One Minute Oracle

Over the last couple of months, I’ve turned up the intensity on my search for a way to improve the content I get from my Technology beat here at Oracle. The search has been driven by a simple question: shouldn’t a person who has researched, interviewed, and written about a technology for three years be able to produce something original and unique about that technology?

I decided to write short scripts that distill a technology to its essence and film a video about it.

The result is One Minute Oracle, a series of short YouTube videos created with Apple iMovie and Apple Keynote. My first attempt is about Certified Fusion Middleware for Oracle Application. Does that not mean much to you? It will in a minute (and 26 seconds).

Ace Adventures - Dan Morgan

I’m trying to decide what was the best part of PSOUG’s Oracle Days event up in Seattle last week. Was it hearing an advocate of IBM Z series fire back, quite convincingly, at IBM’s blade server rivals? Was it getting a serious lesson in data storage by Pillar Data Systems as they introduced the Axiom 600? No, the best part would have to be riding to Microsoft in Dan Morgan’s Jaguar to shoot clandestine video for our upcoming Oracle Magazine story and video podcast.

As we were driving, Morgan, second in command at the Puget Sound Oracle User’s Group, discussed the benefits of being an Oracle Ace Director. “It doesn’t lead directly to money,” he said. But it does, he said, come with interesting speaking opportunities, such as upcoming engagements that Oracle booked for him in Finland and, I think, Bulgaria. And it does lead indirectly to money.

When Morgan, a teacher of database technology in University of Washington's continuing education program, does do consulting gigs being an ACE Director can help land the job. “”When I walk into a client who is also talking to a global giant like Accenture, I simply ask if the firm is going to put someone on their account who is recognized by Oracle as one of the top people on the planet who really, really knows his stuff,” he said. “So in that way, I guess it does lead to money.”

Take a look at Morgan’s library and you will see one reason he’s an Oracle Ace Director. Also check out the other resources on the PSOUG Website and you’ll see just how good a resources a regional user group can be.

Dev Day Afternoon

I stopped by the OTN Developer Day event at Oracle headquarters last week and brought my camera. I found everyone getting their hands dirty in the new Fusion development environment and generally having a good time. Want proof? Here's a little promo I shot while there:

Now, Make It Sing: Bringing BEA Content to Oracle.com

As the tech editor I’ve been part of the evolving Middleware section of Oracle.com as the BEA and Oracle marketing folks hammered out a strategy and then turned it into Web pages. I agree with the Wall Street Journal, that Oracle does indeed understand how to to manage an acquisition. An interesting side of that is the participation of former BEA people in the process. As the July 1st Webcast approached I got emails at midnight and 5 a.m. as BEA people polished up the message to match the new strategy; a strategy that saw some of their beloved technology take center stage, some get parted out to other technologies, and some get parked in maintenance mode. Here’s a little guide to BEA Oracle.com:

If you read just one page, read this.
If you want to see where most of the BEA content went: Check out this page, and look under:
Application Server
Grid Infrastructure
Data Integration
Enterprise 2.0 and Portals
Event-Driven Architecture
SOA Governance
Service-Oriented Architecture

Thanks to all the BEA and Oracle marketing people who crafted this new content and made my job easy.