Learn Yii Framework

After evaluating some PHP frameworks, I've picked Yii because it seems to have the best ratio between cost/benefit. It's quite complete, easy to learn, performs fast and even has some similarities with Django, my favorite web framework.

Here's my Yii learning process:

• Start with Larry Ullman Learning the Yii framework tutorial.
• Read the Larry Ullman Working with layouts in Yii to learn how to change the GUI.
• Read the Configuring controller access rules to default-deny to learn how to control the user access.
• Read the Relational Active Record to learn about the model relations.
• Get Yii Bootstrap and read the documentation to get great widgets. 
• Get Yiiclipse, if you use Eclipse as an IDE.

If you'r new to Yii and are looking for a starting point, this one worked for me.

./M6

Low-Fat Presentations

Presenting may be an art, but presenting without boring the audience is actually easy.
There's a lot of blogs, books and opinions about the subject, but the main idea is the triplet: message, focus and design.

The message is easy: it's what one needs to communicate to the audience.
This main principle is to open your presentation with the conclusion, i.e., show what the audience will see next. Then show how to get to conclusion, or how did one got into that conclusion.

Focus is an exercise that must be performed at each presentation step.
For each step one must ask the question "is there anything that I can remove?" This will maintain the presentation focused on the message, so that no unnecessary "fat" will be included.

Contrary to the common believe, design is not hard to achieve.
Start by using a clean and professional good looking template and keep things simple. Don't stuff loads of text that no one will read nor retain. Pick a good font that is easily read when projected, take into account the fact that size does matter and people on the back of the audience need to see it clearly.
Use graphics, workflows, etc. whenever possible, it usually is more eye appealing and much less boring than it's similar text description. Please use good looking graphics, picking from clipart that's bundled with office suits and alike is usually a bad choice, since it's looks usually very outdated.
Finally, be consistent by using the same lettering, colors, etc..


Here's a set o articles which I recommend:

1. How to Present to Senior Executives
2. Create a Presentation Your Audience Will Care About
3. Do Your Slides Pass the Glance Test
4. Structure Your Presentation Like a Story

./M6

Oracle Print Cursor Result

Here's how to print the result of any cursor in Oracle PL/SQL: Print the result of a cursot in Oracle PL/SQL

./M6

InfoSphere DataStage

While researching information about ETL tools, I've come across with this IBM RedBook about its InfoSphere DataStage product:

You can get IBM InfoSphere DataStage Data Flow and Job Design here.
I also recommend InfoSphere DataStage Parallel Framework Standard Practices.

./M6

For XML Path Equivalent in Oracle For String Aggregation

Here's how to translate the SQL Server XML Path into Oracle string aggregation:
For XML Path Equivalent in Oracle For String Aggregation

./M6

Do you really want to... ?

For the development of an application, I had the need to install some Oracle components for .Net.
After all components have been installed, I got this screen

with a very intriguing question

Well... do you?
(Hint: the answer is in the dialog)

./M6

Malware detection tool

I've just helped a partner to recover a Joomla! 1.5 malware attack.
The Sucuri scanner tool was a great help, check it out: Sucuri SiteCheck

./M6