And now for something completely different…

So far my reviews   have concentrated on roleplaying products,but back in the seventies I actually entered the hobby as a young but enthusiastic historical wargamer. I played 25mm Napoleonics, 15mm Dark Ages, 20mm WW2 and 1/3000 scale naval battles and 1/300 scale microtank battles. In short, my wargaming experience was extensive and varied.

The roleplaying hobby was born out of wargaming, via the publication of TSR of Chainmail, which became eventually via a fantasy supplement Dungeons and Dragons. Yet surprisingly few contemporary roleplayers seem to have come from the world of miniatures wargames – my recent ‘how did you get in to roleplaying?’ poll showed it is a distinct minority these days. The old school wargamers turned roleplayers reckon we can tell who was a wargamer first, but it would be a shame not to try and reverse the tredn, and for a few roleplayers to try wargaming.

One of the biggest problems facing anyone interested in wargaming is assembling an army. Firstly however you need to choose your rules,and one of the most popular today, with base sizes shared with many other sets of rules, is De Bellis Antiquitatis, known as DBA for short.

The rules are very short – 10 pages in total of actual playing rules, with only two charts and one set of factors which are referred to once the game starts. This simplicity is actually their beauty – it allows you to concentrate on generalship rather than esoteric factor calculation, or extensive morale rules. However the real beauty of DBA is that an army is always 12 bases, each of which has two or three figures on it – the extremes are one figure for a chariot, up to maybe 7 for a Horde. Armies therefore require about 50 models, which in 15mm scale mean you can comfortably amass two armies for under $30, in lead figures! Even 25mm figures are affordable,and the rules cover 5mm, 15mm and 20/25mmm figure scales with equal ease. You can easily dispense with minatures altogether, and simply cut cardboard based tothe shapes required. For my playtest I bought, based and painted two armies of the period of the Chariot era, (total cost from Essex Miniatures including postage and packing £16.50), and painted and based them.

Terrain was improvised with a cloth, books and a hastily built but attractive cardboard town, and some simple marshes, rivers and roads made from cardboard and felt tips. When I have time I will develop the terrain and make it attractive rather than functional!

OK, the next great thing about the rules – the playing area. the game in 15mmm plays on a 2′ square area (600mm), and in 25mm on a 3′ square area (900mm square). Average move distances are 2″ for infantry off road (or 5cm if using metric) and 3″ for light troops (75mm) and a speedy 4″ (10cm) for light chariots going at full whack! The nice thing here is that the playing area is small enough, and the armies ditto, for almost anyone to find space to play. I played on one end of my coffee table, the remaining two thirds of which was strewn with rpg stuff!

Next up – because you are moving just 12 bases, the games zips along. There are no fiddly tiny tactical manouvres, as units can change facing etc, to respond. The central idea of the game is that command and control of ancient units was limited, and that basically all armies troops are pretty similar, but the army varies by composition and generalship. Each bound (turn) the player rolls a D6, and has that many pips. Moving a unit, or a group of units in base to base contact, costs one pip from his available supply. I was sceptical about this at first, but in fact it lead to some very exciting situations – Canaanite Chariots bearing down on my troops,and me with no idea if my general would get orders to them in time to retreat across the river and gain a defensive advantage! (In fact I rolled a 5, and got my infantry across, but it turned out the river was so shallow based on the river depth roll it gave me no tactical advantage, and meanwhile my light troops were overwhelmed by the Canaanites and slaughtered in a marsh which dominated the centre of the battlefield – but that is another story!)

The rules are slightly complicated by the fact that if your general is over 6″ away and out of site, or over 12″ away, then you must pay two ‘pip’ off your available moves to move that unit. There are rules which cover effects of terrain, useful tactics like placing Psiloi (skirmishers) in support of Auxilia (regular infantry), the adverse effects of Elephants on cavalry, Scythed Chariots, Light Chariots, Heavy Chariots (inferior to Light Chariots in my opinion), Field Artillery, Knights, varying shades of Cavalry, Camels, and loads of different types of infantry. Understanding their historical battlefield role and playing to their strengths is the key to victory – however despite a good knowledge of Ancient Warfare, my infantry army were defeated twice running by Lloyd’s Caananites.

Anyway,I have probably give you enough information to decide if you like the idea of trying a fast play (under an hour) set of miniature wargames rules which cover the period 3000BC – 1500AD, from the Dawn of History to the Renaissance. You really should play with two armies who faced each other historically, and each of the army lists has details on historical allies and enemies. The lists are also divided into five main periods, as follows -

Section One – The Chariot Era 3000BC to 500BC – 63 armies,including well knoiwn ones like the Etruscan League, Canaanites, Philistines, Hitties, Kushites, several Egyptian armies, but also more obscure ones like the Melukhkhan Indian, Later Amorites, and the Zagros and Anatolian Highlanders!

Section Two – The Classical Period, 500 BC to 476AD -84 army lists-includes usual suspects like various Greek and Roman armies, but also rareities like Ariarthid Kappadokian and Turcilingi or even Hasmonean Jewish armies, plus many from Asia, Africa and the Orient.

Section Three – The Early Medieval Period 476 to 1071AD covering all the main Dark Age cultures, and many relatively obscure ones – the list staggered me with their completeness. 79 army lists.

Section Four – The High Medieval Period rounds off the selection – covering 1071 to 1500AD with 84 lists. I have already stressed the completeness enough methinks.

The rules also include an excellent set of simple campaign rules, which I have not yet had a chance to try out, for campaigns with several players 4-8 would seem to be optimum to me, and loads of six player campaigns are suggested – sixty historical campaigns in total, each one just outlining which of the lists each player uses. Bearing in mind the rules would work just as well, but less attractively, with cardboard counters cut to th base sizes, and you could for six quid spend a happy weekend refighting almost any Ancient or Medieval campaign. The rules end with guidelines for larger battles with more units or sub-commanders.

The overall playtest was superb – despite my loss on both occasions, I thoroughly enjoyed both games, and spent a goodly while bemoaning my stupid tactical errors. The element of skill against chance seems at the moment much higher that in any other wargame sminiatures rules I have so far played under (about twenty sets, over a twenty five year period). There is a Fantasy version of the rules, Hordes of the Things, which I intend to review soon assuming time permits. For substance i give the rules a thoroughly merited 5, or 10 out of 10 for content, coverage and playability.

However… I was tempted to give the rules a one for style. Wargames rules are rarely well written – or rather they are well written, in the way a washing machines manual is well written. They set out to clearly and functionally state the rules, with no roo for ambiguity. The prose is technical, clipped, precise. All of this is true of these rules. They have a fairly jolly introduction, and some good writing. The lists and rules are fairly clear. So why a 2 for style, and my thoughts of a 1? Because the errata sheet which came with the rules took over forty minutes to transcribe in to the main rules. There are hardly any mistakes – most are minor changes in wording just to clarify the rules, and to close potential loopholes. These rules are used in Wargaming Championships and competitions, and there can be no ambiguity – unlike an rpg, there is rarely a referee to settle disputes. The result was rulebook was glossed with dozens of tiny carefully handwritten notes by yours truly, as I slowly incorporated all the errata. Whatever nice things I might have said about the rules clarity, simplicity and unambigous wording were lost in the fact I ended up with each page dotted with neat crossing outs, substitutions and marginalia. The result is probably much clearer, but revisions at this level require a new edition not really an extensive errata.

Despite this damning criticism, I loved these rules. A superb introduction to miniatures wargaming for anyone, and very highly recommended! Now if only I had held that hill, instead of falling back my archers to the cover of the warbands, and had rushed my general across, the Canaanite Chariots would have been on bad going and… Sorry -it really is that absorbing a game!

cj, 2004

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INGENIERIA DE SISTEMAS
Fecha de Registro: 23 de Noviembre de 2009

DESCRIPCION DEL CARGO: Dba Senior Oracle

Profesional SENIOR, ingeniero de sistemas o afines.

Experiencia en administración y consultorías base de datos ORACLE 9i o 10g o 11g.

Administración de bases de grandes volúmenes de datos

Experto en instalaciones ORACLE en diferentes sistema operativos.

Experiencia en afinación de sentencias y bases de datos.

Amplio conocimiento en backups y recuperación de base de datos.

Instalaciones comprobadas de real application cluster o dataguard.

Conocimiento en pl/sql

Diseño de almacenamiento para base de datos.

Desenvolvimiento con la gente.

Espíritu investigativo.

Salario: $3.700.000

Ubicación: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali

SALARIO: $3.700.000

INFORMACION DE CONTACTO:

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This page gives information gathered on SQL Server.

• Can I start IDENTITY values at a new seed?
• What should I choose for my primary key?

How to check Oracle processes in windows using command line?

Oracle DBA monitors oracle processes on unix using ps command. It is rumor that there is no alternate command available in windows for checking oracle proceses on windows. This technical tip helps Oracle DBA for monitoring Oracle processes on windows using command line.

Burning problem of Oracle DBA is how to check Oracle process in Windows while GUI not available (May be in Remote database monitoring). In unix it is very easy for administrating using ps command. Is there any alternate available in Windows? When we will ask this question get no answer for same. Because lack of knowledge of command line for Windows. Here you can get help for same which command is available for performing same task of Oracle DBA.

Is there any command in Windows like ps command in Unix for Oracle DBA?

How to check Oracle processes in windows. This is burning problem for every Oracle DBA.

In unix there is command called “ps“. Using ps command Oracle DBA can check all type of processes which are running in system. Ps command is very useful to administrating and monitoring oracle in unix/linux systems for all Oracle DBA.

But unfortunately there is no command available in windows just like ps in unix! Means there is no way to find out running processes in windows system using command line! Only task manager option is available in windows system for Oracle DBA. Using task manager we can check running processes in windows system. Task manager is GUI tool. Sometimes it is very difficult to monitoring and administrating Oracle on windows systems for Oracle DBA using GUI tool.

Alternate of ps command in windows (Great tip for Oracle DBA):

Windows has own command to trace all running processes in the system. Using “tasklist” command Oracle DBA can able to trace all running processes in windows including oracle,sqlplus,exp,imp and others. Tasklist command is very closer to ps command. Using tasklist command Oracle DBA can able to access process ids, session ids, cpu time, and modules of running processes in Oracle on Windows.

No it is not TRUE. Really !!!

Please check help of tasklist command.

C:\>tasklist /?

TASKLIST [/S system [/U username [/P [password]]]] [/M [module] | /SVC | /V] [/FI filter] [/FO format] [/NH]

Description: This command line tool displays a list of application(s) and associated task(s)/process(es) currently running on either a local or remote system.

Parameter List:
/S system Specifies the remote system to connect to.
/U [domain\]user Specifies the user context under which the command should execute.
/P [password] Specifies the password for the given user context. Prompts for input if omitted.
/M [module] Lists all tasks that have DLL modules loaded in them that match the given pattern name. If the module name is not specified, displays all modules loaded by each task.
/SVC Displays services in each process.
/V Specifies that the verbose information is to be displayed.
/FI filter Displays a set of tasks that match a given criteria specified by the filter.
/FO format Specifies the output format.
Valid values: “TABLE”, “LIST”, “CSV”. /NH S
pecifies that the “Column Header” should not be displayed in the output. Valid only for “TABLE” and “CSV” formats.
/? Displays this help/usage.

Filters:
Filter Name Valid Operators Valid Value(s) ———– ————— ————–
STATUS eq, ne RUNNING | NOT RESPONDING
IMAGENAME eq, ne Image name
PID eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le PID value
SESSION eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le Session number
SESSIONNAME eq, ne Session name
CPUTIME eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le CPU time in the format of hh:mm:ss. hh – hours, mm – minutes, ss – seconds
MEMUSAGE eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le Memory usage in KB
USERNAME eq, ne User name in [domain\]user format
SERVICES eq, ne Service name
WINDOWTITLE eq, ne Window title
MODULES eq, ne DLL name

Examples:
TASKLIST
TASKLIST /M
TASKLIST /V
TASKLIST /SVC
TASKLIST /M wbem*
TASKLIST /S system /FO LIST
TASKLIST /S system /U domain\username /FO CSV /NH
TASKLIST /S system /U username /P password /FO TABLE /NH TASKLIST /FI “USERNAME ne NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM” /FI “STATUS eq running”

Example:
C:\>tasklist

Image Name PID Session Name Session# Mem Usage
========================= ====== ================ ======== ============
System Idle Process 0 Console 0 16 K
oracle.exe 4 Console 0 282,100 K
smss.exe 636 Console 0 420 K
csrss.exe 692 Console 0 6,496 K
winlogon.exe 716 Console 0 1,336 K
services.exe 760 Console 0 4,020 K
lsass.exe 772 Console 0 7,188 K
svchost.exe 956 Console 0 5,568 K

Means using tasklist or tasklist -v command we can monitor and manage our oracle processes.

Now never tell that you don’t have ps command for windows !!!

All the best,
Gitesh Trivedi

About The Author: Gitesh Trivedi is an Expert Oracle DBA and working in Dbametrix. He has excellent 12 years experience. You can reach him on site http://www.dbametrix.com offers Remote DBA support and Offshore Oracle DBA support. All copyright reserved by @Dbametrix. contact mailto:info@dbametrix.com or at http://www.dbametrix.com/service.html

Entrevista com Leandro Dutra, realizada por Fernando Ike, do blog Memnemonics fike’s. Agradecimentos a Fernando por autorizar a publicação do seu material.

1 – O que é um Arquiteto de Dados?

A pessoa responsável pela arquitetura e administração dos dados de uma organização.
No caso, a arquitetura envolve desde a arquitetura de sistemas de bases de dados até a modelagem dos dados e sua manutenção; e a administração seria mais especificamente a manutenção dos modelos e dicionários de dados.

2 – Qual a interação de um Arquiteto de Dados e um DBA? Ou é a mesma coisa?

Muitas vezes, em organizações menores ou menos estruturadas, a administração de dados é efetuada pelo Administrador de Bases de Dados. Mas normalmente, o DBA deve se ocupar da administração diária dos bancos de dados físicos e seu conteúdo, efetivamente uma administração dos Sistemas Gestores de Bases de Dados. Enquanto o AD deve se ocupar do projeto das bases de dados e sua estrutura lógica, não se envolvendo diretamente nos aspectos físicos.

3 – Com essa afirmação, é possível supor que o AD seria o chefe de DBA (vou manter a sigla por enquanto…)?

Não, eles colaboram em níveis hierárquicos similares. Imagine um novo sistema.  O arquiteto de dados será responsável pelos aspectos lógicos, principalmente a modelagem da estrutura da base; o DBA participará do projeto físico, como questões de distribuição, processamento e armazenamento. Um não trabalha sem o outro, e enquanto o projeto lógico deveria teoricamente determinar o físico, restrições tecnológicas podem (embora indesejável) determinar aspectos do lógico.

4 – Como você afirmou acima, as vezes o DBA acaba executando algumas funções que estariam com AD, no Brasil tem mercado para um Arquiteto de Dados?

Ainda restrito e subvalorizado, mas tem.  Empresas que têm na informação seu principal meio de trabalho costumam contratar ou formar um quando amadurecem.  Bancos, empresas de informação de crédito, seguradoras e até corretoras de seguros, mesmo fornecedores de programas (é o caso de meu empregador atual).

É verdade que há retrocessos, como o advento da terceirização; assim, há o caso de uma multinacional fabril que terceirizou a mão de obra, de modo que a mesma vaga, que antes percebia determinada quantia CLT, hoje percebe a mesma quantia mas em regime PJ, sem correção significativa. Outro fator detrimental é o foco em produtos, não em conceitos e processos.  Assim, a mesma multinacional já deixou de contratar ótimos candidatos por falta de experiência em determinada marca de ferramenta de administração e diagramação, sendo que o candidato em questão tinha experiência suficiente em mais de uma ferramenta completamente equivalente.

Resumindo, ainda é um mercado bastante imaturo, o que leva a situações como as recomendações do AD serem vencidas por meras impressões e preconceitos de pessoas sem experiência com dados, opinando simplesmente do ponto de vista de vícios de programação por exemplo.

5 – Então é possível afirma que para um Arquiteto de Dados não é necessário ter conhecimento em vários banco de dados?

Em princípio não.  Entretanto, devido à imaturidade de vários SGBDs — citem-se por exemplo, mas não exaustivamente, suporte deficiente a tipos de dados em Oracle, MS SQL Server, Sybase e MySQL, e problemas graves de desempenho e consistência neste último —, muitas vezes é conveniente que o AD possa compreender essas especificidades e trabalhar com o DBA e os desenvolvedores para adaptar a arquitetura e o modelo de dados às circunstâncias tecnológicas.

6 – Não citou o PostgreSQL, ele é um boa referência para quem quer iniciar uma carreira como AD?

Uma das melhores, no mesmo nível do IBM DB2.  São os SGBDs que têm o melhor suporte tanto ao padrão ISO SQL:2003 (o 2006 ainda não se fez sentir no dia-a-dia) quanto ao modelo relacional — ambos com restrições, mas ainda assim superiores a todos os concorrentes mais óbvios. Entretanto, sendo uma área de atuação eminentemente lógica, recomenda-se, mais que determinados SGBDs, o futuro AD tenha um bom domínio tanto do modelo relacional, quanto de outros aspectos da teoria da gestão de bases de dados, e inclusive do padrão ISO SQL:2003 em si.  As referências padrão, pela atenção que dão aos aspectos lógicos, são as obras de Christopher J DATE, embora polêmicas em vários aspectos que chegam a suscitar reações apaixonadas contra e a favor de vários praticantes de prestígio.

7 – Esse é um ponto interessante, pois reflete em alguns aspectos teóricos que envolvem o DBA. Um AD necessariamente deve ser um DBA também?

Não necessariamente.  Entretanto, justamente devido a todas as restrições tecnológicas atuais, é interessante que o AD tenha a capacidade de adaptar-se a circunstâncias, o que pode ser facilitado se ele tiver tido alguma experiência com aspectos físicos, seja como DBA, programador, analista de sistemas, SysAdmin…

Isso lhe dará mais empatia com posições eventualmente divergentes na negociação de projetos de arquitetura de dados e modelagem, e possibilidade de dialogar com os problemas físicos reais ou imaginários freqüentemente trazidos por outros profissionais.

8 – Pensando que uma empresa irá contratar uma consultoria para área de banco de dados, o que a mesma economizará contratando um Arquiteto de Dados ao invés de ter somente DBA´s?

Nem tudo na vida são economias.  Embora o principal foco do AD não seja monetário, porque o resultado do seu trabalho dificilmente &
eacute; mensurável nesses termos, há muitos erros de projeto caros que podem ser minorados pela presença de um AD, ou pelo menos de um DBA com preocupação pelos aspectos lógicos. Por exemplo, um dos aspectos do trabalho do AD é a normalização, que evita duplicação de dados que normalmente torna o desenvolvimento do sistema como um todo, mesmo na fase de programação, mais complexo, frágil, lento e arriscado, podendo também gerar custos de manutenção e operação como freqüentes anomalias de atualização, consumo exagerado de recursos de sistema, problemas de escalabilidade &c.

Um exemplo foi uma operadora de telecomunicações brasileira que tinha um consultor ao custo de ao menos nove mil dólares por mês (valor mínimo cobrado pela consultoria, possivelmente muito mais naquele caso específico) para resolver casos de inconsistência de dados.  Além desse gasto muito simples e mensurável, essas inconsistências geravam grandes problemas de insatisfação de clientes.  Não é difícil imaginar alguns desses problemas tornando-se questões mesmo de relações públicas, no caso de uma operadora de serviços públicos.

Há que se considerar também a questão da eficiência: embora alguns DBAs possam desempenhar funções de AD com razoável competência, será um uso ineficiente do recurso humano, que perderá foco em sua função tradicional sem realmente se concentrar na de AD. O outro lado da moeda é que, devido ao baixo nível intelectual de muitas equipes de desenvolvimento impedi-las de compreender questões lógicas de conseqüências não inteiramente óbvias e imediatas, o peso da opinião de um DBA praticante pode ser maior que a de um AD.  Entretanto, uma equipe com esse problema certamente terá muitos outros problemas igualmente óbvios e imediatos.

9 – Para finalizar, dicas rápidas para quem quer trabalhar como AD?

1) Concentrar-se num sólido conhecimento conceitual;
2) Abstrair problemas específicos de SGBDs, mesmo que depois sejam necessárias adaptações;
3) Desenvolver uma visão ampla, que contemple desde as regras de negócio (== restrições de integridade) até questões de desempenho e manutenção da aplicação.

This 15 modules, level 300 course provides students with the knowledge and skills to capitalize on their skills and experience as an Oracle DBA to manage a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 system. This workshop provides a quick start for the Oracle DBA to map, compare, and contrast the realm of Oracle database management to SQL Server database management.

Module 1: Database and Instance
Module 2: Database Architecture
Module 3: Instance Architecture
Module 4: Data Objects
Module 5: Data Access
Module 6: Data Protection
Module 7: Basic Administration
Module 8: Server Management
Module 9: Managing Schema Objects
Module 10: Database Security
Module 11: Data Transport
Module 12: Backup and Recovery
Module 13: Performance Tuning
Module 14: Scalability and High Availability
Module 15: Monitoring

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com),

Thanks to DC Bureau and Adam Lichtenheld

In late August 2003, medical testing of KBR employees at Qarmat Ali found elevated levels of total chromium in their blood. Total chromium is comprised of trivalent chromium—an essential and naturally occurring nutrient—and hexavalent chromium, the cancer-causing industrial component of sodium dichromate. In order to adequately determine if its workers were poisoned by sodium dichromate, KBR needed to separate out hexavalent chromium from the blood tests—a difficult and time-consuming process that usually requires a special laboratory.

But no such effort was even attempted. The reason, according to KBR Medical Director Robert Conte, lies in an archaic legal precedent, one that has forbidden sick KBR workers, such as Mr. Blacke and Mr. Langford, from seeking legal redress.

Under the Defense Base Act of 1941, private contractors working for the military are protected from legal liability for injuries suffered by their employees. Under the DBA, contractors transfer a work-related claim to a government insurer, which handles the claim and determines compensation. For KBR workers who became too sick to work at Qarmat Ali, this meant that their appeals for unemployment and disability benefits were turned over to American International Group, Inc, the world’s largest insurance company and the government’s handler of 90 percent of all DBA cases.

Since AIG retained full responsibility for KBR’s claims, it was at their discretion—not KBR’s—whether to follow up by ordering further blood tests. Determining the amount of hexavalent chromium in workers’ blood would have been critical to link their illnesses to the exposure at Qarmat Ali, thus making them eligible for worker’s compensation. AIG decided against it.

“When AIG picked it up, we figured they’d just follow up and do what they thought necessary at that point,” said Dr. Conte in a sworn deposition videotaped last year.

The Defense Base Act is a lucrative and low-cost deal for companies like AIG. Since the insurance giant works for the government in DBA cases, both premiums and payout claims are paid for by public funds. As a result, when AIG overcharged KBR tens of millions of dollars for DBA insurance in the first several years of the Iraq war—as the Army Audit Agency eventually discovered—U.S. taxpayers footed the bill. The findings of the audit investigation surfaced last fall, around the time that AIG was rescued from financial ruin by an $85 billion taxpayer bailout.

KBR, meanwhile, continues to use the DBA to shield it from accountability.

“KBR took the attitude…that there was nothing anyone was going to be able to do about [Qarmat Ali] because they were immune from lawsuit and/or any other accountability,” Langford said.

Original Story here

KBR is claiming that the DBA’s Exclusive Remedy excuses them from knowingly sending their employees into deadly danger.

And you know what……  legally,  IT DOES

The Exclusive Remedy was intended (Congressional Intent ?) to be a trade off to ensure the injured worker did not have to bring legal action against their employer in order to receive medical and disability benefits.  The employee would “forthwith” receive medical care and partial replacement of the their income, but they and their family members could not bring legal action against the employer, for any reason.

With absolutely no incentive to provide the safest possible working conditions, profit will usually win over the  lives put on the line.  Pleasing the customer, clearing ordnance from under the power lines asap, getting those supplies to the airport, no matter the danger, are the bottom line.

When a casualty occurs the company sends in another warm body.

On the other hand, the casualty normally has to retain an attorney and fight for their very lives  with AIG, CNA and others ( carrier/employer ) for the benefits that were intended to be their part of the trade off.

What happened to the casualties end of the trade off?

This is an ongoing injustice right in the face of Congress, the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the White House

and frankly it appears that no one gives a damn.

KBR defends its actions

The article entitled “KBR aware convoy in harm’s way” (Page A1, Thursday) does not address some of the paramount issues in the convoy cases. KBR would like to set the record straight.

The events of the April 2004 convoy attack were tragic. We remain mindful of those who lost their loved ones as they were members of the KBR family. However, the assertion that KBR deliberately placed these men in harm’s way or failed to warn of the dangers of working in Iraq is simply false. KBR takes great care in warning and in training employees about the dangers they will face working in a war zone before they depart for Iraq.

It is important to understand the framework in which KBR and other government contractors perform their work in Iraq and Afghanistan. The executive branch and Congress decided many years ago to use civilian contractors to support the military during wartime in order to save costs in peacetime and because they could not recruit enough soldiers to meet all of their logistical needs without resorting to a draft. The Defense Base Act (DBA) was established by Congress as the process to provide coverage to civilians who are injured while supporting the military during war time. Given this exclusive remedy under the DBA, in order for these lawsuits to proceed, the plaintiffs must prove that KBR specifically intended to have the insurgents injure or kill KBR’s employees on the April 2004 convoys. The evidence does not support this allegation.

The e-mails that were the basis of the article do not tell the whole story. In context, the internal communication between KBR and the military evidence the concern KBR had for its employees. Further, the U.S. military alone decided to deploy the military supply convoys at issue here; they decided when, where and how the convoys were to be conducted. These military decisions were made based on the intelligence about insurgent threats that the military compiled through its unique capabilities and resources. Under the Political Question Doctrine and other established principles of law, it is not appropriate for courts — as litigation in these cases would require — to second-guess such wartime decisions and actions by the military that are reserved by the U.S. Constitution to the elected branches of government.

The men and women who work for KBR in Iraq do so at great sacrifice to themselves and their families. It is on their behalf that we will continue to defend the company and its actions. In turn we would hope that the media and others remain mindful that a presentation by the plaintiffs’ lawyers does not accurately reflect all of the facts.

William C. Bodie, president, KBR North American Government and Defense

         END TYPE,

         ‘alter system kill session ”’
         ||s.sid
         ||‘,’
         ||s.serial#
         ||”” kill_statement
FROM     v$session s,
         sys.v_$_lock c,  sys.v_$locked_object l, dba_objects o,  sys.v_$lock k, v$_lock v

WHERE    o.object_id = l.object_id
         AND l.session_id = s.sid
         AND k.sid = s.sid
         AND s.saddr = c.saddr
         AND k.kaddr = c.kaddr
         AND k.kaddr = v.kaddr
         AND v.saddr = s.saddr
         AND k.lmode = l.locked_mode
         AND k.lmode = c.lmode
         AND k.request = c.request
ORDER BY OBJECT;

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KBR security personnel expected casualties the night before six civilian drivers were killed and others injured in an Iraqi ambush, but sent the convoy into a combat zone anyway, according to e-mails presented in a Houston federal court Wednesday.

“There is tons of intel stating tomorrow will be another bad day,” wrote George Seagle, director of security for KBR government operations, the night before the April 9, 2004, attacks. In the e-mail presented in court, he suggested KBR halt convoys for the next day, the first anniversary of the day Baghdad fell in the U.S.-led invasion.

In a flurry of e-mails, many held under seal in the court case for the last year, various KBR employees discussed their concern about possible loss of life.

Seagle responded that he understood the pressures of big politics and contract issues might cause the fuel-delivering convoys to be sent out anyway but “we will get people injured or killed tomorrow.”

And before the ambush but on the same day, Keith Richard, chief of the trucking operation in Iraq, e-mailed KBR’s Houston headquarters saying, “we need to expedite the hiring of drivers. We need drivers in theater soon.”

Plaintiff lawyer Scott Allen presented the e-mails in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller to determine whether a jury should hear three lawsuits against KBR.

KBR argues that as a contractor it was acting on the basis of military decisions that are not subject to review by civilian courts.

But a group of injured plaintiffs and family members of the dead allege that KBR and its former parent, Halliburton, put profit above life. They say that drivers were promised safety, but their supervisor, who had been in the military, put them in harm’s way to show the civilian company was tough enough to do jobs the military did in former conflicts.

“They were sacrificed for the profit of KBR,” said Tommy Fibich, whose client is still in a coma.

Sent back on appeal

Fibich said most of the drivers were promised that their safety would come first and they took the job to pay off debts or help put a first generation through college.

KBR lawyers argued that the e-mails and contract details are beside the point and that the case should be tossed because the military and the civilian company were intertwined and federal law prohibits courts from second-guessing military decisions.

“While KBR of course knew about the threats, the company ultimately relied on the judgments and representations of the military,” KBR attorney Ray Biagini told the judge.

Miller accepted that argument once before, tossing out all three suits on grounds that the court could not try a case questioning wartime military decisions.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the cases back, ruling it may be possible to try the cases without making a “constitutionally impermissible review of wartime decision-making.”

Army not party to case

The cases center on the April 2004 insurgent attack on a KBR convoy of military supply trucks, which killed six civilian truck drivers and wounded 14.

The drivers caught in the ambush were delivering fuel under a multibillion-dollar contract for KBR to transport supplies, build bases, serve meals and provide other logistical support services for American troops in the Middle East.

Plaintiffs in the Houston suits are two injured workers and the family of one who was killed in the attack.

Biagini argued that nothing has changed since the appellate court asked the judge to take another look at the case. He said KBR and the military were indivisible and KBR acted in good faith on the military’s assurances of protection.

KBR lawyers argued that there are half a dozen legal theories under which the lawsuits should be thrown out of court again.

KBR lawyer David Kasanow noted that the U.S. Justice Department sent a letter agreeing the suit should not go to trial. The government letter said the Defense Base Act protects civilian employers like KBR from being sued in a case like this unless they specifically intended employees be injured or killed.

The plaintiffs argued a jury should hear the case because the e-mails show that KBR bosses did know drivers would be injured or killed.

Miller ruled earlier this year that the U.S. Army itself will not be a party to the case. The judge is now expected to take the many legal issues under advisement.

He could toss out the case, or could remove Halliburton as a defendant. Halliburton argues it is improperly named in the suit and it had no control over the events at issue.

If Miller lets the case stand, it is scheduled for jury trial next May.

Read Original Story here

mary.flood@chron.com

KBR security personnel expected casualties the night before six civilian drivers were killed and others injured in an Iraqi ambush, but sent the convoy into a combat zone anyway, according to e-mails presented in a Houston federal court Wednesday.

“There is tons of intel stating tomorrow will be another bad day,” wrote George Seagle, director of security for KBR government operations, the night before the April 9, 2004, attacks. In the e-mail presented in court, he suggested KBR halt convoys for the next day, the first anniversary of the day Baghdad fell in the U.S.-led invasion.

In a flurry of e-mails, many held under seal in the court case for the last year, various KBR employees discussed their concern about possible loss of life.

Seagle responded that he understood the pressures of big politics and contract issues might cause the fuel-delivering convoys to be sent out anyway but “we will get people injured or killed tomorrow.”

And before the ambush but on the same day, Keith Richard, chief of the trucking operation in Iraq, e-mailed KBR’s Houston headquarters saying, “we need to expedite the hiring of drivers. We need drivers in theater soon.”

Plaintiff lawyer Scott Allen presented the e-mails in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller to determine whether a jury should hear three lawsuits against KBR.

KBR argues that as a contractor it was acting on the basis of military decisions that are not subject to review by civilian courts.

But a group of injured plaintiffs and family members of the dead allege that KBR and its former parent, Halliburton, put profit above life. They say that drivers were promised safety, but their supervisor, who had been in the military, put them in harm’s way to show the civilian company was tough enough to do jobs the military did in former conflicts.

“They were sacrificed for the profit of KBR,” said Tommy Fibich, whose client is still in a coma.

Sent back on appeal

Fibich said most of the drivers were promised that their safety would come first and they took the job to pay off debts or help put a first generation through college.

KBR lawyers argued that the e-mails and contract details are beside the point and that the case should be tossed because the military and the civilian company were intertwined and federal law prohibits courts from second-guessing military decisions.

“While KBR of course knew about the threats, the company ultimately relied on the judgments and representations of the military,” KBR attorney Ray Biagini told the judge.

Miller accepted that argument once before, tossing out all three suits on grounds that the court could not try a case questioning wartime military decisions.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the cases back, ruling it may be possible to try the cases without making a “constitutionally impermissible review of wartime decision-making.”

Army not party to case

The cases center on the April 2004 insurgent attack on a KBR convoy of military supply trucks, which killed six civilian truck drivers and wounded 14.

The drivers caught in the ambush were delivering fuel under a multibillion-dollar contract for KBR to transport supplies, build bases, serve meals and provide other logistical support services for American troops in the Middle East.

Plaintiffs in the Houston suits are two injured workers and the family of one who was killed in the attack.

Biagini argued that nothing has changed since the appellate court asked the judge to take another look at the case. He said KBR and the military were indivisible and KBR acted in good faith on the military’s assurances of protection.

KBR lawyers argued that there are half a dozen legal theories under which the lawsuits should be thrown out of court again.

KBR lawyer David Kasanow noted that the U.S. Justice Department sent a letter agreeing the suit should not go to trial. The government letter said the Defense Base Act protects civilian employers like KBR from being sued in a case like this unless they specifically intended employees be injured or killed.

The plaintiffs argued a jury should hear the case because the e-mails show that KBR bosses did know drivers would be injured or killed.

Miller ruled earlier this year that the U.S. Army itself will not be a party to the case. The judge is now expected to take the many legal issues under advisement.

He could toss out the case, or could remove Halliburton as a defendant. Halliburton argues it is improperly named in the suit and it had no control over the events at issue.

If Miller lets the case stand, it is scheduled for jury trial next May.

Original Story here

mary.flood@chron.com

No sooner had Harold sent the Norwegians packing, after a hard fight, than he got news that William of Normandy had landed in the south. Without hesitating he marched his forces to meet this challenge to his sovereignty. He was able to recover one element of the fyrd he’d lost at Stamford and he brought his force up to strength with some hastily raised levies of dubious worth. Hi s force to face the Norman invader was, 3×4Bd (huscarls), 6×4Sp (fyrd), 1×2Ps (skirmishers) and 2×7Hd (fyrd dregs). The huscarls acquitted themselves so well at Stamford that I decided to give them a bonus; they can only be killed by knights if they’re doubled. This was a variant rule I saw in Slingshot 263 (“The Normans in Italy”). It seems eminently reasonable to make these elite troops the steadiest in the army against knights rather than some of the most vulnerable.

William had brought with him plenty of cavalry (7×3Kn and 1×2LH) with some spear (2×4Sp) and archers (2×2Ps). It was a toss-up whether to deploy the archers as skirmishers or in formation, as the formed-up archers could have a lot of fun with the hordes, but then so can the knights.

William had the first piece of luck as he was able to set the terrain, and he wasn’t about to play fair! He managed to meet Harold on a road with only a pair of small woods in opposite corners to break up the flatness. This was that flat bit on the way to Senlac Hill, which is clearly where Harold was heading! This is the battle of Hastings where Harold doesn’t get to that hill.

There was little to choose between the various edges, but Harold got the road running between them and the smallest hill on his left flank. William deployed with his spear on the road, hoping to use it to help them keep up with the knight. He them put his light horse and skirmishers on the right flank, hoping to move quickly to contest the wood with the Saxons. Otherwise his knights formed up either side of the spear.

Harold met this with a block of psiloi-supported spear flanked by himself and his huscarls and a two-deep block of spear on the right flank. He tried to give the hordes what little protection they could by placing them near the woods, hoping to delay the Norman light troops with them. He kept some fyrd in the camp in case the LH got through to it.

Initial deployments; William on the left, Harold on the right.

On his first turn Harold moved his horde out of the woods to stop the Norman light horse getting around it to the camp and he advanced the line (not needing 2 PIPs to move hordes on the first turn is handy!).

With 4 PIPs William opted to send his light troops forward quickly.

Turn 1: The Norman light troops advance quickly.

On the next turn Harold wheeled his line and brought the horde on the end out to anchor it. William with 6 PIPs got clever and advanced his spear along the road and broke up his knights as they chased along after.

Turn 2: The Normans rush forward.

Harold, excited to see the Normans in disarray, rushed forward, moving his horde around to ZOC the enemy skirmishers. William paid the price of his rashness with only a single PIP, which he used to try to get the spear across to face Harold’s spear.

Turn 3: Harold gets closer and William's line is not yet organized.

Harold continued to advance. Now he had the enemy ZOCed. It would be harder for them to manoeuvre. William was still in a dither with only 2 PIPs. He used these to support his spear as best he could.

Turn 4: Harold's bold advance looks to catch the Normans in disarray.

Harold didn’t hesitate and on the next turn attacked William’s left flank before it could properly deploy. He succeeded in destroying a conroi of Norman knights with spear that had overlap support (6-3) and drive back some knights with his huscarls.

Turn 5 (Harold): First blood to the English as the knights on the right flank break.

William has better PIPs now (4) and starts to organize a response, but it’s not easy with the enemy already so close. His skirmishers attack the end of Harold’s line forcing the fyrd to turn to react, and William gets a better line to face Harold on his left.

Turn 5 (William): The Norman skirmishers force the Saxons to turn to face them.

Harold now throws his army into the attack before William can outflank it. It’s a disaster! Despite being two-deep, the spear on the right flank are routed (3-6). Any chance of an advantage against William with his huscarls is lost and they are forced to retire (had I not made them special it would have been game over!). The huscarls to the left of Harold seem disheartened too and are forced back, destroying any chance against the Norman spear, who are fought to a standstill.

Turn 6: Harold's luck fails and his right flank is blown away.

William responds by flanking Harold’s huscarls and throwing everything he has against the Saxons. The hordes remain unfazed by the Norman light horse supported by skirmishers and throw them back. Elsewhere there are three stalemates, including the beleagured huscarls and the fight between the two commanders.

Turn 6 (William): The Saxons hold firm against the Norman charge.

Harold can do little to put pressure on the Normans beyond straightening his battleline and fighting bravely. Sadly this was not to be a repeat of Stamford, and this time his huscarls are destroyed. Nevertheless, he throws back William’s attack on him, and his other huscarls, heartened by this, rout the knights in front of them (5-2).

Turn 7 (Harold): The right flank continues to collapse, but elsewhere Harold's huscarls are victorious.

William now gets 5 PIPs and flanks his rival for the throne. Clinically he straightens his line, extending the spear to cover for the lost knights. His skirmishers advance to ZOC the spear on his far right again. No heroics here, he’ll wait for English right flank to collapse under the weight of knights opposing it. He is victorious. Harold’s huscarls fight bravely, but flanked they go down in a close fight (4-4). Legend has it that Harold was killed in single combat with William, who was able to lift the crown of England from his head.

Turn 7: (William): Harold falls surrounded by his huscarls. The heart of English resistance collapses with him.

With their commander gone all resistance collapsed and the Norman cavalry was able to carry out a terrible pursuit. Only the hordes got away. They melted into the woods and claimed to be innocent truffle-collectors. The Normans, being partial to these, were surprisingly fooled!

• Review:

There was no Senlac Hill for Harold, unlike at Stamford. For all that he gave the Normans some anxious moments. Had the right flank not folded, the odds against the rest of the knights there would have been in his favour. William was still really getting organized, and it could have got even worse. Surprisingly the hordes were not the weak link. Harold’s bold advance gave William no time to organize a real attack on them, and they performed their duty of guarding the left flank very well.

William would have been better to have moved his spear as part of his reaction to Harold’s set-up. If he could have got them opposite Harold’s psiloi-supported spear he would have been able to drive it back and attack the remaining spear with knights at even odds and a quick kill. That was his plan part way through his advance. They were certainly better against spear, but the manoeuvre threw his line into disorder. It was luck that brought down the Saxon’s right flank and gave him the battle. Harold’s plan was really as good as it could get in the circumstances. Waiting to be attacked would only have made the hordes a target and allowed the camp to be attacked.

• The outcome of the battle:

Well, I can let out a sigh of relief. I was worried Harold might create another upset. And what if he wasn’t killed himself? What if his hordes and a few fyrd were destroyed? There might have been yet another battle!

With Harold dead, William set to securing the south of the kingdom. Harald got wind of this victory and returned to claim the north of England for himself. Neither were keen to attack the other that summer, and in the next season, when William advanced north he was met by Harald at Navenby and given a bloody nose.

The only battle remaining to be fought before the campaign can begin is the battle between Gruffudd ap Cynan and Gruffudd ap Rhys to see which represents the Welsh in this campaign.

I think I’ll give the same status to Harald’s huscarls that I gave to Harold’s. They certainly showed it at Navenby! This means that the Anglo-Norse will get 3×4Bd (huscarls), 1×3Kn (Norman adventurers), 7×4Sp (fyrd), 1×2Ps or 3Bw (archers). Now that I’ve finally painted enough archers for them to have more I’ve decided not to use them!

A collection of 27 FAQs on Oracle loading data and exporting data. Clear answers are provided with tutorial exercises on saving data as flat files, loading data from flat, exporting and importing database, schema and tables, creating external tables. Topics included in this FAQ are:

What Is the Simplest Tool to Run Commands on Oracle Servers?
What Is the Quickest Way to Export a Table to a Flat File?
How To Export Data with a Field Delimiter?
What Is SQL*Loader?
What Is a SQL*Loader Control File?
How To Load Data with SQL*Loader?
What Is an External Table?
How To Load Data through External Tables?
What Are the Restrictions on External Table Columns?
What Is a Directory Object?
How To Define an External Table with a Text File?
How To Run Queries on External Tables?
How To Load Data from External Tables to Regular Tables?
What Is the Data Pump Export Utility?
What Is the Data Pump Import Utility?
How To Invoke the Data Pump Export Utility?
How To Invoke the Data Pump Import Utitlity?
What Are Data Pump Export and Import Modes?
How To Estimate Disk Space Needed for an Export Job?
How To Do a Full Database Export?
Where Is the Export Dump File Located?
How To Export Your Own Schema?
How To Export Several Tables Together?
What Happens If the Imported Table Already Exists?
How To Import One Table Back from a Dump File?
What Are the Original Export and Import Utilities?
How To Invoke the Original Export Import Utilities?
Sample scripts used in this FAQ assumes that you are connected to the server with the HR user account on the default database instance XE. See other FAQ collections on how to connect to the server.
Some sample scripts may require database tables created by other samples in the beginning of the collection.
What Is the Simplest Tool to Run Commands on Oracle Servers?
The simplest tool to connect to an Oracle server and run commands to manage data is SQL*Plus. It is an Oracle database client tool that works as a command-line user interface to the database server. SQL*Plus allows you:

Format, perform calculations on, store, and print from query results.
Examine table and object definitions.
Develop and run batch scripts.
Perform database administration.
What Is the Quickest Way to Export a Table to a Flat File?
The quickest way to export a table to a flat file is probably to use the SQL*Plus SPOOL command. It allows you to record SELECT query result to a text file on the operating system. The following tutorial exercise shows you how control the output format, start the spooler, and dump all record from a table to a flat text file:
>mkdir \oraclexe\test
>sqlplus /nolog

SQL> connect HR/fyicenter

SQL> SET HEADING OFF;
SQL> SET FEEDBACK OFF;
SQL> SET LINESIZE 1000;
SQL> SPOOL \oraclexe\test\employees.txt;
SQL> SELECT * FROM EMPLOYEES;
……
SQL> SPOOL OFF;
You should get all records in employees.txt with fixed length fields.
How To Export Data with a Field Delimiter?
The previous exercise allows you to export data with fixed field lengths. If you want export data with variable field lengths and field delimiters, you can concatenate your fields with an expression in the SELECT clause as shown in the tutorial exercise bellow:
SQL> SET HEADING OFF;
SQL> SET FEEDBACK OFF;
SQL> SET LINESIZE 1000;
SQL> SPOOL \oraclexe\test\fyi_links.txt;
SQL> SELECT id ||’,'|| url ||’,'|| notes ||’,'|| counts
||’,'|| created FROM fyi_links;
……
SQL> SPOOL OFF;
You should see all records in fyi_links.txt with ‘,’ delimited fields as shown here:
101,fyicenter.com,Session 1,,17-MAY-06
110,centerfyi.com,Session 1,,17-MAY-06
What Is SQL*Loader?
SQL*Loader is a database tool that allows to load data from external files into database tables. SQL*Loader is available as part of the free Oracle 10g Expression Edition. It has some interesting features as:

Can load data from multiple data files into multiple tables in one load session.
Can specify character set of the data.
Can generate sophisticated error reports.
Can load data directly to Oracle datafiles, bypassing normal record inserting process.
What Is a SQL*Loader Control File?
A SQL*Loader control file a text that defines how data files should be loaded into the database. It allows you to specify:

Where is the input data file.
The format of the input date file.
The target table where the data should be loaded.
How input data fields should be mapped to target table columns.
Select criteria to select input records for loading.
Where to output errors.

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Today’s market-moving headlines, macro trade ideas and more…

• Confronting the China-U.S. Economic Imbalance
• Freshest Data Shows The Recovery Is Nowhere Near V-Shaped
• Dave Rosenberg 11/17/2009
• Gold – the next bubble?
• Goldman Sachs: “V-Shaped Recovery Unlikely”
• TF Oct Monthly Update
• Altman Group hosted CEF conference
• Michael Panzner: Commercial Real Estate Is A “Tsunami Unfolding”
• The Great Wallop : Chimerica
• Explorers’ Self-Deflating Gas Cushion
• Hands warns governments on banks
• Africa: Corruption Perception – Nigeria’s Rating Worsens
• Microsoft Bing Investments Starting to Pay Off In Market Share Gains
• It’s Quiet…Too Quiet
• U.S. consumers expect deep holiday discounts
• the Geography of the Recession
• Mobius Sees 40% BRIC Stocks Gain, Buy on Correction
• The Case for the Chinese Yuan

Where did the time go? I haven’t updated FOREVER!!! (I did upgrade to Windows 7 and that took a bunch of time to sort out, and I have been playing a lot of Civ4, and…you get the idea. Slacker!!)

Anyway, the quick report is that I won more than I lost but didn’t win anything! I had to work, so I didn’t even get to Gettysburg till Friday afternoon. This meant I missed Wimpy Wars and Teams (which I really look forward to).

Poles in action

The Open Event was first, and I used my newest army, Late Polish. I like the combination of troop types here, and who could resist war-wagon action??  They did well, winning the majority of games against my opponents….but not good enough to win.

Next up was “Midnite Madness”, run by yours truly. We had 12 combatants and it came down to John Loy edging out all others to win. He had the earliest army (Middle  Assyrians) and it kind of reinforced the fact that the early armies can compete with the late armies with good decisions and good luck.

Saturday morning was the “Quadrathon”.. four battles, one with armies from each book. I chose Early Mycenean Achaian Greeks, Southern Dynasty Chinese, West Franks, and Italian Condotta. Once again, I couldn’t place, and John Manning was the big winner. Congrats!!

John Manning wins the "Quadrathon"

Roland Fricke presents John with the winner’s trophy at left. (Thanks to Roland for hosting!) Last, but surely not least, was the Davids Medieval campaign, “When Things were Rotten”. Short rules version is that if you attack a neighbor and win, he becomes your “vassal” . The objective is to enlarge your empire by winning. Of course, you have to attack to win, and of course I picked chit number 22 in the first round. Yep, 22 players in the game (and I even got to pick second out of the bag! DICEMAN RULES!!

I won as the defender, but no vassal for me….

Next I pick 2 chits..one goes to the battle loser (Larry!!!), and I manage to snag 9 and 21…guesss who gets 21. I attack and lose…and get chit number 20 AND 19!!!!…see a pattern here? In the five rounds I managed to win most games, but never accumulated an empire. Loser!

The "Rotten" map in all it's spendor..

The big winner and Emperor of the Medieval world was the Black Prince, David Schlanger, playing !V/62 100 Year’s War English.

Congrats to Dave, and thanks to the Two Davids for another fun campaign game….

Workers’  Comp Insider

Workers’ Comp in Iraq

June 13, 2005

A mere four and a half years and two congressional hearings ago Workers Comp Insider wanted to know:

Where’s OSHA ?

A fascinating article by staff writer T. Christian Miller in today’s Los Angeles Times (registration required) focuses on the cost of providing workers comp insurance to non-military employees in Iraq. Under a WW II era program called the Defense Base Act, private insurers charge the government for comp premiums. These private carriers are at risk only for the non-combat related injuries, illnesses and deaths. The government reimburses the carriers for all combat-related incidents, plus a 15% admin fee. Overall, costs for comp in Iraq are somewhere around $ 1 billion, but no one seems to know for sure.

Currently, two carriers dominate the market: AIG and ACE. The Pentagon is talking about awarding all the business to a single carrier, in order to contain the escalating costs. The counter argument seeks a continuation of the “free market approach.” I’m not sure how “free” the current market is and as for the rates, they appear to be headed in the wrong direction.

Comp in Iraq
There are about 30,000 Americans and third-country nationals and more than 40,000 Iraqis working on U.S. contracts in Iraq. To date, about 300 contractors have been killed and 2,700 injured. When the program began, insurance rates ran between $4 and $8 per hundred dollars of payroll. Now they are up to $20 per hundred — a pretty hefty rate by most measures.

Salaries in Iraq, as you would expect, are much higher than those in the states. It’s not unusual for workers to pull down $100,000. (The pay is good, but you would have to characterize the working conditions as marginal.) Comp premiums at the $20 rate would average about $20,000 per employee — a very high rate indeed. Because of the high salaries, death claims are averaging between $1.2 and $1.8 million — significantly higher than death claims for workers in the states.

How do rates for insurance in Iraq compare to other locations in the world? Here’s one striking example cited by Christian: In Colombia, a contractor flying helicopters in support of State Department drug interdiction programs is charged at $3.87 per $100 of payroll — less than a truck driver in the states. In Iraq, however, a contractor flying helicopters runs $90 per $100, with comp payments almost the equal of payroll (only iron workers above the 6th floor reach anywhere near comparable rates in the states). Keep in mind that if the helicopter pilot dies in a combat-related incident, the carrier is not on for the loss. The carriers respond by saying they have to establish these high rates, because even if they are eventually reimbursed for a combat-related incident, it could take several years to actually get the money and there is no guarantee that the government will accept the liability.

Conventional Cost Control, Unconventional Conditions
Employers in the states have learned the hard way that the best way to control comp costs is to contain losses. Cost containment means committing to good safety programs and setting up a system for immediately responding to injuries. You need to establish a relationship with an occupational medical provider and set up a comprehensive return-to-work program that uses temporary modified duty to speed recovery. That’s all well and good stateside, but I have to wonder how well that kind of a system will work in Iraq. Is anyone motivated to implement modified duty? Do employees really want to go back to work, or would they prefer to collect 2/3 of their (inflated) average weekly wage at a safe distance from the turmoil? If you were an Iraqi national, would you risk your life going back to work on temporary modified duty? With U.S. taxpayers ultimately footing the bill, does anyone over there really care if an injured employee goes back to work? When you think about it this way, you wonder why carriers would want any of the risk.

Where’s OSHA?
I wonder what OSHA would say about the working conditions in Iraq. (Given the reduced number of inspectors, they probably haven’t gotten there yet.) Under the General Duty Clause, employers must provide a workplace free from the risk of injury and illness. How does Iraq stack up? As a spokesman for one of the carriers stated, in response to questions about the high rates, “it’s 130 degrees. There is a lot of dust. There is a lack of hospitals.” Not to mention the fact that strangers are constantly trying to kidnap or kill you. Stress claim, anyone?

Ubiquitous AIG
It is indeed interesting to find AIG in the middle of this high-risk mess. Just as they were challenged by New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer for “risk transfer” transactions that apparently involved no risk at all, it appears that here in Iraq they are collecting possibly inflated premiums where, once again, a substantial portion of the risk lies with others (you and me, to be exact).

Ultimately, my sympathies here are with the workers. I can hardly imagine a more difficult place to work. Here in America it’s rare to dress for work with a prayer that you will survive another day (rare but certainly not unheard of). In Iraq, every breath in that hot, dusty place is accompanied by just such a prayer. Here’s wishing a safe return to our civilians and a lasting peace for the Iraqi people themselves

Problema

Quando tentei apagar um registro com dados estranhos da base a seguinte mensagem me foi informada:

ORA-08102: index key not found, obj# 27063, file 6, block 65802


Causa

Pesquisando, descobri que esse erro é acontece devido ao índice estar corrompido no banco de dados.
Para descobrir qual o objeto em questão basta pesquisar na tabela de objetos especificando o numero do objeto corrompido, descrito na mensagem.

SELECT * from all_objects WHERE object_id=27063;

O resultado do select acima foi as informações do indice com o problema.

Solução

Solução 1

Para resolver o problema primeiramente tentei dar um rebuild no índice utilizando o seguinte comando:


ALTER INDEX index_name REBUILD;


Após a execução do rebuild tentei remover o registro mas não obtive sucesso.

Solução 2

Minha segunda abordagem foi apagar o índice mesmo, pois analisando o índice em questão verifiquei que era um índice auxiliar de FK, isso que dizer que o índice pode ser apagado e criado novamente.


DROP INDEX index_name;


Após apagar o índice foi possível remover o registro e depois disso recriei o índice com o script original.

Referencia:
http://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=61877

Mostra os objetos da recyclebin

select * from recyclebin;

Retorna o tamanho total da RECYCLEBIN e uma relação de quantos objetos existem por schema

select r.owner,
 count(distinct r.original_name) orig_obj,
 count(distinct r.object_name) objects,
 sum(bytes)/1024 kb
  from dba_recyclebin r
   join dba_segments s
    on (r.owner = s.owner and r.object_name = s.segment_name)
group by r.owner;

Apaga a recyclebin

PURGE RECYCLEBIN;

Um das premissas de um bom desempenho do banco de dados é possuir uma tablespace para os dados e outra para os índices.  Existe casos em que constatamos que os índices e os dados estão na mesma tablespace, então precisamos migrar esse índices para uma nova tablespace.

O comando abaixo demonstra como gerar um script para rebuild dos índices em uma outra tablespace. Lembre-se que antes de executa-lo é necessário criar a tablespace de índice e especificar o schema correto.



select 'ALTER INDEX '||INDEX_NAME||' rebuild tablespace '|| TABLESPACENAME||';'
       from dba_indexes
             where TABLE_OWNER like 'SCHEMA_NAME';