I stopped by my blog today to upgrade the version of wordpress and some plug-ins. On the front page I got this hilarious ad and it seemed to really be appropriate to the very silly post it was shown with.

I wrote a very silly post about a data architect and a biz guy (really silly geek humor) and the ad is “Why can’t I get a date? Maybe because you’re looking in the wrong place.” Ahahahahaha.

Sorry. That just cracked me up. When I refreshed, I got an ad for ETL software.

Paul Gallagher, of the Tardate blog, emailed me this morning (or I guess it was last night) and sent me some code to enhace ORA_Tweet.  He wrote a package to call out to an is.gd API to convert a long URL to a short URL.  The really cool thing is that he used a regular expression to find matches INSIDE the comment body.  That means that ANY URLs will be replaced with a short URL, you don’t have to call the API individually.

His API is easily called and can be used for projects other than just ORA_Tweet.  Check out his write up on the SHORTURL package:  Tweeting from your database with short urls

I updated the ora_tweet code so you can download the entire set of code if you would like.

Recently I posted an article about ORA_Tweet, an Oracle Twitter Client. I was asked by someone reading the code why I put several variables in the BODY of the package rather than the SPEC. The question was posed something like this:

Why not put the variables in the package spec where they are modifiable? That would involve less maintenance.

I specifically put them in the body so that they are not modifiable. I don’t see public global variables as a particularly good thing. To understand why, let’s take a look at the benefits of a package.

First, you can group logical functions and procedures together.

Hi all.

This post is just a catchup of what I have been doing recently.

I cleaned out my email inbox. I had 5000 unread emails. I have a problem that if I get an email that is not spam but is not critical, I put it aside “to read later”. Sometimes, I actually do go back and read them. More often, I never see it again. I would *LIKE* to respond to every email and blog post that I get. Unfortunately, I just don’t always have time. By the time I do have time, I have plenty of newer posts and emails.

I have been in search of a good PDF viewer for my BlackBerry. I tried out several different readers and even use MobiPocket to convert them. I wrote up my experiences in Mobile PDFs – 4 Way to Read PDFs on your BlackBerry.

In that post, I am review 3 native PDF viewers for the BlackBerry: PDF to Go, Repligo Reader and BeamReader. I am also review the MobiPocket mobile ebook reader. While it doesn’t do PDF, it does convert from PDF to its native format. Finally, I review ShortCovers, a new ebook social network/service.

Summary

For PDF viewing, I found that BeamReader has some shortcomings.

Welcome to my blog. My name is Lewis R Cunningham and I’m an Oracle geek. I love playing with Oracle, working with Oracle and sharing what I know about Oracle. In my travels as a consultant and employee, I have found that, in the Oracle world at least, managers, project leads, etc. often have to make decisions regarding their projects, employees and day to day operations with very little, and/or erroneous, information. These decisions often negatively impact the business bottom line and ongoing projects. The lack of information can be caused by an incomplete team, a lack of communication inside the team or even ego or attitude problems.

My goal with this blog will be to remove some of the mystery surrounding Oracle technology and to describe ways to integrate that technology in various projects and business areas.

From the Database-Geek.

Here are some links I thought might be useful (or at least interesting) to you:

Job Search

Does your resume look fine to you? Maybe it could use some editing: Critique Your Resume

With the economy in the tank, anyone can lose their job. If it’s been a while, you might need to read: Job Hunting for the Rusty

Free Software

Quake for the Web! Free! By id! Like Doom! Did I say on the web? And free? A Browser Quake! id Software launches free Quake Live browser-based shooting game This is the best link in this post!

Excellent, free, web based graphic software.

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide To Oracle Technology
Here is another very cool looking job. Looks like the mid-west is hopping. Plenty of database (especially architect) type openings.
Location: Indianapolis/Plainfield, IN
Employment Type: Direct/Permane…

One most important questions….

whats the vertica database License cost??

!***! Entry Link:http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/state-of-the-database-2008-vertica-part-1-26171!***!

Security is a bit of an issue, but there are also loads of potential benefits of cloud computing, have a read of our blog post: http://www.zeta.net/blog/2009/01/what-cloud-computing-means-for-you/

!***! Entry Link:http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/cloud-computing-defined-28433!***!

hehe,it is very interesting,i am a coder and i found it is also for developers..

1.Sit around writing or reading the blogs until the users found an application Lack of functions. Don’t add a function until someone besides you notice.

2.Ask for all permissions from DBA even you dont need it.

When a DBA asks you a question,just tell him the application needs.

3.Explain to users and management that performance issues are always caused by network or database.

4.

thank you,i got it.

!***! Entry Link:http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/top-10-tips-for-a-dba-28310!***!

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
For those of you who know Oracle Streams and might be looking for something a bit different, try a short term job in Mexico. AltiusPAR Solutions is looking for help with an Oracle Streams Replication I…

Good point. The jobs I would really be aware of will probably all be in the US. If a recruter wanted to post a cool non-US job, I would do so but I don’t know any non-US recruiters.

LewisC

!***! Entry Link: A New Job For 2009 – Lead Architect!***!

probably worth noting for most jobs that you need the right to live and work in the EU/US or as required, as sponsorship for a visa is very rare these days….

!***! Entry Link:http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/a-new-job-for-2009-lead-architect-29271!***!

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
With all the news about lost jobs and the bad economy, I think it’s important to remember that jobs do still exist out there. For those of you looking for a new job (and those of you hiring), I have de…

Hi, experts, and coders,

I am looking for the groups those discuss the methods and procedures that can make the oracle data extraction and integration at the oracle CRM database interface client section. Please add me to any tools using discussion, such like Visual basic, Java, or SQL server, or Oracle Siebel CRM itself, or any similar applications that will help.

Thanks!

Hwei

!***! Entry Link: <a href=”http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/you-should-write-a-blog-1876

Someone on this site has hi jacked my nom de plume IFRSexorcist. I wish to report an identity theft.

Darla

IFRS Exorcist

http://ifrsexorcist.com

!***! Entry Link: YOU Should Write a Blog!!***!

Thanks Chet. That would be great.

LewisC

!***! Entry Link: Looking for Reviewers for a Cloud Computing Book!***!

I’m actually ok with the screen size. You didn’t say the model but I am thinking you got the HP Mini which is 8.9 inches. I got the 10.2 inch and I think it really makes a difference.

Mine (with xp) boots in a minute or so.

Thanks,

LewisC

!***! Entry Link: Is the EEEPC Netbook Underpowered?!***!

Trying some of these Netbooks at a local Dealership I found an HP Netbook Model, which at least for my Preferences had a better keyboard, already came with 2 Gig Memory and Vista Basic (although I’m not sure that’s really a better choice than XP). Built-In HSDPA Modem is the only thing I’m missing – however the 3 USB Modem things I’ve got work without any problem, the thing is sufficiently small to slip in a Briefcase / Backpack, it is sufficiently powerful for any Office Application or Internet

I’ve passed this link on to a couple of people at work who might fit your bill for the advanced stuff. One of which has created an image with Jira, Bamboo and one other tool I can’t remember.

If they are interested, I’ll pass them along.

!***! Entry Link:http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/looking-for-reviewers-for-a-cloud-computing-book-29154!***!

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
I am getting close to finishing my current book, Cloud Computing with Amazon AWS. This is a tools based look at cloud computing.
Anyway, I need a few people to do a review for me. I have a few people a…

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
I wished I lived a little bit (well, a whole lot) closer to CA. Oracle is hosting the Xen Worldwide Summit at it’s Redwood Shores campus this Feb 24-25.
I’ve been getting into virtualization for a whil…

I don’t know why people need to complain about these things so much. It’s small…everything is going to be smaller! Shocker.

If it works for you then that is all that matters.

I like them too…if I could hold a job for more than a month at a time I would get one too.

!***! Entry Link:http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/oracle-guide/is-the-eeepc-netbook-underpowered-29063!***!

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
I keep reading that the EeePC, and other Intel-based Atom netbooks, are underpowered. The basic description I hear seems to be:

Keyboard is too small
Not enough memory
Not enough disk
Not enough ooomp…

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
I just learned how to do discounts on my estore. Since I can do that now, I decided to offer $4.00 off my book (list $14.95). That means you can get it for $10.95. I’ll delete this discount sometime af…

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
Ok, I figured out how I am going to do this. I am making my book available three ways: print, ebook and html.
For print, you can get it on amazon or through my e-store. It’s $14.95
For ebook, you can g…

LewisC’s An Expert’s Guide to Oracle Technology
I’ve finally done it. Everyone seems to be having difficulties defining just exactly what cloud computing really is. I have it down to a single sentence:
Cloud computing is using the internet to access…

Packt is a publishing company. I will be reviewing one of their books here in the near future. They are doing a survey and anyone who responds can get 40% off any ebook in their inventory. I just wanted to pass this along. The survey is only 9 quest…