Blog Aggregator - Amardeep Sidhu

Before 11G adding new columns with default values to tables with millions of rows was a very time consuming and annoying task. Oracle had to update all the rows with the default value when adding the column.

11G introduced a fast=true feature for adding columns with default values. In 11G when you want to add a not null column with a default value, the operation completes in the blink of an eye

Oracle 11g database software is downloadable from edelivery  as well from Oracle Technology Network for the following platforms:
Linux x86 (as of August 14th. 2007)
Linux x86-64bit ( October 30th. 2007)
Windows 32 bit ( October 25th. 2007)

 ”Did you know that you should not download Oracle software from Oracle Technology Network in order to use it for production? If you do so you might not have full support!!!” This was new for me and I was very surprised when an Oracle Sales Consultant explained this to me recently. As he pointed out […]

Technological advances continue to amaze me.

I remember setting up my first token ring network.  Huge cables, not very user friendly configuration (why would everyone want to run a cable to a network box like that), everything really big, really slow.

That was almost twenty years ago.

Today, we see things like this. An SD card with enough hardware to be a wi-fi device and store 2gb of stuff.  Or, if you are cheap like me - a 1gb normal SD card for $10 (yes, I had to buy it just because - it was $10)  Now I have lots of room for pictures.

Things are moving scary fast sometimes.  Hard to keep up with everything.

About 10 years ago (ok, 10 years and a month ago), I was asked to review a new PC configuration for a friend, this is the document they sent me from the vendor:

This machine would take about 2 weeks to deliver from the date of purchase.
Gateway 2000 G6-233

Basic Machine
• Processor: Intel 233MHz Pentium II Processor w/ MMX Technology
• Memory: 64MB SDRAM
• Cache: Internal 512K L2 secondary write-back cache
• Monitor: CrystalScan700 17″ color monitor
• Graphics Accelerator: nVidia 4MB AGP Graphics Accelerator
• Hard Drive: 4.0GB Ultra ATA hard drive
• Floppy Drive: 3.5″ 1.44MB diskette drive
• CD-ROM: 12X min./24X max. CD-ROM drive
• Multimedia Package: Ensoniq wavetable sound card & Boston Acoustics Micromedia Speaker System
• Fax/Modem: TelePath 33.6 Data / 14.4 Fax Modem
• Case: G-Series Mid Tower
• Keyboard: 104+ Keyboard
• Mouse: MS IntelliPoint Mouse

Bundled Software

• MS Money 97 & Quicken SE
• MMX Technology Bundle
• Microsoft Windows 95
• Application Software: MS Office 97, Professional Edition

Service
• Service Program: Gateway Gold Premium Service and Support (3yrs. Onsite) added: US$99

Additional Peripheral Hardware
This hardware is highly recommended.

The scanner, in conjunction with the fax/modem above, replaces the need for a separate fax machine (to fax outbound, you would scan and ‘print’, to receive faxes, the computer would just be turned on). Additionally, the scanner allows you to digitally store press releases, magazine articles, photographs an so on.

The digital camera allows you to capture electronically what it not printed in the papers.

The tape backup unit is a must if you are going to store items you wish to keep for a lifetime. The hard disk will fail at some point. If you go to the trouble of scanning and storing keepsake items, you do not want to lose them in a hard disk failure. The tape device is large enough to backup the entire system overnight, an operation you would want to do once a week/every other week.

We investigated color LCD monitors (space savings, an LCD monitor would be about 2 inches thick, the CRT above is about 17 inches deep) but feel that at this time they are still too new and not readily in supply. The cost of the LCD screen would be as much as the base system itself ($3,500-$4,000 for a 14 inch LCD display). We are not recommending this at this time.

• Scanner: Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 5Pse Scanner
• Digital Camera: Epson Photo PC 500
• Tape Backup Unit: TR4 SCSI TBU and tape (w/SCSI controller)

Pricing
Total Price: US $4200

What cost $4200 in 1997 would cost $5218.48 in 2006.  10 years ago - state of the art was 64mb of RAM, 4gb hard disk.  And cost five times what you would expect to pay today.

Nothing to add to that, just find it amazing sometimes.

Robert from Canada was able to identify the version each of the 33 features were released in.  Congratulations

Not really, but sort of.  I was emailing with my friend Professor Melander again and she asked my opinion on a statement made in a blog by one of her students.  The quote was:

Someone will always steer an employer towards a candidate that they know personally over one that they just know online.

Well, I think that statement would need a ton of qualification before I said “I can agree with that”.  (as an aside, I have a saying I put in my seminars from time to time - it goes:

Never say Never
Never say Always
I Always say…

so statements that include always or never - beware of them)

I personally “know” of many people I would recommend without reservation - that I have never met.  I personally know of many people I have had face to face contact with - that I would not recommend.

Now, if all other things were equal - if I considered both candidates “equal” technically speaking - but I had met one of them face to face, knew them from meeting with them - that would give them an edge (or not actually, think about it, they might have turned me off in person).  That steering statement above might be true in this special case - but only because I have more information about one of them than the other.

On the other hand if the “electronically socially networked” person outshone the person I knew in the flesh in the area the job was to be in - I would likely recommend the person I had not met - with the caveat that you have to interview them and make sure you like them (but that would be true about the candidate I met face to face).

The other point I think they might be missing out on is that online you can network with a much larger congregation of people than you can in real life - from all over the place.  I don’t mean just on linkedin (it took forever but I finally got out of linkedin, ugh) - I mean in forums, industry special areas, special interest places.  You never know who you are going to meet there or what they might be able to do for you sometime in the future (and vice versa of course).  You are establishing your reputation in a large forum, documented, there forever (so be careful how you act!!)

And - over time - you might find you get to meet many of these people you only know from the online world.  I have, many times.  And I am quite sure that if I hadn’t been involved in the online community - I would not have met them (nor would I be doing day to day what I do!!!). 

When you do meet these people face to face, one of two things becomes apparent every time, either

1. They are exactly like what you thought they would be
2. They are nothing like what you expected

And for #2, one of two things can come from that - either you like them better than you did before, or you decide you didn’t really like them after all.

In my experience, the former happens much more than the latter - but it is a function of the company you keep.

In short, all networking is relevant.  None of it is “better” or infinitely “superior” to another. 

A challenge for you all.  Good luck

Thought I’d never be able to say this again from an Oracle patch, but 10.2.0.3 is not that bad at all, at least in the AIX environment and running Peoplesoft.

Been a while since my last post. Most of the time has been taken by a Peopletools upgrade - to 8.48.10 - that left our HR system in tatters!

Suffice to say that it broke the 10.2.0.2 optimizer in various and serious places. We had a

Most frequently seen problems with EM console have to do with non properly configured networking environments and skipping the dhcp warning at the installation phase. Proper networking configuration prerequisites have to be met before proceeding with i…

The more time I spend on the Oracle forums the more people I get to know, even though I have never physically seen most of them, only by the kind of regular answers I have been able to ’see’ Who’s who.Sybrand Bakker AKA sybrandbIt’s funny to see people…