Unicode Converter

For using Unicode characters in the FLA file the only way is to use notations. This application converts the typed string into the escape sequence

Ellison on the future of Databases

"We sell databases, and y'all have bought too many of them," Ellison quipped. "The reason you can't find out what's going on in your business is that information is stored in too many databases."

Ellison's vision of the immediate future, is one of consolidation of existing databases. It's something that he says Oracle itself did in the late 90s, before which "we stored information about our customers in hundreds of separate databases." Thus, Ellison says that setting up a global data model and pursuing related consolidation rather than adding in new customer relationship management (CRM) or other applications is the way for enterprises to save money and get the most out of their IT investments

Ellison said that he "hates" being number two in the applications marketplace behind SAP, and wants to catch up, he believes that Oracle's database expertise is the rock on which enterprises should build their e-business. "We think the database business and the apps business are very closely related," Ellison said, adding that the ultimate value is more in the information delivery capability of the database and transactional systems in general. "Modern systems will deliver information so people can log on and see how well they are doing."

"We thought about it as automating departments, not as keeping track of information." Ellison cited sales practices that have historically focused on heads of departments such as sales and marketing. Going forward, Oracle has its eye fixed on the larger problem of automating the business, said Ellison, reiterating that linking these silos was an issue of data model and database consolidation, not an enterprise application integration (EAI) fix.

Apple's G5 Powermac designer, Ive, speaks...

"Keeping it simple was the overall design philosophy for the machine. "

"It became an exercise to reduce and reduce, but it makes it easier to build and easier for people to work with."

The internal bays for accommodating extra hard drives are good examples of that philosophy in action. A set of plastic mounting fixtures sit next to the drive bays, ready to be used if and when the owner wants to add an extra drive.

Likewise, the ribbon connectors await, neatly tucked away above and below the drive bays. Ive said they can be simply pulled out and plugged into the new drive. It's very neat, ordered and simple.