There was a time, when I was in a team that was designing an important IT system for a multinational bank, the testers arranged for perfectly normal office workers from the bank to try the system out. This was long before the days of instant video. The software team watched from behind a two-way mirror. … Read more
As a data professional, there is a set of tools that you use on pretty much a daily basis. Before I started as the editor of Simple-Talk, there were two Microsoft tools I used every day of the work week, and also for my hobby work: SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio) and SSDT (SQL Server … Read more
When I was a brainstorming ideas for a series of posts, it took me back to a brainstorming session we had in a company I have worked for. As we got started, the leader said this phrase: “there are no dumb ideas.” Now, clearly none of us in the room thought that there really aren’t … Read more
You probably have heard the saying “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. I get the sentiment here, when you have a task to do, if you don’t plan how to do the task, you are far less likely to be successful at completing the task to the satisfaction of the person requesting … Read more
I have always spent time learning relational databases on my own, non-work time. As the years have passed, I have spent less of my own free time on technical learning and writing for many reasons, but still, I spend plenty of my own time learning about the database technology that Codd started. While I never … Read more
I hate coming up with ideas for editorials, but my last editorial of the year gives me a very simple topic just staring me in the face: New Year’s Resolutions. Love them or hate them (or it we are honest, a good bit of both,) this end of one year and the start of another is … Read more
It has been a long month. We had the PASS Data Community Summit just a month ago, and I came home with a hitchhiking virus (no, not that one). I dragged through Thanksgiving, got better, and went on vacation. I got back home from vacation, and, well, I was sick again. Looking at my calendar … Read more
I was talking to some people today about the concept of Autonomous Databases. The idea is that the database platform can do most, if not all, of the work of storing and managing data by itself. These are a few of the concepts that were shared primarily as discussion points, but you have to be … Read more
Recently I spoke at SQL Saturday Denver. The day after the conference we went to visit Pikes Peak Mountain. You have a couple of choices of how you can get to the top of Pikes Peak Summit: hike, drive, or take the Cog railway. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you take … Read more
While preparing for this career as an editor, my mind went to the joys of sitting at a computer editing documents. I expected this to include checking articles for technical accuracy, and proper English, formatting documents to meet the website standard, and posting the documents. I just knew that many of the firefighting skills I … Read more
In 1964, the Beatles added something interesting to one of their songs. I Feel Fine started out with a twang of feedback. It wasn’t planned to happen, but by a happy accident, the first use of feedback in a song was created (and it wouldn’t be the last, which you know if you have ever … Read more
Over the past 10 years, I have been involved in scheduling speakers at several conferences, most notably the PASS Data Community Summit. Since starting at Red-Gate last September, I have been much less involved in planning the Summit. Still, I have been able to help with the schedule by looking it over and looking for … Read more
The simple answer to this question is “a lot.” The funny part, however, is that everyone who reads that question will have similar but very different thoughts on those changes. Unless your job (or hobby) is keeping up with the current trends in technology, the biggest thing that affects our perception is how we have … Read more
The PASS Data Community Summit 2023 happens the week of November 12 in Seattle. WA. It will be my first time back in Washington state since 2019. Skipping over the years that the Summit didn’t meet in person (I missed last year’s in-person Summit with a broken foot), this year I am ready and raring … Read more
I was looking at the list of topics I have talked about in my “What Counts for a DBA” posts over the years, and a topic really stood out as a topic I have not touched. To be fair, it is really the most essential aspect. One aspect that, if not truly understood and taken … Read more
One of the things that makes you a well-rounded person is adventure. But often, when one thinks of adventure, they think of fun, grand, and most likely, well-planned adventure holidays. Climbing the Matterhorn, crossing the Gobi desert, or perhaps most adventurous of all, navigating Disney World on July 4th (shudder). In each of these types … Read more
The concept of tact is simple. Telling people truths, often harsh truths, without making it seem harsh. Hopefully, it is clear that being truthful is one of the more essential things in life. As a person in technology (and certainly as an editor), we often need to be honest when the truth hurts a bit … Read more
I was working for Xerox when the Xerox Star, precursor to all the computer systems in use today, was introduced. Before then, computer users just had command-line or character-based GUIs. The Xerox Star workstations were displayed for the first time for us insiders in a special room, like a secular chapel, guarded over by the … Read more
I use Chat-GPT occasionally, instead of Google, to get answers to technical questions. Well there is definite value in promise in the technology, the trouble is that it currently uses authoritative sources with the same eagerness as blog posts written by newly-trained wannabe database devs who seek to get their names known, and I have … Read more
When I was a DBA involved with the management of a large number of database servers, I didn’t have many third-party tools to help me do my job. For the most part, I relied on scripts that I found or wrote. I enjoyed writing scripts to manage the servers, as it taught me a lot … Read more
