October 26, 2006
Open Air Oracle
A reader attending the Oracle OpenWorld convention, who wants to be credited as "someone who's there," passed along these pictures of the scene under the tents on Howard Street. Yes, people, they closed off your city block so attendees could eat roast beef and fried chicken in wax-lined paper boxes in peace. The Howard Street tent apparently seats "thousands." Keep their conventioneering stomachs in mind as you get diverted onto Mission Street, everyone!
More pictures after the jump, and ....uh oh! Here comes the disclosure! The person on this site who works for Oracle is offline tonight, and thus has absolutely no idea that we're running this while he's away.
Thanks for the pictures, Someone Who's There!
Larry Ellison's boat on display, which Someone Who's There says was surrounded by athletic male greeters on Monday, signing autographs.
The kind-of-nice scene on Howard Street at night.
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I don't think any of these things would be covered under any Oracle Non-Disclosure Agreement, could they?
Beyond all the money this conference is supposedly pumping into the city, I still don't know why they had to close off all of Howard street. There should certainly enough lunch area space in either side of the Moscone Center. Not being an "insider", I have no idea what they are doing with all the floor space in there.
Will someone please tell me, what exactly Oracle does to make the world a better place? I asked this of a few Oracle folks who were milling about this mulit-million dollar waste of a spectacle and not one could answer me. With billions of people going without basic services, we have a tented city celebrating the wealth of a corporation that does NOTHING. Billions of dollars in wealth, and it does zero, zip, nada. Why are we impressed with this? Are we impressed with this? If you're an Oracle employee and you're reading this, shame on you. In twenty years there won't be a lion, giraffe, great ape or blue whale living on this planet. Do you fucking fathom that as you sit at your desk and waste billions of dollars and untold resources on absolutely nothing? Your kids - don't expect them to be proud. They'll ask why you sat around and did nothing while the Earth burned.
I hate people who demand that you be useful of some kind in order to be a valid, decent human being.
It the same bullshit you hear from people who brag about how great their jobs are and how they're following their goals and ideals and changing the world.
Guess what, Tod? I don't work for Oracle. I'm an office slave. And in my spare time, I don't do shit.
Sometimes, people do jobs that don't mean shit but that have to be done. And in their spare time, they don't really give a flying fuck about a lion, a tiger, or a bear, unless those things come as cartoon animals on the wrapper of the cheeseburger they're about to consume.
Deal with it, shut up, and go take your medicine, you angry wingnut.
PS I live 3 blocks from the Oracle convention and I'm only mad that I didn't get one of those boxes of roast beef.
Oracle is India's finest software product.
Oracle makes it possible for organizations to automate large-scale informatiton systems, so that their employees have more time to eat roast beef and fried chicken, and write trolls on the internets.
Actually, the street is rather pleasant without the cars. Maybe after Oracle leaves, we could continue re-routing the traffic? It's nice to not have to dodge giant metal deathmachines at every intersection.
Well, Kevin, the fact that you've admitted to leading a useless life that occupies energy and resources that would be better dedicated to someone who gives a shit about the world around him or her, doesn't give you any extra points. Just means that now I can tell you somewhat directly that it's sad that you don't change your life, that you don't give a shit about the world. I doubt your parents would be proud, and I know your kids, if you have or do have, will be proud of the person you've allowed yourself to become. If I'm a wingnut for giving a damn, I'm PROUD TO BE A WINGNUT. Am I angry? You bet I'm angry when I see Oracle wasting all that money, showing off that asshole Ellison's absurd boat, when within blocks there are thousands of people who desperately need real help.
Tod, you are the opposite of brilliant. You have no idea how the world works.
Ahah! A pragmatist chimes in!
Do illuminate me, Jason, on "how the world works."
I wait . . .
What does Oracle do? Databases. Database applications. Tod, you may not use one personally, but I guarantee you that databases are a daily part of your life... and the lives of people in Asia, Africa and everywhere else in the world. It's part fo the infrastructure. Plus, databases are directly used by the researchers who are working to save the lions, giraffes, great apes and blue whales that you love.
No offense, Jason, but I was expecting something more. Not only do you wrongly imply that databases crafted by Oracle are indispensable to earthly affairs, but you insinuate that you've little concern for other species (" . . . that YOU love").
Databases don't change the world. They don't improve the world. They only help a small percentage of people ORDER their small part of the world. You overestimate the significance of the product here. I think you're too close to the world of high-tech to appreciate that it has done little to improve the quality of life of the average global citizen - most gains have been more than offset by environmental and efficiency losses.
It's hard to argue with someone so logical. I admit defeat. We should get rid of all technology, go back to the stone-age, and elect the "celebrity activist" as our king and savior, for only he can save the planet.
Trust me, it's better me than Larry Ellison.
However, I'm only on the path to hand the crown to Lester Brown, founder of Earth Policy Institute.