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The Awaggregator

Tom asks: What sites like digg/reddit/techmeme do you use that you find truly useful and pleasant to use?

If you like digg, reddit and techmeme, you will most likely find the following useful and pleasant to use:

popurls.com:

popurls is the dashboard for the latest web-buzz, a single page that encapsulates up-to-the-minute headlines from the most popular sites on the internet.

originalsignal.com:

The main purpose of the site is to provide a quick glance on what’s happening without using your desktop/web RSS reader. New headlines (since your last cookied visit) come in pretty red, visited ones are grey.

Original Signal currently aggregates the 15 most popular sites in each of the following categories: Web 2.0, Tech, Gadgets, Jobs and Buzz. They even have a Most Popular page, and a very nicely aggregated Digg page.

I like these sites, they give you an instant overview of what’s buzzing on the net right now. It’s even very easy to create one of your own.

Comments Off | Filed in Interesting Stuff, Technology | Tags: ,

Why I Switched to a Full-Text Feed

After reading “Why I’ m asking for full-text RSS feeds” by Constantin Basturea, and “Only Generous Bloggers Influence” by Steve Rubel, I have decided to publish my blog’s feed as a full text instead of just a summary.

As a blogger, why wouldn’t you publish a full-text feed? I can think of the following reasons:

  1. Increase page views on your blog by forcing your readers to click on yet another link to read your post.
  2. Increase advertisement click through on your blog (if you monetize your blog using Google AdSense for example).
  3. Have more accurate information about your blog’s readership.
  4. Protect your content from plagiarism.

I switched to a full-text feed because:

  1. I want my content to be easily accessible and read by as many people as possible with minimum number of clicks and on maximum number of devices, like PDAs and cell phones.
  2. Even though I have Google AdSense on my blog, most, if not all, of the click through is generated by people landing on my blog via search engines.
  3. Thanks to Feedburner, I know how many feed subscribers I have. In fact, I show the number of subscribers on the sidebar of my blog.
  4. Publishing a summary or a full-text feed has very little to do with plagiarism. With web scraping and online services like Dapper (which is really cool by the way), your content can be plagiarized whether it is on your blog’s HTML web page or in your feed’s XML content. Moreover, using Feedburner, I can add a copyright notice and a creative commons license to the feed.

So, fellow bloggers, why don’t you unleash your full-text feeds?

2 Comments | Filed in Interesting Stuff, WordPress | Tags: , ,

links for 2006-09-08

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Oracle Security Podcast With Pete Finnigan

I have just finished listening to a very interesting podcast interview with Pete Finnigan (via SearchOracle.com). Pete discusses the problems with Oracle PL/SQL wrapping and hopes that Oracle releases all the built-in PL/SQL packages unwrapped as clear text, as in open source, so that everyone can help with finding bugs. Pete also advises DBAs to think like hackers in order to improve the security of the database.

Listen to the podcast.

1 Comment | Filed in Oracle, Security | Tags: ,

Oracle Bookmarklets, The Easiest Way to Search Documentation and More

In addition to the Oracle documentation Firefox plugin and extension, you now have another easy and quick way to search Oracle documentation and other Oracle and non-Oracle related web sites.

Introducing Oracle Bookmarklets

A bookmarklet is a small JavaScript program that can be stored as a URL within a “bookmark” (or a “favorite”) in your browser. Bookmarklets are simple one-click tools that can add substantial functionality to the browser. Below you will find Oracle specific bookmarklets as well as other useful bookmarklets. They work in Firefox and Internet Explorer.

How to install the bookmarklets

In Firefox:

  1. Make sure your “Bookmarks Toolbar” is visible (ensure View/Toolbars/Bookmarks Toolbar is checked).
  2. Right click on the bookmarklet.
  3. Select “Bookmark This Link…” from the menu.
  4. Select “Bookmarks Toolbar” in the “Create in” drop down list and click “OK”.

Alternatively, you can just drag and drop the bookmarklet on the Bookmarks Toolbar.

In Internet Explorer 6:

  1. Make sure your “Links” toolbar is visible (ensure View/Toolbars/Links is checked).
  2. Right click on the bookmarklet.
  3. Select “Add to Favorites…” from the menu.
  4. If you get a security alert, click on “Yes” to continue.
  5. Select “Links” in the “Create in” drop down list and click “OK”.

In Internet Explorer 7:

I have successfully tested the bookmarklets in Internet Explorer 7 (RC1). The installation is similar to IE6. However, for the bookmarklets to work properly you may need to disable IE7′s built in pop up blocker and tweak the default security settings, otherwise you will have to explicitly allow the bookmarklet script to run everytime you use it.

How to use the bookmarklets

The bookmarklets below can be used in two ways:

  1. If you select (highlight) text on the web page you are browsing and then click on the bookmarklet on your toolbar, the corresponding search for the selected text will be performed and the result displayed in a new window (or tab).

  2. If you do not select (highlight) any text on the web page you are browsing and click on the bookmarklet on your toolbar, you will be asked to type in your search terms and then the corresponding search for the entered text will be performed and the result displayed in a new window (or tab).

Oracle Database Documentation Bookmarklets:

Oracle Resources Bookmarklets:

Other Useful Bookmarklets:

Bonus:

I have created these bookmarklets and used them to research a topic I want to blog about or a work related problem I want to solve. I hope you will find them useful as well.

2 Comments | Filed in Firefox, Oracle | Tags: , , , , ,

Oracle and ColdFusion Job Opening

We are looking for a full time developer with Oracle and ColdFusion experience. To be qualified, you need to have a minimum of three years experience in:

  • ColdFusion, HTML and JavaScript
  • Oracle SQL and PL/SQL
  • B2B E-commerce development and support

Experience in Microsoft BizTalk and SQL Navigator is strongly desired.

It also helps if you live or are willing to work in the Portland Metro area and like to have me as your coworker :)

If you’re interested please contact me.

Update: This position has been filled and the job opening has been closed.

Comments Off | Filed in ColdFusion, Oracle | Tags:

10 Programming Quotes and Lessons Learned

Here is a list of 10 programming quotes I picked from this longer list, and what I learned from each:

  1. It’s hard enough to find an error in your code when you’re looking for it; it’s even harder when you’ve assumed your code is error-free.
    Lesson: Always assume that your code is buggy and code accordingly.

  2. Be careful about using the following code — I’ve only proven that it works, I haven’t tested it.
    Lesson: Always test your code.

  3. Good code is its own best documentation. As you’re about to add a comment, ask yourself, “How can I improve the code so that this comment isn’t needed?”.
    Lesson: Write clear maintainable code.

  4. Incorrect documentation is often worse than no documentation.
    Lesson: Make sure your documentation really reflects what your code is doing and vice verse.

  5. Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.
    Lesson: The number of lines of code is irrelevant in measuring software development progress, measure by what the code does and how fast it does it.

  6. Just because the standard provides a cliff in front of you, you are not necessarily required to jump off it.
    Lesson: Do not blindly follow any standard, understand first.

  7. The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build.
    Lesson: Understand the problem first, then build the solution.

  8. Good programmers use their brains, but good guidelines save us having to think out every case.
    Lesson: Understand and use software design patterns whenever possible.

  9. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
    Lesson: No comment.

  10. The primary duty of an exception handler is to get the error out of the lap of the programmer and into the surprised face of the user. Provided you keep this cardinal rule in mind, you can’t go far wrong.
    Lesson: Apply exception handling liberally across all your programs. :)

7 Comments | Filed in Interesting Stuff, Tips | Tags: ,

links for 2006-09-01

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