I received a wonderful letter from American Airlines yesterday. I was informed that I am now a Platinum member of its frequent flyer program...

When Walmart is too expensive, America really is in big trouble. Read this article from Reuters regarding Wal-Mart's disappointing re...

I helped found a group called Refuser Solidarity Network , which educates Americans about Israeli soldiers who refuse to take up arms agains...

It truly drives me to distraction to receive piles of catalogs from companies.Well, except for Victoria's Secret. No, no, just kidding. ...

Life in the tropics definitely tends to the casual, and that applies even (especially?) to the tourist industry in Puerto Rico. Veva and I v...

Just got this note from O'Reilly and thought I would pass it along: Save 60% Ebook & Video Deal of the Day Top 10 Database/SQL T...

It's easy to focus on the bad stuff. My father and sister died in January. Deepwater Horizon disaster. Utter failure of "Middle Eas...

A couple days ago, one of my best buddies, Dylan, came over for a visit. Dylan is 2 and a half years old and one of the most delightful huma...

We just upgraded PL/SQL Challenge to release 1.8, which includes these significant new features and changes: * Remember Me: a long-reque...

Check this out: American Airlines just notified me that, sad to say, I will not be qualifying for the Executive Platinum status for 2011....

On 29 November, we held the long-delayed championship playoff for Q3 2010. A total of 62 players participated. Congratulations to our top...

What a concept! Yesterday was the 27th anniversary of my marriage to Veva Silva. Best thing that ever happened to me (well, meeting and fa...

I returned a few days ago from Nuremberg, where I presented my Coding Therapy for Software Developers keynote to several hundred Oracle tec...

I am in Nuremberg for the German Oracle User Group conference (DOAG). Will be presenting my keynote, Coding Therapy, in a few hours. Read ...

Whenever I present on PL/SQL, I make sure to let everyone know they can download all of my training materials and all the supporting code fr...

I was raised a good, Jewish boy, so generally I have no trouble manufacturing a feeling of guilt and "should have" and so on. Bu...

I waited until the very last moment to vote (I left yesterday for Brussels, so I will not be in Chicago on election day). I had been think...

PL/SQL Challenge : daily PL/SQL quiz with weekly, monthly and quarterly prizes. If you are a PL/SQL developer and you are not yet playing th...

Just got this reminder from ODTUG regarding the two-day PL/SQL conferences for which I am the technical co-chair... It's Monday, and...

Learned something new today. I thought that Saab was a dead brand, that GM hadn't found anyone to buy it. Not true , and I am happy for ...