Handy howmany commandy

Here's a handy little bit of... well it isn't really SQL, is it? Shell scripting and SQL*Plus, more like.

tcsh & csh

alias howmany "echo 'select count(*) from table;' | sqlplus -s 'xxxxxx/xxxxxx@(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=xxxxxx)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVER=DEDICATED)(SERVICE_NAME=xxxxxx)))'"

sh & bash

alias howmany="echo 'select count(*) from table;' | sqlplus -s 'xxxxxx/xxxxxx@(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=xxxxxx)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVER=DEDICATED)(SERVICE_NAME=xxxxxx)))'"

(for ksh use either) - and then...

$ howmany

Enjoy!

p.s. I'd love to add a pipe to

sed -e '/^$/ d; s/^\s-*//g'

but the dollar sign screws things up, at least in tcsh. Oh well!

Fergie playing Yahtzee!

Hard-to-read Podcasts

If you use the iOS Podcasts app, you've probably had occasion to swear at the producers of a podcast for their graphics and how they translate into dark text on a dark background. It's even worse in low light.

Well swear no more! At least not about this. It turns out there's a setting for that! Unfortunately, because this is iOS, you have to open the Settings app. Go there and choose Podcasts. And there aren't that many settings, so find this one, Custom Colors, and turn it off

And enjoy more podcasts!

Don't take checks from strangers

I don't tend to be alarmist, but this article has an important warning... when you deposit a check, everything you write on it can go back to whoever issued it - your account number, social security number... huge identity theft problem. 

http://www.westernjournalism.com/alert-people-are-getting-checks-in-the-mail-from-walmart-when-they-deposit-them/