The layoff parade continued this week with cuts announced by several companies. I won’t call out all the names; you can find them listed on Techmeme pretty quickly. Having been riffed twice during the dot-com era, I cringe whenever I hear about layoffs. For me, getting laid off was a lasting lesson that forever changed… Read More
Author: Jake
a.k.a.:jkuramot
Thoughts on the OpenWorld Blogger Program?
Now that the dust has fully settled on OpenWorld 2008, it’s probably time to start planning next year’s iteration. Justin and I spoke recently with the people who manage the Blogger Program to debrief about the event, how the program was received and ways to improve it for next year. If you read that sentence… Read More
The Complicator’s Gloves
Thanks to Chet “for great” Justice, a.k.a. ORACLENERD, for passing along this gem from the Daily WTF. Alex Papadimoulis lists three types of developers attacking good software development, the Amateurs, the Career Amateurs and the Complicators. The Complicators are the focus of the post; I love the description: They’ve acquired a sort of sixth-sense: the… Read More
Communities Exchange Recap
The Communities Exchange conference wraps up today. I spoke yesterday and then bailed to meet a previous commitment today. This was an interesting conference, unlike any I’ve attended. For starters, there were only 45 attendees, small by design. Also a surprise to me, most of the 45 attending were from out-of-state, including several from overseas,… Read More
Low Tech Wins
So, I’m speaking at the Communities Exchange conference in San Jose today, filling in for Paul. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind since he announced last week that he couldn’t make it. Hence the lack of content here. Anyway, looks to be an interesting conference, only 45 attendees, small on purpose. I hope to… Read More
Why Social Networking is Good, Reason 61
For a few months now, I’ve been planning to write a post on how to get involved in your local tech scene. I caught a tweet from Matt earlier today. He was on his way to Startup Rockstars DC#3. Sounds like fun. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen me tweet about any… Read More
Find Paul at the Communities Exchange Summit
Paul will be one of the featured presenters at the 2008 Communities Exchange Summit, next week. His presentation is called “It’s Not About the Tools: How Oracle Builds Customer Communities”. There’s a teaser Q&A session posted, if you want more incentive. If you’re in San Jose next week and want to check it out, here’s… Read More
Is Simple the New Black?
Thanks to Matt for covering Geode. I have to agree with his assessment of location as awesomesauce when mixed with Intertubes. Continuing my mission to slog through all the unread feeds I have left over from the week of OpenWorld, I noticed an item from Mashable about the simple and elegant Umbrella Today? The concept… Read More
ORA-01403:no data found
Curious? That seemed like a clever title, given the subject, and my lack of pithy title for the post. I’ll back up a bit. I’m still slogging through feeds from before OpenWorld, which is pretty tough considering Paul’s got me cranking hardcore on a new project. I plowed through Slashdot today and found an item… Read More
Why Flickr Rules, Part 2
Wow, after a slew of posts from other people, it’s back to just me. I’ve documented my affection for Flickr in the past. Recently, Rich put me on to another reason to love Flickr. Groups. While I was at OpenWorld, I was chatting with Rich about a little iPhone hobby I have. I like to… Read More
Facebook Hits the Mainstream
If you read here, you’re probably on the leading, if not bleeding, edge of the early adoption curve. Bit of a mixed metaphor, so let’s say early adopter scythe. Anyway, Facebook is old news. For about the last year or so, I’ve rarely logged into Facebook; I guess the sheep-throwing and incessant poking and super-poking… Read More
Why Stickers are My New Business Card
With the memory of OpenWorld fading, I wanted to riff on one thing I noticed and found interesting last week. Stickers, or rather the lack of them. Rich and and I whipped up a last-minute plan to produce some stickers right before OpenWorld, and many of you were the beneficiaries last week. I added the… Read More
Final Observations from OpenWorld 2008
So now OpenWorld 2008 is over, and San Franciscans rejoice as Howard Street reopens between 3rd and 4th, or at least it will soon. I missed my Wednesday recap, since we spent Thursday sequestered in that same old conference room in Pleasanton. Not a lot happened for me on Wednesday. Rich and I trolled the… Read More
And More OpenWorld
Tuesday was a lighter schedule for me, but not without its drama. My geek-speak Unconference session, which continues to bounce around Indian blogs, was at 10 AM, and I arrived in the room 40 minutes in advance, JIC. Good thing because I had forgotten the Mini DVI-VGA adapter for my Macbook. For those who haven’t… Read More
OpenWorld Continues
As is typical for me, the Monday of OpenWorld was the busiest. Now that it’s over, I can relax a bit. Yesterday was an action-packed day, so let’s hit the highlights. Roll the tape. Our official session “Web 2.0 Technologies In the Enterprise: Lessons Learned, Tips, and Tricks from Oracle AppsLab” went pretty well. I’m… Read More
OpenWorld Begins
Rather than blog the events of an entire day, I’ve decided to dump my thoughts periodically. This is more effective for me anyway, since to remember anything lately, I feel like I need to forget something else. So, a memory dump will happen eventually, better (or worse, depending) to get it recorded before the inevitable… Read More
Essential Geek-Speak Session Rescheduled
To avoid overlapping with Larry’s keynote on Wednesday afternoon, as promised, I have rescheduled my Unconference session, “Are you insulting me? Essential geek-speak, FTW!” to Tuesday morning at 10 AM in Moscone West, 3rd floor, Overlook C. If you’re interested, check out the slides on SlideShare. If you make it, stop by and say hello.
Mix to the Rescue
On my way to PDX, I caught this tweet from the OCP Advisor (aka Mohan Dutt): Naturally intrigued, I clicked through on the link to find an “idea” from Debra Lilley called simply: Get me out of this lift, please , stuck in lift #11 at the Marriott Eagle-eyed users of Mix, namely John Bedford,… Read More
Geek-Speak Observations
By this time tomorrow, I’ll be winging my way to the Bay Area for OpenWorld. One of the first things I need to do tomorrow is race to the Unconference onsite signups in Moscone West and move my Essential Geek-Speak session to a better time, like say one that doesn’t overlap with Larry’s keynote. You… Read More
AppsLab Hackathon
So, yet another last-minute OpenWorld announcement, but that’s how we roll. We’re going to host an informal hackathon at the OTN Lounge during the conference. The OTN Lounge will be in Moscone West, Third Floor, coincidentally right near the Unconference sessions, which should work out well. So, we’re calling it informal because Rich, Anthony and… Read More