At work, we’ve got two Oracle databases and a Java web application. One of the tasks of the web application is to copy tables over from one database to the other. Last week we ran into a funny problem which turns out to be an Oracle bug.
I’ve posted a question about this last week on stackoverflow.com but it seems that not many people are affected by this particular problem, or at least not many people know the answer to this particular little problem. We set out to tackle this and we did.
I recently tried to purchase a Logitech LS1 mouse from Logitech. After not hearing from them for 3 weeks, I ordered the same mouse at Dynabyte and got it within 5 days. Suddenly Logitech woke up and sent me another LS1 mouse. Because they don’t react to mails or calls, I had a spare LS1 to play around with.
I decided to replace the long, rigid cable with a short supple one. Here’s how you can do that, too.
After just missing the title last year, it looked like you were going to just miss it this year, too. The race in Brazil was very thrilling to watch, and in the last few corners of the very last lap were very exiting to watch, especially just getting Glock in the last corner. Nice race, good show. Find somebody to sell the movierights to 😉 . I’m looking forward to seeing you race again next year.
Cheers,
Rolf
As you’ve noticed, I bought an iPhone. When you’re living in the Netherlands, you’ve got two options to get an iPhone. The first one is walk to an Apple reseller, buy an iPhone and sell your soul to T-Mobile. The second option is to drive to Belgium, convince a reseller to sell you a simlock-free iPhone, and get a Vodafone iPhone “Super Sim Only” contract. I went for the first option, and to be honest I kind of regret it. The iPhone is brilliant, but the T-Mobile network in the Netherlands sucks. Bigtime.
If your life depends on somebodies availabilty, please make sure to check they’re not using the T-Mobile or Orange network (the companies merged). Don’t let T-Mobile fool you with the “iPhone has bad reception hype”. I can make screenshots like you see here each day. I have “No service” but I can see the Vodafone and KPN networks just fine.
A lot of great ideas start in the heads of creative minds. Unbound by budgets, planning, and customers, these ideas are passed around, and some of them turn into projects.
As soon as companies and managers get involved in realizing great ideas which are not really theirs, things can go very wrong. The least that can happen is that something isn’t built. Tomtom on an iPhone? A brilliant idea and technically possible, but non-technical people get in the way.
Just to get this out of my system, I’ll tell you what I think of the current crisis in the monetary system. It starts off with a fictional story, and explains why we need to get rid of the monetary system, and why you should have physical gold in your safe.
The past week, I’ve heard some collegues talking about tweaking websites so that they will show up in Google search results. A lot of people actually try to figure out how to “fool” the Google search engine, and actually make a living writing books about it. The strange thing is, that a lot of people want to be the “I feel lucky” link in Google even when the search query hasn’t got anything to do with the content they’re providing.
It’s actually a funny discussion, because this behaviour which “makes use” of the system, actually breaks it. Suppose a lot of people figure out how to get this done. Now, whenever you use Google, your first page of search results will actually contain stuff you’re not looking for. After a few tries, you’ll get tired of this and start using a different search engine.
Ok so I’ve been blogging about the iPhone and it’s “apps” for a while now. After a lot of consideration and switching between Nokia and iPod touch, doing nothing and buying a 16GB 3G iPhone, I finally went for the latter. What a bittersweet experience.
I ran across this wiki page which has a nice piece on the virtues of a good programmer. I found it so recognizable that I decided to copy it over for you to enjoy:
“We will encourage you to develop the three great virtues of a programmer: laziness, impatience, and hubris.” — Larry Wall, Programming Perl (1st edition), O’Reilly and Associates
Laziness
The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving programs that other people will find useful, and document what you wrote so you don’t have to answer so many questions about it. Hence, the first great virtue of a programmer. Also hence, this book. See also impatience and hubris. (p.609)Impatience
The anger you feel when the computer is being lazy. This makes you write programs that don’t just react to your needs, but actually anticipate them. Or at least pretend to. Hence, the second great virtue of a programmer. See also laziness and hubris. (p.608)Hubris
Excessive pride, the sort of thing Zeus zaps you for. Also the quality that makes you write (and maintain) programs that other people won’t want to say bad things about. Hence, the third great virtue of a programmer. See also laziness and impatience. (p.607)
(The original context can be found at
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LazinessImpatienceHubris)
