Archives for August 2011

Why I Do Not Support The Current PASS ExeCo Slate

I read the PASS Officer Election announcement from June 15th with a bit of trepidation.  There was something about the announcement which made me uncomfortable, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. As a bit of background, the PASS "officers" are also known as the Executive Committee (ExeCo), as described in the PASS Bylaws in section VIII.10.  The ExeCo was added to the governance of PASS back in 2004-2005 as a check-and-balance against the extremely powerful office of president as described in the version of the bylaws PASS currently had in place at that time.  Prior to the ExeCo, the … [Read more...]

Women in Technology: A Quick Observation and a Quick Straw Poll

A bit of background:  Those aren't grand daughters of the Clampetts in the picture at right.  Those are my three daughters and three stepdaughters, all of whom I want to inherit the world - as little or as much as they want to take hold of.  (I already talked a bit about this in a post on my personal, family blog.  Be warned, it's all boring family photos and such).  Enabling them to have all of the choices and opportunities that are open to my son is a big motivating factor in my life.  So many years ago, when several PASS volunteers wanted to start doing more to build a community of support … [Read more...]

Enjoyed a couple days in Omaha and now at SQLSaturday at UNO. … [Read more...]

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If you live in Nashville and want a free, full day of SQL Server Denali training then check out http://ping.fm/U2eEN … [Read more...]

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Join me and Louis Davidson (@drsql) free webcast tomorrow for "How Database Design Affects Performance": http://ping.fm/9Yiue … [Read more...]

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Ol’Blue

I've had many years of good service out of Ol'Blue and a few years of so-so service. He's a 1966 model, just like me, and it takes a bit of maintenance to keep an old truck like this in good working condition. I put a lot of work into him myself and, if I had the necessary skills, would keep working on him for decades to come. The problem is that I -DON'T- have all of the skills I need to keep it going. I can change break pads, rewire some simple electronics, and change out a gasket or two, but I can't rebuild an engine or troubleshoot an air conditioner. And I can't afford to take him to the … [Read more...]

Upcoming SQLSaturday Events in Omaha and Atlanta!

I've had enough time off from traveling after my surgery to finally travel again.  First on the circuit , set for August 27th, is Omaha, Nebraska and SQL Saturday #91.  As a former Crimson Tide alum, I was stoked about going to the University of Nebraska, our once and future rivals on the Grid Iron.  But after a moment's confusion, I remembered that the Huskers are over in Lincoln, not Omaha.  (May Bear have mercy on my soul.) Almost all of the speakers are friends.  Many are Microsoft MVPs.  So it'll be great to catch up with these fine folks and, I hope, get a chance to meet many … [Read more...]

New on “Database Trends & Applications”

In last month's column, "2012 Might Really Be the End of the World as We Know It," I described a number of major developments in the IT industry that are likely to disrupt the life of database professionals everywhere.  I categorize those four disruptors - virtualization, cloud computing, solid state drives (SSD), and advanced multi-core CPUs - into two broad groups.  I'm going to continue an analysis of these disruptive technologies in inverse order.  Today, let's discuss SSDs. [READ MORE ON DATABASE TRENDS & APPLICATIONS ] … [Read more...]

Traveling to Huntsville to take care of some urgent medical issues with my Dad. … [Read more...]

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Microsoft Document Watch for Operational Excellence

Back when my day-to-day duties included database administration work and enterprise architecture, I became rather obsessed with the idea of operational excellence.  I read everything I could on the topic.  I made a list of favorites, which became somewhat shabby over time, as I dog-eared important pages and scribbled notes in the margins.  (Perhaps that list of favorites might, in and of itself, make a good blog post).  Fast-forward a decade and I'm still mightily interested in operational excellence for IT organizations.  It's just that so much good material is available for free on the … [Read more...]