Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Oracle, MySQL, and MongoDB Come to SQLServerCentral

    We’re in for a name change. As of May 1, we’ll be welcoming the Oracle and MySQL communities to SQLServerCentral. Our daily content will grow to include articles and questions about these platforms as we look to become more inclusive to the large numbers of data professionals that work on other platforms.

    At Red Gate Software, my employer and owner of SQLServerCentral, we’ve built a number of tools for other platforms. We have our Compare product working on Oracle and MySQL, and we are actively working to extend this technology to MongoDB and other platforms. With so many professionals wearing multiple hats at their employers, we’ve decided to also consolidate our community sites.

    As a result, we are going to change the name of the site to

    DataCentral

     

    That’s the new site and don’t worry, all your old URLs will redirect. We’ve been working hard to ensure that everything still works as planned, and we have some new tags coming that will allow you to easily filter information to the specific platform you need.

    We think this is a great move forward, to include other platforms and give you the opportunity to learn more about other technologies, even if your company doesn’t use them. This is also an April Fool joke, so if you’ve read this far, hopefully you’re smiling with relief.

    I do like Oracle and MySQL as technologies and they work fine. I just think in many cases SQL Server works better and I like using it. That being said, the site isn’t changing, but I would encourage you to learn more about other platforms if you have an interest, or your company uses them. Having additional skills can help your career, even if it’s a safety net.

  • X in Technology

    I have attended quite a few of the women in technology sessions across the last few years at various SQL Server events. I think the effort to promote technology careers to women and support them in the challenges they face is a worthwhile effort. I hope the groups continue and I look forward to more local chapters forming, like the Denver WIT group that is starting this year.

    However not everyone agrees. I heard from someone not to long ago that thought these groups were divisive and might end up fragmenting the community. This person asked me if I thought WIT was a good idea, then should we also have a black men in technology group?

    I do.

    I was asked if I thought there should be a Hispanics in technology as well?

    I do.

    I do think that any minority group that feels they want to support others in their group should consider setting up an organization to help their members. Different groups of people face different challenges in being part of a minority. Finding support from others in similar situations can help you overcome the obstacles that are in your way. It can help you realize the possibilities and opportunities that exist. Lots of groups do this, why not technology? The WIT and other minority organizations I’ve seen aren’t advocating against white males or any other majority. They’re just trying to help their own members have better careers.

    If we can encourage others to consider technology careers, become better professionals, and support people as they go through their lives, I think that’s something worth doing.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 1.9MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

     

  • All in Fun

    My first commercial!

    Steve on a Horse

    This comes from our DBA Team promotion, which is ongoing this year.

  • Getting RUN back in Windows 8

    Recently I heard a few people that note that they were really hoping the next update for Windows 8 will bring back the “Run button”, which was available in XP and Windows 7. I guess it was in Vista, but we won’t talk about that fiasco.

    I asked a question to the Intertubes and someone told me to do this:

    • Hit Windows+R
    • Pin the Run item to the taskbar.

    It’s that simple, and I tested it in Windows 8. It works well. Here’s what it looks like:

    Hit Windows+R, that’s the Windows key and the R button together. That gives you this:

    runbutton_a

    The Run dialog appears in the lower left hand corner. For me, that’s just above the IE icon (this is Windows 8, not 8.1, no Start menu button) and the last thing I ran is in there. I removed my item, but you will see what you last ran.

    Now, if you look in your taskbar, on the right side, you’ll see an icon that is the run dialog. In the image below, I’ve drawn an arrow pointing to it.

    runbutton_b

    If you right click this icon, you’ll get a menu.

    runbutton_c

    If you click “Pin”, then this icon will remain in the taskbar. You can click it anytime to get the Run dialog.