a new Oracle Apps 'DBA'.
Dain Hansen talks about 1. Umbrella. 2. Espressos and the Innovation Across the Stack at the Data Integration and Management blog.
Alexander Kornbrust shares his thoughts on his SQL Injection Presentation.
Tim Hall talks about...Today's Oracle WaterWorld Sessions...
As far as Twitter goes, it was raining. Dan Norris was talking about Exadata. More rain. Michael Dell spoke today. Something about virtualization. The Blogger meet-up was relocated...due to rain.
Found this video via Mr. OTN, Ted Farrell the Chief Fusion Architect at Oracle
If you want to see the list of Oracle press releases during the event so far, check them out here.
And the (late) wrap up from Jake which is quite amusing. I think his style should catch on more...
One from Jared Still, a "Certifiable Perl Evangelist" or is it just certifiable?
Courtesy of fourquare, I was able to find some people I know as well:
OOW 09: Day 1 Wrap Up
I'm just going to list all of the "Day 1" articles I have found so far...there seem to be quite a few, more than I remember last year, but then again, I don't think I was as personally invested in it. I did geek out and watch Larry's live introduction of Exadata. I have been way too busy at work so I didn't have the opportunity to watch or listen to anything today. I guess I'll be slowly catching up over the next few days. So here's "my" Day 1 wrap up:
Fusion Technology Explorations by Espen Barroso-Gomez
Fuad Arshad's Blog by none other than Fuad Arshad
blogging about oracle applications by Peter Slager
Amis by Peter Ebell
jarneil by Jason Arneil (who must be a programmer because he calls it Day Zero
Cheesehead DBA by Todd Sheetz
...technology, lifehacks, and all that good stuff by Bex Huff
Doug's Oracle Blog by Doug Burns
Avrom's Java EE and Oracle ADF Blog by Avrom Roy-Faderman
The ORACLE-BASE Blog by Tim Hall
Day 1 at Open World by Mark Rittman (with some cool videos ).
Update: A couple added in comments by Bradd Piontek
It's wonderful, but will I survive? by Claudia Zeiler (Girlgeek's Oracle Blog)
Philosophy – 7 by Jonathan Lewis over at Oracle Scratchpad
Duke at Oracle Open World by George Trujillo (also mentioned in the ACE section below.
OpenWorld Manifest: Days 0 and 1 by Jake at the AppsLab.
Oracle ACE Directors Meeting
Tim Tow's Hyperion Blog, OOW 2009 Ace Directors Briefing by Tim Tow
The Arup Nanda Blog, ACE Directors Product Briefing '09 by Arup Nanda
The ORACLE-BASE Blog, Oracle ACE Director meeting and stuff... by Tim Hall
Dimitri Gielis Blog, Oracle HQ by Dimitri Gielis
ORCLVILLE, Pre-OOW - Drinking From a Firehose by Floyd Teter
An Oracle Blog facilitated by Trubix, Oracle Open World 2009 - Oracle ACEs dinner by George Trujillo (which even has a picture of the oraclenerd T-Shirt.
Fusion Technology Explorations by Espen Barroso-Gomez
Fuad Arshad's Blog by none other than Fuad Arshad
blogging about oracle applications by Peter Slager
Amis by Peter Ebell
jarneil by Jason Arneil (who must be a programmer because he calls it Day Zero
Cheesehead DBA by Todd Sheetz
...technology, lifehacks, and all that good stuff by Bex Huff
Doug's Oracle Blog by Doug Burns
Avrom's Java EE and Oracle ADF Blog by Avrom Roy-Faderman
The ORACLE-BASE Blog by Tim Hall
Day 1 at Open World by Mark Rittman (with some cool videos ).
Update: A couple added in comments by Bradd Piontek
It's wonderful, but will I survive? by Claudia Zeiler (Girlgeek's Oracle Blog)
Philosophy – 7 by Jonathan Lewis over at Oracle Scratchpad
Duke at Oracle Open World by George Trujillo (also mentioned in the ACE section below.
OpenWorld Manifest: Days 0 and 1 by Jake at the AppsLab.
Oracle ACE Directors Meeting
Tim Tow's Hyperion Blog, OOW 2009 Ace Directors Briefing by Tim Tow
The Arup Nanda Blog, ACE Directors Product Briefing '09 by Arup Nanda
The ORACLE-BASE Blog, Oracle ACE Director meeting and stuff... by Tim Hall
Dimitri Gielis Blog, Oracle HQ by Dimitri Gielis
ORCLVILLE, Pre-OOW - Drinking From a Firehose by Floyd Teter
An Oracle Blog facilitated by Trubix, Oracle Open World 2009 - Oracle ACEs dinner by George Trujillo (which even has a picture of the oraclenerd T-Shirt.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
OOW09: Cool Tricks
Alex Gorbachev of Pythian fame has posted a couple of videos already; one with Justin Kestelyn of Oracle Technology Network (check out the shirt he's wearing underneath) and Richard Foote. You can follow his YouTube channel here.
I also found a video with Tom Kyte from OracleJAPAC (Oracle Asia Pacific and Japan).
You can watch all the keynotes live at LiveStream.
For the old-fashioned, you can follow the #oow and #oow09 hash tags on twitter here. I've already set one up here where I also include any blog or news article related to Oracle OpenWorld.
I also found a video with Tom Kyte from OracleJAPAC (Oracle Asia Pacific and Japan).
You can watch all the keynotes live at LiveStream.
For the old-fashioned, you can follow the #oow and #oow09 hash tags on twitter here. I've already set one up here where I also include any blog or news article related to Oracle OpenWorld.
OOW09: And So It Begins
Today is the official start of Oracle OpenWorld. Strangely, I could have been there. At midnight on Thusday (Friday morning actually), I received an offer to fly me out and put me up for the week. With a young family and still being new at the job, I had to turn it down with such short notice. Where was the offer a month ago?
Poor Jake received a rather curse ridden vent email from me about the timing of this particular ask. Mr. OTN and himself helped to spearhead the initial push to sell T-Shirts to help fund my trip.
Enough about the past though. I'll just have to wait until next year.
With the volume of information both via twitter and blogs, I don't know if I would even need to attend...no, that's dumb, I need to cash in those beer I.O.U.s. :)
All of us not attending, will at least be able to see many (all?) of the keynote speeches via Oracle OpenWorld Live. At 5:45 PST, Larry Ellison and Scott McNealy will be speaking on Oracle and Sun:
Poor Jake received a rather curse ridden vent email from me about the timing of this particular ask. Mr. OTN and himself helped to spearhead the initial push to sell T-Shirts to help fund my trip.
Enough about the past though. I'll just have to wait until next year.
With the volume of information both via twitter and blogs, I don't know if I would even need to attend...no, that's dumb, I need to cash in those beer I.O.U.s. :)
All of us not attending, will at least be able to see many (all?) of the keynote speeches via Oracle OpenWorld Live. At 5:45 PST, Larry Ellison and Scott McNealy will be speaking on Oracle and Sun:
Sunday is also SUNday at the show. So what's the scoop with Sun? Find out tomorrow—straight from the source—during the opening keynote in Moscone North, Hall D at 5:45 p.m. Scott McNealy is hosting an onstage discussion with Larry Ellison on Sun and Oracle's future plans.which you'll be able to watch on the LiveStream site. I'm getting headphones so I can listen at work this week. I'll still have coverage posted, just without the fun of getting to know everyone in real-life.
Friday, October 9, 2009
T-Shirts: In The Wild
Since OOW has started and the Oracle Ace Directors have received their schwag, I figured I'd dedicate a page for the slideshow.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Oracle OpenWorld: 2009
Starts in a little more than 2 days...sucks I won't be there, but what can you do?
The OOW traffic has increased significantly over the last couple of days:
Twitter is abuzz (official hashtag is #oow09), the Oracle blogoshpere has (finally) picked up.
I'm not going to link up to everyone in the world again because I'm pretty sure all of you know what you're doing during this time...which leaves just 3 people to read along with me. (It feels like that anyway). This was my last post with all kinds of informative links.
OK, one link. George Woods seems to have come out of nowhere...he's now compiling a list of Tweeple/Tworgs (?) who will be attending. From what I can tell, there is no official meet-up for Oracle Tweeters, but George is trying very hard to get something going.
I'm definitely going to miss the opportunity to meet all these virtual friends. Next year for sure.
For the 3 of you who aren't going, don't forget OpenWorld Live, it's just like being there!
To everyone who is going; I hope you have a great time and get everything (and more) out of it you can. Drink a beer and take a swim for me.
The OOW traffic has increased significantly over the last couple of days:
Twitter is abuzz (official hashtag is #oow09), the Oracle blogoshpere has (finally) picked up.
I'm not going to link up to everyone in the world again because I'm pretty sure all of you know what you're doing during this time...which leaves just 3 people to read along with me. (It feels like that anyway). This was my last post with all kinds of informative links.
OK, one link. George Woods seems to have come out of nowhere...he's now compiling a list of Tweeple/Tworgs (?) who will be attending. From what I can tell, there is no official meet-up for Oracle Tweeters, but George is trying very hard to get something going.
I'm definitely going to miss the opportunity to meet all these virtual friends. Next year for sure.
For the 3 of you who aren't going, don't forget OpenWorld Live, it's just like being there!
To everyone who is going; I hope you have a great time and get everything (and more) out of it you can. Drink a beer and take a swim for me.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
T-Shirt: Barcode
In homage to Google and the birthday of the barcode:
The oraclenerd bar code t-shirt:
The oraclenerd bar code t-shirt:
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