No Slides for Oracle OpenWorld in China?

Updated 21 November 2007: Refer to comments on how to download the slides for both Oracle OpenWorld held in Shanghai and US. There will be a small link on top for you to download the slides. Thanks kianhui for the links.

This is weird. I received an email long ago saying that I could download the slides that they presented in Oracle OpenWorld in China. However, up to now, I could not figure out how and where to download these slides. I've also emailed them regarding it, and no reply.

Oh well... Luckily I took notes. This further cements my view that Sun Tech Days is much better organized than Oracle OpenWorld.

Roadmap for Success

I quote from the Slice Of Life:

You want success, but do you understand why you want it? What does success mean to you? How will success, as you define it, benefit you and those around you? Only when you get into the nitty-gritty will the path towards success become clearer.

Success is the end result, that one big goal, but before we can get there, we need to break that one big goal down into smaller and closer goals and plans that will help us achieve those goals. What are manageable tasks you can do each day that will bring you closer to your success? Come up with a daily list. Checking off your list gives you a sense of achievement and keeps you motivated. And don't be downtrodden if you fail to achieve a goal. As someone once said, "It's not a tragedy not to achieve a goal; it's a tragedy not to have that goal to achieve in the first place."

Another quote from Slice Of Life on how to organize your thoughts on a goal:

One method that works well is called clustering. Put the central idea in the center of the page and circle it. Then, without pause, make associations, placing them in new bubbles and tying them to the main idea. The result is a complex matrix of ideas, many of which you didn't even know you had.

How often have we set an un-realistic target with no action plans to fulfill it? Or set a target just because others have it? Success goes to the prepared, not to the unprepared.

However, success also comes at a price. Would I want to pay that price? Hmm...

Passion Part II

I quote from the Slice Of Life:

Wilbur Wright, of the Wright brothers fame, once commented, "We could hardly wait to get up in the morning." I know that exhilarating feeling of being so passionate about something I was working on that I couldn't wait to get back to work. And people who are winning at working know that kind of passion, too.

They get excited about work. They thrive offering their unique gifts and talents. And when things change as they sometimes will, they refuse to let a soul-depleting boss or environment hijack their self-esteem, passion or dreams. When work becomes work, they stop lying on a nail and do something about it.

This is somehow in relation to the previous post I have made previously about Passion And Curiosity. When I tell people I enjoy going to work, they think I'm crazy, or I'm a workaholic. When you're passionate about something, you will always find that 24hours is not enough for you. That is what you call passion!

Anyway on the safe side, I better not make that remark. Sometimes its not to one's advantage if someone label you as a crazy person. :p

Making your documents private

I've always encouraged my friends NOT to login using an administrator account because it will expose you to alot of viruses and spyware. This is evident in my case because up to now, I've never gotten any viruses or spyware. There's also a problem where all the local administrators of the same computer is able to see the other users' My Documents anytime.

Anyway, for those that still insists on using computer administrator account for your day to day use, there's a way to make your documents private, such that even local administrators of the same computer are not able to see your files in your "My Documents". I think this works only if your harddisk is formatted using NTFS. To check, just right click on your drive letter and click on properties. It should state NTFS, not FAT32.

These are the steps:

1. Open your Windows Explorer (WINKEY E)
2. Right-click on My Documents on the left panel, which is just below the Desktop
3. Click on the Sharing Tab
4. Click on the checkbox that says Make this folder private
5. Click on the OK button at the bottom
   

Ensure that your current user account is password protected. These steps will ensure that your "My Documents" folder access level will be elevated to Access Level 1.

The following table describes the permissions:

Access Level	Everyone (NTFS/File)	Owner	System	Administrators	Everyone (Share)
Level 1	n/a	Full Control	Full Control	n/a	n/a
Level 2	n/a	Full Control	Full Control	Full Control	n/a
Level 3	Read	Full Control	Full Control	Full Control	n/a
Level 4	Read	Full Control	Full Control	Full Control	Read
Level 5	Change	Full Control	Full Control	Full Control	Full Control

That's all to it. This is the link direct to Microsoft that explains the settings.

GM loses US39Billion for the quarter

I've still no idea what the feds are thinking when they cut the interest rates. General Motors (GM) stated that they are suffering massive losses because of the weak USD, and the high oil prices. So far, I've never heard of a company losing so much money in only 1 quarter!

Indirectly, all this is caused by the Feds cutting the rates to bail out banks that made over-excessive risks in their investments! Now the situation is going to get worst if they cut more rates. It's really going to be a great depression this time if they cut more rates. The subprime issue will never be resolved through interest rates only, and the cutting of interest rates will drive up oil prices and inflation. This is especially so when we have a problem with over-exploiting of resources. When resources are scarce, the rates should be hiked, not cut!! In fact, not cutting rates will limit the damage to only 1 area. By cutting rates, all sectors will be affected. GM is only the tip of the iceberg.

I thought banks usually have risk management processes in place. Looks like I'm dead wrong! This is only the 1st week of November, and very soon, what I've said in this post will materialize. This is not good!

Dell or Apple?

Decisions decisions... I've been trying to get a new laptop since the start of this year, and always, something happens and my buy would be postponed. Reason: Stupid Vista.

I'm fine with upgrades, like Win98 to WinXP, because my softwares can still work. However, Vista will render my Office XP, and my other old softwares unusable! I'm still playing DOS games every now and then.

That was why I thought of Apple. If Microsoft wants to change my software, I rather I change completely to a new one. I can use open source software in the MacBook Pro for my day to day activities, and switch to bootcamp if I want to play games with Windows XP. Perfect. However, the MacBook Pro is not exactly cheap.

In Singapore, it's next to impossible to get any laptop with WinXP loaded. However, I recently found one unlikely source. Dell. I am able to fix up a laptop loaded with the hardware I want, the OS I need (WinXP Pro!), and the accessories. It's much cheaper too. Almost half the MacBook Pro price. However, Dell's laptops do not exactly have a good reputation for reliability. My laptops usually last more than 5 years. My current Fujitsu is in its 6th year, going 7th. One good news about Dell though is Michael Dell is back. Maybe the quality will be better? Hmm...

Now I'm in a dilemma again. Should I try something new? Or should I listen to my wallet?

Success and Failures

A passage written by Parris Garnier:

If misfortune doesn't break you, it fashions you into a better person. But this metamorphosis doesn't happen by chance. It takes a strong heart to struggle against elements that would see you destroy yourself in failure.

1 success out of countless failures. Do I see the countless failures as the building block to that 1 success? How do one keep the morale up even through countless failures? How do I even know I'm on the correct path? I guess the answer is really a strong heart, and the willpower to succeed.

Macbook refresh? Upgraded?

Seems like the MacBook has been refreshed with 2 new options:

1. Intel processor seems to be upgraded. Previously Macbook only has 2GHz and 2.16GHz version. Now its 2GHz and 2.2GHz. I suspect the Santa Rosa chip.
2. The graphics chip has been upgraded to the Intel GMA X3100 with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory. Previously it was the GMA 950 with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory.

The refresh is surprisingly quiet. No news. Details from the apple US website can be found here.

It seems though that it is only available in US. I've checked the Singapore site and it is still showing the old configuration. Oh well... I won't be interested in it though. The shared memory already takes away a minimum of 144MB of memory from the standard 1GB Macbook configuration. That leaves little memory for Leopard on the default 1GB configuration. It takes an additional 16MB of memory if you connect an external display.

I still have my eye on the MacBook Pro, with its own 128MB graphics memory. Or should I just get a standard Vista laptop? Hmmm...

Why on earth did the feds cut the rates??

The US economy is churning around just fine, and yet they went to cut their rates by 0.25% again!! What happened to the inflation hawk?? More like a No Talk Action Only person again, AS USUAL. There's no economic reason why the Feds should cut the rates, unless they want to bail out the banks, which is the very thing they should not do.

I could only guess 3 reasons why the Feds cut their rates, all of which has nothing to do with the economy:

1. More transparency on the rates movement, as indicated a few weeks back by Ben Bernake. Since the last meeting they said they would cut rates, so they cut a token rate.
   
2. Pressurizing China to raise their yuan
3. Banks are in whole lot of deeper trouble than we realized
   

Due to this rate cut, I would say 3 things will happen very soon, within this month:

1. Oil will hit USD100 and stay there
   
2. All major commodities like wheat, corn all will rise further
   
3. Possibility of stagflation is more real than ever, and inflation will hit very high this year
   

I really do hope that they are not making a political move to make China raise their yuan by lowering the USD. If this is so, that means that unless the yuan revalues upwards by a significant margin, US will keep cutting rates. You don't raise, I cut mentality. Maybe I think too much.

I hope the Feds are now happy that they stroke inflation even higher. Inflation hawk??? Yeah right... If we're "lucky", we will see stagflation in 3 years time.

CPF Board doesn't know much about the CPF changes!

Sometimes, I really do wonder how efficient is out government. I asked the CPF Board a question about the CPF Lock-in on Monday through email. An automated reply came back, and said the reply would be back in 2 working days. That's fine.

Today, I received the email from CPF Board saying that they will reply me at the end of the week! They take 5 days to reply my question, which I think is quite simple?? There are only a few possibilities why I have this result:

• The "helpdesk" know nuts about the CPF reforms
• The CPF board themselves know nuts about the CPF reforms
• No detailed analysis was done on all changes, and the impact to the existing framework. Therefore, my answer is "new" to them and they are now scrambling for an answer (I hope not)
  

None of this look good on the CPF Board. I'm going to say my favorite phrase again. And we gave this people a raise???

Looks like I jump the gun, or they read my post. :D Anyway, they have replied me regarding the bank charges for existing investments in CPF. The deductions will not be affected by the lock-in. I have updated my summary post.