Thursday, November 27, 2008

Letter of the week---November 27, 2008

My thanks to a reader who sent this email to me yesterday...

Mr. Smiley

I purchased your book about a week and a half ago. I already passed half the book and I can tell you is that this the best introductory book I have ever read..It's worth every penny.

You know, I was getting frustrated with other books and sometimes I got to a point where I thought programming was not for me, but your book is so nicely written and so understandable that I am have progressed more in this short time then ever before.

I just want to thank you and I really really appreciate you took the dedication and time to write this book.

I think, thanks to your book I can eventually have a sucessful career.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

New Jersey Employee Search

Know anyone who works in State Government?

Apparently, you can query their name here, and find out their salary for the year 2007...

http://php.app.com/NJpublicemployees/search.php

You can also query an entire town.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Cinnaminson---Blue Newspaper Recycling Buckets

Anyone know the schedule of delivery for the new Blue Newspaper Recycling buckets I'm seeing in parts of Cinnaminson?

I subscribe to 3 newspapers a week, and I have so many newspapers that I recently purchased a big blue storage bucket of my own to accommodate the every-other-week recycling pickup.

Based on my usage, you would have thought that our household would be one of the first to get these.

Update, Tuesday, November 25th.

Well, the blue buckets came rolling down Pomona Road, and I am now the proud owner (recipient) of a blue newspaper recycling bucket, can. I think it holds about 60 gallons, so bucket is an understatement.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Another Plagarism Site

Any computer authors out there?

See if your book is being plagarized here...my C++ book is...

http://hates.home.anadolu.edu.tr/books/Computer/

Fan Mail---Letter of the week

I just received this very nice email from a student/reader who bought my book last week---nice emails like this inspire me to keep writing in the face of overwhelming obstacles to just quit and watch the Eagles frustrate me with another close loss :)

By the way, here is the Amazon.com link to the book this reader is talking about....

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Program-C-John-Smiley/dp/0072222611/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227460659&sr=1-7

It's listed as being out-of-print, but I have the rights to sell it, and have republished it under my Smiley Publishing brand. I have a hundred copies right behind me if anyone needs one.

Hi John,

I hope you remember me. I purchased your book about a week and a half ago. I already passed half the book and I can tell you is that this the best introductory book I have ever read..It's worth every penny.

You know, I was getting frustrated with other books and sometimes I got to a point where I thought programming was not for me, but your book is so nicely written and so understandable that I am have progressed more in this short time then ever before.

I just want to thank you and I really really appreciate you took the dedication and time to write this book.

I think, thanks to your book I can eventually have a sucessful career. I am eager to learn more. By the way, do you have a continuation book for C#?....It would be great if you did. Or if you don't, can you recommend me one from another source....

I need to get up to pace because I would eventually like to get Microsoft Certified in .NET in the near future.

As you can tell I joined your C# group in Facebook but I am the only member there.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Page Views

My website stats indicate that this page averages over 1,000 views per day

http://www.johnsmiley.com/cis18.notfree/smiley029/smiley029.htm

Now how can I make money on it?

I've tried 'turning it off' for a week, and asking people to make a donation. One person did.

I've tried putting a 'donation' button on the top---no one did.

I've recently placed Yahoo ads on the top---nothing obvious, although just now I've modified my Yahoo reporting criteria to let me know how well that page is doing.

More to follow.

ASP.Net Question of the week (Friday, November 21, 2008)

Question.

I swear I've looked all through the tool box in Visual Web Developer Express and there is no control named Web Server control.

Answer:

It can be confusing. There are HTML controls and there are also Web Server Controls.

HTML controls, if you are familiar with HTML, are controls that work with the HTML object model--such as radio buttons, buttons, forms, etc. You can code these directly into an HTML page.

ASP.Net permits you to use these controls in an ASP.Net page--which makes sense.

In addition, ASP.Net also provides additional controls beyond the HTML like controls. This also makes sense since, as a developer, you are looking for greater functionality than mere HTML controls--after all, that's why you're learning ASP.Net. These additional controls can be bunched into a category called Web Server Controls.

This page from MSDN does a decent job of describing the categories...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zsyt68f1.aspx


In the old days, this would have been printed and included in the Product documentation.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Just removed my Google Adsense link--and added by Yahoo Ads link

I just removed my Google Adsense link--and added by Yahoo Ads link---I should have done that weeks ago instead of wasting time with Google.

What's their share price today?

Plagarism on Scribd.com

As a published author, it's always disconcerting to find my published materials posted online. Here's an email I recently sent to a site (http://www.scribd.com/) that had several pages of one of my books posted...and the reply. Why is it 1000 times harder to have it removed than it is to post it---and once removed, it can be put back up in the blink of an eye...

Someone has copied some pages from my book

Learn to Program with Visual Basic Examples

and placed it on your site---would you please remove it?

Here's the link to it

http://www.scribd.com/doc/5634529/How-to-create-MS-Access-as-backend-database-for-VB-application

John Smiley

Here's their response...




Thanks for contacting the Copyright Department at Scribd.

Scribd is a self-publishing platform that enables users from around the world to publish and/or read written works, documents, and rich content over the Internet. Scribd takes the rights of intellectual property owners very seriously and complies as a service provider with all applicable provisions of the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") of 1998. We expeditiously remove infringing material and terminate repeat infringers when appropriate.

I sincerely regret that one of our users posted your content to Scribd without your authorization.

Your email was very clear, but it's missing some elements that would allow me to accept it as an "authorized statement" under specific legal criteria established by the DMCA.

To avoid making this any more tedious than it has to be, I've attached a template of a valid DMCA request below. The information in this template is the absolute minimum that we can accept under United States law. Simply substitute everything in [brackets] with the necessary information. Then send the request back to me, and I'll remove the infringing content as soon as possible.

Remember, your DMCA request is a legal document. You must include your FULL mailing address and phone number along with a valid email address. We are unable to remove content based on email addresses alone.

Your takedown request must include a direct link (URL) to each and every infringing document that you want us to remove. We cannot remove documents based on keywords, search terms, title, author name, cover design, or resemblance (physical or otherwise) to another document.

There are absolutely NO EXCEPTIONS to these legal requirements, regardless of your country of origin.

Your DMCA request can only apply to infringing documents on Scribd.com up to the date of the request. Your DMCA request does not cover possible future infringements. Most documents on Scribd are indexed by Google within 24 hours, so a Google Alert is an excellent way of finding out - usually within minutes - if your work has been posted on Scribd or another site.

Thanks for your understanding.

Please contact me if you have any further questions.Jason Bentleyjason@scribd.com***

========== BEGIN SAMPLE DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICE ==========


Attn: Jason Bentley, Scribd.com,
Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a statement that:

(1). I am [the exclusive rights holder the duly authorized representative of the exclusive rights holder] for [title of copyrighted material being infringed upon, along with any identifying material such as ISBNs, publication dates, etc -- or, if the material is a web page, the URL];

(2). These exclusive rights are being violated by material available upon your site at the following URL(s): [URLs of infringing material];

(3) I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder's agent, or the law;

(4) Under penalty of perjury in a United States court of law, I state that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on the behalf of the exclusive rights holder for the material in question;

(5) I may be contacted by the following methods (include all): [physical address, telephone number, and email address];I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible. Thank you for your kind cooperation.

Regards,[your full legal name]

========== END SAMPLE DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICE ==========

Weaning myself off Google

Since Google doesn't want to play ball with me, I will no longer play ball with them. Therefore, I'm weaning myself off Google---and that probably means moving my blog from Blogspot, which I believe is owned by Google (Big Brother, are you reading this now :)

Is there anything comparable to Google Alerts?

I have about 100 Google Alerts in place.

Waiting on Google Adsense Update #3

Google Adsense sent me this email at 2 this morning---I had set a text alert on my phone and it won't me (and my wife) up out of a sound sleep...I need to see if I can have my Yahoo ads appear on Blogspot--if not, I may need to switch my Blog to Wordpress. I think I'll do all of my searches using LiveSearch.

Hello John,

Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense. After reviewing your application, our specialists have found that it does not meet our programc riteria. Therefore, we are unable to accept you into our program.


We have certain policies in place that we believe will help ensure the effectiveness of Google ads for our publishers as well as for our advertisers. We review all publishers, and we reserve the right to decline any application. As we grow, we may find that we are able to expand our program to more web publishers with a wider variety of web content.

Please note that we may not be able to respond to inquiries regarding the specific reasons for our decision. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

I write computer programming books

Someone just emailed me on Lulu.com (My Print-On-Demand company) and asked me how I am able to write 600 page books when they can't get beyond 150. Here's my reply.

I write books on computer programming--it's a bit easier in that I develop a computer program that has explicit steps that have to be completed.

I illustrate these steps in the book with screenshots and explanations.

My books are a bit unusual in that the project is developed in the context of a real computer class with people, dialog, character development and interaction.

It's great for learning on your own---elearners, Distance Learning Programs, learn on your own.

Not your average computer geek book.

Monday, November 17, 2008

SmallBasic from Microsoft---how did I miss this?

Wow, another programming environment from Microsoft. I really missed this one. It's free~

Here's what the Microsoft Web page says about it...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/devlabs/cc950524.aspx

Small Basic is a project that's aimed at bringing "fun" back to programming. By providing a small and easy to learn programming language in a friendly and inviting development environment, Small Basic makes programming a breeze. Ideal for kids and adults alike, Small Basic helps beginners take the first step into the wonderful world of programming.

Small Basic derives its inspiration from the original BASIC programming language, and is based on the Microsoft .Net platform. It is really small with just 15 keywords and uses minimal concepts to keep the barrier to entry as low as possible.

The Small Basic development environment is simple, yet provides powerful modern environment features like Intellisense™ and instant context sensitive help.

Small Basic allows third-party libraries to be plugged in with ease, making it possible for the community to extend the experience in fun and interesting ways.

Sending Email through Oracle

I spent some time this morning trying to send email via an Oracle PL/SQL program---still trying to get it to work.

At the moment, I'm receiving an ORA-29729 error when I execue the UTL_MAIL.SEND statement---Unable to relay mail for xyz@xyz.com

Probably a permission thing.

2008-12-01 Update

Indeed, that's exactly what it was---I needed to contact the server administrator to have some permission set for SMTP. By the way, here's the single line of code I execute from a script to send an email (or text message) to myself to let me know that a script has completed...

EXECUTE UTL_MAIL.SEND('JSMILEY', '5551112222@txt.att.net', NULL, NULL, 'SCRIPT 123-XYZ-IS-DONE', NULL);

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Moodle---Administrative Wish List

I use Moodle to run my Internet Courses.

It's an Open Source product, and I could download and install it on my own Web Site, but it's easier for me to use this company to do so...

http://www.moodlerooms.com

I can't say enough nice things about this company---the price is good, and the support is personalized and quick.

Tom Murdock and Gina Stevens run the company--and they both do a wonderful job. Because of them, I have this...

http://johnsmiley.mrooms.net

There are some things I would like Moodle to do that I don't believe it currently does...

1. I would like to be able to generate automated, periodic emails to students in my classes. For instance, the first day of a new class, I would like to generate a welcome message. Prior to the first Office Hours chat, I would like to send a reminder. Prior to the half way point in the course, I would like to send a reminder about our midterm. The day the course ends, I would like to send a thank you message. You get the idea. Moodle permits me to use a Group Mail feature--but it's manual.

2. I would like to be able to accept payment for my courses directly through my Moodle site, and link it to my Paypal account. There is some chatter about this on the Administrative Panel--but I haven't figured out if it gives me what I need or not.

3. I would like my courses to be advertised in the world wide Moodle community---not sure how to do that.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Waiting on Google Adsense Update #2

The waiting is nerve wracking...my latest message upon logging into Google Adsense...

Account Not Active

An AdSense account does not exist for this login, as your application is currently in review.

Within a week of your application date, we'll review your application and follow-up with you via email. Once you are approved to join AdSense, you'll be able to log in to your account and get started.

Friday, November 14, 2008

I'd like to upgrade my PC

I'd like to upgrade my PC, but ...

I'm afraid I'll get stuck with Microsoft Vista :(

I'm currently using XP Pro Edition.

Introducing Self Paced courses in my Internet school

This is the text of an email I just sent out to my Yahoo groups concerning new offerings in my Internet based courses...



In the past, all of my courses have begun on a set starting date, and ended (more or less) or a set finishing date. This has caused me to lose some potential students who are ready to take a course, but the course isn't ready to begin.



For instance, Introduction to Visual C# begins on January 26th, 2009.



I just sold a Visual C# book today to a student who might be interested in taking the course along with reading the book, but the course isn't starting for 2 months.



I've also had students who would like to fly through an 8 week course in a week or so--but in my traditional courses, I've opened up a week of material at the beginning of each week. In other words, In Week 1, you couldn't see the classroom material for Week 2 through 8.



For these reasons, I've created self-paced versions of all of my Introductory courses---they all begin---anytime you want.



Self Paced courses are really no different from my regular classes.





You still have an active instructor (me) who will answer your questions, grade your assignments.Self-paced classes follow the same syllabus as the Regularly Scheduled course.



In almost every way are identical to Regularly scheduled courses, with the following differences:





  • Self Paced courses can be started at any time---you don't have to wait around for the course to begin the way you do with a regularly scheduled course.
  • You have up to 90 days from the time you register to finish the Self Paced course (twist my arm and I'll give you even longer)
  • You can finish the Self Paced course at your own pace---faster or slower than the suggested pacing of the Regularly Scheduled course. All materials for the course are available from the first day you enter the classroom.
  • Self Paced courses do not have a 1 hour weekly chat--although you can always chat with me weekly in the Alumni Chat Room of my Moodle University, which is hosted on alternating Wednesday evenings or Saturday mornings.
  • Self Paced courses are offered at a $50 discount off the regularly scheduled course.
  • There is no repeat rate pricing for a Self-paced course.

Right now, all of the Intro courses I offer are now available as Self Paced Courses, and you can register and join anytime you wish by following this link...

http://www.johnsmiley.com/main/training.htm#SELFPACED



I hope to offer additional courses in the Intermediate and Advanced levels in the coming weeks.



Thanks---and have a great day!



What a dope I am---Web site redirection

I'm such a dope---I just sent out a course notification email with the incorrect product page--as a result, customers won't be paying for the correct course!



However, it's not a problem if you know how to set up a web page redirection, which is what I did using this code...



meta equiv="Refresh" content="3; URL=http://www.johnsmiley.com/products/101.htm"

Place this on the incorrect page reference, and display a message indicating that your user will be redirected in 3 seconds to the site. That's what the 3 after the word CONTENT indicates.



The bottom line: my stupidity generates a valuable tip for you today. Maybe Google will see the value in my blog and approve my Ads. Please!!!!!!

Wow, I just sold something

I just sold something for the first time since November 1st---a $13.95 Visual C# 2008 eBook.

http://www.johnsmiley.com/main/ebooks.htm

Many thanks to my new customer---I greatly appreciate your business.

I was very concerned---I hadn't sold a book, eBook, anything really since November 1st.

If you don't think we're in a recession, think again.

NASA to Turn Astronauts' Urine, Sweat Into Space-Station Water

Here's a link to an article on Bloomberg News about Nasa's Space Shuttle launch tonight...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWmhTsYjuH3k&refer=home

Part of the mission will be to make urine drinkable---wow, the search engine's will have a field day on that one.

Here's a link to a Philadelphia Daily News article about it...

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/34453144.html

This article is interesting because it highlight's the Shuttle commander---Chris Ferguson, who is a Philadelphia native, and a graduate of Drexel University.

For those of you who have been following my blog, you may know that both of my sons attend Drexel University. It's quite a feather in the cap of an engineering university to have a Shuttle commander among its graduates.

By the way, call John Smiley, the Capitalist, at 856-314-8615 for a confidential paid appraisal of the University.

A word from SetFocus

Someone is reading my blog...I received an email from Stacey Uhrig the other day.

She was happy to hear that I'm writing about SetFocus, and I was happy to hear that she's reading my blog.

Here's what she said about the current focus of Setfocus :)

Things on our end are great!

We have grown in a stable fashion over the years.

Back in the day - when you first wrote about SetFocus we were training roughly 80-100 students a year in our 13 week program (.NET). Today we have 3 tracks (.NET, SQL Server, and MS Business Intelligence). We will be launching a 4th track in 2009, SharePoint.

Each quarter we are training on average 100 students - so around 400 / year. We continue to have strict admissions criteria on the front end and superior career services on the back end, helping individuals solidify positions all across the country.

One of the major factors in our growth / expansion is that we designed and implemented a proprietary online training solution, called The GRID, using Polycom Video Conferencing technology. This online solution, which we launched in 2005, allows for our students to train from anywhere in the country synchronously with local students. It also allows us to expand our instructor talent, as many of our instructors also teach remotely from their home base. This allows us to tap into the best of the best when it comes to instructors, and does not limit us to simply the tri-state area for expertise. Roughly 70% of our students are remote today. Many of our staff are also remote. It's wonderful not having geographic boundaries!

Back to me :)

The thing that always impressed me about SetFocus is their 'strict' admissions standards.

I can recommend a training program that doesn't take everyone. Do you remember the radio and television ads from training companies that promised they would have you trained and employed in 30 days?

SetFocus doesn't do that--they can afford to be picky, because their clients want the best.

So I continue to recommend them highly---and I'll be periodically blogging about the experiences of one of their students as they (no he or she here) goes through their program.

By the way, if you aren't admitted to SetFocus don't despair.

I am one of those other companies that will train you and help you get employed--but it won't take 30 days.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Why is info_getuspk@yahoo.com spamming me?

I run two groups out on Yahoo...one is devoted to Visual Basic, and this guy

info_getuspk@yahoo.com

keeps posting nonsense---I guess he doesn't realize that the group is moderated. None of his stuff is getting through.

I have enough time running my business legitimately---how can this guy waste so much of his time.

I was scared my eBooks were being stolen

I thought that my eBooks were being stolen again...actually, my C++ eBook is probably the most stolen eBook in existence. It seems that there are 100's of links to it on the Internet.

I was more scared about my new books, Introduction to Visual C# 2008 Express and Introduction to Visual Basic.Net 2008 Express.

My web statistics indicated that there were 100's of page views of those 2 eBooks yesterday, but in terms of download bandwith, just about 20.

I was scared because all eBook sales go through me---and as you well know, if you are a regular read of my smog, I mean blog, business is bad and I haven't sold anything since November 1st.

I forgot that I had sent out a number of emails to teachers providing them with links to the eBooks--it's great to see that they are downloading them.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Time to start thinking about a new cell phone...maybe

Our 2 year plan with Cingular (now AT&T) runs out on December 24th :)

It's tempting to run out and upgrade, however, we are in the midst of a recession-depression, and my phone (and the others on the plan) work fine.

What's the point?

Still, it's always a good idea to have something in mind...

Since I've become a texting maniac since the last time I bought a new cell phone, I know I want something I can text with easily. I don't mind push buttons, but everything is pointing me in the direction of a touch screen.

I don't do much Internet stuff on the phone--I prefer to read email in my office. I mainly followed the playoffs and World Series on the phone when I was away from the TV.

Of course, it will need to fit into my shorts pocket when I go running in the morning, without bouncing around a lot and falling out.

And of course, it should work well as a phone--we can't forget that part, can we?

I did a good job the last time around in picking my Sony Ericson---ultimately, it performed very well, although I was a bit disappointed with the Radio part, and the camera developed a mar in it at the beginning of year 2.

I'm intrigued by the Blackberry Storm---although I hear it doesn't do well as a phone.

I also don't want to spend $300-$500 for it.

Maybe I'll just keep this one for a while.

Just created Introductory Self-Paced Courses

I spent the better part of this evening setting up Self paced versions of my Intro courses---they're still actively worked by an instructor (me), however, they won't feature a 1 hour chat each week.

All the material will be available up front--no need to wait until Week 2 to see Week 2's materials.

All of my 8 week Intro courses will be available in this Self-paced format. I don't have payment links set up for these yet---I should have those by the weekend.

As far as the lack of a weekly chat, all of my students are welcome to attend my weekly chats via the Alumni Room--the forum in my Moodle Room that is devoted to activities for current and past students. I have chat links listed there for all of my weekly chats.

Therefore, Self paced students will still be able to chat with me live that way.

Once again, the link for my Training Courses is here...

http://www.johnsmiley.com/main/training.htm

Moodle Resources

I use Moodle to produce my Internet based courses---I thouight I would develop this entry to list the resources I've found on Moodle...

http://moodletraining.blogspot.com/

http://wwwlb.aub.edu.lb/~acc/Moodle/MoodleFaculty/MoodleFacTutorials/MoodleFacTutorials.htm

This one is the Moodle Open Source site itself---although it does require you to register...

http://moodle.org/

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Google Adsense---cease and desist

We all know (at least regular readers do) that I have been permanently blacklisted by Google Adsense.

Why then, when I log into my blog each day, do I see this message?

Your AdSense account needs verification. Please check your email for the Google AdSense Verification message.

I check my email each day---Google doesn't even have the good manners to respond to my Google Adsense reinstatement request.

What's Google's stock trading at today?

$311.46

Glad I didn't buy that 5 years ago.

Business is so bad...

My November business is so bad that I just checked my Amazon Seller account to verify that I didn't accidentally turn on the "I'm on vacation' setting

I didn't :(

My Website 'sucks'

Recently, one of my student's whose honesty I value, told me that my website 'sucks'.

I don't really disagree, my website needs a lot of work, and I've been trying to improve it, but his use of the very popular word 'sucks' is one that repels me.

It seems everywhere I turn I hear "that sucks".

In my younger years, we used to say "that stinks" or "that's a shame". Today it seems to be "that sucks" or "it sucks to me you".

I was inspired this morning to check out its definition today at Dictionary.com. Here's what it says...

1 dictionary results for: sucks

v. sucked, suck·ing, sucks
v. tr.
1. To draw (liquid) into the mouth by movements of the tongue and lips that create suction.
2.

a. To draw in by establishing a partial vacuum: a cleaning device that sucks up dirt.
b. To draw in by or as if by a current in a fluid.
c. To draw or pull as if by suction: teenagers who are sucked into a life of crime.
3. To draw nourishment through or from: suck a baby bottle.
4. To hold, moisten, or maneuver (a sweet, for example) in the mouth.
5. Vulgar Slang To perform fellatio on.

v. intr.
1. To draw something in by or as if by suction: felt the drain starting to suck.

2. To draw nourishment; suckle.
3. To make a sound caused by suction.
4. Vulgar Slang To be disgustingly disagreeable or offensive.

n.
1. The act or sound of sucking.
2. Suction.
3. Something drawn in by sucking.

Phrasal Verb(s):
suck in To take advantage of; cheat; swindle.
suck up Slang To behave obsequiously; fawn.

I'm not sure what definition is best for use with my website---the closest would seem to be the fourth intransitive verb form

Vulgar Slang To be disgustingly disagreeable or offensive

I'm not sure that my website is disgustingly disagreeable or offensive--but it may very well 'stink'.

Phone number entries in your address book

When making an entry of a telephone number into your phonebook (PDA, Phone), what format do you prefer?

Is there a universal standard?

(555)111-2222
555.111.2222
555-111-2222

I don't care for the parentheses myself. Most of my entries are #3, although #2 has more of a modern look to it.

And what about the country code? Does that complicate things a bit?

Twitter look alikes

I just received this in an email this morning from Business Week---Twitter is so popular that other sites are mimicking it...

Building a Better Twitter

A host of rival sites allow users to share short messages like Twitter, but offer unique features such as picture-sharing or private groups

http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c.asp?736333&45d6f9114dae444e&1

Twitter

Anyone out there using Twitter?

What is Twitter?

It lets users send short, 140-character blog postings to friends who 'follow' you.

http://www.twitter.com/

It's better than setting up a texting group on your phone because friends and followers are dynamic---some start following you, some stop following you.

My family and I use it to keep in touch---last Thursday morning, while bleeding profusely on the upstairs carpet after crashing into a wooden cabinet and breaking my nose, I asked my wife to find my cell phone and 'twittered' a message "I just broke my nose". In theory, that message was then delivered to all 8 of my followers, which included my brother, my son, and some clients who were expecting me to greet them at 9AM.

Twitter is a start-up company---I received an email last week asking if I would like to work for them---I believe they have 20 or so employees in San Francisco.

As a start-up, they are not without their problems. A recent Wall Street Journal article about them seems to have caused some issues with their Search feature---it hasn't worked for about two weeks.

And that message about my nose? For some reason, it wasn't delivered until around Noon.

Still, I enjoy using Twitter. You should check it out.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Self Publishing

I was just going through some old emails, and came upon one from Linda Carlson, who made contact with me shortly after my publisher went out of business :(

Her website is a good one for self publishing

http://lindacarlson.com/

and includes some valuable links...particularly the one to the Independent Book Publishers Association...

http://www.pma-online.org/

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Are my eBooks being stolen?

My writing/teaching/consulting business has been very poor in November---extremely poor.


While going through some Web statistics yesterday, I discovered that I had 10 downloads of my Visual C# Express 2008 eBook from my Web site last week---pretty interesting in that I only sold 1 eBook.


You see the disparity---10 download vs 1 sale---that's 9 too many.


The obvious conclusion I can come to is that 9 people who didn't pay for the eBook have downloaded it. There may be other reasons---some customers download it to their hard drive, then forget where they put it or delete it, and download it again. Some customers may download it to multiple computers--that's fine with me.


However, a ratio of 10 to 1 gives me reason to think something is up.


I don't ask for much for these eBooks---$12.95 via Paypal, or $13.95 via regular credit card, cash, money order, etc.


I sell about 40 of these a month which helps out with the bills---for some reason, I haven't sold a single one in November.


Could it be that someone has posted a link on the Internet to my site?


It's possible. The eBooks are password protected, and in my instruction email to my readers, I ask them to please NOT share the password. I also tell them if they of someone who can't afford one, then to have that person contact me and I will work out something with them---and I have gladly provided free eBooks to needy people.


I just spent 10 minutes changing the password of all of my eBooks---that may help.


More likely what will happen is that someone will post the eBook on a file sharing site, the way they have with my C++ eBook, and make it available for free to millions of people.


My books take about 6 to 9 months to write, and help pay for my two boy's college tuition.


I don't ask for much that people pay for my hard work, do I?

Saturday, November 8, 2008

SetFocus

It's been a while since I said anything about SetFocus---it's a company in Parsippany New Jersey that does intensive training for prospective programmers. You can read more about them here...

http://www.setfocus.com/about.aspx

Their business model has changed a bit since the late 90's, but their Masters Program is something you should defiitely look into...

http://www.setfocus.com/MastersProgram/FAQ.aspx

One of my group members is currently attending SetFocus training---I'm hoping to either have her post her experiences here or to interview her for my blog.

BizSpark - A new Microsoft program for startups

I belong to the New York City .Net Developers Group, and I just received this heads up from our leader...

Microsoft today launched a new program to provide software for startup companies.

This program will be managed by companies that are called Network Partners. These Network Partners will be responsible for validating the legitimacy of a startup and their qualifications for the program.

The New York City .NET Developers Group is one of the Network Partners.

If your company qualifies you should get in touch with

Andrew Brust Andrew.Brust@26ny.commailto:Andrew.Brust@26ny.com

or

Stephen Forte stevef@orcsweb.com.

Please put "BizSpark" at the beginning of the subject line.

Here's the Press Release from Microsoft...

Entrepreneurs play a vital role in driving innovation and creating the kinds of new jobs that are essential to sustainable economic growth.

Microsoft BizSpark is an exciting way for Microsoft to help provide business startups with the development tools, advice and exposure they need at a time when they are most valuable and least affordable-during the first three years.

Eligibility:
--Members are sponsored by a network partner- privately held, in a software business for less than 3 years and with less than $1M in revenues (country-level varients of less than USD $1M apply)

--no costs for the first three years of the program.

--Microsoft will assess a USD$100 program offering fee at the end of participation in the programSoftware:

* All the software included in the Visual Studio Team System Team Suite (VSTS) with MSDN Premium subscription- for the entire development team
* Expression Studio (Version 2)
* VSTS Team Foundation Server(Standard Edition)
* Production License use rights to host a "software as a service" solution over the Internet, using the following platforms: Windows Server (all versions); SQL Server (all versions); Office SharePoint Server; Systems Center, and BizTalk Server.Outcomes of BizSpark :
* Creates a mutually beneficial ecosystem among three groups: high-potential technology startups, entrepreneurial and economic development organizations (a.k.a. Network Partners such as TiE, EBAN, Venture Capitalists and relevant Gov't agencies), and Microsoft.
* Helps foster software innovation by enabling startups to easily access Microsoft's tools, services and support that can help them get their solutions to market quickly.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Snooze Interval

I guess it was an engineer who decided that snooze intervals on alarm clocks should be 7 minutes---at least mine is.

I'd like to see an alarm clock with adjustable snooze intervals--5 minutes for days you don't want to get up, 10 or 15 minutes for days where you really don't want to get up, and don't have anywhere urgent to go.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Redesigning my Website

I'm working on redesigning my website---and I've been seeking a good book on Web Desing principles.

I've checked out this one so far...

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
http://www.principlesofbeautifulwebdesign.com/

Just headed to About.com--this link may be promising...

http://websearch.about.com/b/2006/02/28/examples-of-beautiful-web-design-and-ten-tips-for-search-engine-friendly-site-design.htm

Does anyone really read these? Oracle Trial Software Download agreement

Does anyone really read these?



ORACLE LICENSE AND SERVICES AGREEMENT



A. Agreement Definitions"You" and "your" refers to the individual or entity that has executed this agreement ("agreement") and ordered programs and/or services from Oracle USA, Inc. ("Oracle") or an authorized distributor. The term "programs" refers to the software products owned or distributed by Oracle which you have ordered, program documentation, and any program updates acquired through technical support. The term "services" refers to technical support, education, outsourcing, consulting or other services which you have ordered.



B. Applicability of AgreementThis agreement is valid for the order to which this agreement accompanies.



C. Rights GrantedUpon Oracle's acceptance of your order, you have the limited right to use the programs and receive any services you ordered solely for your internal business operations and subject to the terms of this agreement, including the definitions and rules set forth in the order and the program documentation. You may allow your agents and contractors to use the programs for this purpose and you are responsible for their compliance with this agreement in such use. If accepted, Oracle will notify you and this notice will include a copy of your agreement. Program documentation is either delivered with the programs, or you may access the documentation online at
http://oracle.com/contracts. Services are provided based on Oracle's policies for the applicable services ordered, which are subject to change, and the specific policies applicable to you, and how to access them, will be specified on your order. Upon payment for services, you will have a perpetual, non-exclusive, non-assignable, royalty free license to use for your internal business operations anything developed by Oracle and delivered to you under this agreement; however, certain deliverables may be subject to additional license terms provided in the ordering document.

The services provided under this agreement may be related to your license to use programs which you acquire under a separate order. The agreement referenced in that order shall govern your use of such programs. Any services acquired from Oracle are bid separately from such program licenses, and you may acquire either services or such program licenses without acquiring the other.




D. Ownership and RestrictionsOracle retains all ownership and intellectual property rights to the programs and anything developed by Oracle and delivered to you under this agreement resulting from the services. You may make a sufficient number of copies of each program for your licensed use and one copy of each program media.

You may not:· remove or modify any program markings or any notice of Oracle's proprietary rights;· make the programs or materials resulting from the services available in any manner to any third party for use in the third party's business operations (unless such access is expressly permitted for the specific program license or materials from the services you have acquired);· cause or permit reverse engineering (unless required by law for interoperability), disassembly or decompilation of the programs; or· disclose results of any program benchmark tests without Oracle's prior written consent.



E. Warranties, Disclaimers and Exclusive RemediesOracle warrants that a program licensed to you will operate in all material respects as described in the applicable program documentation for one year after delivery. You must notify Oracle of any program warranty deficiency within one year after delivery. Oracle also warrants that services ordered will be provided in a professional manner consistent with industry standards. You must notify Oracle of any services warranty deficiencies within 90 days from performance of the services described in the ordering document.

ORACLE DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE PROGRAMS WILL PERFORM ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT ORACLE WILL CORRECT ALL PROGRAM ERRORS. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THESE WARRANTIES ARE EXCLUSIVE AND THERE ARE NO OTHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

FOR ANY BREACH OF THE ABOVE WARRANTIES, YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY, AND ORACLE'S ENTIRE LIABILITY, SHALL BE: (A) THE CORRECTION OF PROGRAM ERRORS THAT CAUSE BREACH OF THE WARRANTY, OR IF ORACLE CANNOT SUBSTANTIALLY CORRECT SUCH BREACH IN A COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE MANNER, YOU MAY END YOUR PROGRAM LICENSE AND RECOVER THE FEES PAID TO ORACLE FOR THE PROGRAM LICENSE AND ANY UNUSED, PREPAID TECHNICAL SUPPORT FEES YOU HAVE PAID FOR THE PROGRAM LICENSE; OR (B) THE REPERFORMANCE OF THE DEFICIENT SERVICES, OR IF ORACLE CANNOT SUBSTANTIALLY CORRECT A BREACH IN A COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE MANNER, YOU MAY END THE RELEVANT SERVICES AND RECOVER THE FEES PAID TO ORACLE FOR THE DEFICIENT SERVICES.



F. Trial ProgramsYou may order trial programs, or Oracle may include additional programs with your order which you may use for trial, non-production purposes only. You may not use the trial programs to provide or attend third party training on the content and/or functionality of the programs. You have 30 days from the delivery date to evaluate these programs. If you decide to use any of these programs after the 30 day trial period, you must obtain a license for such programs from Oracle or an authorized distributor. If you decide not to obtain a license for any program after the 30 day trial period, you will cease using and will delete any such programs from your computer systems. Programs licensed for trial purposes are provided "as is" and Oracle does not provide technical support or offer any warranties for these programs.



G. IndemnificationIf someone makes a claim against either you or Oracle ("Recipient" which may refer to you or Oracle depending upon which party received the Material), that any information, design, specification, instruction, software, data, or material ("Material") furnished by either you or Oracle ("Provider" which may refer to you or Oracle depending on which party provided the Material), and used by the Recipient infringes its intellectual property rights, the Provider will indemnify the Recipient against the claim if the Recipient does the following:

· notifies the Provider promptly in writing, not later than 30 days after the Recipient receives notice of the claim (or sooner if required by applicable law);· gives the Provider sole control of the defense and any settlement negotiations; and· gives the Provider the information, authority, and assistance the Provider needs to defend against or settle the claim.

If the Provider believes or it is determined that any of the Material may have violated someone else's intellectual property rights, the Provider may choose to either modify the Material to be non-infringing (while substantially preserving its utility or functionality) or obtain a license to allow for continued use, or if these alternatives are not commercially reasonable, the Provider may end the license for, and require return of, the applicable Material and refund any fees the Recipient may have paid for it and any unused, prepaid technical support fees you have paid for the license. If you are the Provider and such return materially affects Oracle's ability to meet its obligations under the relevant order, then Oracle may, at its option and upon 30 days prior written notice, terminate the order. The Provider will not indemnify the Recipient if the Recipient alters the Material or uses it outside the scope of use identified in the Provider's user documentation or if the Recipient uses a version of the Materials which has been superseded, if the infringement claim could have been avoided by using an unaltered current version of the Material which was provided to the Recipient. The Provider will not indemnify the Recipient to the extent that an infringement claim is based upon any information, design, specification, instruction, software, data, or material not furnished by the Provider. Oracle will not indemnify you to the extent that an infringement claim is based upon the combination of any Material with any products or services not provided by Oracle. This section provides the parties' exclusive remedy for any infringement claims or damages.



H. Technical SupportFor purposes of the ordering document, technical support consists of annual technical support services you may have ordered. If ordered, annual technical support (including first year and all subsequent years) is provided under Oracle's technical support policies in effect at the time the services are provided. The technical support policies, incorporated in this agreement, are subject to change at Oracle's discretion; however, Oracle will not materially reduce the level of services provided for supported programs during the period for which fees for technical support have been paid. You should review the policies prior to entering into the ordering document for the applicable services. You may access the current version of the technical support policies at
http://oracle.com/contracts.

Technical support is effective upon the effective date of the ordering document unless otherwise stated in your order. If your order was placed through the Oracle Store, the effective date is the date your order was accepted by Oracle.

Technical support acquired with your order may be renewed annually and, if you renew technical support for the same number of licenses for the same programs, for the first and second renewal years the fee for technical support will not increase by more than 5% over the prior year's fees. If your order is fulfilled by a member of Oracle's partner program, the fee for technical support for the first renewal year will be the price quoted to you by your partner; the fee for technical support for the second renewal year will not increase by more than 5% over the prior year's fees.

If you decide to purchase technical support for any license within a license set, you are required to purchase technical support at the same level for all licenses within that license set. You may desupport a subset of licenses in a license set only if you agree to terminate that subset of licenses. The technical support fees for the remaining licenses will be priced in accordance with the technical support policies in effect at the time of termination. Oracle's license set definition is available in the current technical support policies. If you decide not to purchase technical support, you may not update any unsupported program licenses with new versions of the program.




Oracle reserves the right to desupport its programs or particular versions of its programs. You will be notified in advance when Oracle determines that a program is to be desupported. Such desupport notices, which are posted at Oracle's customer support web site, MetaLink (or Oracle's then current customer support web site), contain desupport dates, information about availability of Extended Support and Extended Maintenance Support and information about migration paths for certain features. The desupport notices are subject to change; Oracle will provide updated desupport notices on MetaLink (or Oracle's then current customer support web site) as necessary.



I. End of Agreement



If either of us breaches a material term of this agreement and fails to correct the breach within 30 days of written specification of the breach, the other party may terminate this agreement. If Oracle ends this agreement as specified in the preceding sentence or end the license for the program under the Indemnification section, you must pay within 30 days all amounts which have accrued prior to such end, as well as all sums remaining unpaid for programs ordered and/or services received under this agreement plus related taxes and expenses. Except for nonpayment of fees, we each agree to extend the 30 day period for so long as the breaching party continues reasonable efforts to cure the breach. You agree that if you are in default under this agreement, you may not use those programs and/or services ordered. You further agree that if you have used an Oracle Finance Division contract to pay for the fees due under an order and you are in default under that contract, you may not use the programs and/or services ordered and Oracle may end this agreement. Provisions that survive termination or expiration include those relating to limitation of liability, infringement indemnity, payment, and others which by their nature are intended to survive.



J. Fees and TaxesAll fees payable to Oracle are due within 30 days from the

invoice date. You agree to pay any sales, value-added or other similar taxes imposed by applicable law that Oracle must pay based on the programs and/or services you ordered, except for taxes based on Oracle's income. Also, you will reimburse Oracle for reasonable expenses related to providing the services. Fees for services listed in an ordering document are exclusive of taxes and expenses. You agree that you have not relied on the future availability of any programs or updates in entering into the payment obligations in your order.



K. NondisclosureBy virtue of this agreement, the parties may have access to information that is confidential to one another ("confidential information"). We each agree to disclose only information that is required for the performance of obligations under this agreement. Confidential information shall be limited to the terms and pricing under this agreement, and all information clearly identified as confidential.

A party's confidential information shall not include information that: (a) is or becomes a part of the public domain through no act or omission of the other party; (b) was in the other party's lawful possession prior to the disclosure and had not been obtained by the other party either directly or indirectly from the disclosing party; (c) is lawfully disclosed to the other party by a third party without restriction on the disclosure; or (d) is independently developed by the other party.

We each agree to hold each other's confidential information in confidence for a period of three years from the date of disclosure. Also, we each agree to disclose confidential information only to those employees or agents who are required to protect it against unauthorized disclosure. Nothing shall prevent either party from disclosing the terms or pricing under this agreement or orders submitted under this agreement in any legal proceeding arising from or in connection with this agreement or disclosing the information to a federal or state governmental entity as required by law.



L. Entire AgreementYou agree that this agreement and the information which is incorporated into this agreement by written reference (including reference to information contained in a URL or referenced policy), together with the applicable order, are the complete agreement for the programs and/or services ordered by you, and that this agreement supersedes all prior or contemporaneous agreements or representations, written or oral, regarding such programs and/or services. If any term of this agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain effective. It is expressly agreed that the terms of this agreement and any Oracle ordering document shall supersede the terms in any purchase order or other non-Oracle ordering document and no terms included in any such purchase order or other non-Oracle ordering document shall apply to the programs and/or services ordered. This agreement and ordering documents may not be modified and the rights and restrictions may not be altered or waived except in a writing signed or accepted online through the Oracle Store by authorized representatives of you and of Oracle. Any notice required under this agreement shall be provided to the other party in writing.



M. Limitation of LiabilityNEITHER PARTY SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR DATA USE. ORACLE'S MAXIMUM LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT OR YOUR ORDER, WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT OF THE FEES YOU PAID ORACLE UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, AND IF SUCH DAMAGES RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF PROGRAMS OR SERVICES, SUCH LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE FEES YOU PAID ORACLE FOR THE DEFICIENT PROGRAM OR SERVICES GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY.



N. ExportExport laws and regulations of the United States and any other relevant local export laws and regulations apply to the programs. You agree that such export control laws govern your use of the programs (including technical data) and any services deliverables provided under this agreement, and you agree to comply with all such export laws and regulations (including "deemed export" and "deemed re-export" regulations. You agree that no data, information, program and/or materials resulting from services (or direct product thereof) will be exported, directly or indirectly, in violation of these laws, or will be used for any purpose prohibited by these laws including, without limitation, nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons proliferation, or development of missile technology.



O. OtherThis agreement is governed by the substantive and procedural laws of California and you and Oracle agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of, and venue in, the courts in San Francisco, San Mateo, or Santa Clara counties in California in any dispute arising out of or relating to this agreement.

If you have a dispute with Oracle or if you wish to provide a notice under the Indemnification section of this agreement, or if you become subject to insolvency or other similar legal proceedings, you will promptly send written notice to: Oracle USA, Inc., 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, California, United States, 94065, Attention: General Counsel, Legal Department.

You may not assign this agreement or give or transfer the programs and/or any services or an interest in them to another individual or entity. If you grant a security interest in the programs and/or any services deliverables, the secured party has no right to use or transfer the programs and/or any services deliverables, and if you decide to finance your acquisition of the programs and/or any services, you will follow Oracle's policies regarding financing which are at
http://oracle.com/contracts.

Except for actions for nonpayment or breach of Oracle's proprietary rights, no action, regardless of form, arising out of or relating to this agreement may be brought by either party more than two years after the cause of action has accrued.

Upon 45 days written notice, Oracle may audit your use of the programs. You agree to cooperate with Oracle's audit and provide reasonable assistance and access to information. You agree to pay within 30 days of written notification any fees applicable to your use of the programs in excess of your license rights. If you do not pay, Oracle can end your technical support, licenses and/or this agreement. You agree that Oracle shall not be responsible for any of your costs incurred in cooperating with the audit.

The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act does not apply to this agreement.




P. Force Majeure



Neither of us shall be responsible for failure or delay of performance if caused by: an act of war, hostility, or sabotage; act of God; electrical, internet, or telecommunication outage that is not caused by the obligated party; government restrictions (including the denial or cancellation of any export or other license); other event outside the reasonable control of the obligated party. We both will use reasonable efforts to mitigate the effect of a force majeure event. If such event continues for more than 90 days, either of us may cancel unperformed services upon written notice. This section does not excuse either party's obligation to take reasonable steps to follow its normal disaster recovery procedures or your obligation to pay for services provided.



Q. License Definitions and Rules



To fully understand your license grant, you need to review the definition for the licensing metric and term designation as well as the licensing rules which are listed below.

Adapter: is defined as each software code interface, installed on each Oracle Internet Application Server Enterprise Edition, which facilitates communication of information between each version of a third party software application or system and Oracle programs.

$M Annual Transaction Volume: is defined as one million U.S. dollars in all purchase orders transacted and all auctions conducted through the Oracle Exchange Marketplace by you and others during the applicable year of the Oracle Exchange Marketplace license, regardless of whether any such auction results in a purchase order, provided that an auction resulting in a purchase order shall only be counted against the Annual Transaction Volume once.

Applications National Language Support (NLS) Supplement CD Packs: Please be advised that only a subset of the products included on an Applications NLS Supplement CD Pack have been translated. For existing supported customers, MetaLink has information on which products have been translated for the supported languages (
http://metalink.oracle.com). For new or unsupported customers, please contact your Oracle Account Manager for this information.

Application User, Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) User, Field Sales User, Financials User, Inventory/Shipping User, Marketing User, Manufacturing User, Purchasing User, TeleSales User: is defined as an individual authorized by you to use the applicable licensed application programs which are installed on a single server or on multiple servers regardless of whether the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. If you license the Self Service Work Request option in conjunction with EAM, you are required to maintain licenses for the equivalent number of EAM Users licensed and you are granted unlimited access to initiate work requests, view work request status and view scheduled completion dates for your entire employee population.

Application Read-Only User: is defined as an individual authorized by you to run only queries or reports against the application program for which you have also acquired non read-only licenses.

Case Report Form (CRF) Page: is defined as the "electronic equivalent" of what would be the total number of physical paper pages initiated remotely by the program (measured explicitly in the program as Received Data Collection Instruments) during a 12 month period. You may not exceed the licensed number of CRF Pages during any 12 month period unless you acquire additional CRF Page licenses from Oracle.

Collaboration Program User: is defined as an individual authorized by you to use the programs which are installed on a single server or on multiple servers regardless of whether the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. For the purposes of counting and licensing the number of Web Conferencing users, a Collaboration Program User within your company is defined as a user able to initiate, or host, a web conference and also participate in a web conference; all participants in the web conference external to your company and attending a web conference are not required to be licensed.

Compensated Individual: is defined as an individual whose compensation or compensation calculations are generated by the programs. The term Compensated Individual includes, but is not limited to, your employees, contractors, retirees, and any other Person.

Computer: is defined as the computer on which the programs are installed. A Computer license allows you to use the licensed program on a single specified computer.

Connector: is defined as each connector connecting the software product with an external product. A unique connector is required for each distinct product that the software product is required to interface.

$M Cost of Goods Sold: is defined as one million U.S. dollars in the total cost of inventory that a company has sold during their fiscal year. If Cost of Goods Sold is unknown to you then Cost of Goods Sold shall be equal to 75% of total company revenue.

Electronic Order Line: is defined as the total number of distinct order lines entered electronically into the Oracle Order Management application from any source (not manually entered by licensed Order Management Users, Professional Users 2003, or Professional Users 2003 - External) during a 12 month period. This includes order lines originating as external EDI/XML transactions and/or sourced from other Oracle and non-Oracle applications. You may not exceed the licensed number of order lines during any 12 month period.

Employee: is defined as an active employee of yours. (note: The value of these applications is determined by the size of the active employee population and not the number of actual users. Therefore, all of your active employees must be included in your order when licensing these applications.)

Employee User: is defined as an individual authorized by you to use the programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether or not the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. Your human resource personnel that require access to the Oracle Self Service Human Resources program may not be licensed as Employee Users, but must be licensed as Professional Users. Additionally, your technical support personnel that require access to the Oracle iSupport program may not be licensed as Employee Users, but must be licensed as Professional Users.

Expense Report: is defined as the total number of expense reports processed by Internet Expenses during a 12 month period. You may not exceed the licensed number of expense reports during any 12 month period.

Federated Link: is defined as a one-to-one pairing between a source domain and a destination domain. A source domain is the point of origin for a request. A destination domain contains the resource that users from source domains want to access. One source domain might have many pairings with different destination domains and one destination domain might have many pairings with different source domains. Each and every pairing is a federated link.

Field Technician: is defined as an engineer, technician, representative, or other person who is dispatched by you, including the dispatchers, to the field using the programs.

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Student: is defined as any full-time student enrolled in your institution and any part-time student enrolled in your institution counts as 25% of an FTE Student. The definition of "full-time" and "part-time" is based on your policies for student classification. If the number of FTE Students is a fraction, that number will be rounded to the nearest whole number for purposes of license quantity requirements.

Hosted Named User: is defined as an individual authorized by you to access the hosted service, regardless of whether the individual is actively accessing the hosted service at any given time.

iLearning Subscription: is defined as a web based learning environment that is made available to you subject to the terms of this agreement and Oracle's iLearning Subscription Policies. Oracle's iLearning Subscription Policies may be accessed at
http://oracle.com/contracts, and may be updated by Oracle from time to time without notice to you.

Implementation Services, Packaged Methods, Architecture Services, Accelerator Services, Assessment Services and WorkshopsEach Implementation Service, Packaged Method, Architecture Service, Accelerator Service, Assessment Service and Workshop is provided subject to the statement of obligation for that particular offering and Oracle's consulting services policies. Oracle's consulting services policies may be accessed at
http://oracle.com/contracts, and are subject to change.

1K Invoice Line: is defined as one thousand invoice line items processed by the program during a 12 month period. You may not exceed the licensed number of Invoice Lines during any 12 month period unless you acquire additional Invoice Line licenses from Oracle.

Learning Credits: may be used to acquire education products and services offered in the Oracle University online catalogue posted at
www.oracle.com/education under the terms specified therein. Learning credits may only be used to acquire products and services at the list price in effect at the time you order the relevant product or service, and may not be used for any product or service that is subject to a discount or a promotion when you order the relevant product or service. The list price will be reduced by applying the discount specified above. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the previous three sentences, learning credits may also be used to pay taxes, materials and/or expenses related to your order; however, the discount specified above will not be applied to such taxes, materials and/or expenses. Learning credits are valid for a period of 12 months from the date your order is accepted by Oracle, and you must acquire products and must use any acquired services prior to the end of such period. You may only use learning credits in the country in which you acquired them, may not use them as a payment method for additional learning credits, and may not use different learning credits accounts to acquire a single product or service or to pay related taxes, materials and/or expenses. Learning credits are non-transferable and non-assignable. You may be required to execute standard Oracle ordering materials when using learning credits to order products or services.

$M in Managed Assets: is defined as one million U.S. dollars of the following total: (1) Book value of investment in capital leases, direct financing leases and other finance leases, including residuals, whether owned or managed for others, active on the program, plus (2) Book value of assets on operating leases, whether owned or managed for others, active on the program, plus (3) Book value of loans, notes, conditional sales contracts and other receivables, owned or managed for others, active on the program, plus (4) Book value of non earning assets, owned or managed for others, which were previously leased and active on the program, including assets from term terminated leases and repossessed assets, plus (5) Original cost of assets underlying leases and loans, originated and active on the program, then sold within the previous 12 months.

Membership: is defined as an individual authorized by you to access the hosted service, regardless of whether the individual is accessing the hosted service at any given time.

Module: is defined as each production database running the programs.

Named User Plus: is defined as an individual authorized by you to use the programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. A non human operated device will be counted as a named user plus in addition to all individuals authorized to use the programs, if such devices can access the programs. If multiplexing hardware or software (e.g., a TP monitor or a web server product) is used, this number must be measured at the multiplexing front end. Automated batching of data from computer to computer is permitted. You are responsible for ensuring that the named user plus per processor minimums are maintained for the programs contained in the user minimum table in the licensing rules section; the minimums table provides for the minimum number of named users plus required and all actual users must be licensed.

Non Employee User - External: is defined as an individual, who is not your employee, contractor or outsourcer, authorized by you to use the programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether or not the individual is actively using the programs at any given time.

Oracle Finance Division Contract: is a contract between you and Oracle (or one of Oracle's affiliates) that provides for payments over time of some or all of the sums due under your order.

Oracle University Knowledge Center Service: is defined as a web based learning environment hosted by Oracle that provides on demand access to either an individual Oracle University training course ("Online Course") or to all of the Oracle University training courses available on the Knowledge Center website ("Passport"). The Oracle University Knowledge Center service is available at
http://www.oracle.com/education/oukc/, and is made available to you subject to the terms of this agreement and Oracle University's Online Hosting Access Policies, which are located at http://www.oracle.com/education/oukc/hosting_policies.html and may be updated by Oracle from time to time without notice to you. Online Courses are made available on a named user basis, and the Passport is made available on a membership basis. In the event that any Oracle programs are made available for download as part of the service, then use of such programs is subject to the terms of this agreement. If you acquire the Oracle University Knowledge Center service, the term shall be one year from the effective date of your order. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN THE AGREEMENT, ORACLE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE ORACLE UNIVERSITY KNOWLEDGE CENTER SERVICE WILL BE PROVIDED UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

Order Line: is defined as the total number of order entry line items processed by the program during a 12 month period. Multiple order entry line items may be entered as part of an individual customer order or quote and may also be automatically generated by the Oracle Configurator. You may not exceed the licensed number of Order Lines during any 12 month period unless you acquire additional Order Line licenses from Oracle.

Order Management User: is defined as an individual authorized by you to use the applicable licensed application programs which are installed on a single server or on multiple servers regardless of whether the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. Order Management Users are allowed to manually enter orders directly into the programs but any orders entered electronically from other sources must be licensed separately.

Orders: is defined as the total number of distinct orders for all programs that are a part of Electronic Orders, entered electronically (not manually entered by licensed professional users) through EDI, XML or other electronic means including purchase orders transmitted from Oracle Purchasing, during a 12 month period. You may not exceed the licensed number of orders during any 12 month period.

Partner Organization: is defined as an external third party business entity that provides value-added services in marketing and selling your products. Depending upon the type of industry, partner organizations play different roles and are recognized by different names such as reseller, distributor, agent, dealer or broker.

Person: is defined as your employee or contractor who is actively working on behalf of your organization or a former employee who has one or more benefit plans managed by the system or continues to be paid through the system. For Time and Labor, a person is defined as an employee or contractor whose time or labor (piece work) or absences are managed by the application. For Project Resource Management, a person is defined as an individual who is scheduled on a project. For Internet Time, a person is defined as an individual who is charging time to a project via the application. The total number of licenses needed is to be based on the peak number of part-time and full-time people whose records are recorded in the system.

Ported Number: is defined as the telephone number that end users retain as they change from one service provider to another. This telephone number originally resides on a telephone switch and is moved into the responsibility of another telephone switch.

Processor: shall be defined as all processors where the Oracle programs are installed and/or running. Programs licensed on a Processor basis may be accessed by your internal users (including agents and contractors) and by third party users. For the purposes of counting the number of processors which require licensing, a multicore chip with "n" processor cores shall be counted as "n" processors. For the Healthcare Transaction Base program, only the processors on which Internet Application Server Enterprise Edition and this program are installed and/or running are counted for the purpose of determining the number of licenses required. For the iSupport, iStore and Configurator programs, only the processors on which Internet Application Server (Standard Edition and/or Enterprise Edition) and the licensed program are running are counted for the purpose of determining the number of licenses required for the licensed program; under these licenses you may also install and/or run the licensed program on the processors where a licensed Oracle Database (Standard Edition and/or Enterprise Edition) is installed and/or running. With respect to the Customer Data Hub program, in determining the number of licenses required, only processors on which both Oracle Database Enterprise Edition and the Customer Data Hub program are running in production shall be counted.

Professional User: is defined as an individual authorized by you to use the application programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether or not the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. For the purposes of Order Management, Advanced Pricing and Purchasing, Professional Users are allowed to manually enter orders directly into these programs but any orders transmitted or executed electronically (via EDI, XML or other electronic means including purchase orders transmitted from Oracle Purchasing) must be licensed separately.

Professional User � External : is defined as an individual, who is not your employee, contractor or outsourcer, authorized by you to use the application programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether or not the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. For the purposes of Order Management, Advanced Pricing and Purchasing, Professional Users � External are allowed to manually enter orders directly into these programs but any orders transmitted or executed electronically (via EDI, XML or other electronic means including purchase orders transmitted from Oracle Purchasing) must be licensed separately.

Professional User 2003: is defined as an individual authorized by you to use the application programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether or not the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. Professional Users 2003 are allowed to manually enter orders directly into the programs but any orders entered electronically into Order Management from other sources must be licensed separately.

Professional User 2003 � External: is defined as an individual, who is not your employee, contractor or outsourcer, authorized by you to use the application programs which are installed on a single server or multiple servers, regardless of whether or not the individual is actively using the programs at any given time. Professional Users 2003 � External are allowed to manually enter orders directly into the programs but any orders entered electronically into Order Management from other sources must be licensed separately.

Program Documentation: is defined as the program user manual and program installation manuals.

Purchase Line: is defined as the total number of purchase line items processed by the application during a 12 month period. Multiple purchase lines may be created on either a requisition or purchase order or may be automatically generated by other Oracle Application programs. For iProcurement, Purchase Lines are counted as all line items on an approved requisition created in iProcurement. For Purchasing Intelligence, Purchase Lines are counted as the line items on purchase orders processed through this application. This does not include communication on the same purchase order. For each application, you may not exceed the licensed number of Purchase Lines during any 12 month period unless you acquire additional Purchase Line licenses from us. You may acquire a different number of Purchase Line licenses for each program (the number of Purchase Lines for iProcurement could be a smaller number than for Purchasing Intelligence).

$M in Revenue: is defined as one million U.S. dollars in all income (interest income and non interest income) before adjustments for expenses and taxes generated by you during a fiscal year.

RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes� (PIPs�): are defined as business processes between trading partners. Preconfigured system-to-system XML-based dialogs for the relevant E-Business Suite Application(s) are provided. Each preconfigured PIP includes a business document with the vocabulary and a business process with the choreography of the message dialog.

Service Order Line: is defined as the total number of service order entry line items processed by the program during a 12 month period. Multiple service order entry line items may be entered as part of an individual customer service order or quote. You may not exceed the licensed number of Service Order Lines during any 12 month period unless you acquire additional Service Order Line licenses from Oracle.

Subscriber: is defined as (a) a working telephone number for all wireline devices; (b) a portable handset or paging device that has been activated by you for wireless communications and paging; (c) a residential drop or a nonresidential device serviced by a cable provider; or (d) a live connected utility meter. The total number of Subscribers is equal to the aggregate of all types of Subscribers. If your business is not defined in the primary definition of Subscriber above, Subscriber is defined as each U.S. $1,000 increment of your gross annual revenue as reported to the SEC in your annual report or the equivalent accounting or reporting document.

Suite: is defined as all the functional software components described in the product documentation.

Technical Reference ManualsTechnical Reference Manuals ("TRMs") are Oracle's confidential information. You shall use the TRMs solely for your internal data processing operations for purposes of: (a) implementing applications programs, (b) interfacing other software and hardware systems to the applications programs and (c) building extensions to applications programs. You shall not disclose, use or permit the disclosure or use by others of the TRMs for any other purpose. You shall not use the TRMs to create software that performs the same or similar functions as any of Oracle products. You agree: (a) to exercise either at least the same degree of care to safeguard the confidentiality of the TRMs as you exercise to safeguard the confidentiality of your own most important confidential information or a reasonable degree of care, whichever is greater; (b) to maintain agreements with your employees and agents that protect the confidentiality and proprietary rights of the confidential information of third parties such as Oracle and instruct your employees and agents of these requirements for the TRMs; (c) restrict disclosure of the TRMs to those of your employees and agents who have a "need to know" consistent with the purposes for which such TRMs were disclosed; (d) maintain the TRMs at all times on your premises; and (e) not to remove or destroy any proprietary or confidential legends or markings placed upon the TRMs. Oracle shall retain all title, copyright and other proprietary rights in the TRMs. TRMs are provided to you "as-is" without any warranty of any kind. Upon termination, you shall cease using, and shall return or destroy, all copies of the applicable TRMs.

Trainee: is defined as an employee, contractor, student or other person who is being recorded by the program.

Workstation: is defined as the client computer from which the programs are being accessed, regardless of where the program is installed.

Term DesignationIf your program license does not specify a term, the program license is perpetual and shall continue unless terminated as otherwise provided in the agreement.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Year Terms: A program license specifying a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 Year Term shall commence on the effective date of the order and shall continue for the specified period. At the end of the specified period the program license shall terminate.

1 Year Hosting Term: A program license specifying a 1 Year Hosting Term shall commence on the effective date of the order and shall continue for a period of 1 year. At the end of the 1 year the program license shall terminate. A program license specifying a 1 Year Hosting Term may only be used for providing internet hosting services.

1 Year Oracle Hosted Term: A program license specifying a 1 Year Oracle Hosted Term shall commence on the effective date of the order and shall continue for a period of 1 year. At the end of the 1 year the program license shall terminate. A program license specifying a 1 Year Oracle Hosted Term must be hosted by Oracle.com via Computer and Administration services.

1 Year Subscription: A program license specifying a 1 Year Subscription shall commence on the effective date of the order and shall continue for a period of 1 year. At the end of the 1 year the program license shall terminate.

Licensing Rules

Failover: Your license for the following programs, Oracle Database (Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition or Standard Edition One) and Oracle Internet Application Server (Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition, Standard Edition One or Java Edition) includes the right to run the licensed program(s) on an unlicensed spare computer in a failover environment for up to a total of ten separate days in any given calendar year. Any use beyond the right granted in the previous sentence must be licensed separately and the same license metric must be used when licensing the program(s).

Testing: For the purpose of testing physical copies of backups, your license for the Oracle Database (Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition or Standard Edition One) includes the right to run the database on an unlicensed computer for up to four times, not exceeding 2 days per testing, in any given calendar year.

Primary Usage: is defined as each licensed user of the following applications: Financials, Discrete Manufacturing, Process Manufacturing, Project Costing and Purchasing. Each licensed user is counted only once based on primary usage. You must specify how many users you are licensing for each application. Primary Usage of one of the applications listed above provides the licensed user with the right to use any or all of the other application programs listed above for which you are licensed. This concept also applies to Application Read-Only Users. Each Application Read-Only User of any of the applications listed above has the right to use any or all of the other application programs listed above for which you have also acquired Application Read-Only User licenses. Primary Usage does not provide you with the right to use other application programs including the extensions or options to the application programs listed above.

You are responsible for ensuring that the following restrictions are not violated:· Oracle Database Standard Edition may only be used on machines which have the ability to run a maximum of four processors or on a cluster of machines supporting up to a maximum of four processors per cluster.· Oracle Standard Edition One and Internet Application Server Standard Edition One may only be used on machines which have the ability to run a maximum of two processors.· The number of TRACE licenses (Rdb Server Option) must match the number of licenses of the associated database.· The number of Diagnostics Pack and/or Configuration Management Pack licenses must match the number of licenses of the associated Internet Application Server program (Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition or Java Edition). The number of Identity Management licenses must match the number of licenses of the associated Internet Application Server Standard Edition program.· Application licensing prerequisites as specified in the Applications Licensing Table which may be accessed at
http://oracle.com/contracts.

If you purchase Named User Plus licenses for the programs listed below, you must maintain the following user minimums and user maximums:

Program Named User Plus Minimum

Oracle Database Enterprise Edition 25 Named Users Plus per Processor

Rdb Enterprise Edition 25 Named Users Plus per Processor

CODASYL DBMS 25 Named Users Plus per Processor

TopLink and Application Development Framework 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Internet Application Server Java Edition 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Internet Application Server Standard Edition One 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Internet Application Server Standard Edition 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Internet Application Server Enterprise Edition 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

BPEL Process Manager 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Portal 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Identity Management 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Integration 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Business Intelligence 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Forms and Reports 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Web Services Manager 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

XML Publisher 10 Named Users Plus per Processor

Program Named User Plus MaximumPersonal Edition 1 Named User Plus per database

The number of licenses for the programs listed below must match the number of licenses of the associated database and if you purchase Named User Plus licenses for these programs, you must maintain, at a minimum, 25 Named Users Plus per Processor per associated database:Real Application Clusters, Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining, Spatial, Advanced Security, Label Security, Diagnostics Pack, Tuning Pack, Change Management Pack, Configuration Management Pack.