Adventures with Apex

I have been trying to learn Oracle's Application Express (a.k.a. Apex).  Not for my own personal pleasure, for a class, fittingly enough named Oracle Technologies.  And I am still rying to find out where the express part of it comes into play.  So far, after working with Perl, PHP, ASP.net (using VB for the code behind), and Flash and ActionScript 3.0,  I find Apex the most confusing to work with.

Something as simple as a select list was a 3 hour nightmare.  I can get more done in less time with plain html and Perl than I can with Apex.  At least in Perl, I know what the code does.  I wrote it.  In Apex, I am constrained by the way the Apex developers have envisioned a web application.

And that's my rant on Apex.

For those wiching to tackle Apex, you may need this:

Why I Hate Unions - Especially in Quebec

UPDATE:  This was written on June 1, 2010, when my union decided to stage a 4 hour strike, something no staff member, union members included, wanted to be part of.  We do not support our union since they refuse explain clearly what the issues are, how they concern us, nor have they shown any sign they will try to.  We were even told, since we live in Quebec, they do not have to provide an english translation for us.


I am supposed to be taking part in a walkout right now, and I do not care.  The City of Montreal's White Collar Union is a pile of nonsense.  Its leaders are ignorant, selfish, and misinformed.

One of the things I have been thinking about lately is what kind of work culture do I want to be part of.  Since going back to school, the realization that I will one day leave my current job for a job in the tech industry is getting more clear each day.  I'm not sure where that will send me, but I do know that if a union is involved, I'll be looking elsewhere.

To be fair, unions, in certain workplaces unions are necessary.  The teacher's union, for example, since the Quebec government does not know how to manage an education system.  Or at Wal-Mart, where unpaid overtime occurs regularly.  My workplace does not need a union, nor do we want one.

I work in the recreation department for a suburb of Montreal, and we are part of the large white collar union that represents employees of the City of Montreal, and employees of its suburbs.  How we became, and remained part of the union, is too long to describe here.  I may post how it happened, but in the end, the department I work for, like all other departments in the city, did not have a choice at all.  It was the most unfair and un-democratic method of unionization, the very ideas a union is supposed to uphold.

In my division, there are roughly 200 part-time employees, and 10 full time.  The 200 part time employes are students, or people looking for a little extra money.  We are treated very well by our division managers.  Better than other city departments in most cities in North America.  We have a unique, and favourable, relationship with our supervisors, including the division manager and the department's director.  Our union would like to get in between that relationship.

Our union represents  clerical staff for the city.  Full time employees who are generally nice people, and do their appropriately.  What happens when a union becomes involved, the union takes a life of its own.  Union leaders tell us what is wrong with our working conditions.  Except, where my workplace is concerned, no union rep has come around to see that our working conditions are good.  The 200 student employees at my workplace are numbers to the union, to show how influential and large it is.  We are an extra 200 members filling the union's bank account with some play money.

In reality, we do not care about our union.  They have nothing to offer us, nor do they attempt communicate with us in our language of choice (90% of the employees are anglophone).  The only time they any attempt to get our attention is when the union needs a show of numbers, and then, in a language of their choosing.  They also get 1.4% of my paycheque each week, which would be better spent buying The Montreal Gazette, or The New York Sunday TImes.  We are a cash grab and a numbers game.

I am supposed to at a lunchtime strike right now, unclear as to the reasons.  Picketing in front of my workplace, where relationships with staff, managers, and clients are more important than an misguided organization's attempt for publicity.  I refuse to show any support for my union, since they have not taken any opportunity to take us seriously.  Unions will weigh heavily on any future career choice.

Apple's iPad - My Way

Apple's iPad is a great example of what a forward thinking technology company can achieve.  And, it has finally arrived in Canada.  Actually, it took a lot less time for the iPad to reach Canada than it took the iPhone.

While there are critics of the device, no other computer manufacturer has been able to market a tablet computer to the masses.  What is sad, these kinds of devices can not be brought on by surprise.  The days of Steve Jobs ending a keynote with "...and one more thing..." may be losing it's impact with the recent examples of leaks about upcoming products.  Yet the hype still builds.

As Apple creates the best computer operating system, designs the best notebooks and desktop, and gave a much needed kick to the mobile phone industry, it is also seeking too much control over its products.  There seems to be less and less respect for developers and users, especially when its mobile devices are concerned.

For developers, it stems from the iPhone developer agreement, and the approval process for iPhone/iPod Touch applications, which will extend to the iPad.  Let developers create the application they want, whether it duplicates and official Apple app or not, and let users decide.  Users will chose the best application for their needs.  The only criteria there should be applications is that it does not contain any malware.  Apple's own applications are very intuitive to use from the beginning, yet if a developer creates an application that duplicates some functionality of an Apple application, it is usually filling in a missing link not covered by Apple.

As for users, buying an iPad, or iPhone/ipod Touch, means being locked into Apple's iTunes service.  Which is far from losing its music market share.  The stability and integration that comes with combining an Apple mobile device with an iMac or MacBook is huge advantage, and solves many problems with trying to sync data between mobile devices and computers.  However, those mobile devices can only play certain formats, which are inconvenient if a collection already exists in a format not endorsed by Apple.

Where the iPad is concerned, it is right now a giant iPod Touch.  It needs more features of a notebook.  A proper file viewer, a preview application, multitasking taken to a level farther than the iPhone, and the ability to play a broader variety of video and audio formats; whether built in or via a plugin such as Perian.  Those simple additions would make the iPad much more attractive.  Otherwise, I will wait for the next generation.

How to Hold Back the Future

No more room in Montreal CEGEPs to teach ( via The Montreal Gazette ).

Ever since I returned to school, I have been more observant of Quebec's education system.  There are many areas that make Quebec's post secondary education great, such as low tuition fees for Quebec residents at Quebec universities.  The bad, and there are plenty is how the provincial government wants to decide what language people should study in after high school.

Now the Montreal Gazette is reporting that enrollment at Montreal's 3 english CEGEPs have reached the point of refusing addmission to new students, especially in science.  Odd, considering anglophones are the minority in Quebec, and CEGEP is a necessary step on the way to university.

An interesting point left out of the Gazette article, was since enrollment has risen at the english CEGEPs, what was the increase in francophone applicants?  The Gazette notes the problem is mostly at english CEGEPs.

It is common practice for francophones to enroll in english post secondary CEGEPs and Universities to improve their english skills.  The Quebec government has been trying to limit the amount of english learned, so as to keep Quebec unique in North America.

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Reasons to Self Re-Educate

I work in a department that has nothing to do with computers or software development, yet the skills I have developed in the last year are maing me very critical of how business gets done.  It is the kind of place where people with wrong skill set are asked to complete certain tasks.

For example, I work at a large aquatic center, with roughly 3000 individuals passing through the building each week.  Most are children participating in a 30 minute swimming lesson, with a fair amount taking part in more than one lesson with a different instructor.  The new project is to identify these kids so their assessment from each instructor is consistent.

The problem is, since this is a municipal operation, there other programs run by the city, such as day camps, clubs, and other organizations, all using the same database.  That by itself is not the problem.  The problem is there are only a select few who work for the city who know how manipulate a large database.  The task of identifying kids in multiple lessons fell to a clerk with only basic computer skills, and planned by a manager who has issues organizing her e-mail in any kind of logical manner.

The poor office clerk was left using Microsoft Excel to create a list of a few hundred kids, and about 50 instructors, instead of getting an employee from the IT department, with the necessary skill set, to create a report with the desired information.

Just another where one who has no clue asks another with little skill to perform a complex task.

 

Quebec's Language Non-Sense

PQ members debate access to anglo CEGEPs, daycare

The Parti Québécois (PQ) is doing all it can to keep the population from progressing and improving. (Wikipedia link for the French impaired).

The way it stands now, in order to attend an english primary or secondary public school in Quebec, at least one of the child's parents must meet three basic criteria:

1. received their schooling in Canada,
2. attended a public school,
3. received their pirmary and secondary education in english.

The rationale for this law is to prevent the erosion of the french language in Quebec. This requires that all children whos parents do not meet these criteria, receive their scholing in french. Since the majority of Quebec's population is francophone, this is a non issue for most families. Immigrant families are subject to this law as well; children of immigrant parents must be sent to a french school, if they choose to follow the public school system.

 

Famiies can opt out this arrangement if they choose to send their children to a private school, since private schools are not covered by this language law. After one year of education in a private english school, children are eligable to attend a public english school. The Quebec government tried to close loophole, but was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada. This is an ngoing debate in Quebec that will not get resolved soon.

Once teenagers finish high school (at grade 11 in Quebec), they enter he world of post secondary education with 2 years at CEGEP, followed by three years at university. Here. students finally receive the choice they deserve regarding the language of education. Most students choose to follow their CEGEP studies in their mother tongue. There, however, a large amount of francophone students who choose to attend their post secondary studies in english. Sometimes because of the program they followiing, but often, they wish improve their english skills.

In word that is becoming more connected, english is beng used more as the common language. Also, with U.S. being less than 1 hour away from Montreal, Quebec's largest trading partner is also one the largest english speaking countries in the world.

This where the real non sense begins. The PQ want to restrict this choice as well, extending the language law to post secondary institutions. In effect, they want to limit Quebec's students to living and working in Quebec, by restricting their ability to function outside of Quebec. It is all name of protecting the Quebec's unique culture, and the language of the majority being the defining character of culture.

 

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