The podcast kicked off with some lively banter about Karen's passion for tuna fishing, where she shared an exhilarating tale of hooking into and reeling in a massive 500 lb. tuna. Then, seamlessly transitioning from her exciting hobby, Karen delved into her current project: developing applications with Oracle's low-code APEX for the problem domain of fisheries management. This new endeavor involves implementing data validation with complex business rules in a declarative manner, a task that showcases Karen's unmatched expertise as the CTHO of TH Technology.
With equal enthusiasm, Karen and Rob explored designing an application on-the-fly for citizen scientists interested in watershed stewardship. Their vision aimed to "crowd source" data from various sources to enhance overall knowledge of watershed and fisheries quality. This demonstrated Karen's unwavering passion for giving back and solving real-world problems with her technical prowess.
One remarkable highlight of the conversation was the ease of application development using Oracle APEX. Karen shared an impressive example-simply dragging a spreadsheet into APEX generates a fully functional application. It's no wonder APEX stands as the premier low-code application development tool for Oracle databases.
Amidst the technical discussions, the podcast also ventured into some amusing war stories from Karen's fishing charters. From a guest intentionally going overboard not once, but twice, to an inebriated customer who, not so amusingly, was mishandling the ship's radio. The stories brought laughter and a glimpse into the adventurous side of Karen's life.
As the podcast wrapped up, Karen passionately discussed collaborating with others in the Oracle technical community to unite multiple user groups in the North East. This collective effort aims to establish a focal point for Oracle excellence by hosting conferences and boot camps.
Karen Cannell's journey, expertise, and dedication to her work and hobbies will leave a lasting impression on the Grey Beards audience. Her ability to seamlessly shift from thrilling fishing stories to groundbreaking technical discussions exemplifies the true spirit of the "Grey Beards - War Stories from the Technical Trenches" podcast-where knowledge, camaraderie, and humor intertwine.