Oracle is just another CA. It buys software. It does not build software.

Oracle does not want to publish database revenue because the revenue would show there are few new customers. There is little that is new in relational databases so there are few new customers. Steve Jobs created lots of new interesting products. Larry Ellison does not want to look like an owner of old product. He wants an image of growth but Oracle does not create new products. It only buys new products. Oracle is just another CA.

Source is GPL 2

hi,

Just because the code is the same does not mean Google is using copyrighted Oracle code. The "2.5.29.32.0" seems to from a standard called X.500 PKI. I Googled "private static final String ANY_POLICY = 2.5.29.32.0 ;" and found two exact source codes under GPL 2 released by Sun. To me this means that Google could have used the GPL version not Oracle's version.

http://www.java2s.com/Open-Source/Java-Document/Security/Bouncy-Castle/org/bouncycastle/jce/provider/PKIXCertPathValidatorSpi.java.htm

http://www.java2s.com/Open-Source/Java-Document/6.0-JDK-Modules-sun/security/sun/security/provider/certpath/PolicyNodeImpl.java.htm

The code looks like stuff GPLd by Sun many years ago.

New machine recalled before arriving

hi,

Ordered a desktop with the new Intel 2600K processor but the Sandy Bridge controller on the motherboard got recalled before the computer arrived. So even when things are available in Canada you don't actually them. Glad I ordered through a brick and mortar because the hassle of returns would have bugged me to no end.

Are Oracle and SAP going to disappear?

hi,

The fundamental difference between software and other products is the incremental cost of another copy is zero. Open source models of distribution are a great way to attack the high maintenance cost with few improvements from CA. But accountants and auditors do not want financial software from Joe's Garage so the Oracle and SAP will grow. Just like mainframes have not disappeared, large expensive software suites have users which want and need consistency over many years so they are willing to pay heavily for it. The sales people have much better access to upper management than the regular employee causing management to reach for the cheque book in the coat.

Western Canada - Electronics Recycling Association

hi,

I have not dealt with them but http://www.era.ca/ the Electronics Recycling Association is in many cities in Western Canada and has lists of needed equipment for listed charities http://www.era.ca/index.php?page=charities

I would suggest physically destroying all hard drives to protect confidential data.

Big fail for companies selling database software

hi,

What is actually being said here is Oracle, IBM and other commercially available software is so overpriced Facebook would rather create its own. Big fail for Oracle. Where are those super sales people taking the executive out to lunch and golf?

Only 60 days?

Does it turn into a pumpkin after 60 days? Does it change to 1 TB after 60 days?

Pentabytes of data to be stored for years

I worked for an electrical company which has similar data collection for industrial customers. These generate piles of data which needs to be shoveled around the disks. Would you like an electrical bill with the cost of the power listed in 15 minutes increments? 4 readings per hour * 24 hours * 30 days = 2880 detail lines. All of these details must be kept for years because of audits etc. The quantity of data for each customer has gone up 3000 times but the disk budget likely won't get a penny. Something is going to fail.

Fail: disaster recovery but can't restore!

"The cloned image is a kind of disaster recovery" but Iomega adds the point that "you can’t use v.Clone to restore the operating system, applications, and data files back onto your primary system". Well is there anything that can be restored? Anything at all? The product is a disaster. Fail.

Your password has been reset to

Wonder how many of the messages would be "Your password has been reset to ..." which would give all script kiddies an easy ride? Or would the message be "Paris were going out to a night club so give us a call at 555-1234"?

He missed because ...

the elephant was not in his pyjamas. Good old Groucho Marx joke.

Aussies to the rescue. Doubleplusgood.

The wonderful non-Google project Gutenberg has a copy in Australia:

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt

Of course the legality of having this copy depends on your country's copyright law.

"Ignorance is Strength"

April Fools

The fix is scheduled for April 1! April Fools day is a terrible day to release software because I always assume anything received on that day may be a joke or just plain hazardous.

Air Transit was glider over pacific. Air Canada over Gimli

A previous comment about Air Canada was slightly wrong. It was Air Transit which had no fuel over the Pacific and landed at the Azores. Air Canada had a dead stick over Gilmi

Please read the safety manuals at the authoritative wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

Can life insurance be bought over the phone or internet? Can life insurance be bought in a couple of minutes? Could the passengers bought life insurance while the plane was having problems?

God made me an atheist.

Video wrist phone: Nose pics

The person receiving the video call from a wrist video phone will see right up your nostrils. What a great picture. Remember to pick your nose before calling.

Paris gets a Brazilian cut for her nose hairs.

Dead voters get to vote?

Contrary to the article Obama's dead grandmother's advance vote will count. "Kevin Cronin, the Chief Elections Officer, confirmed that Mrs Dunham's absentee ballot, which was received on October 27, would count towards Mr Obama's final tally."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3380630/Barack-Obamas-grandmother-cast-ballot-in-one-of-her-final-acts.html

Great article except for this.

Raid 10 is not mirrored Raid 5

Pardon me, oh great one, but this is your humble dba with a minor technical point. Raid 10 is not mirrored Raid 5. Raid 10 uses more disk space to try to achieve higher throughput. While Raid 5 is like packing all of the relatives into one smaller condominium with one kitchen and bathroom. If there is a lot of I/O the kitchen and bathroom will be too crowded.

Preconfigured means Oracle still won't install correctly

The software is preinstalled because Oracle's install procedures still don't work properly all the time. My guess is the version that is preinstalled will be too out of date and will have to be deinstalled before a new installation can actually be run thus using up more money than saving anything.

Hello, I'm a DBA and this is Larry playing with taking our cheque book and not helping his users.

Who watches the watchers?

Hey! Doesn't anyone know the rules around free speech? If someone is blocked from saying something then everyone else tries to repeat it? So here is the link to the Sheboygan Police Department: http://www.sheboyganpolice.com/

You have to watch out for those illegal searches of your coat or website.