DISQUS

@Gavin: That sounds like it might work--I haven't tried it though. Have you tried it and was it successful? Unfortunately, my ESX environment isn't available for testing any longer, so I can't test it out.

@Ryan Thanks for the extra tip!

The reason I developed this procedure was because I didn't have access to Virtual Centre. This is the "manual" way--if you have VC, you're right, it's a lot easier. However, last I checked, VC isn't free, so not everyone will have it configured.

Thanks for the info, Mark. Your comment got trapped by Akismet for a while--sorry for that. I've since progressed to Rescue certification and am working on completing the PADI Divemaster course now, slong with a few other specialty certifications along the way (wreck this weekend).

Could be. Does the same happen at www.matttopper.com? That must be why only about 5 people actually stop by here to read :).

@morz What problem? What is a "system unit"? You mean the server reboots?

I think you should write letters to each and every user and mail them via USPS. I mean, obviously USPS has got to be hurting for cash, so why not help the postal workers? :)

Seriously, I don't see why you couldn't offer some product categories. Maybe a session is allowed to be part of multiple categories (just like I have multiple products listed in my profile). You'd also need some new categories that aren't product-based, like Social Networking and other less-concrete ideas. I'd like to be able (right now) to filter by at least a product area (DB, Middleware, Apps, IdM) to be able to page through things that I find most interesting.

Oh, and stop paying people to vote for your session, it isn't fair. ;)

P.S. As soon as I get enough people to agree to vote for my idea(s), I'll get 'em in.

@Brian Is that a nice way of saying that you don't like it? :)

For practical, use-it-now information, I think Collaborate has the best fit. For a lot about new features, what's coming, and lots of fun (Collaborate is fun too), OpenWorld is a great place to get that sort of stuff. For performance-focused sessions, the Hotsos Symposium is the place to be. If you can manage to convince your management, the UKOUG conference is a well-rounded, deeply technical event focused on Oracle technology. Occasionally, flights from Chicago to London are about the same cost as Chicago to San Francisco. Unfortunately, with the USD not doing so well, it isn't the best time to visit the UK.

I don't have too many plugins and all but one of them worked without any modifications. Overall, the upgrade wasn't any different than any others for me. As you may have read, the admin interface has changed a lot, so you can expect a little learning curve there, but it isn't that hard either. I know you use a few more plugins than I do and your plugins do some more complex stuff, so you might have a few more things to test first.

I wasn't able to attend the Tuesday panel, but I heard it went very well (as usual). The Thursday panel went great. Alex posted on it at http://www.pythian.com/blogs/951/alex-gorbachev... too. I posted some comments about the panel and the other Collab 08 events at http://www.dannorris.com/2008/04/23/collaborate....

I saw Steven at Collaborate earlier this week and asked him about this. He mentioned that PIPELINED functions will almost always have a longer overall runtime as compared to non-PIPELINED table functions.

To @Michael OShea's question, yes, a table function is any function that returns a collection.

The benefits of a PIPELINED table function are that the client processing of rows from the function can be overlapped with the function's runtime, so the application can start doing something useful instead of waiting for the function to complete. I believe that the true "power" of PIPELINED functions are that they can be used in conjunction with parallelization which can be a real performance boost--however, I don't say that confidently as I haven't worked with them enough to know all those details. I requested that Steven follow up here when he has time, so hopefully we'll get some more expert input soon.

Hi Bradd,

I was a bit surprised by the numbers as well and that's why I decided to come out of blog-hiding and write it up. I suppose some of the "less interesting" results would have made good blog material too, but I don't seem to be able to form blogging habits very well. Anyway, thanks for your comments and I would love to hear how your testing goes--especially if the results are different than mine.

Hi Steven,

I didn't get in to the reasons why the customer had originally used PF, but for them, I don't think it was as much about the processing time (since the complete record set was only about 30-40 rows). In this case, they had several different queries that needed to run, but they wouldn't know which queries to run until runtime. So, it was relatively easy for them to just run a query and PIPE the rows out at runtime. For my test, I just added those rows to a collection and then returned the whole collection at the end.

Either way, I found this interesting and I'm grateful that you stopped by to comment!

@Dilshod Thanks for the tip! I'll have to let the admins that originally hit this issue know that there's a patch available now (though the workaround worked well for them).

@Carl Wait, are you saying that if the phone runs Windows that would not be locked in? Personally, I haven't ever owned a Mac (though I did have a kick-ass Apple IIgs with 1Mb RAM back in the day), but if I'm gonna be locked in, I'd rather lock in to Jobsworld than Gatesland. Having worked with Windows a lot, I sure don't think Jobsworld could have anything quite so frustrating. And, even if it is a little frustrating, at least I'd be cooler than I am now (no where to go but up really) for having an Apple.

BTW, it's totally awesome that PMs (or at least some PMs) are participating in the community and responding directly to lots of users instead of the few they could touch pre-Mix. Go Mix Go!

Seems like there should be some sort of big sledgehammer or checkmark or some such icon indicating which ideas have been implemented and are essentially "off the list". Guess it's time to submit a Mix Idea about ideas :). Maybe even another tab for ideas that were put into service or some such thing.

I'll definitely be looking for you at Collaborate. Unfortunately, I'll be (co-)presenting (with Matt Topper) during Paul's session, so won't be able to attend that one. I'll be tweeting, so I imagine we'll find one another and feed some more homeless people or some such Good Thing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dan

Thanks for stopping by--I'm glad it helped. I'd love to see a posting somewhere on the configuration you put together. Sounds like an interesting one to document for the rest of us!

Just checked--I passed. Unfortunately, the OCP requires a training class, so I probably won't get my "official" OCP, but I think having passed the tests is enough to constitute the exam. After all, there's no test at the end of the training class, so it doesn't really make me any more qualified as an OAS Administrator.

I haven't heard of anyone else receiving anything. Someone told me that TUSC believes that options are valid for 90 days past the termination date, but I haven't heard anything official to back that up yet. And I still haven't looked for my documents at home (on the road this week again).

@Brian I'd have to agree. Coke is particularly unpleasant when it's hot. However, I once had a roommate that kept a case of Coke behind the seat in his car in the Central Illinois summertime. He lived on the stuff--just one of his many unbelievable habits! :P

Never tried frozen, but I doubt I'd like it. Milkshakes and ice cream are the only frozen things I usually like.

@td I had heard that their other offices were "virtual", but hadn't gotten confirmation.

@Anon I absolutely would not wait for any letters from TUSC as I simply don't think that non-employees will ever get a letter. I heard that the purchase price was $1.02 per share. So, you'd have to see what your option strike price was to compute the possible payout. If your strike price was $1.00 and you had 10,000 shares, then you'd stand to cash in $200. Of course, I didn't find my paperwork yet, so I can't comment on whether I agree with your opening statement or not.