Month: February 2010

Before

Web Site Spring Cleaning

18 Comments
Every now and then, I get frustrated with the way my web site looks.  I toss a stick of dynamite at it and start fresh. This weekend I splurged on the Headway WordPress theme, a premium theme that has a slick GUI editor.  I can make different pages look wildly different without too much effort.…
Read More
The First Rule of MVP Club

Microsoft #MVP10 Summit Recap

4 Comments
Every year, Microsoft hosts an MVP Summit event at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. MVPs pay their own airfare to get to the event, but once you’re there, Microsoft picks up the tab for food & hotels. MVPs have to share a room, and I think that’s fine because it emphasizes the community portion of…
Read More

SQL Server Magazine’s Publisher Files Bankruptcy

15 Comments
Penton Media publishes several IT-related magazines including SQL Server Magazine and Windows IT Pro, and is involved with the DevConnections conference.  They announced that they’re filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means they pay back a portion of their debt and the rest is erased.  BtoB Media reports that Penton’s revenue fell about 26% last year.…
Read More
All The Storage an Access Guy Needs

Top 10 Reasons Why Access Still Doesn’t Rock

Humor
249 Comments
Database Journal published an article yesterday about the Top 10 Reasons Why Access Still Rocks for Developers.  After I wiped the coffee off my monitor, I had to write a rebuttal. The following headlines are theirs, not mine, but the responses are mine. 1. The price is right. The author says: “Access is freely available…
Read More
For the record, whining does NOT cause blisters.

Why You Might Want to Buy SQL Server 2008 Now

Licensing
2 Comments
When SQL Server 2008 came out, I heard a lot of grumbling at PASS from production DBAs.  They didn’t like the focus on business intelligence, and they felt like there wasn’t enough meat on the bones to solve real-world production problems. When SQL Azure came out, they grumbled more.  Developers love Azure because they can…
Read More
Dangerous Interview Question

Salary Negotations During the Interview

Professional Development
59 Comments
On Twitter, Pat Wright posed a question: Dangerous Interview Question My answer: it depends.  (Hey, I’m a DBA, right? Isn’t that always the answer?)  My favorite salary negotiation book recommends postponing the salary question as late as possible during the hiring process, but I don’t think that’s realistic.  I don’t go house shopping without looking…
Read More

More Free SQL Server DBA Training Videos Online

SQL Server
3 Comments
The SQLBits conference in Great Britain videotapes their sessions and makes them available for public viewing.  This weekend, they announced that last fall’s sessions are online now – and it’s all free! Here’s my Performance Tuning for Race Car Drivers presentation.  (Yes, I do insult Americans within the first 30 seconds, but I don’t think…
Read More