Over the weekend I implemented a few changes to OraQA.com:

Instead of showing the question and the full answer, the home page - as well as the category and author archives - will show only the question. You will have to click on the question link to see the whole entry along with all the related [...]

In Oracle, as in other RDBMSs, nulls should be given a special treatment. In Oracle, there are three (maybe more?) functions that deal with nulls, NVL, NVL2 and COALESCE. I would like to ask you a question, but first, let me quickly refresh my memory:

Here is how to store and download Excel files to/from an Oracle database using ColdFusion.

What is a rootkit?

According to Symantec’s definition:

A rootkit is a component that uses stealth to maintain a persistent and undetectable presence on the machine. Actions performed by a rootkit, such as installation and any form of code execution, are done without end user consent or knowledge.

Rootkits do not infect machines by themselves like viruses [...]

My last post about how to pronounce a few “words” generated several comments, some of them were funny. “see-quel” was the clear winner in how to pronounce SQL.

To continue having fun and to settle once and for all how the following “words” are pronounced, I will let democracy take its course in the form of [...]

Anyone who knows Oracle PL/SQL knows Steven Feuerstein, the PL/SQL guru and author of PL/SQL books. It looks like Steven has finally decided to enter the world of blogging. Check out his new blog, FeuerThoughts.

(via)

This post has no real value except to satisfy a curiosity I have had since I started developing Oracle applications. Through out my career as an Oracle developer, almost every time I meet or listen to someone I hear different pronunciation for a few common acronyms and datatypes. For example:

SQL: I pronounce it “see-quel”, others [...]

As Tom Kyte blogged earlier today, OraQA is up and running and waiting for your questions and answers.

I had the idea of OraQA when I was browsing The ColdFusion Cookbook and I thought it would be great to have a similar site for the Oracle community.

In no particular order, I would like to thank the [...]

The Arabic writing on the left says: “The newest computer games”. The one on the right says: “Computer maintenance”. (via)

I have noticed that, in his latest book, Tom Kyte used the SQL function DUMP quite frequently to expose the internal representation and the size of a specific expression. To be honest, I do not use DUMP very often, but I do find it useful in certain situations.