[ale] ALE CENTRAL for Thursday, August 21, 7:30pm

[aaron]

Our Featured Presentation for the Thursday, August 21st,
7:30pm ALE Central meeting will be:

"Using OpenOffice & Base with External Databases"</font>
 -- or --
"Poking a Lance at Micro$oft Abscess"

presented by James Kinney

Synopsis:
--  OpenOffice.org BASE is the database module initially released with
OpenOffice.org version 2.0 and, for simple single user applications, it is
currently on the HSQLDB database engine written in Java. However,
BASE also has native drivers allowing OpenOffice.org users to connect
to external, full-featured SQL database servers such as MySQL, PostgreSQL
and even Oracle through ODBC or JDBC drivers. OpenOffice.org BASE
can hence act as a GUI front end for SQL views, table design and query.
In addition, OpenOffice.org has its own Form wizard to create dialog
windows for form filling and updates.  Our presentation will be looking
at some of the ways these OpenOffice BASE connections to external
databases can be implemented and utilized for both single user
applications and in a multi-user local network environment.

(reference <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Base>)

Bio:
--  James has been a Linux user since 1993 (Go Slackware!) and a
raving loon about open source ever since. He masquerades by day
as a Linux admin to support his hardware acquisition addiction.
Outside of work, James spends countless hours tinkering with Linux
systems in between long bouts of Linux software testing and
researching things to do with Linux systems. He has been known
to carry Fedora DVD's into places that sell computers and give them
to innocent bystanders while lecturing about how they should be
using Linux and not the other stuff. Occasionally, James brews beer
and organizes gatherings of beer drinkers around Linux topics.
He is actively involved in working to displace other computer
platforms in schools as a founding member of Georgia Open Source
Education Foundation (gosef.org) and works with community groups
such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Clarkston
Community Center to set up Linux thin client systems to support
these groups need for reliable, low cost computing platforms for
social support.
-- James claims to have a family life as well, one where he is (mostly)
tolerated by his wonderful wife, (often) dismissed by his teenage
daughter and (usually) worshiped by his pre-teen super-geeky son.
In addition to helping feed those mouths, he also feeds a collection
of 4 legged creatures that bark or meow and a small orange thing
that swims in a tiny tank of water. Of course, his additional claim to
a also having a stand up comedy career is dubious at best.

Links:
OpenOffice.org BASE page:
   <http://www.openoffice.org/product/base.html>
Tech tip on rescuing data from the abscess:
   <http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid39_gci1236205,00.html">


============================
We will be meeting in our usual Gambrel Hall room 1C venue.
Meeting time frame is 7:30pm to ~9:30pm
Directions to Emory Law School can be found at
<http://mail.ale.org/?page_id=2>