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Friday Philosophy – Hello….?Dave? December 2, 2016Posted by mwidlake in Perceptions, Friday Philosophy, humour, UKOUG, conference.
Tags: Meeting, perception, behaviour, UKOUG
8 comments
In 2 days time the UKOUG Tech16 conference starts. I love this conference, I've been to all but 1 one of them in the last 15 years – but I am not going to go on about why I like it so much again.
I'm going to tell you one reason I don't like it. Names! Names of people I know. Names of people I have known for years and who I've seen and spent time with at many of the UKOUG Tech conferences. Yes, I have mentioned before that I am terrible with names (and all memory task to be frank) and I know others have the same problem. But for me, the annual UKOUG conference is particularly bad – and I've even started developing some anxiety about it.
Why is UKOUG Tech particularly bad for me?
- I've been going to it for so long I know many, many people there from prior conferences, some of whom I have met a dozen times now, had meals with, got drunk with… Let's stop there.
- There are a lot of people there who I meet at other UKOUG events and other conferences. We have a LOT of speakers at this conference and I must know 75% of the database ones and half the others.
- As I present every year at UKOUG and now help organise the event, lots of people recognise me – but I don't really recognise them!
That last point is an interesting one, it's similar to when people who work in television met "the public". Sometimes those members of the public assume they know the television personality – as they see them on TV so often. So when I present or chair a session people see me and are reminded who I am (I usually admit my name when I present). I might have spent time chatting to them so I DO know them – but with my memory and the fact that I do not have a regular reminder of their name, in my head they are either Dave or Sarah (if I can't remember your name, mentally those are the names I give you. I can usually determine gender…).
One example is John Lancashire. I've known John for years & years, we get on really well. We always catch up with where we are in our jobs, what odd things have happened in our lives and the like. We had a chat on Facebook a couple of days ago and plan to meet up again this year at the conference. Only whenever I meet him for some reason I want to call him Richard or Patrick and I have to run through the counties of Northern England to try to remember his last name to trigger his correct first name. All the time I'm internally screaming "He knows I've forgotten his name! He knows, He'll be offended!". Women seem to get particularly miffed if you get their name wrong. Maybe that is why, as a young man, I was utterly incapable of "chatting women up". Name anxiety kind of makes you nervous.
So the name thing is particularly bad for me at UKOUG and part of the reason for this post is as an up-front excuse and to say "sorry!!!"
But the other reason for it is – I am not alone in this. Lots of us struggle with names and those who don't probably can't understand why we do – we just do!
So it would be really nice, everyone, if you could wear your badge so your name is easy to see. So not on your belt, not in your pocket and please try and not locate it near your groin or your breasts, as it unnerves people when I stare at them in those locations. I have to confess that I am a repeat offender for having my badge down by my crotch as, well, I'm short and the lanyards are long. I have to remember to shorten it. (The lanyard, not the crotch).
One thing I forgot to ask the UKOUG to do this year is do what the Bulgarian User Group do – make sure the name is on both sides of the badge. That really helps and the UKOUG ones seem to always spin to the none-name side.
So if I meet you at a conference and I look panicked, it's probably name-anxiety. And if I call you Dave or Sarah you know exactly why. What's bad is when I meet a Dave and call them Patrick.
From Forms to DB v12.2 via Ask Tom, the Real World Performance Team, & The Optimizer Lady – UKOUG TECH16 next month November 7, 2016Posted by mwidlake in conference, UKOUG, User Groups.
Tags: Meeting, UKOUG, user group
2 comments
In just under 1 month the annual UKOUG conferences are happening – Tech16, Apps16 and JDE16
All three run from Monday the 5th December through to Wednesday the 7th in the centre of Birmingham, at the International Conference Centre – and if you are registered for the main conference you can register for free for Super Sunday the day before the main conference kicks off. Places on Super Sunday are limited and are allocated on a first come first served basis.
{I do not usually sat this but -this post is my opinion, not sanctioned by UKOUG. I may do a lot for the UKOUG but I'm just a volunteer not a member of the board or employee}.
I've been coming to the UKOUG Tech conference for pretty much the whole of this century. I think I started in 2002 and I have only missed one year since then and I come for the whole event every time. Why am I so keen to make it to this particular conference? Because it has a huge breadth of technical content and the UKOUG is independent of Oracle – that last point is vital and some people do not realise that UKOUG is an independent user group. They are not financially supported by Oracle and they can put on whatever talks they want to. I like to think we have a mutually beneficial relationship with Oracle but it is not a marriage!
As a result of that independence we (and I can & should say "we" as I am involved in organising the conference) do not have to follow the current sales and marketing direction of Oracle Corporation. If you have seen any Oracle marketing activity over the last 2 years you would have picked up on a slight "cloud" bias from them. If you went to Oracle Open World 16 then you would have had 5 days of being force-fed cloud, cloud and more cloud. Cloud is going to save the world it would seem.
Only Cloud is not everything. Many companies that use Oracle are not going to cloud-based systems yet, some have no interest in cloud offerings and though only a fool would ignore Cloud, most technicians are here and now still mostly dealing with traditional services that are hosted somewhere on your premises.
So what do we have at Tech16? Up to 14 concurrent sessions running through each day. Have a look at the agenda here. There are 3 or 4 database streams on each day, at least two streams covering development and pretty much 3, at least one whole stream dedicated to Systems (including engineered solutions like Exadata), Big Data and Business Analytics, plus other streams on each day.
The 12.2 version of the database is out. But it isn't. It's in the cloud but it is not in OTN to download. So where exactly is it? Even now, that is not clear and Oracle Corp is not helping to make it clear. But it will be at the conference. We have talks on 12.2, what is in it, what is new. So if you want to know the latest, you will be able to get a lot of information about it at UKOUG Tech16. It's not 100% clear if it will just be called "next generation" or not. After all, when it is generally available maybe Oracle will call it something else. I'm hoping for Oracle Twelveteen.
A complaint I hear from people over and over again every year is that there is nearly always 2 or more talks of interest at any time, for almost any point in the conference. Whilst I sympathise with how annoying that is, what this indicates is that we get so many excellent talks submitted to the conference that we are able to pick only good ones🙂.
This is not to say we get the scheduling totally right. With so many streams, with each delegate's sphere of interest being different and with the juggling that happens as some speakers have to ask for slot changes or pull out (stuff happens, sometimes a speaker cannot make the event no matter how much they would like to), the ball is occasionally dropped and talks on very similar topics occur at the same time that would have been better spread apart. If this happens, please let one of the organising staff know so we can track how often we get it wrong and learn for next year. (But please, don't shout at anyone – a lot of people put a lot of effort into this).
As for the content, it is across the board. We have talks on Forms as we realised is was a missing area and is still used by lots and lots of people. We have our introductory pathways that are explained in the conference brochure – a recommended itinerary of talks for people new to that area of tech. We had deep dive stuff for the ner… very technical people. And we have some of the best speakers in the business plus the official word from Oracle. Connor McDonald is doing the Database keynote and a couple of other sessions and the other half of "Ask Tom", Chris Saxon, is presenting too – and both will be taking questions. "SQL Maria" Colgan will be talking about in-memory and the Real World performance team is represented by the evergreen Graham Wood. I know I've concentrated there in the DB part of the conference but it's the area I know best and the one the majority of you looking at this blog will be interested in.
There is another reason I come to the conference (overlooking the slight issue that as I help organise it I am not going to miss it!) which is the social side. Other conferences have social events that secretly we at the UKOUG are envious of – but the larger you get the harder it is to organise special events but we try to ensure there is plenty of stuff going on after the talks. We make sure there are a couple of events each evening that we can all get together at – Exhibition Drinks, Community Drinks and the Tuesday party. Drinking is not obligatory but meeting people is!
I go to UKOUG TechXX for the content. I stay up until late for the social. If you have never been before and you have the opportunity, well I've been coming along for 13 or 14 years. I must think it's worth it.
Tech 16 – We Want Your Abstracts on SE, Real-World & Practical Topics May 25, 2016Posted by mwidlake in Meeting notes, Presenting, UKOUG, User Groups.
Tags: Meeting, UKOUG, user group
5 comments
The Call for Papers is open for the UK Oracle User Group annual TECH conference. It's in Birmingham, in December, and is being co-located with the JDE & Apps conferences too (and the call for papers is open for them also).
If you are a Standard Edition (SE) expert, have a real-world story to tell about how you used Oracle (good or bad!) or want to teach others how to get going with some aspect of Oracle, I really want to see your abstracts.
You can register as a speaker and submit abstracts here at this link. You have until June 1st, so that's just under a week. Plenty of time🙂
I love this event, I've been going since 2002. Last year was the best for many years, almost everyone I spoke to felt it had regained the energy of prior years, attendance was up, lots of new faces were there and, a real sign of a good agenda, people complained that they were having to pick between excellent talks.
A couple of things have changed a little in the last two years, which I think have increased the overall appeal of the UKOUG conference.
First is that we now have "introductory streams". These are talks that need no or little prior knowledge of the topic and give you all the information about it to get going. The conference had become a little too "expert-focused", packed with great talks about esoteric aspects of tuning or internals that many of us love – but not everyone is ready for or interested in. We will still have lots of those, but we are giving more talks for those who are not experts (yet). This will be the third year we are doing this due to it's success. If you are an expert, how about offering a paper that gets people started? Such talks tend to get much larger and enthusiastic audiences.
Second is the Standard Edition stream. This was really popular last year, the first ever dedicated stream of sessions for SE at any conference. Lots of you use SE but like the small kid in the schoolyard, it tends to get ignored. Last year we chose introductory talks, for obvious reasons, this year we are aiming for more depth – can you talk for 45 minutes about an aspect of SE, help people really make the most of it?
Third is more emphasis on real-world experience based talks. They are always the most popular, especially if they are about things not working out as the theory or Oracle Sales Guys would make out. The UKOUG is a User Group, we want to share good, bad and ugly. Personally I'd love for someone to step up to the mark and give some talks about real Cloud adoption or why Cloud is NOT the answer to all requirements.
Of course, we are always interested in the latest-greatest, just-released and did-you-know-about type talks too. But to be honest, we get lots of those🙂
Presentations & People, Friends & Fun, Whisky & Wet Laptops – UKOUG Tech15 December 10, 2015Posted by mwidlake in conference, UKOUG, User Groups.
Tags: Meeting, UKOUG, user group
7 comments
Wet laptops?
I'll get to them…
The UKOUG Tech15 conference ran earlier this week, from Super Sunday on the 6th through to the final sessions finishing at 16:20 on Wednesday 9th. In fact, I see on twitter that some people kept the fun going into Wednesday evening. I have to admit up-front my personal Bias – I was the database lead for the volunteers doing content and agenda planning. If you did not like anything about the Database stream content or how it was organised, please blame me and PLEASE either let me know direct or the UKOUG office. We can only try improve to things if we know they need improving.
So, having stated my bias, I actually thought tech15 was the best UKOUG Tech conference we have had in a few years. I feel this was helped by our return to the ICC in Birmingham as, for us old hands, it just felt like coming home. Also, the venue just works for us. Admittedly the spread of rooms over several levels can be a bit confusing for the new delegates & presenters, but you soon get used to it and the signage is pretty good (but I know we need to do better for some of the smaller Executive rooms hidden in what feels like the janitorial basement of a "Die Hard" movie – I love the irony that the "executive" rooms are in the least plush part of the place). Over the years we have worked out {mostly} how to make the space work best for us.
Just like the rooms, I feel the main conference works for people at all levels, just like my friend Svetoslav and I🙂. {for some reason people often want to take a picture of us two together…}. For the last two years we have specifically included introductory-level talks and aimed to suggest an introductory thread running through the conference. This year there was a thread for each and every stream. The idea is that if you already know your technical area, the topics of interest to you, and those speakers you feel talk to you then you are able to pick you talks quite easily (apart from the inevitable clash of 3 talks at the same time that are great – sorry!). The intro pathways are intended to help those who are new to the tech (or just that area), who cannot easily work out what is suitable or accessible. Plus, there is some importance to helping guide beginners to presenters who are easier to digest. Some presenters are technically very, very strong – but you need to actively listen rather than expect to be entertained.
We kicked off with Super Sunday which was focused on more technically deep-down material. It was bigger than ever before and we had 7 streams, two on Database. I have to take my hat off to Brendan Tierney who was unable to get to Super Sunday on time – due to storms between Ireland & England on Saturday – but still managed to present! Mike Vickers on the Business Analytics committee swept into action, found a video of Brendan doing a similar talk elsewhere and made it happen. The session went well, I heard it was great to hear Brendan but not have to put up with him actually in the room🙂 {JOKE! He's a good friend}. Super Sunday was fully booked well before the day, we had a great crowd and everyone seemed to really enjoy the event. I only heard good feedback – apart from one thing. How did we make the mistake of putting Connor McDonald in such a small room? Our bad, so sorry about that😦.
Getting back to the main conference, we had a Standard Edition stream this year, on Monday. We gave a full stream to this, 7 sessions, a big chunk of the Database content that day. It was a bit of a risk but when Joel Goodman suggested it at the planning kick-off meeting we agreed it was an area we ignored and felt there was a need for. Joel had been inspired by Jan Karremans, Philippe Fierens & Ann Sjökvist (of "SE Just Love It" fame) who had all started evangelising about it. Again, I heard great things about the sessions I did not get to, really enjoyed what I did and it seems we were serving a need in the community. So, doing what we should be doing as a user group, which is heartening. I actually think Oracle Corp is listening to the user community on this one and modifying its position, which is of course great for everyone.
I missed out on the conference keynote by Neil Sholay. I am allergic to conference-wide, oracle-business-direction talks. It would seem I should get over myself as I missed a cracking and insightful presentation. People I talked to said it was the best conference Keynote that had heard in a long while.
I feel I do have to mention two other sessions and those are the panel Q&A ones on the DB stream – I advertised them before the event and they were an Optimizer panel (by Jonathan Lewis, Maria Colgan, Chris Antognini and Nigel Bayliss – who is the new SQL Maria🙂 ) and the Database Keynote which was part presentation and then an open Q&A. Dom Giles & Maria Colgan took questions with their boss, Penny Avril, and these questions were totally unsighted. Some came from people before the session (and a big thankyou to the people at the curry the night before for adding *significantly* to that) and then the audience came alive and asked what they wanted. In both sessions Neil Chandler & I played "Dick and Dom" or "The chuckle brothers" maybe, putting forward the questions and trying to get to the audience members brave enough to ask at the time. I think by the end of the second session we almost knew what we were doing.
I won't go into other sessions as I saw so many good ones and heard about many, many more. I asked around a lot and the general consensus is we had content people wanted across all sessions, streams and days. But please provide us with session feedback, it is very important to the speakers and the organisers.
The other side of conference is, of course, the social side. I spend as much time now out of sessions as in them, catching up with friend and meeting people I have never come across before or, the special joy of a conference, meeting someone in the flesh you previously knew only via social media, email or reputation. The best place to catch up with a lot of people is at the evening socials organised by UKOUG. This year a few of us added a "secret" element to the Community Drinks, which is that several of us brought along whisky to try. We know whisky (or even alcohol) is not everyone's taste but it was just a bit of fun, an extra dimension to everything else on offer. And boy it worked. It got crowds around the tables and then others with no interest in the whisky came to chat to the crowds and it was all very amiable. The only "problem" was, so many of use brought along a bottle (or even two) that we had something like 18 whiskys {from all over Scotland as well as Irish and Welsh). The idea came from and was done by the community, to benefit the community, which is just perfect "User Group". I'm going to acknowledge Thomas Presslie & Neil Chandler for that.
As well as the organised UKOUG social events there are plenty of people going of in smaller or larger groups to have a meal or sit around a table in a quieter pub, which is where you get to really know people. I wish I could do more of that, but with only 3 days I inevitably get to the end of the conference and think "I never had a nice pint with X… or Y… or…." well, enough for a couple of goes through the alphabet. I try and do more by hanging about in the hotel bar but that can be a dangerous thing to do! Even though I established a reputation for having a Nice Cup Of Tea at around 11pm.
Then there is the final part of conference for me. I'm there to help. All of us on the committees, the UKOUG volunteers and of course the UKOUG staff are there to try and make sure presenters and delegates alike have a good experience. Some presenters, like Zahid Anwar, Mike Dietrich, Chris Lawless and Chris Saxon step in with only a couple of weeks or less to fill a hole in the agenda that opens up. Some people will even step in to provide a talk at the drop of a hat. And we nearly had that this year in three incidents I know of directly. The first I already mentioned, with Brendan being replace with a video of himself. But we had someone we could have asked if the video did not work out. Zahid lost his laptop en-route and had to chase it across the train lines of the Midlands. He contacted me and I pre-warned people we might need to do a quick swap, but got in just in time. As for Chris…
Chris Saxon came over to me about 16:00 on Tuesday. "Hmm, I have a bit of an issue. My laptop got wet and has stopped working". Chris was not doing a normal presentation, he was doing demonstrations. We fired up his damp laptop and it could not see his disk. So I looked up the local Maplins and sent him that way and I went to my hotel and got my own laptop. We managed to take his disk out the laptop and put it in an external caddy, via which I could see the contents when we plugged it into my machine. After messing with permissions we got the bare necessities over to my machine and then Chris worked his magic to make his "SQL Magic" session work on this foreign machine. He was very grateful, which is nice, but it's sort-of what we are there for. I want him to be able to present and you guys & gals to see it. So I was more than happy to help it happen.
The one downer was that I now had to be there early Wednesday morning before his session, to get my laptop to him and allow him a final test. That would have been fine if I had not been naughty and stayed out way too late Tuesday night. I did not get anything like enough sleep before I got up a bit too late and rushed over to the room he was presenting in. But it happened and, I have to say, Chris was remarkably calm and organised throughout the whole experience.
BTW for anyone who was in the actual session and saw me "storm out" when he slagged off my machine – he knew I was going to pop out. I was "a bit tired" from the night before and had not even sipped a cup of tea, so I had to get something to eat/drink or fall over. I did come back and take my seat again but I know a couple of people thought I had thrown my toys out my pram🙂
It was a great conference. I can't wait for UKOUG TECH16. Next December. In the Birmingham ICC.
UKOUG_Tech15 – One Last Big Conference to Round Off 2015 and it's a Cracking One December 2, 2015Posted by mwidlake in conference, UKOUG, User Groups.
Tags: Meeting, UKOUG, user group
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It is December so it must be time for the UKOUG annual Tech conference. And it is! It is being held from Monday 7th December to Wednesday 9th December at the ICC in central Birmingham, UK. You can see full details here at their main website. It is taking place at the same time and location as the Apps15 and JDE15 conference. Of course, I am both blessed with inside knowledge and biased as I have helped with the organisation this year, specifically on creating the database stream content. But I am sure this year, on it's return to the conference spiritual home of Birmingham, it's going to be the best Tech15 conference in years.
You can still register for the event. If you or your organisation have UKOUG membership and you have not registered yet, you are really missing out. If you are not a member, you can still register and pay for the conference alone – or join the UKOUG membership at a level where conference passes are included which makes way more sense. Information can be found at this link
If technical content is your thing, you might still be able to register for Super Sunday {Update – Super Sunday is now fully subscribed, but you can ask to be on the waiting list}, which is free if you are registered for the main event. Details can be found here but in summary it is a 7-stream afternoon of deep dives into database, development, APEX, Business Analytics and Integration topics with speakers such as Connor Mcdonald (half of the new Ask Tom – how many slides will he cover?), Mark Rittmam of Rittman Mead fame, Luca Canali from CERN, Product manager of PL/SQL and EBR Bryn Llewellyn (with guest appearances by Jonathan Lewis and Stewart Ashton)… Basically, lots of good stuff.
There is of course lots of technical content in the main Tech15 conference and a whole host of top presenters – and also new presenters, some of whom are sure to become the big names of future years. As a User Group, the whole aim is to grow the knowledge and expertise of every member of UKOUG.
I just can't pick names from the list for the main conference so I've stolen an impressive tweet put out by Sten Vesterli about the number of Oracle ACEs and ACE Directors who are presenting at Tech15. I did a quick count and it looks like about 58 to me!
You might be more interested in the official word from Oracle as to the direction of the company and the technology. We have lots of presentations by Oracle themselves, the conference keynote by Neil Sholay on Re-imagining the role of IT for Digital, and technical keynotes for all of the specific streams. I'll make a special call out for my "own" database keynote, which is something special this year. Dominic Giles, Penny Avril and Maria Colgan will give a review of What's New and then take questions – any questions – from the floor. No questions placed by them, real questions. You can see details (and how to submit questions) at my blog post about it here.
There is also the Exhibition Hall where we have something like 60 exhibitor, all happy and willing to show you what services and solutions they can offer you. And a free pen🙂. This is where we all gather for coffee and lunches and mingle with exhibitors and attendees alike.
I've been going to the UKOUG Tech conference for well over a decade now, I have only missed it once in that time (and that was for a Significant Milestone Holiday) and I go for 2 main reasons:
- The technical content I have mentioned already.
- The social side.
Tech15 is a huge conference for a user group with several hundred people there – and yet there will be a hundred plus people there I know. It is such an established and friendly group that though I meet some people only at the conference each year they have become good friends. For me personally, this is now the main point of the conference, but then I guess we all have different things we want to get out of the event.
The social side is very important. On Monday evening there is the Community drinks. This is where there will be people from each of the SIG (Special Interest Groups) run by UKOUG to talk to you about their party of the community and give you a beer, wine or soft drink. There are rumours that some whisky tasting will be on offer….
After the Community Drinks most people head out to one of the many bars or restaurants around the conference centre. You will find a crowd in All-Bar-One or one of the other places over the bridge from "the back" of the conference centre. Later on you may well find a bunch of people in the bars of the larger hotels.
On Tuesday we start with Exhibition Drinks in the exhibition hall for an hour or so and then there is the Big Birmingham Bash – from 18:45 until late with various entertainments, drinks and food. We join up with Apps15 and JDE15 for this. Again, if this is not enough for you then you and your friends can move on to the surrounding bars and restaurants after.
I'm really looking forward to the event and meeting lots of old friends there, as well as people I only know virtually who are managing to get to the conference this year. I'll be there from Sunday, I know I will learn a lot over the four days, have a good time and probably stay out too late. I'll be worn out by Wednesday – but it's worth it.
A Different Type of Keynote & Jonathan Lewis Panel Session at UKOUG Tech15 November 27, 2015Posted by mwidlake in Presenting, UKOUG, User Groups.
Tags: knowledge, Presenting, UKOUG, user group
2 comments
Technical people tend not to enjoy Keynotes at conferences. We are allergic to content-light "there has never been a better time to invest in our products" fluffy, frou-frou, big picture talks. We want how-it-works meat on the bones of what is served up to us.
Well, at the UKOUG Tech15 conference this year (Birmingham ICC 7th-9th December) we have a treat for you – The Database stream keynote is technical AND you get to ask whatever questions you want – questions about Oracle RDBMS technology that is.
Dominic Giles, Maria Colgan and Penny Avril have agreed to be up on stage and, after the first half telling us about some of the things introduced at Oracle OpenWorld 2015, they will take questions. Questions they do not know are coming. Real questions. From people at the conference. Your questions. These are not questions that have been placed by them or checked with them before hand.
Dom does this at smaller user groups; he stands up and asks for any questions from the audience and he just tells it the way he sees it. His incredible knowledge of the product is matched only by his humour (so no huge expectation for you to live up to there, Dom!). Maria and Penny are similarly endowed with knowledge and great presentation skills and are willing to give this a go for us. Brave people.
{I think in the photo Dominic has just been asked about why something in Oracle does not work – and he's trying to decide whether or not to kill the person who asked…}
You will be able to ask questions on the day, at the session, but you will also be able to post questions at the UKOUG information desk on Monday and I am happy for you to send me any questions you have (email@example.com or leave a comment on this blog – I don't think Maria, Dom or Penny drop by here very often so they won't see them…:-) ). Of course, there is no point asking a question if you do not intend to be at the conference and at that session!
Having run similar sessions to this at smaller events, I know that you need some questions to get the ball rolling and then, with a little luck, the audience warms up and asks questions. The key thing is, no matter the source, the panel do not know the questions before-hand. I've seen sessions like that, with placed questions, and it just comes over as fake.
Why did I mention Jonathan Lewis? Well, on Monday at 11:20 he is doing another panel session taking questions, with Nigel Bayliss, Christian Antognini and Maria Colgan (again – we work them hard). This session is focused on the Cost Based Optimizer. We already have enough initial questions but if you are curious about the optimizer and performance, maybe ask your own question from the floor, it's a must-see session. Jonathan talks about this session in this blog post.
So at UKOUG Tech15 you have two panel sessions in the database stream where you can ask questions. We also have several "Roundtable" sessions across the whole agenda which are perfect for asking questions too. If you have never been to one, a Roundtable session is more a discussion in a smaller group, with one or two experts "officially" there as well as usually some unofficial experts in the crowd. Panel session are "pose your question, get expert answers", roundtables are more interactive, more like a conversation in the bar. They can get quite lively (but fights are rare)🙂.
All in all, we are aiming for a good dose of interaction between presenters and delegates. And never forget, most of us presenters are more than happy to chat and answer questions throughout the conference. Just don't ask hard questions if you meet us in the evenings, when we are half-drunk…
Analysing UKOUG Presenter's – I Know How You Performed. June 16, 2015Posted by mwidlake in conference, Presenting, UKOUG, User Groups.
Tags: perception, Presenting, UKOUG, user group
2 comments
This last few days I've been analysing how well received previous presentations (since 2006!) have been at the UKOUG tech conferences. It's interesting to look at the information. I've learnt some interesting things about all those well-known-names🙂
Like many conferences and user group meetings, during the conference and shortly afterwards the UKOUG ask attendees to feed back on the presentations, keynotes and round tables that people go to. If you chair a session, one of your tasks is to request people do the feedback forms. Talks are judged for several aspect (concept, quality of slides, presentation skills, overall value and a couple more) from 1 (very poor) to 6 (excellent). You can also add a free-text comment. The reason for an even number of possible scores it to prevent a non-committal middle score. Why not 1-8 or 1-10? I don't really know, but I did see a blog post recently about using a wider range and it seemed to not really add to the overall benefit of the feedback as the very top and very bottom scores were never used. This information is compiled and fed back to the individual speakers, along with the average scores across the event. Speakers are very keen to know how they did compared to everyone else {no egos involved here🙂 } and also any specific comments on their efforts. It is important to us speakers, we need to know if you liked or disliked what we did so we can improve. Or sulk.
This is an example of the feedback we get (one of mine, of course).
Something that has annoyed me for many years is that the speaker scores are not formally analysed and fed into the speaker selection process for future UKOUG conferences. I used to get really quite vexed by this {ie bad tempered and, well, annoying & complaining to the UKOUG office}. I suspected they were going to do to me what you should always consider doing to some loud-mouthed complainer and say "well, if you are so passionate about this – you damn well do it!". So I offered to take the data and process it.
The information I received was not the raw feedback forms, but the average scores per talk – the information actually passed back to the presenters. Which is perfect for my purposes. I analysed data from 2006 to 2014 {though 2008 was missing), so a pretty comprehensive data set. SIG talk feedback is also missing, I'll work with the UKOUG office to incorporate that for version 2 of the analysis.
Compiling all the data into a single rating per speaker is more demanding than first seems. Isn't any data analysis project? Rather than consider all areas speakers are judged on I decided to score people on only two dimensions (areas to you and I) – presentation skills and overall value of the session. When we judge papers those are the two main things we want to know – can the person present well and do they usually give a talk people value.
Some of the challenges were:
– What to score speakers on – I've just said what I chose.
– People's names. I need to group talks on this but it's a free-text field of course so I had to clean that. I stripped off title, edited variations and then reviewed. For women, their Surname can alter with marital status {I find it rather archaic that this is still very common and almost exclusively impacts women. But then, I offered to my wife we use her maiden name as our married one and she was fine to take mine.} But you also get variations on first name, spelling mistakes and alterations of title. I had to solve that to group scores.
– The number of feedback forms received for a given presentation. If a presentation only gets one feedback form, how reliable are the scores? If it gets 5 feedback forms, how reliable is that? 35 forms? I came up with a weighting based on the number of feedback forms where if only 1 feedback score was given, it held less weight than 5, that held less weight than 15… etc.
– Oddities of eg co-presenters or the "speaker" actually being a facilitator, as is often the case with Round Table sessions.
– The data, as held in Excel, being "damaged". ie it caused my analysis issues as things had been done to the data to support other purposes – what was important to the UKOUG organising the conference that year. Sorting those issues out took up most of my efforts.
– The fact that I was using Excel as the analysis tool. I'm a SQL guy!!!! But the thing is, with a relatively small volume of data and a need to constantly visually check alterations, some things are just much easier in a tool like Excel than SQL. And some things are way harder.
In the end, I got a set of scores that helped us on the Agenda Planning Day (well, it did in the database stream) and hopefully will develop over the years. It would be wrong of me to discuss how specific Oracle Names did, especially any who did poorly, but the scores informed our deliberations this year and should do so for years to come. If you want to contact me directly and ask me how you did – I won't tell you (or anyone else). But I can talk about more generic things I discovered.
Over all presentations from 2006 to 2014
the average number of feedbacks for a session is around 10
The average for Presentation Skills is 4.6
The average for Overall Value is 4.5
So almost 4.5 out of 6 as the average scores, which is "Good" to "Very Good".
NB I do not calculate my averages in the same way as the UKOUG office.
Because I weight my scores and remove zero values (and probably a couple of other differences, such as I already have averages not the raw scores) my average scores do not compare and are higher to the ones they issue for events. I think I am a harsher judge🙂
So what were some of the interesting things I discovered?
- Well, for starters, scores for a given presentation rarely hit as low as 3. In fact, except for a small number of stand-out-bad talks, most scores of 3 were where only 1 feedback score was received, some with 2. We don't seem to like giving low feedback scores. The same goes for 6. I only saw 6 if the number of feedback forms was 1 or 2. So reliable scores are between 3.01 and 5.99 really.
- As I was stripping off people's title by manual replacement runs, I know how many Mrs, Ms, Miss, Dr etc we get. Miss and Ms go up – and down – over the years. It varies a lot, but Ms is becoming more common. What is disappointing is the consistently low number of presentations by women. But I know that in the years I have been involved, the proportion of presentations by women is in proportion to the number of submissions, or even a tad higher. Come on ladies, represent your constituents! Some of the highest speaking scores are by women.
- Another thing I get from the person title, we get no papers submitted by Professors, Colonels (or any military bigwigs), members of the clergy or peers of the realm. Or members of royal families. They are simply not trying are they?
- On a personal note – I am Utterly Average. Over 8 years I fall number 296 and 298 out of 623 speakers for Presentation Skills and Overall Value respectively. Have you any idea how much that damaged my ego?!? I was gutted! Where I am a little more unusual is my average number of feedback scores, which is 21.6, in the top 15%. I'm massaging my ego with that (it's all I've got!).
{what is really vexing is I dug out my scores from earlier years and they were better than my running average – and my scores are pulled down by one talk in 2010 where I really bombed. Have you any idea how tempting it was for me to delete that one talk out of the data set?}
- Some speakers, a small number, always-always-always get high votes, mostly as they are excellent but with an added slice I suspect of of, well, they are deeply respected. But interestingly, even well known people (what I think of as the 'B' list and even a couple of 'A' listers in my opinion) can bomb. Some regularly. I mean, if you saw the scores for….no, I won't say🙂.
But the scores for individual speakers can and do vary. I saw one speaker, who in my opinion is a brilliant technician and a fantastic speaker, be up in the high 5.8's for one talk and then down in the low 3's for another. That made me dig in further and there are several people I know and hold a similar opinion on who have high and low talks. So that makes me feel that the user feedback scores are generally reliable and even respected speakers will get a poor score if the talk misses it's mark. The best just simply never miss the mark, or not by much.
- Not to be too harsh, but if you score 4 or below for either presentation skills or overall value and got 3 or more feedback forms – you bombed.
But bombing occasionally is OK. I've bombed (well, this close to bombed) and I've learned. Many excellent presenters have bombed. We all alter in our presenting skills over time. Most of you get better over time – I've got a tiny bit worse! But if you bomb all the time? Then maybe presenting is not your thing. It is not the only route to spreading the word, maybe try writing. But, again to be harsh, if you can't present we owe it to the delegates of the conference not to select you to present.
Those of us organising the content know, as a group, who the best speakers are. We ensure that they get slots. And we have a good feel for who the better speakers are and they get looked on "favorably". We do this as we want the best content and experience for the audience. Eric Postlethwaite may be a genius at VPD and know it inside out, but if they present like a cardboard cut-out with bad breath then the session will be a failure. Judging scores are the top filter but we on the planning committee keep in mind how good a speaker is. What worried me was that this was not scientific, it was word-of-mouth and gut-feel, which is why I spent many days in Excel World to take the raw feedback and convert it into scores. I want the audience feedback to influence the content.
If you speak (or have spoken) for the first time and your scores are below average, don't worry too much. As you can see from the above, you are up against a pre-selected set of known, excellent speakers. Hitting average is actually something of an achievement (and I would say that as I am Mr Average!).
One thing jumped out at me. I looked at all the comments (and I do mean all) for a couple of years and I noticed that you get the odd person who tries to "make a point" by adding the same comment to all the speakers' feedback forms they fill in. Don't do that. The speakers do not deserve your ire at the conference. It's childish of you. If you want to raise an issue with the conference as a whole, don't spam it on the speaker feedback forms, you dilbert, be an adult and contact someone involved in the conference organisation direct. Oddly enough, we DO like to have people come and say what you felt did not work, but spamming it on all the speaker feedback forms is just non-directed trolling.
I said I would not name names, it is not fair. But I'm going to name one though, and this is based on MY opinion of what I have seen looking at the stats. This is not official UKOUG opinion. Connor McDonald? Your presentation skills are awesome. I wanted to edit your scores down through pure envy. You are a good presenter, sir.
Friday Philosophy – Why I Volunteer for User Groups May 22, 2015Posted by mwidlake in Friday Philosophy, Presenting, Private Life, UKOUG.
Tags: behaviour, Presenting, UKOUG, user group
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I've just noticed a new page about me popping up on the UKOUG web site – It's in the section about volunteer case studies, alongside people like Joel Goodman, Simon Haslam, Carl Dudley, Jason Arneil, Brendan Tierney and others who have been
stupid good enough to give time and effort to the UKOUG.
{You can get to the page by going to the UKOUG home page (www.ukoug.org) and clicking the Membership or Member Activities tab and Case Studies & Testimonials under that and finally Volunteer Case Studies. Phew. Or follow the link I gave at the start and click on the other names.}
I'm not sure how long I've been up on there but only a couple of days I think.
Anyway, Why DO I volunteer for user groups?
The little bio covers most of it but I thought I would put some words here on my blog too. I volunteer because, fundamentally, I am a socialist (with a small 'S') – I feel that we are all better off if we all help each other. I've been helped by people in my career (presenting stuff I don't know, giving advice), I guess I feel that I should return that favor. Many of the people who have (and continue) to help me stand nothing to gain personally by helping me. In fact, one or two have helped me when, strictly speaking, they are helping create a rival for work opportunities. I try to do the same to those around me. I know, it sounds a bit "Disney film teaching the kids to do right" goody-two-shoes, but that is the core of it. And there are some other aspects to it too…
Why do I volunteer for the UKOUG specifically? Because they are THE main user group in my geographic area and provide the most support to the Oracle user community here in the UK. Most of the people involved in the UKOUG are just nice people too. But I also support and volunteer for smaller user groups, mostly by either promoting their meetings, going to them or presenting. I started presenting at the main UKOUG conference back when Dido, Eminem and Christina Aguilera where in their hey-days. I also went to the RDBMS and similar SIGs and before long I was presenting at them and then got sucked into chairing one of them – the Management and Infrastructure SIG. I've been slowly sucked in more & more as the years role by.
That has led on to me presenting at other user groups in different countries. Actually, I used to do quite a bit of presenting abroad (mostly the US) around 10 years ago, but that was part of the role I had at the time and my employer paid the bills. No employer to pay the bills now, but then as it is my time I try to make presenting abroad also a chance to have a short holiday, I try to take a day or two one side or the other of the event to look around. And actually, it is nice spending time with other people who present at or attend user group meetings.
Another part of it is I just like presenting. This is not quite so Disney Nice Guy, there is an aspect that is more selfish, that standing up, being listened to and telling people stuff that maybe they don't know makes me feel better about myself. Better about myself? OK, I'll let that stand for now but it is more that it makes me feel I am achieving something and having an impact. That I am useful. Fundamentally it is still a desire to help and presenting does not scare me (I know it is scary for a lot of people, but then a lot of people are not scared of heights and I am – it all balances out). But with a slice of "look at me!!!" thrown in.
There are also rewards for the effort. I've got to know a lot more people as a result of presenting, blogging (and now tweeting) than I would have had I stayed just one of the audience. For me it has helped me make more friends. As I said above, part of what is now nice about user group meetings for me is meeting friends I've made who are also on the speaker circuit and there is inevitable a few drinks in the evening whenever there is a user group. It also gives you more exposure in the community and helps lead to job opportunities – or at least that is the theory. No one has yet offered me a job because they liked my blog post or presentation!
That leads me to the last aspect of volunteering. Some people volunteer primarily for selfish reasons. To get bragging rights, get it on their CV's, to help them get sales contacts or better jobs. The odd thing is, people who do it for those reasons tend not to last – as volunteering for user groups is a lot of hard work to get those rewards. You can usually spot them as they are the ones who don't actually do a lot or complain all the time about the coffee being bad (actually, usually the coffee IS bloody terrible) and other things. Don't get me wrong, some of those rewards do come with the volunteering, but if someone is volunteering primarily to get them, it does not seem to work out for them. Or maybe that is my socialism coming out again🙂. Fundamentally, I think volunteering only works if, at the core of it, you want to help other people. Maybe that is why other volunteers are such nice people to hang around with.
Why do you do it? (or not).
My First Published Article April 21, 2015Posted by mwidlake in Presenting, publications, UKOUG.
Tags: Blogging, Presenting, publishing, UKOUG
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I've been blogging now for almost 6 years and presenting at conferences for… 12 years (really? Good grief!). I've even written and delivered several courses, ranging from 1 day to 3 days in length. However, up until now I've never been what I would term published – ie managed to persuade another organisation or person to publish something I have written.
That changed a few days ago when the latest UKOUG "Oracle Scene" magazine came out, which included the first of a small series of articles I am doing on how the Oracle RDMBS works – the processes and activities that underlie the core RDBMS engine. It's based on my "how Oracle works in under an hour" presentation where I give the audience an overview of things like the redo mechanism, what a commit *is*, how data is moved into and out of memory and which parts of memory it resides in, how a point-in-time view is maintained… things like that. Many people don't really know any of this stuff, even skilled and experienced developers and DBAs, as you can get by without knowing it. But understanding the core architecture makes a lot of how oracle works make more sense.
The below is a screen shot of the title and first paragraph, but you can use the link above to see the whole article.
I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to publish something other than via my blog and presentations. I know part of it is the fear of putting something out there that is wrong or misleading. If it is on my blog, heck it's only a blog and I stick to things I give test cases for or my thoughts and opinions (which are intrinsically open to interpretation). My presentations are certainly put "out there" but again I of course try to ensure what I say I can back up. I think the key thing is that in both cases it is very obvious who you can blame if it turns out I have made a mistake. Me.
But when something is going to be published I feel that (a) it might be taken more seriously so I need to make extra sure it is correct and (b) if I get something wrong or, more concerning, mislead anyone then the people publishing the article could also be put in a poor light. I think that is what has made me wary.
The irony is that the first thing I get published, I know that there are some inaccuracies in there! The article (and also the presentation it is derived from) is an introduction to a lot of technology and I have to simplify things and ignore many exceptions to keep it small and easy to digest. It's how it works 90% of the time and you need to know that so you will better understand the exceptions and finer detail I don't have time to tell you about. For the physical presentation I spend a minute at the top of the talk saying I have simplified, occasionally lied, but the overall principles and feel is correct. I had to drop that bit out of the article as, well, it took a lot of words to explain that and the article was long enough already!
Another reason NOT to publish is it takes a lot of time and effort to prepare the material in a way that is polished enough to be printed and I know from friends that the actual financial payback for eg writing a book is very, very, very poor. No one I know makes enough from royalties on technical books to make the effort worth while {though there are other less tangible benefits}. But I have time at present so I can afford to do these things. If you want to make money out of publishing, write about a load of elves, an often-wimpy trainee wizard or something with sex in. Or all three together.
I did nearly put a technical book together about 10, 12 years ago, called "The Little Book of Very Large Databases" as it was something I knew a lot about but the issues were rarely discussed publicly – most VLDBS were (and are) run by financial organisation or "defence" {why can't they be honest and refer to themselves as "Killing & Spying"} and they don't talk. O'Reilly was doing several small, A6 booklet-type-books at the time that it would have suited. I can't do it now, I know nothing about Cloud and some of the 12C features that would help with VLDBS, so I missed the boat. I regret not giving it a go. However, there is a possibility I might be involved in a book sometime in the future.
I have to thank Brendan Tierney for hassling me into doing this series of articles. I'm not being derogatory when I say he hassled me, he did, but Brendan did so in a very nice way and also gave me the odd toe in the backside when I needed it.
I also have to thank Jonathan Lewis. If this article had been a book he would have got a huge mention for being my technical reviewer. He was good enough to look over the article and let me know a couple of things he felt I had over simplified, some things with the flow and also something I had simply got wrong. You know that bit in books about "thanks to Dave for assisting but all mistakes are mine". Well, I always thought it was a bit overly… defensive? Well now I don't.
All mistakes are mine. I want no blame falling on the people who helped me!
Tips on Submitting an Abstract to Conference April 17, 2015Posted by mwidlake in conference, Tech15, UKOUG.
Tags: Presenting, UKOUG, user group
2 comments
<.. The tech15 committee and my role
<…. Who plans the Tech15 content
The call for Papers for UKOUG Tech15 has gone out. This is how most of the content for a large conference is sourced, by asking the community to submit abstracts for consideration. With smaller conferences and user group meetings the organisers can often get enough talks by
hassling asking people they know.
Firstly, I would encourage anyone who has considered talking at conference but never has, to submit an abstract. We could easily fill the whole event with known speakers but we don't. We have a policy of having some New Blood at every conference. {If you are in the UK and want to try out presenting then a great way to do so is by presenting at a smaller user group meeting, like for example the next RAC/Database UKOUG SIG meeting on July 1st🙂 – It's a friendly, relaxed way to get into presenting. Get in touch with me if it appeals to you}.
You can click on this link to go to the submission page, but before you do…
When you submit an abstract for a conference, you are not actually at that point communicating with your potential audience. You are communicating with the handful of people who are tasked with going through all the submissions and selecting the papers. With the UKOUG conference you are also communicating with the volunteers who will judge abstracts. And we, the agenda planning committee, take those judging scores very seriously. It is a large part of how we attempt to ensure we select the talks on topics that people want to hear about, as well as the people who you want to hear talk.
So when you get to the field where you describe your proposed presentation (the abstract) I would suggest you don't want to be "teasing the audience" at this point. The people who are judging and selecting the papers are seasoned conference attenders. A catchy title might get you noticed but if the abstract does not clearly state what your talk is about, what you intend to cover and who you expect your audience to be, it makes it less likely that your abstract will get selected.
Also, if you have looked at the call-for-papers page and associated notes and have seen that we are particularly interested in some area (eg "what you need to know about …." for the database stream) and your paper is addressing it, it is worth making that a little bit obvious. The agenda planning day is hectic, we get tired and tetchy and our brains start to leak out of our ears. If your abstract is clear about what you are talking about, you are increasing your chances of selection.
In years gone by we have given the people the option to give two versions of your abstract – the one for judging and the one for promoting your talk (that is the one that gets put in the conference notes and your potential audience will read and decided if your talk is worth their attention). However, many people felt this was asking for the same information twice so we have reverted back to a single abstract this your. However, you can change your abstract text after your talk has been accepted {but note, we are wise to people trying to change the actual content of the talk later on – we LOOK at the changes!}. So sell your talk to the committee and judges now and worry about the catchy reference to your favorite movie afterwards.
I used to make my submission abstract humorous (well, in my eyes) but I don't anymore, or at least I tone it down. If anything, I make the abstract factual and simple. As an example:
How Oracle Works in 50 Minutes
This is a high level but technical talk about the key processes that underlie the Oracle database. I describe what an instance is and how the server process is the gateway to the instance. I cover how the redo mechanism works and why it is critical, how data is moved into and out of memory, delayed block cleanout, what a commit IS, the importance of the undo tablespace and how a read consistent image is maintained for the user. The intended audience is new DBAs or developers who have never been taught how the database works and at the end of the talk they will understand how these key processes work.
OK, the description is a bit boring but you know exactly what my talk is going to be about and if it will fit in your conference.
So what happens when you click on the above link to submit an abstract? You will see the below front screen:
I would suggest you not only read this screen but also check out the menu on the left of the screen. Look at the "Hints & Tips" and also the stream you are intending to submit to (eg "Systems" if you want to present on Exadata). If you are unsure which area your talk fits in, check them all out.
the big red Submit an Abstract will actually take you to the same place that the left menu "Speaker Application" takes you too. The first step of submitting an abstract is actually saying who you are and registering on the system. If you are willing to judge abstracts (ie you ticked that box) you will then get to indicate what topics in what streams you are willing to judge. THEN you will be put into the "Speaker Lounge" and you can enter your abstract by clicking the "Submit" button.
When you come back to the system, you can go straight to the Speaker Lounge, the system will show you your details again so you can correct anything. You will see what abstract(s) you have submitted and click on them to check or change anything, or click on "Submit" to add another abstract.
Think carefully before you submit 15 abstracts. As a general rule, more than 3 and you start to reduce your chances of having a paper selected. People judge your papers will score you down if you submit too many, it's like you dilute your judging scores over all the abstracts.


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Thread: Addon Domains in WHM
07-26-2002, 02:39 PM #1WHT Addict
- Join Date
- May 2002
- Location
- Chicago
- Posts
- 132
Addon Domains in WHM
Hi all,
It seems to be pretty cool feature and some of our customers are asking for the feature.
How do I add this functionality to a customer account, which is already setup? I couldn't find anyway to do this upgrade or changing the packages or anything. Is there a workaround other than deleting and adding the account back with addon domains functionality
Thank you for your time,
Hi Aji
On WHM go to "Modify an Account"
Edit the account to modify and you'll see two new items to modify
"Max Parked Domains" and "Max Addon Domains"
BTW, taking this a bit off-topic, I hate what Cpanel did with this, they didn't gave us the option of remove that option for those wo don't want to offer multi-domain hosting.
Off course that I can keep that in 0 but still I got a lot of question about this "new feature"█ Shared Web Hosting - Reseller Hosting - Semi-Dedicated Servers - SolusVM/XEN VPS
█ LiteSpeed Powered - R1Soft Continuous Data Protection - 24/7 Chat/Email/Helpdesk Support
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█ DowntownHost LLC - In Business since 2001- West/Center/East USA - Netherlands - Singapore
07-26-2002, 05:37 PM #3WHT Addict
- Join Date
- May 2002
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- Chicago
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Thank you for the info. But the problem is that, when i click on the modify account, the only fields available to modify are : Domain, Theme, Username and Language.
We are running WHM 4.9.0. I am sharing the serevr with somebody else. And my WHM access is set up as a reseller account. Does it has anything to do with reason I dont see additional fields?
AjiSupportPRO.com Quality outsourced hosting support and server administration @ affordable rates. Let the PROs handle your customer service 24/7.
07-28-2002, 10:44 PM #4Registered User
- Join Date
- May 2002
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You need to make sure its the latest build

subset: commoncrawl


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Microsoft on Wednesday showcased Mediaroom 2.0, a new version of its IPTV software platform, which links the video service to more devices inside and outside the home including the Xbox 360 game console, Windows 7 PCs, Mac computers and, eventually, cell phones, the company said. In another change, Mediaroom will allow carriers to send video-on-demand service over IP networks of varying bandwidth by enabling support of Microsoft's Silverlight and Internet Information Services (IIS) Smooth Streaming technologies.
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Pediatric and adolescent mental health emergencies in the emergency medical services system." Pediatrics. 2011;127(5):e1356-66."
Development, validation, and utility of internet-based, behavioral health screen for adolescents." Pediatrics. 2010;126(1):e163-70."
Feasibility and effects of a Web-based adolescent psychiatric assessment administered by clinical staff in the pediatric emergency department." Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010;164(12):1112-7."
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Computerized Behavioral Health Screening in the Emergency Department." Pediatr Ann. 2009;38(3):156-60."
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Our modern, professional clinic is centrally located on Lambton Road New Lambton. We are very proud to offer a friendly environment, where thousands of people from all walks of life, as well as elite sportsmen and women have entrusted their health care to our highly trained and experienced Massage therapists and chiropractors in Newcastle over the past 20 years.
Our 3 Newcastle Chiropractors and 11 Massage Therapists at Chiropractic Plus are some of the most highly sought after practitioners in Australia. They regularly work with both elite sporting teams such as the Wallabies and the Knights, and have been trusted by visiting international artists like Lady Gaga and the Tap Dogs.
Our Goal: To achieve the best possible health outcome for every one of our patients.
Chiropractic Plus: Celebrating 20 Years of Feeling Good Naturally
Overall Rating / 128 Total Testimonials
Chiropractic Plus
5.0 out of 5 starsSusan H - December 3, 2016
Always good.
5.0 out of 5 starsGeraldine D - November 18, 2016
Always friendly service with a real commitment to meeting client needs.
5.0 out of 5 starsJanelle R - October 12, 2016
I'm always highly satisfied with the service provided, the facility, and the staff. Thank you all!
5.0 out of 5 starsCarol B - August 1, 2016
I found the staff very helpful and friendly !! Very happy with the service took the time to explain my problem and the options I had for treatment
5.0 out of 5 starsCHARMAINE R - July 30, 2016


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Is this restaurant good for dining on a budget?
Does this restaurant offer delivery?
Does this restaurant serve Hong Kong food?
Does this restaurant have waiters and waitresses?
Does this restaurant specialize in Cantonese food?
Is this a fast food place?
Does this restaurant serve Shanghai food?
Are the prices at this restaurant mid-range / moderate?
Does this restaurant accept reservations?
Is this restaurant good for dinner?
Thanks for helping!
Tommy Mae and Lee are fast at serving you make sure your hungry I've never seen such big portions, and the 100 dishes they do there's bound to be loads of dishes you like
Food really great for some dishes e.g. chow mein or 'with xxx & xxx'. But, for me, not authentic. Friendly enough staff - servicing swift. Food enjoyable enough, cooked reasonably well. But........??? Something is just missing.
Extremely disappointed. Probably the worst Chinese we have had during our extensive travels. They seem to think quantity means more to customers than quality, i.e. flavor. We asked that both dishes ordered be spicy but there was not a hint of spices. Spring rolls are huge but not served with sauce so little flavor. No way would we consider returning.
Fantastic value for your hard earned money. Fresh local produce, very very ample portions. A takeaway for a Family group, with all different requests. The Spring rolls a meal in themselves just lovely
Thank you, we will be back
visit Peel during a recent visit to the island . Ordered 2 meals , both containing chicken.
Immediately notice the chicken looked raw or cooked as if it had been boiled ! , there was a few prawns and a slice of beef in it . My partner was unable to eat her meal , both the taste and suspect...
My favourite Chinese restaurant ever, the menu is very extensive and the food excellent, the staff are very attentive and friendly. Recommend this restaurant to everyone.
It may not be the most upmarket Chinese Restaurant, but its comfortable, clean and relaxing. My wife and I have been going there for some 15 years on the odd occasion for what we both feel is one of the best Chinese curries available anywhere.....Their prawn curry (small prawn), with boiled rice (my wife), and egg fried rice (myself), is...
We went here for a take away last night and ordered an appetiser and a main each (3 of us). After almost half an hour we really need to go so asked how long.
It's almost ready we were told.
35 minutes later after the transaction, we says that we really can't wait any longer. It's coming now we were...
Arrived on a Saturday night at 9.15pm. Ordered shredded beef and chips. 50 mins later I still did not have my food or an explanation as to where the food was or how long it would be. The bad tempered manager refunded me and the other five people waiting (one who had been there over an hour) without an apology....
Curry and chips - that well-know British Isles favourite - was a good selection, along with the special fried rice.
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
i had to get a refund it was that bad , i agree with whats said.
See all questions


text:
- Wallmaster50% (3)100% (5)73% (8)Vote
- Giant Black Spider50% (3)0% (0)27% (3)Vote
Most Helpful Girl
are we talking about the oot or the lttp wallmasters here?00|00|0
The Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask one.
- Show AllShow Less
Yeah but the sounds that the Wallmasters make in OTT/MM when their shadow grows above you, sounds creepy.
lol true but nothing will ever reach up to the moon in the end!
Most Helpful Guy
Well, give me a sword, and I can kill the wallmaster with some patience. That fucking spider probably can't die.00|00|0


text:
JLL Fitness
lose weight, Gyms & Fitness Centres, fitness training
Kettlebells are extremely popular all over the world as they have the ability to help strengthen and tone a wide variety of muscles including the biceps, triceps, deltoids, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings and core abdominals. Although they can be used in much the same way dumbbells are used, kettlebells are also extremely effective when combined with high-intensity training programs such as Crossfit and Circuits. Combining Kettlebells to your workout routine can help boost your cardio stamina and increase your endurance
Print this page
3 Piece Crank System on the Pedals making it Stronger and more Reliable - 18kg Heavy Duty Flywheel
This piece of fitness equipment is designed for a multitude of users from beginners to the experienced and no matter what your end goal is you will find yourself engaged and challenged on the JLL cross trainer.
Brand new motorised running machine, the S400 folding treadmillis built with Digital Control technology that provides extra stability for safety thanks to the lowest start speed on the UK market (0.3 km/h) which is perfect for rehabilitation of injuries. And a top speed of 16 km/h challenges any runner. What's more the new colour and reflective design along with the latest monitor display, 15 running programmes, 20 level incline, iPod/iPhone/MP3 connectivity, USB interface and Bluetooth wireless
Protector Mat for Treadmills
The latest in treadmill design, the S300 was built for beginner to intermediate runner with a professional like design.
Folding Adjustable Weight Compact Bench,Dumbbell Weight Training Bench
The JLL T100 is the ultimate incline treadmill. With a 40% gradient, this machine is perfect for those who want to lose weight fast.
JLL is happy to introduce one of the latest models on Yoga and Pilates mats. They come in a variety of colors and provides soft cushioning to protect knees and bottoms from hard floor below during sit ups, Pilates and yoga exercise.
Direct chain driven for a comfortable pedaling in both directions: forwards and backwards
The D100 Folding Treadmill is great for those with limited space but for those who still want to work out and keep fit.
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text:
Jazz Piano Christmas XXVI - Wednesday, Dec 23 at 11 pm CT
By Dale Bolton • Dec 4, 2015
NPR Music brings you another great concert from Kennedy Center. Kenny Barron, Fred Hersch, and Carmen Staaf perform their favorite holiday songs in a program hosted by Felix Contreras.
Click here for additional details.


text:
Skip to comments.Illegal Immigration Rebounds Under Obama
Posted on 02/16/2012 11:47:26 PM PST by Olog-hai
The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. was actually dropping at the end of the George W. Bush years but that progress has stopped under President Obama, according to a new report by the Center for Immigration Studies.
With enforcement increasing and the economy souring, CIS said a net of 1 million illegal immigrants left the U.S. from January 2007 to January 2009, as the population went from 11.8 million down to 10.8 million.
But progress has halted since Mr. Obama took office in January 2009 and, if anything, the illegal population in the United States rebounded slightly, to 10.9 million in 2011 the most recent figures available, according to the study.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Well, at least something has recovered under Zer0.
This is a ping list promoting Immigration Enforcement and Congressional Reform.
If you wish to be added or removed from this ping list, please contact me.
David Hardy's Notes on State Jurisdiction to Prosecute a Federal actor.(gunwalker)
MILLER: Obamas fast and furious spin(gunwalker)
Amid protests, Kobach pushes immigration laws
Iraqi Family Accused of Torturing Teenage Girl ( Police re-arrested Yusra Farhan)
Relative: Mother of Drowned Toddler Sought Help, But Was Turned Away
Illegal Population Stops Declining under Obama
Terrorist Group Setting Up Operations Near U.S. Border (Hizbollah)
Homeland Security Secretary to Visit Valley(South Texas)
NBC2 Investigators: Public assistance
ICE agent shootout leaves 1 dead, 1 wounded in Long Beach [Updated]
Its time to return Holders contempt
Two Agents Dead in Shooting at Long Beach Federal Building [CA; ICE versus ICE?]
ICE AGENTS: Shootout between federal agents kills 1, wounds 1
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text:
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Unique and elegant, ZenZoi bamboo fountain pen provides smooth and beautiful writing with each stroke of your hand.
Hand-assembled, gold-plated stainless steel nib gives you durability and assures flawless lines with different angles of applied pressure and high-precision of ink flow.
This planet-friendly, exclusive collection is made of 100% natural bamboo topped with vintage gold-plated accents for antique, elegant finish.
Individually hand-crafted writing instrument comes with a matching bamboo gift box to add timeless, stylish expression to your business and everyday writing experience.
Designed to satisfy your most sophisticated gift-giving needs for your respected colleagues, collectors, dear friends and loved ones.
All Text and Images Are Copyright © ZenZoi, January 2016. Sold Exclusively By ZenZoi. US Copyright Law statutory damages are set out in 17 U.S.C. § 504 of the U.S. Copyright Law for willful infringement.
|Delivery Days
|2-3 Weeks


text:
Harry Potter's eleventh birthday
this wiki
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- "It's not everyday yer young man turns eleven, now, is it?"
- —Rubeus Hagrid[src]
On Harry Potter's eleventh birthday, Vernon Dursley attempted to evade Harry's Hogwarts acceptance letter by fleeing to Hut-on-the-Rock. Regardless, Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, flew to the secluded hut. He subsequently broke down the door, threatened the Dursleys and handed Harry his very first birthday cake.
- "Yer a wizard, Harry"
- —Rubeus Hagrid[src]
Hagrid, upon breaking into the hut, was astonished to learn that Harry had been told nothing truthful about who he really was, and what had actually happened to his parents. The gamekeeper expressed his fury to the Dursleys and told Harry that he was a wizard. He later explained who Lord Voldemort was and how he killed James and Lily Potter. He then proceeded to give Dudley Dursley a pig tail after Vernon insulted Albus Dumbledore.
Once Hagrid and Harry had left the hut they proceeded to go to Diagon Alley where Harry would get his school supplies and Hagrid would present Harry with a beautiful Snowy Owl, which Harry would name Hedwig.
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Shortly cutscened)[1]
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
- Pottermore Insider
- Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ It was not seen nor mentioned, but as he turned eleven when he got the letter in book and film, it can for safe be said that it was his birthday in the video game


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Is it possible to have a pest-free tank from the get-go and keep it that way?
Discussion in 'General Discussions and Advice' started by RocketRooster, 13 Dec 2012.
Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2
|Similar Threads - possible pest free
|Possible white apot
|Quarantine Tanks, sick fish, QT corals
|11 Jul 2016
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|Protein Skimmers, Mechanical Filtration
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|ID Needed
|5 Nov 2015
|Possible eskom solution with your water change
|General Discussions and Advice
|5 Aug 2015
|Possible back up power solution?
|Power cuts
|29 May 2015
|ID if possible please
|ID Needed
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|ID possible parasite?
|ID Needed
|22 Nov 2014


text: That's fine with me. we can revert back to xfree86 CVS for the trunk and I can move to a branch. I wouldn't have put it on the trunk if I had know the mode stuff was cause so much trouble, but then again, it's been working fine for me and those who initially tested it, so I need to more testers to find the bugs :) if we move to a branch, perhaps we could add it to the snapshots? Alex --- Keith Whitwell <keith@...> wrote: > Michel Dänzer wrote: > > On Tue, 2003-10-14 at 21:58, Alex Deucher wrote: > > > >>The reason mergedfb is enabled by default is to emulate the clone > >>behavior in the old driver. perhaps this should be changed in the > >>future? > >> > >>In the mean time, I may switch back to validating the modes on > crtc2 > >>before crtc1. that was the way I had it initially and the way it > was > >>for clone mode. > > > > > > So you are no longer actually emulating the former clone mode. > Reverting > > that sounds like a very good idea. Experimental changes should > probably > > be done on a branch. > > > > I have to say I agree with Michel here. In hindsight, this work > should have > been done on a branch to start with -- the trunk isn't the place to > be > debugging new code. > > I'm not sure how much work is left in this, but I'm coming to share > the > opinion that it is still worthwhile to move it to a branch until the > glitches > are ironed out. > > Keith > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com


text:
88 Sugarbush Woods Circle Warren, Vermont 05674
Listed by Michael Brodeur of Bradley Brook Real Estate
Call Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty Real Estate for more information.
4 bed / 2.0 bath
- Property Type: Residential
- State: Vermont
- Street: Sugarbush Woods Circle
- Zip Code: 05674
- Town: Warren
- APX Fin Ag SqFt: 0
- Bedrooms: 4
- Total Bathrooms: 2.0
The New England Real Estate Network provides Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine.
Copyright© 2016 The New England Real Estate Network. All rights reserved. This information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The data relating to real estate displayed on this Site comes in part from the IDX Program of NEREN. The information being provided is for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Data last updated on 12/10/2016.


text:
Saturday 27th August 2016, 1.00pm
Tytherington Fun Day & Dog Show
1.30-5pm, Hardwicke Field, Tytherington GL12 8UJ - free entry
Refreshments, cake stall, Fun Dog Show, face painting, raffle, BBQ, local produce, WI badges, treasure hunt, snacks, games galore, book stall, sweet stall, plant stall, hook a duck, skittles, bouncy castle, coconut shy, bric a brac, lucky dip, ice cream and archery.
Come along, have a good time and support this village event. Lots of activities for all ages & abilities.
Any queries please email below.
More events...
Monday 5th December 2016
Friday 9th December 2016
Monday 12th December 2016
Wednesday 14th December 2016
Saturday 17th December 2016


text:
When dolphins aren't playing with dead babies or trying to rape humans, like in the link I POSTED YESTERDAY, they are busy impressing people by creating toys for themselves out of thin air. Mesmerizing!
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!! OMG how magical: Dolphin bubbles !!
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» OMG, read these RELATED ENTRIES:
» posted by Graydon on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
i think my favorite thing about this video is how they play the innocent sounding music. it could be even better…if you see some innocent person in the background trying to swim away from the dolphin before they take advantage of them, while listening to the innocent sounding music. 😀
» posted by kate | February 13th, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Oh, this clip combines three of my favourite things: dolphins, Stephen Sondheim and the possibility of being raped, er, I mean, bubbles.
» posted by Zero Cola | February 12th, 2008 at 9:13 PM
i would like to totally fag out here and point out that the music playing in the background is from INTO THE WOODS.
» posted by lisa rosenthal | February 12th, 2008 at 8:43 PM
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text:
As he gets ready for bed, Teddy Bear tells his Mama Bear all about the exciting experiences of his day. Teddy Bear's wild imagination and world of fantasy allows him to overcome any obstacles he has faced that day, allowing him to drift into a relaxed and peaceful sleep.
Сегодня, 20:42Goodnight Teddy bear
Сегодня, 21:50Goodnight Teddy bear
Завтра, 19:29Goodnight Teddy bear
Завтра, 19:35Goodnight Teddy bear
Завтра, 20:42Goodnight Teddy bear
Завтра, 21:49Goodnight Teddy bear
9 пт, 19:32Goodnight Teddy bear
9 пт, 19:39Goodnight Teddy bear
9 пт, 20:47Goodnight Teddy bear
9 пт, 21:56Goodnight Teddy bear


text:
Tens més preguntes? Consulta'ns!
Apartment well-appointed, on first floor, for 5/6 persons and located in the center of the Port of Llançà, at 50 m from the beach, balcony with sea view. It consists in 1 bedroom with double bed and 2 bedrooms with 2 single beds each, living/dining-room with fireplace, kitchen, bathroom with shower and WC.


text:
Bettie Corset for V4
Posted by Joe March 20, 2013
Posted in Clothing, DAZ | Poser | Carrara
(S)inspired by a true Pin-up legend.
This corset will turn your ladies into a real glamourous pin up vixen.
You get:
– conforming corset for Aiko 4/Victoria 4
– Bettie custom waist morph for A4/V4
– Mats: black, blue, bronze (transparent), green, light blue, pink, purple, red.
Metal: silver, gold, bronze Lace: black, white
– included morphs: Aiko4,Realistic, Stylized,
Bettie Waist, Amazon, Voluptuous, Young
Inhale, HipsSize, WaistWidth, GlutesSize, GluteRaiseL, GluteRaiseR, ThighsThickness, ThighsTone
You need:
Poser 6 or up, Victoria 4/Aiko 4


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Overview Of Costa Rica For Travelers
Posted at: International Business Travel | Posted on: Wed 26 Apr, 2006 10:59 pm |
Overview of Costa Rica for Travelers
By Richard Monk
The Republic of Costa Rica is located in Central America and is an amazingly beautiful country. Following is an overview of the past and present of Costa Rica for travelers.
Overview of Costa Rica for Travelers
Christopher Columbus discovered Costa Rica and the indigenous people living there in 1502. The Spanish subsequently colonized it. The name of the country, Rich Coast, comes from their mistaken belief that gold was prevalent. It wasnt, but the name stuck. In 1821, Costa Rica joined other Central American countries in declaring independence from Spain. True independence didnt occur till 1838 when Costa Rica broke away from a federation of Central American countries.
In a major departure from many Central America countries, Costa Rica has largely been a free and peaceful democracy since 1899. It has a system of checks and balances similar to the United States, but more power is invested with the President and executive branch. The President and congressional members are elected to 4-year terms.
Costa Rica covers an area of 19,730 square miles. The capital is San Jose, which has a population of 2.1 million people. The terrain is rugged and tropical with dormant volcanoes, a rain forest in the south and immaculate beaches. Rainfall is heavy during summer months, but temperatures are consistently in the 70 to 90 degree range.
The people of Costa Rica are known both as Ticos and Costa Ricans. The total population is 4 million, but growing at 1.5 percent. Roman Catholic is the dominant religion, although 15 percent of the population claims Protestant as their faith. Literacy is at 96 percent. Average life expectancy for a woman is 79 years while men average 74 years. Spanish is the dominant language.
Costa Rica is both a hot tourist and relocation destination. The country is simply beautiful and the people are friendly. There has been a lot of construction and expansion over the last 15 years. Places like Tamarindo are no longer sleepy little coast towns. If you want to see the sleepy Costa Rica of old, now is the time to go before it is to late.
Richard Monk is with FactsMonk.com - a site with facts about everything. Visit us to read more about country facts and Costa Rica facts.
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- Admissions
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Feb. 20 8pm; light refreshments at 7:30 pm
Wechsler Theater
Admission is free, RSVP is requested: http://dcstartupforum.eventbrite.com/
Hear the co-founder and COO of Tech Cocktail, the tech-focused media company, share insider tips to networking across the technology community. She knows. She's done it.


text:
Trick Or Treat Times
Come grab this FREE Halloween Trick or Treat Bag Pattern and Tutorial by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama. Make a bag in less than an hour!
Trick or Treat for Unicef- I liked doing this. he tradition of 'Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF' began in 1950 in the United States, when Philadelphia schoolchildren first went door-to-door at Halloween collecting money in decorated milk cartons to help their global peers
I LUV that the little black cat trick-or-treater is waving to the actual black cat.
Trick Or Treat
a spot of whimsy: all hallows eve.
Google Image Result for http://img2.etsystatic.com/006/0/6590790/il_570xN.369121354_scax.jpg
#papercraft #scrapbook #layout #6 "Trick or Treat Time" by Ginger Williams
Cousin It DIY Trick or Treat Pail; The perfect Wednesday Addams Family accessory for a spooky Halloween costume!
Buy a pumpkin trick-or-treat pail for $1.00, cut down the back, than cut out the bottom and wrap around your outside light! I also cut off the handle. Cheap, fast, and easy!
(8)THIS IS HALLOWEEN, THIS IS HALLOWEEN. trick or treat?(8) ¡Hola! ¿Como están? Halloween ya está a la vuelta de la esquina y tenemos q...