PL/SQL Challenge: 2012-07-01

06 July 2012

High Achievers at the PL/SQL Challenge

As Chicago endures another 100 degree day, I thought it would be a good time to honor some of our high achievers: players who were 100% correct for an entire month and those who played every quiz for an entire year or quarter. Even if your temperatures were not very high as you took all these quizzes, it certainly required a lot of effort!

05 July 2012

Site Still Down 4:45 UTC 5 July

Unfortunately, the PL/SQL Challenge website is still down, and will likely not be up for several hours more.

So it looks like we will be not doing a quiz today (5 July) either.

We are as disappointed with this state of affairs as the many players who have contacted me directly, wondering when they will be able to play their quiz.

Such dedication! I hate to disappoint you, but, well, look at it this way: we are giving you a little vacation from the quiz. It's July, so for most of you the sun is shining, the air is warm. In other words, it's time to go outside and play.

Don't worry, we'll be back up soon and then you can come back inside and take the quiz.

Thanks for your patience,
Steven Feuerstein

04 July 2012

Quiz for 4 July Will Not Be Ranked

The PL/SQL Challenge website has been down for most of the day, as we recover the database from 02:00 UTC 4 July. Our apologies for the inconvenience and lost opportunity to compete.

The results for 4 July will not be used in rankings and determining qualification in the Q3 championship playoff.

So if you are an American, it's just our way of saying: "Don't work (or 'play' with your technology)! Get away from your computer and celebrate the founding of your nation!"

Sigh.....

02 July 2012

Time for the Q2 2012 Championship Playoff!

The second quarter of 2012 ended last week...and that means it's time for the next championship playoff.

As you may recall, last quarter we initiated a new qualifier process in which selected players are asked to verify their performance during the quarter before being able to participate in the playoff.

I am very pleased to announce that none of the players this quarter will be required to take qualifier quizzes. What this means, in essence, is that none of the players submitted answers in astonishing and perhaps bewildering shorts amounts of time.

There is one other unusual aspect to the player group for this playoff: no players were able to qualify under the Wildcard category (see the FAQ for more information on how players are chosen).

In the table below, the number in parentheses after their names are the number of playoffs in which they have already participated. Congratulations to all listed on their accomplishment and best of luck in the upcoming competition!

We currently plan to hold the playoff on 26 July; that date may change if enough players are unable to play on that day.

Name	Rank	Qualification	Country
Frank Schrader (7)	1	Top 25	Germany
Stelios Vlasopoulos (3)	2	Top 25	Belgium
mentzel.iudith (6)	3	Top 25	Israel
Viacheslav Stepanov (5)	4	Top 25	Russia
Justin Cave (5)	5	Top 25	United States
Rakesh Dadhich (0)	6	Top 25	India
Jerry Bull (4)	7	Top 25	United States
kowido (5)	8	Top 25	No Country Set
Siim Kask (6)	9	Top 25	Estonia
Vincent Malgrat (2)	10	Top 25	French Republic
Sebastian Kolski (1)	11	Top 25	Poland
Anna Onishchuk (5)	12	Top 25	Ireland
_tiki_4_ (2)	13	Top 25	Germany
Ivan Blanarik (1)	14	Top 25	Slovakia
Niels Hecker (7)	15	Top 25	Germany
Chad Lee (4)	16	Top 25	United States
james su (4)	17	Top 25	Canada
Dieter Kowalski (1)	18	Top 25	Germany
swart260 (0)	19	Top 25	Netherlands
Scott Wesley (1)	20	Top 25	Australia
Sean Stuber (4)	21	Top 25	United States
Randy Gettman (6)	22	Top 25	United States
Giedrius Deveikis (0)	23	Top 25	Lithuania
Zoltan Fulop (1)	24	Top 25	Hungary
Mike Pargeter (6)	25	Top 25	United Kingdom
Kevan Gelling (5)	26	Correctness	Isle of Man
Thierry Poels (3)	63	Correctness	Belgium
Syed Ariful Bari (3)	84	Correctness	Bangladesh
Yuan Tschang (3)	86	Correctness	United States
Vinu (0)	90	Correctness	India
Goran Stefanović (1)	100	Correctness	Serbia
anil_jha (0)	105	Correctness	United States
Frank Schmitt (1)	114	Correctness	Germany
John Rowbottom (1)	200	Correctness	United Kingdom
Kuzmin Konstanin (0)	224	Correctness	No Country Set