Have you ever had to deal with a manager or co-worker who made your working life uncomfortable or even miserable? That’s one of the most difficult and emotionally taxing situations for adults all over the world. Each night, after a hard day of dealing with these people, IT pros are grousing to their significant others or bellying up to the bar ready to let off some steam. The bad news is that there are as many kinds of bad bosses and difficult co-workers as there are bad bosses and difficult co-workers. Each situation is unique. But there are often repeated patterns both in those … [Read more...]
T-SQL Tuesday #59: My Hero!
October 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
This month's edition of T-SQL Tuesday is being hosted by Tracy McKibben (T|B). I was challenged by Aaron Bertrand (T|B) to participate in this T-SQL Tuesday. I instantly knew what and who I wanted to write about, but my schedule being what it is prevented me from writing the blog entry until straight up at midnight. (Originally published at http://wp.me/p3rOiF-1CY). Since this installment of T-SQL Tuesday happens to fall on Ada Lovelace Day, Tracy tells us that our mission – should we choose to accept it – is as follows: Ada Lovelace has been an inspiration to many. In keeping with my blog … [Read more...]
What Are the Most Common Failures in Windows, SharePoint and SQL Server Alerting Systems?
September 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Since the introduction of IT alerting systems a couple decades ago, everyone followed a very simple template. You'd first define the metric or condition that the alerting system observes, followed by the response or action that the system should perform when the specified value of the metric is exceeded (sometimes called a threshold or trigger). When triggered, alert responses might include the execution of a program or the notification to a user via e-mail, Short Message Service (SMS), or some other method. The promise of alerting is that it makes it possible for people to keep up with the … [Read more...]
SQL Saturday Dublin and Pre-Conference Seminars
September 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
One of my favorite events is just around the corner! It's just a few days until SQL Saturday Dublin, Ireland’s largest SQL Server conference on the 19th/20th September, run as a community event by the SQL Ireland User Group. Have You Seen the Schedule? The schedule is complete with an amazing line up of speakers from around the world and you can download a copy HERE. Closer to the event we will be launching a mobile guidebook so you can plan your schedule on a mobile device. I'll be doing my very popular session Convince Me - Persuasion Techniques for IT Pros that Get Things Done. Step Up … [Read more...]
Russian Hackers Steal 1.2b Internet Credentials: Or, Why the Heck Does this Keep Happening?!
September 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I'm decidedly old-school in a few of my habits. My morning routine, barring anything out of the ordinary, is one such example. Typically, I'll get up between 6:30 to 7:00 am, grab my first cup of coffee, and then chat with my daughters for a few minutes before seeing them off to school. Next, I make a bowl of oatmeal (a great choice for diabetics like me), pour a second cup of coffee, and browse the local paper, The Tennessean, while I have breakfast. On the morning of August 5, I had the added pleasure of spewing said coffee and oatmeal all over my morning paper when I read the … [Read more...]
