LewisC's Random Thoughts

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4

FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced: Managing Databases
2007-10-07 03:04:00
I know I said in my last review entry that I would create a new database. I decided to save that for next time. Instead, I thought I would do a quick run through of the screens used to manage databases. That is, the screens used to create tables, credit and edit fields, set relationships, etc.As I have come to expect from FileMaker, the tools used to manage databases are very visual. So far, the visual aspect of FileMaker has been its strongest feature, for me anyway.In the photo above, you can see where I have arrows to two buttons on the tool bar. The button to the left is the "Manage Database" button. The button to the right is the "Manage Value Lists" button. I will explain both of those below.When you press the "Manage Database" button, you are taken to the Tables tab. On this tab, you will see all table definitions contained within this file.Remember the last entry when I created the Recipe database, I saved a single file. In FileMaker, you may have a database file wi...
More About: Databases , Vance

Heroes Season 2, Episode 2
2007-10-06 03:06:00
I call this episode disappointing.What is up with the Claire story line? The disappearing car? Advertainment? Disappointing.I do like the fact that the Haitian is back. Claire's dad is jerk but I like the Haitian.The only real interesting stuff in this episode was Hiro and this was totally predictable. I even mentioned in my last Heroes post:Kinsei being a brit was a total shock to me. But I can see how Hiro will replace him and be the real Hero. I should have seen that coming.Ok, it's not surprising anymore. Get on with the story. I did like that Kinsei seems to have some powers of his own. Does that skew Suresh's dad's theories? How would you explain the break out in powers if the mutation was there a few hundred years ago?I take what I said back, the Peter portion of the show is getting interesting too. I want to see what's inside the box! He seems to be getting a good handle on his powers too. I had a thought. The alternate future Peter, the one that hooked up w...
More About: Episode , Season , Episode 2

What does integrity mean to you?
2007-10-04 01:04:00
My son is taking karate lessons now (he's 4). My wife goes to each class but the class is scheduled while I am at work. After each session, the man who gives the class talks to the students about things like honesty, integrity, honor, etc.Today after the session, the instructor asked the kids if they knew what integrity was. None of then did. The instructor said that if someone drops their glasses, and you see it happen, you should pick up the glasses and return them.At dinner tonight, my wife asked my son what integrity means. He said he didn't remember. My wife said, "What do you do if someone drops their glasses?"My son thought for a moment, "I should pick them up and then....run away?"heh. Kids are great!family
More About: Integrity

FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced: Create and Use a Seed Database
2007-10-02 23:07:00
Note: Click on any picture to view a larger version of it.I decided to start off with baby steps. I'm going to create a database using on of the seed definitions. FileMaker comes with a decent selection for most home and small business users. Because I am a cooking affcianado, I decided to use the Recipe seed database.After selecting the database type, you will get a "file create" dialog. Using this dialog you can put your database wherever you like. This is different from Oracle, PostgreSQL or MySQL where you have a specific data directory(ies).When using a seed database, FileMaker generates several views for you automatically. You get a form view (for viewing and editing), a list view and a report. The form view comes up automatically after you create the database.The form has fields on the screen that correspond to columns in your database. The Recipe database is pre-seeded with data so that Category column is already populated with recipe types. If you were building y...
More About: Database , Create , Seed , Vance

FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced: Installation & Requirements
2007-09-30 16:43:00
I am going to refer to the software, "FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced" as "FileMaker" or "the software" for the rest of this review. The PackageFileMaker comes boxed with a printed manual (which is a nice feature compared to other products). The siftware is contained on a single CD. Printed on the back of the CD is a 35 digit license key that must be entered, registered and activated. The software comes with a and a freebie trial CD to pass on to a friend and with a printed resource guide containing third party software solutions, consultants, certified developers, etc.Access to the FileMaker Technet requires a paid account. The current price is US$99/year. The FileMaker site contains links to user groups, news groups and email lists. I was not able to find an actual forum on the site but that may be included with a technet membership. You can search the knowledge base for free.System RequirementsFileMaker runs on Windows and Mac operating systems. According to FileMaker, the syst...
More About: Alla , Vance

Review - FileMaker Pro Advanced 9.0: Intro
2007-09-30 03:28:00
I recently had the opportunity to get my hands on FileMaker Pro Advanced 9.0. I played with FileMaker waaaaay back in the DOS days but I haven't taken a look at it in a long time. Since I had this opportunity, I thought I would review the software from a holistic point of view.This will be a multi-part review over the next couple of weeks. I'm going to take it from the basics of installation and reviewing FileMaker's support offerings all the way out to advanced topics like connecting to and querying multiple databases (Oracle, Postgres, MySQL, etc).If there are any topics of interest for you along the way, please drop me a note and I will try to cover it.Some historical informationFileMaker, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, has a long history. You can think of it somewhat as a multi-platform dBase that grew up. While dBase couldn't keep up with the changing technologies, FileMaker has thrived and grown. Currently profitable with 250 employees in 8 offices around the wo...
More About: Review , Intro , Vance

Heroes Season 2, Episode 1
2007-09-29 23:49:00
Don't worry, this isn't a recap. Just some thoughts. Drivel really.I finally caught the first episode. I had it DVRed because it comes on at the same time as K-Ville. Anyway, a buddy of mine saw it the night it premiered and didn't like it. I was expecting to be disappointed but I was disappointed about being disappointed. I mean I liked it.Kinsei being a brit was a total shock to me. But I can see how Hiro will replace him and be the real Hero. I should have seen that coming.Not so surprising is the little hottie Claire. She started a new school and has already found a new boyfriend. Somewhat surprising is the fact that he can fly. The other plot twists are that Hiro's father and Nathan and Peter's mother are both marked for death by an unknown assailant. At the end of the show, a hooded intruder jumps with Hiro's father (I really want to call him Sulu) over the side of a building. Could it be Sylar? Someone else?Not much going on with Suresh and copper Matt. Th...
More About: Heroes , Episode , Season , Episode 1

Review: Doomsday - The Death of Superman
2007-09-23 02:51:00
Close to a month ago, I blogged about Doomsday - The Death of Superman . As I said in that post, I really wanted to see it. I just finished watching it a little while ago. I planned to buy the DVD but I noticed that it was on pay per view so I watched it with my son.He is 4 and he lost interest within the first few minutes. This is a very adult cartoon. Not in language or sex or anything but in themes. There were a few brutal parts, Doomsday crushes a soldier's head for example. The movie shows Doomsday grab his head, the camera angles away and you hear the crushing sound.It's not just the insinuated violence that makes say it's adult-themed. The relationship between Lois and Kal-El is very adult and the show spends quite a bit of time on that relationship. The reactions when superman dies is equally adult.I'm not complaining. Though my son lost interest right away, I thought it was a very good movie. Great graphics and animation. Good color. The story and action wer...
More About: Review

E.E. Knight's Dragon Champion: A Review
2007-09-19 02:59:00
I have been very lucky in my reading lately; Scalzi's books were exceptional. Science Fiction tends to be more my forte, but after the SF of Scalzi, I took a detour into fantasy with EE Knight's Dragon Cham pion : The Age of Fire (Book One). I have to say I have never liked a dragon more than AuRon, the hero/protagonist/dragon of the book. AuRon, an unscaled gray dragon, who, starting life off as Auron (it's a dragon thing), journeys throughout the world learning about it and himself.In this book, I learned why dragons have hoards, where dragon scales come from, how a dragon gets his wings, the importance of a dragon's first fire and a lot more. Sometimes a book just strikes a chord. You click with it and flow with the book. When that happens, the book reads a lot like poetry. That's what this book is like.The book starts with a young Auron hatching from an egg. As a gray dragon he is a bit smaller than his two brothers. That's not good because as we all know new born ...
More About: Review , Hampi

Heroes Graphic Novel
2007-09-15 23:44:00
If you were not aware of it, you can get your Heroes fix on nbc.com by reading the Heroes Graphic Novel. Of course, it's a little late now. Heroes Season 2 will be starting in less than two weeks on September 24.I am so looking forward to its return. I started watching it last season but missed a few episodes due to other commitments. Instead of picking it back up in the middle, I waited for the Heroes - Season One DVD. I watched the entire season in a nightly orgy of heroing over the course of a week.I was tired at work but it was worth it. Heroes is just about the perfect series. I was slightly disappointed in the ending of season 1. Is Nathan dead? Dis Sylar escape to the sewers? Who is the man who can see anyone anywhere?I kind of thought the "saved by love" thin was a bit of a cop out. I will not miss Hiro in ancient japan though.heroes scifi tv monday nighttime dvd

9/11 Video Overcome
2007-09-13 02:50:00

More About: Video , Overcome

John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades: A Review
2007-09-10 01:39:00
I guess you can tell that I like John Scalzi. I recently reviewed part one of this trilogy, John Scalzi's Old Man's War: A Review . The particulars:Mass Market Paperback: 384 pagesPublisher: Tor Science Fiction (May 1, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0765354063ISBN-13: 978-0765354068The Ghost Brigades is part two of three. It involves a completely different cast of characters (mostly). Our protagonist this time is Jared Dirac. A genetically engineered dead guy. A member of the special forces. The G host Brigades.In this book, we get to learn much about the special forces of the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). Maybe too much. As Jared learns, it's a hard universe and in a hard universe, it's sometimes hard to tell who the good guys are and who are the bad.A human scientist has gone rogue and the best opportunity to find him, discover why he went rogue and what his plans are, is to use a back up image of his soul. Or more accurately, "it's a holographic representation of ...

Video: Combine multiple RSS Feeds Using Yahoo Pipes
2007-09-09 02:02:00
I've been playing with Yahoo Pipes and creating some RSS feed aggregators. I decided to create a video showing how easy it is to create a pipe.In this video, I create a pipe that takes the feed from two sites, OraBlogs and OraNA. I join them together using a Fetch, I de-dupe using a Unique and then sort descending by publish date using a Sort. You can get the code for the pipe I created in the video here: Sorted Unique Oracle RSS Feed.You can see some others I have created also. Database Pipe, Oracle Pipe, Postgres Pipe, EnterpriseDB Pipe, DB2 Pipe, MySQL Pipe, New Orleans Pipe.To see the video, go to Blip.TV.Let me know if the video helps at all. Also, please let me know if there are other videos that you think might be useful.LewisCyahoo pipes tutorial rss aggregator
More About: Video , Yahoo pipes , Yahoo!

My Recipe: Light and Spicy Grilled Chicken
2007-09-04 00:29:00
This is my recipe for a light and spicy grilled chicken. It's spicy but not hot. I cook it on a hot grill. Prep time is about an hour and the cooking time is about 10-15 minutes.Feeds 4 (with sides).Ingredients:1 lbs Chicken - Breasts cut into thin strips or tenderloin, skinless and boneless1 tsp Curry powder, Red, Yellow or Garam Masala. I prefer red curry powder.1 tsp Cumin powder1 tsp Garlic powder1/2 tsp Red Chili powder1/2 tsp Kosher salt1/4 tsp Thyme1/4 tsp Oregano1 tsp fresh Ground Cinnamon Mix all spices in a zip lock bag. Shake until well mixed. Add chicken. Shake until totally covered by spices. This amount of spice should completely cover the chicken and have some left over. If you have more than 1 lbs of chicken, just double the spice mixture. Any extra will just be thrown away and doesn't hurt anything.Refrigerate the zip lock bag for an hour or more. The longer the better up to about 4 hours. Then you get diminishing returns on time.Fire up the grill. Tu...
More About: Recipe , Spicy , Light , Grilled

Humorous Post of the Week
2007-09-03 19:19:00
With all the "how to get a job" sites out there, I am glad to see someone has started a site for the other side of the story. SimplyFired.com's tagline is: If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry.This is a fun site (at least for those not recently fired) with stories about getting fired. There's a blog, stories and videos. Some of the videos are killer funny. Check out the video, "Job Interview Gone Bad (You've been Googled!)"A fun way to waste some time.jobs humor
More About: Post , Humorous , Week

Top 10 Reasons History Will Be Kind to George W Bush
2007-09-01 13:48:00
Before leaving his job, Karl Rove said that he thinks history will be kind to Bush .  I agree.  I decided to put together this list of the top 10 reasons that history will be kind to George W Bush . History will be kind to George W Bush because: 10.  It wasn't his fault.  It was that mean kid in Iraq. 9.  Presidents are not responsible for hurricanes.  And apparently not responsible for responding to hurricanes. 8.  No matter who is elected in 2008, they can help but look good in comparison. 7.  It wasn't his fault.  It was that mean kid in North Korea. 6.  He tried to help America by setting a new standard for vacation days. 5.  He didn't shoot any friends in the face. 4. It wasn't his fault.  It was that Axes, Axial, Axs group of evil guys. 3.  He saved so much money by not rebuilding the Gulf Coast. 2.  Even people who hated Clinton now look back fondly on his term. And the #1 reason history will be kind to G...

John Scalzi's Old Man's War: A Review
2007-08-31 00:54:00
I recently finished a great book by an author I had never heard of before. His name is John Scalzi and the book is Old Man's War. One of the things that made me get it was the review on the insider cover from Publisher's Weekly said:Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently continuing the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, Scalzi's astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master.As a lifetime Heinlein fan, that would have been enough to make me buy it but the fact that it was the first in a three part series helped. If a book sucks, I can drop it and not worry about it again, but if it's good, I like to revisit the same world.My next step after reading the inner review quotes is to read the first couple of paragraphs. Old Man's War starts off with:I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army.I got a serious Starship Troopers (all grown up) sense of deja vu.To top it ...
More About: Review

Doomsday - The Death of Superman
2007-08-29 20:37:00
I have been a sci-fi freak for decades but even before that, I was a Superman freak. When I collected comics, I had a stash of about 3000 and many of those were Superman, Action Comics, Superboy and other superman related comics.A few years back, there was a graphic novel called Doomsday where Superman dies. It was rewritten as a regular novel (which I have laying around here somewhere). It was a very good novelization with a very good story line. Warner Bros is coming out, 9-18-2007, with a new animated movie, Doomsday - The Death of Superman. I don't have all the details but I believe it is a feature length animated movie. Check out the trailer:LewisCsuperman movie

SBA Offers Free Business Training
2007-08-26 05:43:00
The US Small Business Administration now offers free business training. They offer quite a few different types of classes:STARTING A BUSINESS 1. Small Business Primer: Guide to Starting a Business 2. The Beginning: Developing a Successful Business Plan 3. Starting Your Small Business* 4. Business Plan Workshops 5. Identify Your Target Market 6. My Own Business (A Free Course) 7. How to Start a Business on a Shoestring Budget - trump UniversityBUSINESS PLANNING 1. How to Write a Business Plan - Trump University 2. Business Plan Workshops 3. Creating a Strategic Plan 4. Business Plan Templates 5. Strategic Planning & Execution - PA SBDC - Kutztown University 6. Developing a Business Plan (en español) PA SBDC - Kutztown UniversityBUSINESS MANAGEMENT 1. Managing the Digital Enterprise 2. Developing a Successful Business Plan 3. Business Plan Workshops 4. Growth Strategies 5. Maintaining an Agile Company - South-West Texas SBDCFINANCING & ACCOUNTING 1. How to Find Start-up Funding -...
More About: Training , Offers , TRAI

What if a corporation was run like comments on a blog?
2007-08-22 21:35:00
This video is incredibly funny. Be aware that the language is adult even though the humor is juvenile. humor video
More About: Corporation , Blog , Comments

Weekly Funny - Sarcastic Wednesday
2007-08-20 01:52:00
Have you ever heard of Hoops and Yoyo? They are a couple of characters that Hallmark uses in e-greeting cards. There is one card called Sarcastic Wednesday . I was introduced to this card in the middle of an all day business meeting. I laughed so hard I was crying. After you finish watching that one, check out some of the others. Apparently, they are so popular, they even have their own
More About: Funny , Weekly , Arca

Open Source BI Wiki
2007-08-18 15:55:00
I was recently pointed to a new wiki for Open Source Business Intelligence (OSBI) tools, the OSBIWiki . This is a new wiki and right now it doesn't have a lot of content but I'm hoping it will grow. I would like to see a wiki like this that covers all of the BI tools, proprietary or not. Right now, this wiki has some very basic info for Mondrian, JPivot, BIRT and JasperSoft. I'm hoping it will
More About: Open-Source

Would you like a firmer butt? Give your butt a lift!
2007-08-17 15:02:00
I kid you not, you can now give your butt a facial! Spas across the US are now offering "Butt Facials". These reverse facials promise to tighten, lift and tone you flabby butt. Fortunately, these are advertised as "non-invasive", as a butt facial should be. According to one recipient, "it's a stress reliever and relaxing." At anywhere from $65 per session to $650 for a treatment, it better
More About: Give , Lift

Man loses leg, fails to notice
2007-08-14 21:22:00
From the realm of, "I bet that leaves a bruise!", comes this story from CNN: Japanese biker fails to notice missing leg. According to the story, a Japanese biker was tooling along, minding his own business, when he hit a safety barrier. Ok, at this point, I'm thinking he may have been a little tipsy. Hey, it happens. Have a few brewskis, lose control of your motorbike. Been known to happen.
More About: Notice

Transformers - Ghosts of Yesterday: A Review
2007-08-12 22:00:00
I just finished Transformers : Ghosts of Yesterday (Transformers (Ballantine Books)). This is a prequel to Transformers which was the novelization of the movie. You should check out my review of that one. First the details: Mass Market Paperback: 304 pagesPublisher: Del Rey (March 27, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0345497988ISBN-13: 978-0345497987This novel was written by Alan Dean Foster, who
More About: Review , Este

Transformers: A Review (Seriously!)
2007-08-12 21:33:00
This is a review of both the book and the movie, Tran sformers . I was recently in Books a million and saw a display for the new movie Transformers. Actually, the display was for a novelization of the movie by Alan Dean Foster. If you don't know Alan Dean Foster he did the novelization of at least the first Alien movie (and I think more), Krull, a bunch of original Star Treks, Pip and Flinx,
More About: Review , Seriously

Funny Gadget of the Day
2007-08-08 03:24:00
I found this incredibly annoying yet funny gadget. It's called Mad Cows. You need to click on 30 mad cows in 60 seconds. humor
More About: Funny , Gadget , The D

About LewisC
2007-08-06 02:26:00
Every blog needs an "about" entry, so here is mine. About LewisC Lewis Cunningham is an Oracle Ace, author of EnterpriseDB: The Definitive Guide and a Database Architect. Lewis writes several blogs: How to Make a Blog Oracle DB News LewisC's Random Thoughts EnterpriseDB News PostgreSQL DB News An Expert's Guide to Oracle Technology About New Orleans, LA Lewis's specialties are Oracle, PL/SQL,

Certegy/Fidelity News
2007-08-05 20:37:00
According to SCMagazine, Online forum claims Cert egy breach led to ID theft. The article says:But a number of posters in a Bed, Bath and Beyond online forum accuse Certegy of not being honest. According to the forum, a class-action lawsuit against the company is taking shape over the breach."I just found out a few days ago that my husband and I are now the victims of identity theft," an Oklahoma
More About: News , Deli , Fidelity

An Oracle Expert's Guide to Learning Oracle
2007-07-29 21:07:00
Check out my Squidoo lens, An Oracle Expert's Guid e to Learning Oracle. This lens contains link to Oracle tutorials and more. You can also check out the Squidoo Oracle group. oracle tutorial
More About: Earning