Christopher Lawson's Blog, page 2

Unified: How Our Unlikely Friendship Gives Us Hope for a Divided Country by Tim Scott, Trey Gowdy

Working together

UNIFIED is a story of friendship between two conservative. politicians from very different backgrounds. The book is well-written, and told in a casual, conversational manner.  The frienship between these two men really shines through in every chapter.

Keep in mind, however, that UNIFIED is not really a political book.  If you are more interested in partisan politics, or getting the inside scoop on those wily Democrats, this is probably not the book for you.  There are no partisan swipes in this book; in fact, Tim talks admirably about some key Democrat leaders.

Each chapter has sections from each other, alternating, so as to give different perspectives.  The main theme is not politics, but rather an overview of how their own friendship started, and has strengthened over the years. 

Role Models

One chapter discusses the power of role models. Each author discusses someone who had a major impact on their life.  This was my favorite chapter.  The congressman tells the story of "Mr Littlejohn," his Sunday School teacher, and a liberal Democrat who taught Trey the message of compassion and love for others.  Tim tells the story of the kind manager from Chick-fil-A, who saw the potential in Tim and mentored him.

Perhaps the most powerful chapter is the discussion on different perspectives on the police interaction with the black community.  I found the senator's accounts of being profiled very convincing.  Senator Scott relates how police have followed him without cause on numerous occasions--even to the point of denying him entrace to Congress!

Reconciliation

The book concludes with a plea for "Reconciliation.” This section includes ideas on how to reach out to folks who are different than us.  What a great idea!

I found most of UNIFIED quite interesting; however, I didn't find the sections about the inner workings of Congress that interesting. Other readers might disagree with me.

Nissan Altima Won't Start Easy Fix

Easy Trick to Start Nissan Altima

Filming the Yelp Elite "YES!" Campaign 2018

Good Memories at Yelp HQ

I just returned from a fantastic 3 days in San Francisco, shooting a promo video for Yelp. The purpose of this video is to get the word out about Yelp "Elite." Of course, most people have heard about Yelp, or have even written some reviews.  But what in the world is "Yelp Elite?"

Yelp Elite Squad

The "Elite Squad" is a group of reviewers who have nominated themselves, or been nominated by another user, then vetted by the National Elite Squad Committee. They are people from all walks of life, who have a record of posting solid, informative reviews. They use real names and photos on their profiles.

A Yelp Elite is someone who can be trusted.

I had a blast working with Yelp on this project. I have never seen such a creative bunch of people all in one place. It was a real honor to rub shoulders with skilled pros who are experts in creating powerful, informative content.

It was a lot of hard work, however.  A lot harder than my day job!  Yet somehow, I managed to take in those wonderful dinners and the stay at a modern hotel in the center of San Francisco.

"Action!"

Yelp set up the shoot at their studio in San Francisco. What a production!  While I can't reveal details of the actual shoot, it required a big production team, with multiple directors, producers, hair and makeup stylists, writers, artistic directors, wardrobe experts, lighting experts, cameramen--you name it. 

It takes a lot of people to produce a high-quality video.  And even after the shoot, the work is far from over. There are video and audio editors that have to do their magic.

Yelp management also arranged for fantastic dinners in the city for us.  They also put us up at the "Axiom" in downtown. The Axiom is a modern hotel with smallish room, but lots of high-tech features.  My favorite amenity was "Astro" the delivery robot.

It was a lot of fun meeting some of the Yelp "Community Managers" from different parts of the U.S. Our liaison was Scotty, a Senior "CM" from Charleston. Scotty made sure we got to where we needed to be, and accompanied us to all the tasty dinners. Gabi, a Yelp V.P., organized everything and took great care of us Yelpers. There were lots of other people involved as well, making our stay in the city exciting, yet comfortable.

The details of the shoot are still secret.  But watch for the Yelp Elite "YES" postings in September or October.

The Winning Video

There were three Yelp Elites selected, based on their video submittals.  Besides myself, there was Roger K. and Korrie K.

Here is my winning video for "YES!" 2018

YES! Campaign 2018

Yelp Elite "YES" Campaign 2018

Good Memories at Yelp HQ

Happy Yelper

I just returned from a fantastic 3 days in San Francisco, shooting a promo video for Yelp. Wow--what a fun and creative team!

It was hard work, however.  A lot harder than my day job!

The details of the shoot are still secret.  But watch for the Yelp Elite "YES" postings in September or October.

Here is my winning video for "YES!" 2018

YES! Campaign 2018

Bunch O'Balloons Seal-Sealing Water Balloons

I had no idea how easy it was to fill a bunch of water balloons. My video explains how it's done.

Oracle Performance Tuning Blunder #11

Just Add more Memory!

The “increase the parameters” strategy has a certain appeal, because it sounds so logical and scientific. In this line of reasoning, performance problems will disappear as the cache hit ratio increases. 

At first, this sounds logical since a high cache hit ratio means fewer disk reads. The grand fallacy with the “increase the buffer” strategy is that it fails to address the root cause of the problem. 

In the rush to achieve a solution, no time is spent calmly analyzing the facts and finding a root cause that matches the facts.  That is, just like a “guessing” strategy, a sound process is not even considered as the analyst hopes to find a solution that doesn’t require any real work. 

 

The approach of "add more resources"  is nothing more than guessing. The problem with guessing is that there are unlimited number of guesses one can make. If you ask around the office, everyone can make a guess, no matter their competence in the subject matter.

Of course, it won’t do any harm to increase the database cache size, but it’s a big distraction.  Whenever anyone suggests this approach, I ask, “So, that’s the root cause of the problem?”  This question is sort of a polite way of asking, "Do you really know what you are talking about?"

In my entire career, I have not seen a single case where the root cause was actually insufficient database cache.  (However, a colleague told me that he saw it once.)

Introduction to Blockchain Technology

Database versus Blockchain

When one uses the term, "database," one means a system where data is centrally located and administered. Since the data is all in one place, performance is often excellent.  Trusted employees, such as DBAs (Database Administrators) are tasked with keeping the database up and running, with appropriate back-ups.

Big, centralized database

The idea of "blockchain" is almost the exact opposite of database technology.  In blockchain technology, the data, saved in "blocks,"  is distributed, or "chained" from block to block. All of the chains exist on  all the nodes. 

A blockchain network is a ledger of transactions needing protection and privacy. That's why the technology is used in Bitcoin, and other businesses that require some way to securely store transactions.

Blockchain is the very opposite of centralized storage. The data, or blocks, are completely distributed to every node. Thus, there is no need for taking a "backup," since the entire network IS the backup. There is also no central target for a hacker to penetrate the system.

One feature in Blockchain technology is that no one needs to administer the database.  In fact, there is no such thing as a central administrator, since there is no database to administer! All of the nodes have all of the information.

The closest thing in the database world is "multimaster replication," where all the database is automatically send to all nodes. These systems are complicated, and need experienced technicians to administer.

Everyone has the data

In blockchain, the replication of all information to everyone means that there is a big performance hit. Realistically, this type of system cannot process the same rate of transactions as a big database online system.

Wild Tip #12, Oracle Performance Tuning Expert

Create an AWR Repository

This tip is one of the most powerful ideas I have ever used. Using the AWR repository is great if you only need to check back a month or two.  But what if you want to see a long term trend over years?  Suppose you want to see how a sql has degraded over time?

Obviously, the standard AWR report is not going to be very helpful; therefore, for some critical databases, we have created a repository that contains years of information. The beauty of this approach is, that you only need a small set of tables, which don’t require a lot of disk space.

Simple, Small, but Powerful!

Here's why this new repository will be pretty small: You don’t need the Active Session information—you just need the metrics for each sql. It is astonishing the information you can glean from just five tables.

Here are our five custom tables:

DA_DBA_HIST_SERVICE_STATDA_DBA_HIST_SNAPSHOTDA_DBA_HIST_SQLSTATDA_DBA_HIST_SYSSTATDA_DBA_HIST_SYSTEM_EVENT

 

 Here's How it Works

A few times a day, we run a job that copies the new information from the original “Dba_Hist” tables into our repository. Then, to use these five tables, you simple query your repository tables instead, like this:

We have used the above system on our most critical database for many years.  When users ask me to check the historical performance of some report or sql, it is easy to do.  I bet you will find it easy as well.

By Christopher Lawson

Salomon QuickLace System

Salomon hiking shoes use the "Quicklace" system, also known as Race Laces.  Here are some videos that explain how to use these laces, and how to repair them.

How to use the Quicklace system
How to Repair the Laces
Salomon Quicklace

A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog

Mr. Koontz is not an author. He is, instead, a bright beacon of light shining light on a cold and dark world.  My words cannot do justice to this moving and profound work.  This is not only a nice way to remember a good pet.  It is also not just a "feel good" or "Aw shucks" type of book.

Despite the many playful stories, and even the title, this is a serious work with serious, profound ideas.

Of course, there are the wonderful stories about Trixie Koontz, the "Golden." Indeed, the tales are fun and enjoyable. Who could not love hearing Trixie vocalize, "Bah" when she wanted to hunt down stray tennis balls at the local tennis court.  And what about Trixie shouting down the loud barking dog?  Great, fun stories.  I enjoyed them all.

Caution!  Don't be fooled--the theme is not just what a great dog Trixie proved to be. Neither is the book just a heart-warming tribute to a loyal pet. The essence of this book is more like, "Watch out--Look at the wonderful mysteries of life!  Don't miss it!"

This is what Trixie brought to the Koontz family.  This book is not a story documenting some fun frolicking with a Golden; Rather, this book takes direct aim at the very essence of life--what it means to be ALIVE on planet Earth.

Among other things, Trixie taught the Koontz family a message that the author perhaps didn't understand before.  He learned this:

"True Wisdom is Humility. What a wonderful, mysterious universe we live in."

I am in awe of the author. After finishing the second to last chapter last night, I could only say, "Lord, Bless the Koontz Family."