Using Oracle SQL Developer with MySQL database

I have been using the free Oracle SQL Developer as my main "alternative" to the text-based SQL Plus client for a while. I have used TOAD before. My co-w's favorite was Golden32. Even though I work with the database quite a bit, I am actually not too picky about what client to use. After all, there are times I have to get on to the database server itself and use SQL Plus. Any GUI is a luxury compared to that. Recently I needed to work on a MySQL database so I wonder if I could "re-use" SQL Developer. I didn't have high-hope to begin with (the alternative would have been the free MySQL Workbench from MySQL.) After all, it's from Oracle and might work with Oracle DB only. MySQL was acquired by Sun which was acquired by Oracle though. It turns out Oracle SQL Developer does work with MySQL (since 2007) I learned from this page that all it takes is opening Tools > Preferences > Databases and there is a third party JDBC driver. Simply add the MySQL Connector JAR. I also opened Help > Check for updates and get the MySQL related update. Not sure if it's really necessary. These links (1,2) did not mention this step. Another MySQL tip I learned today was how to limit the number of rows it queries. In M$ SQL Server, you simply add TOP [N] after SELECT. For MySQL, it's adding LIMIT [N] at the end.

Some new (and old music)

Some of the albums mentioned here actually came from a post that I started last year but never finished :P I couldn't believe I missed the SFJAZZ concert by Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood last month (what else better could I have done instead?)Well, there's another funky group featuring guitar and organ called Organissimo that I "discovered" last year. I must have been in the mood of trio when I started that post because I was also listening to the avant-garde Tin Hat Trio's "Book of Silk" (love the instrumentation with violin and accordion) as well as the Steve Kuhn Trio's "Life's Magic" (Very interested in listening to his 2009 release of "Mostly Coltrane" with Joe Lovano on sax)

I have listened to some more old music of the recently passed away blues rock guitar great Johnny Winter. Alex Skolnick from Testament recommended "Nothing but the Blues" while "Live Johnny Winter And" (what an interesting album name!) topped the Guitar Player's Reader Poll.

Finally, time for more metal: I found Suicide Silence's brand new 2014 album "You Can't Stop Me" on the top of the Billboard's Hard rock album chart. Definitely doesn't sound like commercial B.S. though. Highly recommended.

Live Metal

After reading so much metal history and hearing my friend talked about his trip to Gothenburg (the birthplace of melodic death metal in Sweden), I started to research where to see live metal, especially in Gothenburg. Well, there has been an annual MetalTown festival but it has been cancelled this year. And there is a more melodeath specific festival called Gothenburg Sound in January. Next year the festival will feature Dark Tranquility (just released a new album "Construct" in 2013) and Dimension Zero (founded by former members of In Flames. I listened to their 2007 release "He Who Shall Not Bleed" and I am impressed) I also found an online Metal Travel Guide that lists some interesting clubs/stores in Gothenburg. And I am curious what places it lists nearby and found Thee Parkside, which seems to feature local hardcore/metal bands regularly. It reminds me of the club Metro in Oakland (both websites are very similar too!), which was surprisingly NOT listed on Metal Travel Guide. Finally, there's nothing under Palo Alto, which is sad. There used to be a good club named The Edge (check out the big names that performed there before) I have been there once or twice in the 90s (forgot who performed) and it was gone while I was away (Summer 2000, the heydays of Nu Metal. Papa Roach played the last show)

Carleton Watkins, 吳冠中, Rodin's hands @ Cantor Arts Center, Stanford

炎熱的週日下午歎免費冷氣，除了去mall，還可以去免費museums，例如Stanford的Cantor Arts Center。數月沒去，多了不少吸引的新展品展覽，最意外驚喜是攝影家Carleton Watkins：
坦白說，和油畫相比，我對攝影作品的熱情相差很遠，可能因為我經常被批評技術不濟的關係。除Ansel Adams之外，差不多無一認識；曾經在SFMOMA欣賞過Adams的原作，尤其喜歡他在Yosemite的作品；原來倒不是前無古人！這位Carleton Watkins是最早期的Yosemite攝影家，1860年代他帶著重達2000磅的自製攝影器材（包括大塊感光玻璃板，流動黑房及沖灑用品），由騾隊運載入谷兩度，認真艱巨。其成績與付出成正比，他的作品出色地展現大自然雄奇之美。除了Yosemite，影展還有兩個我都不感陌生的主題：一是三藩市的自然景觀及建築，包括Farallon Islands, Alcatraz, Cliff House等等，二是上月才去過的Columbia River Gorge，他成功地捕捉了Multnomah Falls, Castle Rock等地的神態，"Cape Horn, Near Celilo"的構圖更是特別巧妙。

"Cape Horn, near Celilo" (public domain, linked from Wikimedia commons)

另一個吸引我的是中國藝術部的山水展，既有古代傳統手法的水墨畫，也有新派如吳冠中引入西畫技巧的作品，以及最新一代的攝影及數碼圖像；世界日報原來有介紹此展覽。

最後想提的展覽是從醫學角度探究Rodin雕像中出現的各種病態之手。看過Rodin雕塑作品的朋友相信都會對其人物的獨特姿勢包括手部動作留下深刻印象，其實有部份是因為手部有病而扭曲。該展覽解釋幾種病的成因及治療方法，甚為有趣。