Doug Burns
Belgium Seminar Cancelled
Unfortunately, the two day performance course I was due to be teaching in Belgium in a couple of weeks has been cancelled. It also means that I won't be getting to see the DUDE as soon as I thought 
C. J. Date in Edinburgh
With the help of Oracle as sponsors, Peter Robson has organised a new seminar with Chris Date in Edinburgh on 10-12th of November. The format of "A Relational Approach to SQL" will be two days of tutorial-like presentation from Date, followed by a Wednesday morning of discussion and debate. It sounds fascinating to me but unfortunately I can't make those dates. Oh, and the cost for this opportunity? Fifty quid, to cover refreshments! That sounds like an opportunity that's too good to pass up if you're interested in the subject so I suspect that places will disappear quickly.
More information here and here.
More information here and here.
OOW 2008 Presentations Update
Well, I'm very pleased to see that non-attendees can access the presentations now, using this approach. I had confirmation from someone at Oracle that they wouldn't be accessible so either their information was wrong or there's been a change of heart.
For example, here is Juan Loaiza's Exadata presentation from Thursday.
For example, here is Juan Loaiza's Exadata presentation from Thursday.
Disappointing News
I received confirmation recently that the OOW 2008 presentations will only be available to registered attendees. Whilst I can understand that Oracle might not want to give away presentations when they can sell them on DVD and want to encourage attendance, I'm very disappointed in this change from previous years. When I've been blogging about presentations, I've assumed that readers who work for companies who won't send them will at least be able to put some of their own time into digging around the presentations.
I hope that as many people as possible can post their presentation material on their own websites.
[Heavy sigh ....]
I hope that as many people as possible can post their presentation material on their own websites.
[Heavy sigh ....]
OOW 2008 Presentations
I noticed via H.Tonguç Yılmaz's blog that some of the presentation slides have started to appear.
1) Go to http://www28.cplan.com/cc208/login.jsp
2) Username/Password is cboracle/oraclec6 (Updated later - actually, maybe this doesn't work for unregistered attendees yet)
3) Search for sessions
4) Click link in right hand column where the presentation exists
5) You might be prompted for the same username/password again
1) Go to http://www28.cplan.com/cc208/login.jsp
2) Username/Password is cboracle/oraclec6 (Updated later - actually, maybe this doesn't work for unregistered attendees yet)
3) Search for sessions
4) Click link in right hand column where the presentation exists
5) You might be prompted for the same username/password again
Rodney Update
Thanks to Frits Hoogland, here are some better pictures of the appreciation event.
See, it was me who did all the hard work really! Not really, you can see Marco is standing in another queue, waiting to help.
You can almost imagine this bear's thoughts. 'Mmmm, so this is where my future lies, with a drunken bum .... What was your name? Mark? Any chance I could come back to your place instead?'
See, it was me who did all the hard work really! Not really, you can see Marco is standing in another queue, waiting to help.
You can almost imagine this bear's thoughts. 'Mmmm, so this is where my future lies, with a drunken bum .... What was your name? Mark? Any chance I could come back to your place instead?'
Fleece Update
To those who have been badgering me about this for the best part of a week (they know who they are), it's time for more information about this year's Oracle ACE OOW gift.
(Jacket by OTN, T-Shirt Model's Own, Photography Alex Gorbachev, Camera Frits Hoogland)
It's not right.
First of all, it's sophisticated black. What was wrong with emergency flare red?
Second, it's not even a fleece but a Stormtech waterproof! All of the chaps at work will have to revise their fleece jokes and they just won't sound right any more. In fact, one or two of the cyclists were worryingly interested in it, but there ain't no Oracle ACEs round there, so they'd have to get busy with a thread unpicker.
Third, have you seen how small that ACE symbol is? How on earth are snipers or stone-throwers supposed to aim at that?
I suppose I've only got myself to blame after taking the mickey out of last year's fleece, but I'm starting to miss it now. I'm not sure the rest of Edinburgh will, though.
Still, this version is much more sober than the version that the true technorati, the ACE Directors, get. If you check out Mogens' in this blog entry, you'll see they have a dinky little crown on their ACE Symbol. *That's* more like it! Much more embarassing!
As usual, I'm only kidding. Justin, Vikki, Emily and all those at OTN know what I'm like and I do appreciate all the organisation they put into everything. The OTN lounge and ACE dinner are two of the better features of OOW (although I hope the latter might be a bit more stand-up-and-mingle in future years).
In your dreams, man!
P.S. My other half *hates* me making that gesture when I'm having my photo taken (that's what it's for - to discourage photograhpers) but she wasn't there, so it was the ideal opportunity. For more of the same, including some pictures of me being a little drunk at times and Alex G dancing with abandon, see here)
(Jacket by OTN, T-Shirt Model's Own, Photography Alex Gorbachev, Camera Frits Hoogland)
It's not right.
First of all, it's sophisticated black. What was wrong with emergency flare red?
Second, it's not even a fleece but a Stormtech waterproof! All of the chaps at work will have to revise their fleece jokes and they just won't sound right any more. In fact, one or two of the cyclists were worryingly interested in it, but there ain't no Oracle ACEs round there, so they'd have to get busy with a thread unpicker.
Third, have you seen how small that ACE symbol is? How on earth are snipers or stone-throwers supposed to aim at that?
I suppose I've only got myself to blame after taking the mickey out of last year's fleece, but I'm starting to miss it now. I'm not sure the rest of Edinburgh will, though.
Still, this version is much more sober than the version that the true technorati, the ACE Directors, get. If you check out Mogens' in this blog entry, you'll see they have a dinky little crown on their ACE Symbol. *That's* more like it! Much more embarassing!
As usual, I'm only kidding. Justin, Vikki, Emily and all those at OTN know what I'm like and I do appreciate all the organisation they put into everything. The OTN lounge and ACE dinner are two of the better features of OOW (although I hope the latter might be a bit more stand-up-and-mingle in future years).
Oh, and finally, the DUDE was showing disdain for the ACE program to Marco and I prior to the conference because of my red fleece. He's a black-only guy. We tried to explain to him how cool the fleece that you are sent is so, just for the DUDE ...
In your dreams, man!
P.S. My other half *hates* me making that gesture when I'm having my photo taken (that's what it's for - to discourage photograhpers) but she wasn't there, so it was the ideal opportunity. For more of the same, including some pictures of me being a little drunk at times and Alex G dancing with abandon, see here)
Hotsos Symposium Call for Papers
I was talking to Cary Millsap last week about the beneficial effect the Symposium has had on the wider community over the past several years.
I had a chance to take a look at a paper recently that someone had almost completed for presentation at last year's Symposium and it reminded me how inspirational it had been for me to have a conference dedicated to performance. I think the Symposium has prompted quite a few people to experiment with some aspect of Oracle performance for the education of themselves and others. It gives people something interesting to aim for.
I remember the closing speech from Cary at the last Symposium I attended, during which he emphasised the importance of seeing new people present new ideas from new perspectives rather than just the same old faces. I agree. Even though there are a small number of slots and so it's tough to get in, you should consider it if you're into Oracle performance.
Cary blogged about the Call for Papers here. The two years presenting there were some of my better presenting experiences, so I recommend you give it a try if you have a good idea floating around in your head.
I had a chance to take a look at a paper recently that someone had almost completed for presentation at last year's Symposium and it reminded me how inspirational it had been for me to have a conference dedicated to performance. I think the Symposium has prompted quite a few people to experiment with some aspect of Oracle performance for the education of themselves and others. It gives people something interesting to aim for.
I remember the closing speech from Cary at the last Symposium I attended, during which he emphasised the importance of seeing new people present new ideas from new perspectives rather than just the same old faces. I agree. Even though there are a small number of slots and so it's tough to get in, you should consider it if you're into Oracle performance.
Cary blogged about the Call for Papers here. The two years presenting there were some of my better presenting experiences, so I recommend you give it a try if you have a good idea floating around in your head.
OOW Days 4 and 5 - Cheery Old Man
So what else did I get up to on Wednesday and Thursday?
Well, before the keynote I was in the lounge for the 'Oracle ACE Office Hours' slot. I think it's fair to say that this particular innovation was unsuccessful. My personal feeling is that it wasn't promoted properly. I'd like to say it's because people aren't caught up in that 'rock star' thing but I suspect they are really. No, to me the problem was that although information about who would be there at specific slots was available on a wiki, most casual attendees wouldn't have seen that wiki. It would have been better to have an obvious display of who would be there and when and I think people who happened to be floating around the OTN lounge during the week might have noticed it. For example, the Meet the Experts slot last year was much better because people knew who they were going to see. Oh, and why do I know it isn't just that nobody could give a monkey's about meeting me in particular? Because I was there at the same time as Cary Millsap, Anjo Kolk and others that I'm sure lots of people would love to meet to discuss Oracle, but hardly anyone did. I'm pretty sure no-one thought it was a success, apart from the big plus that various ACEs could meet each other! As usual, the OTN lounge was definitely the place to hang out for relaxation and good conversation (after The Cave, of course) but I hesitate to say that because it might be packed out in future
Good work from the OTN team, as usual.
Alex and I went over to the keynote, which I've already covered, but I would add that it was a long time since I'd attended a main keynote and, as Jason and I were agreeing later, being there can excite even the most cynical heart. It's certainly an impressive show. Having said that, I would agree with someone who said to me later that Larry himself wasn't really on form. Not one of his better presentations, but the announcement itself did the job for me
We had time for a few quick beers in the 4th Street Bar and Deli afterwards, which I was pleased about because it's quite hard to spend time with everyone I want to. I particularly wanted to catch up with Jason Arneil because we seem to share so many tastes and he was going through his first time experience which I remember so well. Even for a cynical techie, it can be pretty exciting as well as frustrating and disappointing at times, depending on the individual. Unfortunately, he hadn't been to materials pick-up, so didn't have a wrist-band for the Appreciation Event and we managed to lose him as we left the pub anyway.
So, on to the Appreciation Event.
After last year's fiasco, when I wondered around by myself for two hours, I was extremely driven to go with a group of friends and stick together. So driven that I might have been annoyingly matronly. I was like an organisational nazi or something! But, as a result, I got to do it with people who made it much more fun. Mark Williams wasn't keen on crowds so, once we had some food and after some initial dazed wandering, we found our way to a bar without queues at the end of one of the piers. As well as the bands this year, there were extensive fairground attractions. I'd expected a couple of stalls here and there, but it really was like going to an old-fashioned fairground with the constant smell of popcorn. Of course, every fairground is stuffed full of cuddly toys! As prizes!
I'll forgive them for hanging them because they'd soon be in good homes. As we walked around and saw more and more people with cuddly toys under their arms, I realised how ideal this appreciation event was for me and became more and more determined that I would not leave without a cuddly toy.
Fortunately, I have some good friends who rallied to the pumps, or the Whack-a-Mole, to be more precise. I wish I had some pictures, but I was a raving cuddly-toy-seeking lunatic by then. There was a moment when there were 6 or 7 of us in different lines. We weren't very good, though. Which was ok, because we just kept joining the end of the line again. Top effort from everyone involved and I won't forget it, but the biggest thanks go to Mark Williams, who eventually won this guy just before Elvis Costello was due on stage.
I had already explained to Mark that you tend to know their names and a rough idea of their personalities in a few minutes and that it's traditional for any donaters to be allowed to name them. Mark pondered this for a little while and so Rodney he is. This is despite the fact that a certain mildly drunk Russian kept mumbling in my ear ... 'I think he is Ivan'.
After that, we made our way to the outside stage to see Elvis Costello but lost Alex a couple of times on the way! After a lot of me and him shouting down the phone at each other (these events can be quite chaotic and disorientating and we were a little drunk) he managed to find us. It turned out that he'd been off playing more fairground games, trying to win another cuddly toy. An Ivan for me, perhaps, in which case it was very sweet of him. Elvis was cool but maybe some of the song choices were a touch obscure for a big party crowd although Alex did his best to rally the crowd by dancing with abandon. Then it was time for people to disappear off in dribs and drabs to get the buses home. A good time, so thanks to all for the company.
Next morning it was up early to attend the Exadata presentation that I mentioned in my last blog and then I just had time to say goodbye to people before Andrew Holdsworth's "Real-World Database Performance Techniques and Methods". Unfortunately it meant I had to skip Frits Hoogland's ASM session which I heard very good reports of, reiterated by Jason here. I spent quite a bit of time with Frits, Jacco, Alex and Marco this year and I've realised that's the key to Openworld for me - hanging around with a few like-minded individuals rather than trying to meet hundreds of people. It's like friendship as opposed to networking. So I was very pleased that it went well for Frits because I knew he'd be nervous.
I didn't enjoy the Real World presentation as much as I expected and I suspect Andrew wasn't as good as I remember last year - a bit of an off-day. Maybe it was my hangover or something However, I did think his slides were good so I think they'll be worth taking a proper look at later and it was an opportunity to say a last quick goodbye to some of the Oracle folk. As usual, Jason captured some of the content in the same blog posting as the Frits presentation.
Actually, I did have one time for one more drink in the Cave and to say goodbye to a few more people before a positively blissful and uneventful trip home. I am *so* pleased I bought that business class ticket - it makes all the difference. Then again, I was in a dazed semi-awake state most of this evening and I'm now wide awake at 5:30 am
Well, before the keynote I was in the lounge for the 'Oracle ACE Office Hours' slot. I think it's fair to say that this particular innovation was unsuccessful. My personal feeling is that it wasn't promoted properly. I'd like to say it's because people aren't caught up in that 'rock star' thing but I suspect they are really. No, to me the problem was that although information about who would be there at specific slots was available on a wiki, most casual attendees wouldn't have seen that wiki. It would have been better to have an obvious display of who would be there and when and I think people who happened to be floating around the OTN lounge during the week might have noticed it. For example, the Meet the Experts slot last year was much better because people knew who they were going to see. Oh, and why do I know it isn't just that nobody could give a monkey's about meeting me in particular? Because I was there at the same time as Cary Millsap, Anjo Kolk and others that I'm sure lots of people would love to meet to discuss Oracle, but hardly anyone did. I'm pretty sure no-one thought it was a success, apart from the big plus that various ACEs could meet each other! As usual, the OTN lounge was definitely the place to hang out for relaxation and good conversation (after The Cave, of course) but I hesitate to say that because it might be packed out in future
Good work from the OTN team, as usual.Alex and I went over to the keynote, which I've already covered, but I would add that it was a long time since I'd attended a main keynote and, as Jason and I were agreeing later, being there can excite even the most cynical heart. It's certainly an impressive show. Having said that, I would agree with someone who said to me later that Larry himself wasn't really on form. Not one of his better presentations, but the announcement itself did the job for me
We had time for a few quick beers in the 4th Street Bar and Deli afterwards, which I was pleased about because it's quite hard to spend time with everyone I want to. I particularly wanted to catch up with Jason Arneil because we seem to share so many tastes and he was going through his first time experience which I remember so well. Even for a cynical techie, it can be pretty exciting as well as frustrating and disappointing at times, depending on the individual. Unfortunately, he hadn't been to materials pick-up, so didn't have a wrist-band for the Appreciation Event and we managed to lose him as we left the pub anyway.
So, on to the Appreciation Event.
After last year's fiasco, when I wondered around by myself for two hours, I was extremely driven to go with a group of friends and stick together. So driven that I might have been annoyingly matronly. I was like an organisational nazi or something! But, as a result, I got to do it with people who made it much more fun. Mark Williams wasn't keen on crowds so, once we had some food and after some initial dazed wandering, we found our way to a bar without queues at the end of one of the piers. As well as the bands this year, there were extensive fairground attractions. I'd expected a couple of stalls here and there, but it really was like going to an old-fashioned fairground with the constant smell of popcorn. Of course, every fairground is stuffed full of cuddly toys! As prizes!
I'll forgive them for hanging them because they'd soon be in good homes. As we walked around and saw more and more people with cuddly toys under their arms, I realised how ideal this appreciation event was for me and became more and more determined that I would not leave without a cuddly toy.
Fortunately, I have some good friends who rallied to the pumps, or the Whack-a-Mole, to be more precise. I wish I had some pictures, but I was a raving cuddly-toy-seeking lunatic by then. There was a moment when there were 6 or 7 of us in different lines. We weren't very good, though. Which was ok, because we just kept joining the end of the line again. Top effort from everyone involved and I won't forget it, but the biggest thanks go to Mark Williams, who eventually won this guy just before Elvis Costello was due on stage.
I had already explained to Mark that you tend to know their names and a rough idea of their personalities in a few minutes and that it's traditional for any donaters to be allowed to name them. Mark pondered this for a little while and so Rodney he is. This is despite the fact that a certain mildly drunk Russian kept mumbling in my ear ... 'I think he is Ivan'.
After that, we made our way to the outside stage to see Elvis Costello but lost Alex a couple of times on the way! After a lot of me and him shouting down the phone at each other (these events can be quite chaotic and disorientating and we were a little drunk) he managed to find us. It turned out that he'd been off playing more fairground games, trying to win another cuddly toy. An Ivan for me, perhaps, in which case it was very sweet of him. Elvis was cool but maybe some of the song choices were a touch obscure for a big party crowd although Alex did his best to rally the crowd by dancing with abandon. Then it was time for people to disappear off in dribs and drabs to get the buses home. A good time, so thanks to all for the company.
Next morning it was up early to attend the Exadata presentation that I mentioned in my last blog and then I just had time to say goodbye to people before Andrew Holdsworth's "Real-World Database Performance Techniques and Methods". Unfortunately it meant I had to skip Frits Hoogland's ASM session which I heard very good reports of, reiterated by Jason here. I spent quite a bit of time with Frits, Jacco, Alex and Marco this year and I've realised that's the key to Openworld for me - hanging around with a few like-minded individuals rather than trying to meet hundreds of people. It's like friendship as opposed to networking. So I was very pleased that it went well for Frits because I knew he'd be nervous.
I didn't enjoy the Real World presentation as much as I expected and I suspect Andrew wasn't as good as I remember last year - a bit of an off-day. Maybe it was my hangover or something
However, I did think his slides were good so I think they'll be worth taking a proper look at later and it was an opportunity to say a last quick goodbye to some of the Oracle folk. As usual, Jason captured some of the content in the same blog posting as the Frits presentation.Actually, I did have one time for one more drink in the Cave and to say goodbye to a few more people before a positively blissful and uneventful trip home. I am *so* pleased I bought that business class ticket - it makes all the difference. Then again, I was in a dazed semi-awake state most of this evening and I'm now wide awake at 5:30 am
Day 4 - Grumpy Old Man
Well, I was starting to worry that I was completely out of step with the blogosphere, because finally a keynote presentation worth writing about and no-one seems keen, but I've only just noticed this quote in Pete Scott's blog posting.
"For strange people like me, people that see the world as moving large amounts of data around, it was exciting news. For me, data retrieval and storage are bulk processes and need to be achieved in way that does not swamp the capacity of that weak link, IO bandwidth."
Exactly!
I was personally pretty excited about yesterday's keynote and announcements and then, when I got back to the OTN lounge everyone was shrugging their shoulders in disappointment and bewilderment. What was so exciting about that? Eh?!??! What would have been more exciting - 11gR2? Fusion? Beehive???
Stuff like the HP Oracle Exadata storage appliance are exactly why I'm in this business. I love systems and new architectures and high performance. Call me crazy, but who *cares* how many customers will benefit from it. I'm not a stockbroker, or a (cough) industry analyst, I'm a techie. As a techie, I think the new hardware/software combination is awesome, frankly and there's lots to discuss about it. So, if I was bit terse with some people yesterday, just put it down to my natural disappointment that the majority of people weren't as excited as I was. Maybe it was because everyone guessed so wrong, that they were covering their embarassment (and, really, as I posted on Christo's theory blog, a very close version of this already existed here, in Luke Lonergan's comment.)
I suppose you could make the argument that few of us are going to get to work with this, but few of us can afford a Ferrari, that doesn't make a lot of us lust after them any less, does it and, as with all IT innovations, it's going to filter down the chain. There are lots of people who want big Data Warehouses these days. It's about time someone implemented a balanced system that does the job, rather than hanging big storage arrays off a couple of bits of string!
Anyway, here are a couple of posts from Kevin Closson who knows more about it than most (with links to White Papers)
http://kevinclosson.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/oracle-exadata-storage-server-software-part-i/http://kevinclosson.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/oracle-exadata-storage-server-part-ii/
To maintain my excitement, I went to Juan Loaiza's session this morning which went into more technical detail. It's really not just about hardware, but I'm not going to get into technical details here - the white papers and Kevin's blog will cover that. Then I went over to the Moscone North demo-grounds where Kevin and others are showing the thing in action. (Terrible picture warning!)
I watched a great short presentation from Greg Rahn which included one demo scanning 2 billion rows with no tricks or compression or special features in 21 seconds.
Nice. Do you think they'll let me borrow one for my house if I promise to blog about it?!
Really, if you want to see something X-tremely cool and maybe review your original thoughts on the announcement, why not pop into Moscone North, take a look and ask some tough questions?
(Please note - this is the Grumpy Old Man version of yesterday and I'm only grumpy through over-excitement. The cheerful version will be along some time soon.)
"For strange people like me, people that see the world as moving large amounts of data around, it was exciting news. For me, data retrieval and storage are bulk processes and need to be achieved in way that does not swamp the capacity of that weak link, IO bandwidth."
Exactly!
I was personally pretty excited about yesterday's keynote and announcements and then, when I got back to the OTN lounge everyone was shrugging their shoulders in disappointment and bewilderment. What was so exciting about that? Eh?!??! What would have been more exciting - 11gR2? Fusion? Beehive???
Stuff like the HP Oracle Exadata storage appliance are exactly why I'm in this business. I love systems and new architectures and high performance. Call me crazy, but who *cares* how many customers will benefit from it. I'm not a stockbroker, or a (cough) industry analyst, I'm a techie. As a techie, I think the new hardware/software combination is awesome, frankly and there's lots to discuss about it. So, if I was bit terse with some people yesterday, just put it down to my natural disappointment that the majority of people weren't as excited as I was. Maybe it was because everyone guessed so wrong, that they were covering their embarassment
(and, really, as I posted on Christo's theory blog, a very close version of this already existed here, in Luke Lonergan's comment.)I suppose you could make the argument that few of us are going to get to work with this, but few of us can afford a Ferrari, that doesn't make a lot of us lust after them any less, does it and, as with all IT innovations, it's going to filter down the chain. There are lots of people who want big Data Warehouses these days. It's about time someone implemented a balanced system that does the job, rather than hanging big storage arrays off a couple of bits of string!
Anyway, here are a couple of posts from Kevin Closson who knows more about it than most (with links to White Papers)
http://kevinclosson.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/oracle-exadata-storage-server-software-part-i/http://kevinclosson.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/oracle-exadata-storage-server-part-ii/
To maintain my excitement, I went to Juan Loaiza's session this morning which went into more technical detail. It's really not just about hardware, but I'm not going to get into technical details here - the white papers and Kevin's blog will cover that. Then I went over to the Moscone North demo-grounds where Kevin and others are showing the thing in action. (Terrible picture warning!)
I watched a great short presentation from Greg Rahn which included one demo scanning 2 billion rows with no tricks or compression or special features in 21 seconds.
Nice. Do you think they'll let me borrow one for my house if I promise to blog about it?!
Really, if you want to see something X-tremely cool and maybe review your original thoughts on the announcement, why not pop into Moscone North, take a look and ask some tough questions?
(Please note - this is the Grumpy Old Man version of yesterday and I'm only grumpy through over-excitement. The cheerful version will be along some time soon.)
A Miracle Masterclass ...
.... in promotion.
Not for Miracle the bland pen, or notebook or bouncy ball. Oh, no, tattoos are the future! (Thanks to Tim Hall for modelling it)
Not for Miracle the bland pen, or notebook or bouncy ball. Oh, no, tattoos are the future! (Thanks to Tim Hall for modelling it)
Hold on a Minute!
If Mogens, Anjo and Cary are in the OTN lounge, meeting their (cough) fans, who the hell is looking after The Cave?!
OOW Day 3
Well, 2.5 too, I suppose. I spent most of Monday afternoon 'networking'. i.e. Sitting around the OTN lounge chatting away to several people I know, most of them the strange old gents who like to complain about things a lot
I did, however, attend Andy Mendelsohn's General Session, or keynote really. It was the first time I'd sat in the dedicated Bloggers area of the big hall, but it all seemed a bit pointless as attendance was very sparse anyway. Bizarre, because I would have thought people would be more interested in the agenda at a technical conference than some of the other main hall presentations, but maybe it's just the crowd being attracted by the word 'Keynote'.
After that, it was an Oak Table dinner in the Grand Cafe, where I was actually able to find something to eat for a change amongst good company. But there was some confusion over the cheese menu - Soft Sheep's versus Sheep's. What exactly is a soft sheep and why did everyone think a Scot was the most likely to know?
Afterwards, Alex and I tied to hit the OTN night, but it was drawing to a close and we only just managed to get a beer. No problem, Frits and Jacco were up for some intense chat and some more drinking. Unfortunately, we spent so much time looking for an appropriate bar and walking around that we might as well have sobered up! Still, I didn't get back to my room to 2am so it seems to be getting later and later!
I saw a few good presentations on Wednesday.
First was the Optimiser Development Group's "Inside Oracle Database 11g Optimizer: Removing the Mystery". They talked about the problems that we've all seen that 11g improvements are trying to solve.
Unexpected plan changes
Wrong Cardinality estimates
Gathering Optimiser Statistics takes too long
Bind peeking doesn't work when there's data skew
and the proposed solutions. The slides will be available on line so I'd recommend you take a look and they highlighted that if you type 'Oracle optimizer' into search.oracle.com, you'll find a few White Papers including one on SQL Plan Management. Here are a few quick thoughts I noted down, though ...
I enjoyed the section on SQL Plan Management, which they described as controlled plan evolution. I liked the term and it made me think back to all the problems I've faced over the years with *un-controlled* plan evolution! LOL. SPM does look pretty good and solves long-standing problems, but it occurs to me that as skills plummet in the industry, people aren't going to really do this stuff unless they're very smart or they use the OEM interface so, without wanting to be too grouchy, it's more fuel to the OEM fireplace.
Oh, and there was a very strong recommendation to use AUTO sample size in 11g to the extent of a challenge to prove it doesn't work well! I can almost hear Jonathan Lewis digging around across the ocean
A few of this year's presentation have had a 'I've heard this before' feel to them but, in fairness, there's a sense that people need to play cards extremely close to their chest these days in case they screw up keynote presentation announcements and tight rules on revealing any share price-sensitive information.
The next one was "Advanced Performance Diagnostics: What the GUI Doesn't Tell You" with Kurt Engeleiter and Jon Waldron. Kurt works for Oracle and used to be on Andrew Holdsworth's Real World Performance group but now works in the Manageability area, which Jon is an architect at the Commonwealth Bank in Australia. During the first half, Kurt described how ASH and AWR work together and talked about the supplied scripts. I suppose I shouldn't have expected to learn much here because I cover the subject in more depth in the course and I didn't, but I did note that he talked about moving AWR data between instances. He didn't mention that this isn't intended for customer use until 11g so I don't know whether that was an oversight or an indication that it's something people should use. What bothered me a bit more was that when he showed examples comparing before and after performance improvements, he always focussed on number of logical reads or various percentages, rather than DB Time. Maybe I'm becoming obsessed, but it diluted the message a bit that he didn't focus on time. It was still a nice overview, though, given that he had less than 30 minutes. Jon's stuff was pretty interesting, too, and he showed how the bank had identified strange performance problems over time by generating graphs against long-term AWR history using SQL Developers graphs. So, I'm not sure the presentation was really that advanced, but they did illustrate the fact that AWR is just a big bunch of data which means you can report on it in many interesting and useful ways, without just sticking to awrrpt.sql
Andrew Holdsworth's annual "Current Trends in Real-World Database Performance" was only 10 months after the last one and it's not completely surprising when an annual review keeps highlighting the same old problems. I can imagine myself saying the same things in 10 years, sometimes! However, as I was discussing with Tim Hall afterwards when we bumped into each other, I like this presentation because it's based on what they've seen at real customers with very large systems and I don't necessarily get to work with them all the time and because I like the heavy dose of opinion in the presentation, too. Andrew feels like a fellow cynical old man, in other words
As for the content, well Jason Arneil is going to help me out with that one! LOL. But I noticed he mentioned a paradigm shift in the Storage area and pointed us towards Larry Ellison's upcoming keynote without saying more. Oh, and for any friends who might have attended when I ranted on about the Real World Performance group presentations in the past, don't be worried if it didn't seem very technical, as Andrew pointed out, the real meat will be in tomorrow lunch-time's presentation at 12:00. It was terrific last year.Next up was a visit to 'The Cave', which is the location of Moans Longball Nogood's annual mobile Miracle office at Openworld. It's nice to pop in there for a few beers and maybe something to eat and I never know who I'll meet as people nip in and out all day. It's probably one of the best innovations of this conference, so cheers to Moans for that. Of course, a few beers later, I realised I should really have a nap or a shower so decided to skip the ASM presentation I wanted to see, just to meet the authors of the book I liked. Back at the hotel, I set my alarm for 30 minutes later. Then slept. Then hit snooze. Then (I don't remember this bit, though) switched the annoying alarm thing off. Marco eventually phoned me from the ACE dinner but, as my phone was still on silent, I didn't know. Until I woke up 10 minutes later, 40 minutes after the party had started
Oh, well, a quick dash and I just about made it in time for the starters. It was a nice night, good food and plentiful drink and an annual gift (more on that later). The only problem was that because I'd turned up so late, everyone was seated and there was no chance to mingle. Of course, who was the only empty seat next to? Alex-bloody-Gorbachev! I really have to meet some new people who understand the meaning of the phrase 'can't handle it' properly. (Sorry a private joke moment there.) For example, I just noticed an old friend, Carl Dudley, in Eddie Awad's pictures and I hadn't even been aware he was at the dinner After dinner a few of us piled into a taxi and headed down to Yet Another Miracle Event, just in time for last orders. I seem to be late for everything this week
Eventually I think Jacco, Frits, Marco and I called it a day at about 1 or 2 and I'm starting to wonder whether Jet Lag or Hangovers are worse! A quiet day for me today. There's a Meet the ACEs thing between 12:00 and 1:30 which might be fun with Mogens, Anjo Kolk and Cary Millsap there (I'm the hungover Scotsman with the OTN T-shirt on if anyone actually does want to say hello) and then there's the big keynote. Oracle have certainly done a great job of building up excitement this year, and for the Database people for a change! So, yes, this time I'll be watching and listening.
As you may have noticed, I've been slacking on the blog postings, so heaven knows when the next one will appear ...
OOW Day 2
Wow, it's hot and sunny here! I keep forgetting, so I'm still wondering around with a jacket in tow. That'll be getting dumped at the hotel later.
Today's been a quieter day so far, but no less enjoyable for that. After making a lazy start, I thought I'd check out the initial keynote but was late, so didn't get to see Michael Phelps and left after 40 minutes or so. Beehive, blah, blah, blah ... I sympathise with Oracle and understand what a big marketing deal that Openworld is, but I suppose keynotes just aren't my cup of tea. Then again, I'm pretty certain I'll be watching Larry's keynote this year. Might even use my Blogger credentials for that one.
I popped into the OTN lounge briefly to pick up my T-shirt and had a quick chat with Mark Williams (one of my favourite people in the community) and chuckled to myself as I watched Tom Kyte perched on a chair in silence, waiting to be summoned for his live podcast
Then I had a selection dilemma. I'd planned on attending an Oracle utilities presentation, then bumped into Jared Still who was attending the ACE presentation, so that put that idea in my head, then I thought I might go and see Andy Bulloch present on Grid Control usage at Rabobank. Andy's been a big help to my current site in helping implement Grid Control there. Then, as I was passing one of the halls, I noticed that Juan Loaiza was presenting on 'Oracle Database 11g: Next Generation Performance and Scalability'. As I mentioned to someone in an email the other week, when I see Juan's name connected with something, that's an encouraging sign for me.
After I sat down, Tuomas Pystynen sat next to me and, because Juan knew him, he came over for a chat. Then someone else came over. I didn't catch his name but then he started talking about the ASM book and I realised it was Bill Bridge, the original architect of ASM. The next thing I know, Ken Jacobs strolled up and said hello to everyone. I know I shouldn't care about these things, really, but I just love software so when I meet someone who's been involved in decent software development, that probably means more to me than most things that happen at a conference. It's also quite a recommendation for Juan, when you think about it!
Anyway, Juan's presentation covered some familiar new features of 11g very well but the section I probably most enjoyed was when he was discussing the type of customer systems Oracle are seeing now, e.g.
and what he expects to see by 2010
He did point out that some of the latter already exist, but only really in benchmark systems.
As he said, it's easy to think that the RDBMS is a done deal these days and doesn't need much improving, but it does, just to keep up with the explosion in system size and hardware availability.
He ran through a bunch of different features for 45 minutes, followed by a quick Q & A session. There were quite a few chuckles when someone tried to ask when 11gR2 will be out, even just an estimate. I sense that there is *no* chance anyone will be talking about that!
By now I needed to grab some lunch and so I missed Eddie Awad's presentation that I planned to see. I have a feeling there are going to be a few missed ones this year, with all the social activity, phone calls home and the rest. One thing's for sure - my pre-conference agenda planning is completely rubbish. Too many sessions to choose from, so it's too easy to make the wrong choice.
I'm also finding an increading number of clashes on my social diary which I fel really bad about because I do like meeting up with people I don't see often. Maybe I'll start running between two different events each evening
Today's been a quieter day so far, but no less enjoyable for that. After making a lazy start, I thought I'd check out the initial keynote but was late, so didn't get to see Michael Phelps and left after 40 minutes or so. Beehive, blah, blah, blah ... I sympathise with Oracle and understand what a big marketing deal that Openworld is, but I suppose keynotes just aren't my cup of tea. Then again, I'm pretty certain I'll be watching Larry's keynote this year. Might even use my Blogger credentials for that one.
I popped into the OTN lounge briefly to pick up my T-shirt and had a quick chat with Mark Williams (one of my favourite people in the community) and chuckled to myself as I watched Tom Kyte perched on a chair in silence, waiting to be summoned for his live podcast
Then I had a selection dilemma. I'd planned on attending an Oracle utilities presentation, then bumped into Jared Still who was attending the ACE presentation, so that put that idea in my head, then I thought I might go and see Andy Bulloch present on Grid Control usage at Rabobank. Andy's been a big help to my current site in helping implement Grid Control there. Then, as I was passing one of the halls, I noticed that Juan Loaiza was presenting on 'Oracle Database 11g: Next Generation Performance and Scalability'. As I mentioned to someone in an email the other week, when I see Juan's name connected with something, that's an encouraging sign for me.
After I sat down, Tuomas Pystynen sat next to me and, because Juan knew him, he came over for a chat. Then someone else came over. I didn't catch his name but then he started talking about the ASM book and I realised it was Bill Bridge, the original architect of ASM. The next thing I know, Ken Jacobs strolled up and said hello to everyone. I know I shouldn't care about these things, really, but I just love software so when I meet someone who's been involved in decent software development, that probably means more to me than most things that happen at a conference. It's also quite a recommendation for Juan, when you think about it!
Anyway, Juan's presentation covered some familiar new features of 11g very well but the section I probably most enjoyed was when he was discussing the type of customer systems Oracle are seeing now, e.g.
- 200 Terabyte warehouses
- 300 Processor cores in the highest end SMP systems
- Several Hundred GB SGA
and what he expects to see by 2010
- The first proper Petabyte production Oracle database
- 1000 Processor core SMPs
- The first Terabyte SGA
He did point out that some of the latter already exist, but only really in benchmark systems.
As he said, it's easy to think that the RDBMS is a done deal these days and doesn't need much improving, but it does, just to keep up with the explosion in system size and hardware availability.
He ran through a bunch of different features for 45 minutes, followed by a quick Q & A session. There were quite a few chuckles when someone tried to ask when 11gR2 will be out, even just an estimate. I sense that there is *no* chance anyone will be talking about that!
By now I needed to grab some lunch and so I missed Eddie Awad's presentation that I planned to see. I have a feeling there are going to be a few missed ones this year, with all the social activity, phone calls home and the rest. One thing's for sure - my pre-conference agenda planning is completely rubbish. Too many sessions to choose from, so it's too easy to make the wrong choice.
I'm also finding an increading number of clashes on my social diary which I fel really bad about because I do like meeting up with people I don't see often. Maybe I'll start running between two different events each evening
OOW Day 2
Wow, it's hot and sunny here! I keep forgetting, so I'm still wondering around with a jacket in tow. That'll be getting dumped at the hotel later.
Today's been a quieter day so far, but no less enjoyable for that. After making a lazy start, I thought I'd check out the initial keynote but was late, so didn't get to see Michael Phelps and left after 40 minutes or so. Beehive, blah, blah, blah ... I sympathise with Oracle and understand what a big marketing deal that Openworld is, but I suppose keynotes just aren't my cup of tea. Then again, I'm pretty certain I'll be watching Larry's keynote this year. Might even use my Blogger credentials for that one.
I popped into the OTN lounge briefly to pick up my T-shirt and had a quick chat with Mark Williams (one of my favourite people in the community) and chuckled to myself as I watched Tom Kyte perched on a chair in silence, waiting to be summoned for his live podcast
Then I had a selection dilemma. I'd planned on attending an Oracle utilities presentation, then bumped into Jared Still who was attending the ACE presentation, so that put that idea in my head, then I thought I might go and see Andy Bulloch present on Grid Control usage at Rabobank. Andy's been a big help to my current site in helping implement Grid Control there. Then, as I was passing one of the halls, I noticed that Juan Loaiza was presenting on 'Oracle Database 11g: Next Generation Performance and Scalability'. As I mentioned to someone in an email the other week, when I see Juan's name connected with something, that's an encouraging sign for me.
After I sat down, Tuomas Pystynen sat next to me and, because Juan knew him, he came over for a chat. Then someone else came over. I didn't catch his name but then he started talking about the ASM book and I realised it was Bill Bridge, the original architect of ASM. The next thing I know, Ken Jacobs strolled up and said hello to everyone. I know I shouldn't care about these things, really, but I just love software so when I meet someone who's been involved in decent software development, that probably means more to me than most things that happen at a conference. It's also quite a recommendation for Juan, when you think about it!
Anyway, Juan's presentation covered some familiar new features of 11g very well but the section I probably most enjoyed was when he was discussing the type of customer systems Oracle are seeing now, e.g.
As he said, it's easy to think that the RDBMS is a done deal these days and doesn't need much improving, but it does, just to keep up with the explosion in system size and hardware availability.
He ran through a bunch of different features for 45 minutes, followed by a quick Q & A session. There were quite a few chuckles when someone tried to ask when 11gR2 will be out, even just an estimate. I sense that there is *no* chance anyone will be talking about that!
By now I needed to grab some lunch and so I missed Eddie Awad's presentation that I planned to see. I have a feeling there are going to be a few missed ones this year, with all the social activity, phone calls home and the rest. One thing's for sure - my pre-conference agenda planning is completely rubbish. Too many sessions to choose from, so it's too easy to make the wrong choice.
I'm also finding an increading number of clashes on my social diary which I fel really bad about because I do like meeting up with people I don't see often. Maybe I'll start running between two different events each evening
Today's been a quieter day so far, but no less enjoyable for that. After making a lazy start, I thought I'd check out the initial keynote but was late, so didn't get to see Michael Phelps and left after 40 minutes or so. Beehive, blah, blah, blah ... I sympathise with Oracle and understand what a big marketing deal that Openworld is, but I suppose keynotes just aren't my cup of tea. Then again, I'm pretty certain I'll be watching Larry's keynote this year. Might even use my Blogger credentials for that one.
I popped into the OTN lounge briefly to pick up my T-shirt and had a quick chat with Mark Williams (one of my favourite people in the community) and chuckled to myself as I watched Tom Kyte perched on a chair in silence, waiting to be summoned for his live podcast
Then I had a selection dilemma. I'd planned on attending an Oracle utilities presentation, then bumped into Jared Still who was attending the ACE presentation, so that put that idea in my head, then I thought I might go and see Andy Bulloch present on Grid Control usage at Rabobank. Andy's been a big help to my current site in helping implement Grid Control there. Then, as I was passing one of the halls, I noticed that Juan Loaiza was presenting on 'Oracle Database 11g: Next Generation Performance and Scalability'. As I mentioned to someone in an email the other week, when I see Juan's name connected with something, that's an encouraging sign for me.
After I sat down, Tuomas Pystynen sat next to me and, because Juan knew him, he came over for a chat. Then someone else came over. I didn't catch his name but then he started talking about the ASM book and I realised it was Bill Bridge, the original architect of ASM. The next thing I know, Ken Jacobs strolled up and said hello to everyone. I know I shouldn't care about these things, really, but I just love software so when I meet someone who's been involved in decent software development, that probably means more to me than most things that happen at a conference. It's also quite a recommendation for Juan, when you think about it!
Anyway, Juan's presentation covered some familiar new features of 11g very well but the section I probably most enjoyed was when he was discussing the type of customer systems Oracle are seeing now, e.g.
- 200 Terabyte warehouses
- 300 Processor cores in the highest end SMP systems
- Several Hundred GB SGA
- The first proper Petabyte production Oracle database
- 1000 Processor core SMPs
- The first Terabyte SGA
As he said, it's easy to think that the RDBMS is a done deal these days and doesn't need much improving, but it does, just to keep up with the explosion in system size and hardware availability.
He ran through a bunch of different features for 45 minutes, followed by a quick Q & A session. There were quite a few chuckles when someone tried to ask when 11gR2 will be out, even just an estimate. I sense that there is *no* chance anyone will be talking about that!
By now I needed to grab some lunch and so I missed Eddie Awad's presentation that I planned to see. I have a feeling there are going to be a few missed ones this year, with all the social activity, phone calls home and the rest. One thing's for sure - my pre-conference agenda planning is completely rubbish. Too many sessions to choose from, so it's too easy to make the wrong choice.
I'm also finding an increading number of clashes on my social diary which I fel really bad about because I do like meeting up with people I don't see often. Maybe I'll start running between two different events each evening
OOW Day 1.5
I'll start with a plea to the IOUG (not that they're likely to listen to anything I have to say).
No more 90 minute presentations!
Yes, I know that some subjects need longer than others. I know we're going to a conference to learn and have fun. I know that training courses go on for 5 days. But training is different and the interaction and workshops make them more bearable. 90 minutes listening to a lecture is too long. Everyone who has the slightest passing interest in the subject knows that people can't listen to one person talk for 90 minutes without a break. Don't you think Larry Ellison would talk for more than an hour if people would let him?!?!
Right, now that I've got that off my chest, let me congratulate Alex Gorbachev on what I thought was one of his best presentations (and I've seen a few now) - "Under the Hood of Oracle Clusterware". When I walked in the room about 2 minutes late, it was packed with both people and laughter. What a nice feeling to start with, particularly after lunch when you might be feeling sleepy! Looking around, it was clear that most people were scribbling notes furiously and I saw a few people trying to copy down all the diagrams. There was even an audible complaint from right behind me that he was going too fast with his slide changes. Erm, have these people *heard* of the internet and downloadable presentations? There were far too many audible comments from right behind me, frankly, and very annoying. If someone wants to tell people what they do in their workplace, why not get up on the stand and do it properly, rather than when I'm trying to listen to the person that is?
Regardless, close attention was being paid and I don't think it was just people trying to penetrate his accent Although I didn't learn *loads* myself (but, believe me, there were things in there for me too), I felt he explained a lot of essential clustering concepts as clearly as I've ever heard them expressed and we're talking fundamentals here, right back to my own early work with clustering in the mid-90s (I think it was HP Serviceguard the first time). His slides about what can go wrong with clusters were terrific and extremely funny into the bargain.
Speaking of the slides, I suppose I should mention how beautiful they were and those fancy slide transitions I recognised from Dan's presentation earlier in the day. I don't want to, though, because it means I'll be getting bl**dy Apple earache for the rest of the week!
At one point, one of his demos (which, again, were first class) didn't work and he handled it just right. A quick look at the symptoms followed by a quick decision that all was not well, unlikely to be fixed, so reboot things and get going again. It's a really hard balance to get right, believe me, and just an occupational hazard of having worthwhile demos in the first place.
But then it got to 45 minutes, 60 minutes and after about 65 minutes a very small but increasing number of people left the room. I really am talking about a handful here and there but it built up towards the end. But I don't think it was because they didn't like the presentation (I'll never know), it's just too long! I've attended about 4 of these 90 minute presentations in two Sunday's at Openworld and (if you hadn't noticed) they drive me nuts.
Regardless, it was a top class effort and, even if he is my friend, if you're interested in Oracle clustering, don't miss it if you get the opportunity to see it. The number of questioners we had to wait for him to meet told the story.
After that, Uri Shaft was on hand to drive several of us down to a BBQ at Graham Wood's house. As it was a house party, I don't think blogging about it's right somehow, but the food and drink and house were spiffing and the company was even better. I got to meet several people I've only ever spoken to electronically which is always fun and lots of old Oak Table friends too. What a fine way to wrap up the first day and I'm really glad we had the opportunity to get far out of town to a different kind of party altogether. Thanks to everyone who made that happen and managed to get me back to San Francisco too.
I got them to drop me a short walk from my hotel, despite the warnings about SF at night and as I was crossing the road - bang! - someone had thrown what must have been a small stone at my head. I turned round to look, think I guessed who it was but decided it was better to be sensible than brave, which will come as a shock to those that know me well! Could have been worse, like a bottle or something.
So, I have a tiny bump on my head, but good memories of yesterday. Time to get ready for today.
No more 90 minute presentations!
Yes, I know that some subjects need longer than others. I know we're going to a conference to learn and have fun. I know that training courses go on for 5 days. But training is different and the interaction and workshops make them more bearable. 90 minutes listening to a lecture is too long. Everyone who has the slightest passing interest in the subject knows that people can't listen to one person talk for 90 minutes without a break. Don't you think Larry Ellison would talk for more than an hour if people would let him?!?!
Right, now that I've got that off my chest, let me congratulate Alex Gorbachev on what I thought was one of his best presentations (and I've seen a few now) - "Under the Hood of Oracle Clusterware". When I walked in the room about 2 minutes late, it was packed with both people and laughter. What a nice feeling to start with, particularly after lunch when you might be feeling sleepy! Looking around, it was clear that most people were scribbling notes furiously and I saw a few people trying to copy down all the diagrams. There was even an audible complaint from right behind me that he was going too fast with his slide changes. Erm, have these people *heard* of the internet and downloadable presentations? There were far too many audible comments from right behind me, frankly, and very annoying. If someone wants to tell people what they do in their workplace, why not get up on the stand and do it properly, rather than when I'm trying to listen to the person that is?
Regardless, close attention was being paid and I don't think it was just people trying to penetrate his accent
Although I didn't learn *loads* myself (but, believe me, there were things in there for me too), I felt he explained a lot of essential clustering concepts as clearly as I've ever heard them expressed and we're talking fundamentals here, right back to my own early work with clustering in the mid-90s (I think it was HP Serviceguard the first time). His slides about what can go wrong with clusters were terrific and extremely funny into the bargain.Speaking of the slides, I suppose I should mention how beautiful they were and those fancy slide transitions I recognised from Dan's presentation earlier in the day. I don't want to, though, because it means I'll be getting bl**dy Apple earache for the rest of the week!
At one point, one of his demos (which, again, were first class) didn't work and he handled it just right. A quick look at the symptoms followed by a quick decision that all was not well, unlikely to be fixed, so reboot things and get going again. It's a really hard balance to get right, believe me, and just an occupational hazard of having worthwhile demos in the first place.
But then it got to 45 minutes, 60 minutes and after about 65 minutes a very small but increasing number of people left the room. I really am talking about a handful here and there but it built up towards the end. But I don't think it was because they didn't like the presentation (I'll never know), it's just too long! I've attended about 4 of these 90 minute presentations in two Sunday's at Openworld and (if you hadn't noticed) they drive me nuts.
Regardless, it was a top class effort and, even if he is my friend, if you're interested in Oracle clustering, don't miss it if you get the opportunity to see it. The number of questioners we had to wait for him to meet told the story.
After that, Uri Shaft was on hand to drive several of us down to a BBQ at Graham Wood's house. As it was a house party, I don't think blogging about it's right somehow, but the food and drink and house were spiffing and the company was even better. I got to meet several people I've only ever spoken to electronically which is always fun and lots of old Oak Table friends too. What a fine way to wrap up the first day and I'm really glad we had the opportunity to get far out of town to a different kind of party altogether. Thanks to everyone who made that happen and managed to get me back to San Francisco too.
I got them to drop me a short walk from my hotel, despite the warnings about SF at night and as I was crossing the road - bang! - someone had thrown what must have been a small stone at my head. I turned round to look, think I guessed who it was but decided it was better to be sensible than brave, which will come as a shock to those that know me well! Could have been worse, like a bottle or something.
So, I have a tiny bump on my head, but good memories of yesterday. Time to get ready for today.
Another 2008 Innovation ...
... and the first shockingly bad photo on the blog for this conference, too.
With some gentle encouragement from Mads, we decided to set up and try Skype video. As well as making it easier and cheaper for us to stay in touch, we're both finding it weird, fun and reassuring - a completely different experience than a phone call. Better still, the whole family can join in the call at the same time (which is normally quite difficult).
As you can see, it's certainly put a smile on Mads' face When the video connection first hooked up, there was just a cuddly toy at each end, with no human to be seen. Definitely a shared sense of humour! It's not obvious from the picture, but she has Gordon the Celtic bear in one hand and The Rabbit in the other.
Oh, and before Mr. Gorbachev interrupts, yes, he did try to tell me to use a webcam over a year ago when I was working from home so we could have meetings across the Atlantic but then he was my boss and have you *seen* him? Give me Mads, any day In other words, yes, I know, video conferencing is so old hat, but I'm always behind the curve and I needed a genuine incentive for it.
P.S. Personal/Oracle blog seperation is suspended for the next 5 days.
With some gentle encouragement from Mads, we decided to set up and try Skype video. As well as making it easier and cheaper for us to stay in touch, we're both finding it weird, fun and reassuring - a completely different experience than a phone call. Better still, the whole family can join in the call at the same time (which is normally quite difficult).
As you can see, it's certainly put a smile on Mads' face
When the video connection first hooked up, there was just a cuddly toy at each end, with no human to be seen. Definitely a shared sense of humour! It's not obvious from the picture, but she has Gordon the Celtic bear in one hand and The Rabbit in the other.Oh, and before Mr. Gorbachev interrupts, yes, he did try to tell me to use a webcam over a year ago when I was working from home so we could have meetings across the Atlantic but then he was my boss and have you *seen* him? Give me Mads, any day
In other words, yes, I know, video conferencing is so old hat, but I'm always behind the curve and I needed a genuine incentive for it. P.S. Personal/Oracle blog seperation is suspended for the next 5 days.
OOW Day 1
Well, I've attended my first couple of presentations - Dan Norris' "Building an Oracle Real Application Clusters Environment on VMWare for Free". I suppose this is one of those subjects I knew a little about, but I haven't played with VMWare really enough and I was quite keen to hear Dan speak again. He's a good presenter despite last year's presentation not really being right for me. Now I know why they have those 90 minute IOUG presentations though, even though they are far too long for me - to cope with the large number of questions from the audience, some of them only tangentially related to the subject. Dan coped really well with them, though. As Dan pointed out, the presentation slides will be posted in the near future, so you might want to take a look. Good stuff. I did plan on catching up with Dan but there was quite a huddle of questioners at the end - always a good sign.
Next was Tuomas Pystynen talking about the different experience of presenting at European User Group events. He talked about OUGF, Slovenian and UKOUG conferences. This presentation came under the User Group umbrella and (although it was very sparsely attended and two of the attendees were Ronan Miles (UKOUG Chairman) and me (both of whom know the subject quite well already), I thought it was fascinating to see the conferences compared and Tuomas is always a funny speaker. In fact, it was interesting to hear some of Ronan's informal thoughts on the future of the conference.
Now I'm going to take a short break, clean up and attend Alex G's "Under the Hood of Oracle Clusterware" presentation at 13:00. After that, Alex and I will be driven off at high speed to attend a barbecue at a friends house, which will make a nice change from the usual atmosphere at the conference. Unfortunately it means that as well as missing the opening keynote and welcome reception (not too worried there) I'm probably going to have to skip the Bloggers Meet-up too. Apologies to anyone I was planning to meet there, but there should be plenty of other opportunities this week. Then again, looking at the social schedule for the whole week, it's pretty packed!
Next was Tuomas Pystynen talking about the different experience of presenting at European User Group events. He talked about OUGF, Slovenian and UKOUG conferences. This presentation came under the User Group umbrella and (although it was very sparsely attended and two of the attendees were Ronan Miles (UKOUG Chairman) and me (both of whom know the subject quite well already), I thought it was fascinating to see the conferences compared and Tuomas is always a funny speaker. In fact, it was interesting to hear some of Ronan's informal thoughts on the future of the conference.
Now I'm going to take a short break, clean up and attend Alex G's "Under the Hood of Oracle Clusterware" presentation at 13:00. After that, Alex and I will be driven off at high speed to attend a barbecue at a friends house, which will make a nice change from the usual atmosphere at the conference. Unfortunately it means that as well as missing the opening keynote and welcome reception (not too worried there) I'm probably going to have to skip the Bloggers Meet-up too. Apologies to anyone I was planning to meet there, but there should be plenty of other opportunities this week. Then again, looking at the social schedule for the whole week, it's pretty packed!
The Great Jet Lag Experiment
OK, so it's not exactly the LHC, but I'm running my own experiment this year and the results are pretty impressive so far.
After last year's Oracle Openworld Jet-lag Fiasco, which involved me being tired, emotional and hopelessly drunk at 7pm every day, after a couple of pints, I decided I needed to approach this year's conference differently.
a) Take flights at more sensible times. In the end, I was awake at 4:30 yesterday morning, but I always wake up early when I'm flying. It was definitely better to get a lunch-time flight out of Edinburgh, though, and the Star Alliance changes are easier at Heathrow now that you stay in Terminal 1. It was certainly a lot more successful than Tim's trip!
b) Buy a discounted business class ticket. United's is definitely looking tired these days and I'm not surprised they're upgrading it, but the extra space and calm helped a lot and I managed to get something to eat for a change.
c) Stay out as late as possible when I get here. Tim Hall sent me a mail to say they were going to the pub and so I went straight there at 6:30pm and ended up getting home at 1am! Hooray! Finally, a really late night in SF (well, late for me). It meant I didn't wake up until 6am today and, despite the fact that I still know I've had a long trip, I'm feeling much better than last year, even with a hangover and a cold I've been carrying all week
d) This is the weird one. I decided that I was going to try to fool myself into San Francisco time as early as possible, so changed every time - laptop, phone etc - straight away and tried not to think about what time it is at home. Now I pride myself on not being stupid enough to think myself into a good state but, blow me down with a feather - it appears to be working. Mads has been told that she has to mess her hair up when we use Skype video so it looks like she's just woken up
It was touch and go whether I was going to make it here for all sorts of personal reasons and the decision was only finalised a few days ago, but there were several moments in the pub last night with Marcel, Chris, Tim and Alex, when I felt the cheeriest I've felt for weeks so I'm really glad I did make it and I owe them thanks for such a good time and a good laugh. That was all I needed really, the opportunity to rip the p*** out of Tim for a few hours. Cheers, lads
After last year's Oracle Openworld Jet-lag Fiasco, which involved me being tired, emotional and hopelessly drunk at 7pm every day, after a couple of pints, I decided I needed to approach this year's conference differently.
a) Take flights at more sensible times. In the end, I was awake at 4:30 yesterday morning, but I always wake up early when I'm flying. It was definitely better to get a lunch-time flight out of Edinburgh, though, and the Star Alliance changes are easier at Heathrow now that you stay in Terminal 1. It was certainly a lot more successful than Tim's trip!
b) Buy a discounted business class ticket. United's is definitely looking tired these days and I'm not surprised they're upgrading it, but the extra space and calm helped a lot and I managed to get something to eat for a change.
c) Stay out as late as possible when I get here. Tim Hall sent me a mail to say they were going to the pub and so I went straight there at 6:30pm and ended up getting home at 1am! Hooray! Finally, a really late night in SF (well, late for me). It meant I didn't wake up until 6am today and, despite the fact that I still know I've had a long trip, I'm feeling much better than last year, even with a hangover and a cold I've been carrying all week
d) This is the weird one. I decided that I was going to try to fool myself into San Francisco time as early as possible, so changed every time - laptop, phone etc - straight away and tried not to think about what time it is at home. Now I pride myself on not being stupid enough to think myself into a good state but, blow me down with a feather - it appears to be working. Mads has been told that she has to mess her hair up when we use Skype video so it looks like she's just woken up
It was touch and go whether I was going to make it here for all sorts of personal reasons and the decision was only finalised a few days ago, but there were several moments in the pub last night with Marcel, Chris, Tim and Alex, when I felt the cheeriest I've felt for weeks so I'm really glad I did make it and I owe them thanks for such a good time and a good laugh. That was all I needed really, the opportunity to rip the p*** out of Tim for a few hours. Cheers, lads
UKOUG Agenda Online
I noticed that the agenda for this year's conference is online.
I was very pleased to have two abstracts accepted but didn't mention it before now because there was a possibility that I might replace one of the presentations with an alternative. In the end, I'll be going with the two original abstracts I mentioned here.
As usual, I'm looking forward to hearing some good presentations and meeting up with old friends. Take a look and see what you think. Remember - if you or your organisation is a member of the UKOUG, conference admission is free.
I was very pleased to have two abstracts accepted but didn't mention it before now because there was a possibility that I might replace one of the presentations with an alternative. In the end, I'll be going with the two original abstracts I mentioned here.
As usual, I'm looking forward to hearing some good presentations and meeting up with old friends. Take a look and see what you think. Remember - if you or your organisation is a member of the UKOUG, conference admission is free.