Well, what would you say… you do here?

I’m a proud father of two and husband to an awesome wife. A software geek by trade, I call the Raleigh/Durham metropolitan area home. My passions are writing, travel, beer, and technology.

I have a dry sense of humor. If you can’t tell if I am joking or not, then assume I am joking.

I have worked for independent software vendors since 1999, and rarely step into the ‘real world.’ When I do, I quickly run away scared and determined to remain where I am. Developers coding in production, end users saving critical data to Excel, SQL statements starting with ‘SELECT *’ all give me plenty of material for my sermons/blog posts on ThatJeffSmith.com.

I’m currently a Product Manager for Oracle, working on the SQL Developer team. My true passion lies in help people maximize their productivity and retain sanity while working with database development and administration tools.

You will find regular tips and tricks posted here showing you how to get more and expect more from your experience with the Oracle database. SQL Developer and it’s related products will be the primary vehicle for getting to your Oracle nirvana destination.

Occasionally I may deviate and talk about personal stuff. I promise it won’t hurt, much.

Find Me on the InnerTubes

Note: I usually only accept Facebook requests from actual friends and LinkedIn requests from people I’ve actually worked with. If you want to get to know me, Twitter is a good place to start.

Legal Disclaimers and Such

My blogs and on-line content come from me, and only me. I am not paid to blog – I’m a geek, and any blogging I do is to promote myself, my causes, and things that make me laugh. — Directly lifted with permission from Brent Ozar.

What ThatJeffSmith.com is All About

Why do I blog? What am I trying to accomplish with this website?

In a word, “sharing.” I devote my time to learning things that will make a database person’s tasks less icky. Saving minutes here and seconds there – this is what I do. I want to share that with you.

I also write for me. It gives me a lot of good content I can refer back to later. This comes in very handy when I get asked the same question several dozen times a week. Starting a blog is so easy today. If you find yourself answering the same question day after day, it might be worth writing those answers down and sharing it with others via a blog. That’s why this page exists today.

My Book

In a previous life I worked for another company in the Oracle space. I wrote this many moons ago, when people were willing to pay for tech books. It’s wildly out of date, having been written for a version of the product that is no longer being supported. However, Amazon still sells it, so that must mean it’s still good?

The book you can pay for and touch