Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • The Joy of Technology

    Here's my Airplay receiver.
    Here’s my Airplay receiver.

    I ran across this piece on the joy of being a programmer, which resonated with me. I started at a programmer, at about the same age, 10 or so. I’m a little older than the author, but I’ve spent most of my life in the technology business, primarily working with SQL Server, but I’ve built software as well. I’m still building a little software, mostly for fun. I recently set up a Raspberry Pi to stream Airplay music from my idevices and created a ball shooting Lego Mindstorm robot. Granted the latter wasn’t much programming, but I’ve backed a Kickstarter project that will allow me to write some more complex code for the Legos with my kids and I’m looking forward to receiving the kit.

    Programming has been a fun hobby and career for me. Whether that’s been working in a front end language like C++ or VB, writing T-SQL that produces reports, or even scripting administrative tasks in VB Script or Powershell, it’s always a challenge. I find myself going through the same pattern of emotions over and over. Excitement as I start a project, confidence in an initial solution, frustration when things don’t work, and a smile after the burst of creativity that finds a solution. Granted, I may iterate through these emotions a few times, perhaps even spending more time struggling than solving, but it’s been an endeavor that I enjoy most of the time.

    Just like the author, I’ve had success in my career, and found technology to be a better job than many other jobs that people I’ve worked with have had. Looking at the accountants, the managers, the salespeople, and all the other workers in the various organizations I’ve been a part of, I think I’ve had one of the better jobs that exist in the world today. Physically easy work, mentally challenging, well paid, and with demand for workers. I hope you feel the same way about your technology career.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • Relying on Algorithms

    Would you trust software to drive you around?
    Would you trust software to drive you around?

    We are increasingly living in a world that is affected by software (and the data it uses). I have to admit that I’m slightly worried about this as I look at the quality of software, the bugs, the lack of effective testing. It’s not that companies don’t perform a lot of testing; many do, but it seems that many developers, and even QA people, don’t really know how to effectively test. This is especially true of testing for abnormal or unexpected situations. It there’s one area of software development that seems woefully immature, it’s testing.

    However testing isn’t the only problem. We might not like the way that software is designed, and used, to alter our world. As we become more dependent on software to accomplish tasks for us, we will run into new situations that the software may not have been designed to handle. This opinion piece on the ways in which software might alter our lives is both fascinating and scary. How do we want software to behave in unfamiliar situations? It’s not an easy question to answer, and it’s certainly not a question with a simple answer in many scenarios.

    We learn to depend on systems when they work for us. Whether in business, government, or our personal lives, when a system works, we want to use it more. However that’s not always the best long term solution. Humans adapt, and software, especially the systems using a constant stream of historical data for decisions, has flaws. More than a few of you might have encountered this type of situation with Netflix or Amazon recommendations when you have kids sharing your account.

    In some sense I think that we not only need adaptive algorithms, that we can customize over time, but we also need to understand the data that flows through the algorithms. We need ways to remove some data from consideration by the software, when we find it is removing more value than it is adding.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

  • PC Sales Declining

    About 3 or 4 years ago I was talking with my wife and a colleague of hers that worked in the mobile industry. This person and my wife thought that the mobile industry would explode, and it’s impact and expansion would dwarf the PC revolution that had most of our companies buying new machines every two to three years.

    I think that is part of what is happening with this article on the hemorrhaging of the PC industry. I see quite a few people moving to the mobile space, and using smart phones, texting, and more to handle the needs of their lives. The growth of tablets as well is changing the world. I see more and more non-technical adults carrying tablets to do their work. Kendall’s volleyball coach, our Scoutmaster, and more are using tablets, and ( I am guessing here), sticking with an older computer at home when they need it.

    There’s also the factor that we can get so much done on any device that we don’t need that many. These days email, video, audio, browsing, and camera work can happen on almost any device.

    The use of older hardware is another issue. We don’t see the fantastic pace of growth in hardware occurring anymore. I know machines get more powerful, but it doesn’t seem to be happening as quick as in the past. Part of this may be psychological with the clock speed ratings not changing as quickly, but it’s also that the technology seems to be focusing on power improvements more than anywhere else. Even the core growth has tailed off. I just bought a laptop, 4 years after my previous Windows laptop. They both had quad core chips, and while the new one seems to be faster, it’s not substantially faster.

    Hardware not speeding up, tablets and phones, but there’s something else as well. Microsoft did a fantastic job with Windows 7. In many cases people are finding that the OS is faster and slimmer, without the bloat of previous versions. One can actually put Windows 7 on older hardware and it will run great. I know lots of people are still running Windows XP, which works fine, but even if they upgrade, they don’t need to move to new hardware o do so. I suspect that other OSes are in similar situations. The software is so good, there’s no reason to upgrade.

    All of this isn’t good or bad. It just means a changing industry, and PC makers should both learn to adapt to new form factors (tablets), but also expect that we will buy fewer devices in the future.

  • The Bicentennial

    sqlsat200Tomorrow is SQL Saturday #200 in Philadelphia. I’m traveling today to the City of Brotherly Love for the event. My partner, Andy Warren, co-founder of SQLServerCentral and SQL Saturday, is also making his way there for the celebration. This is the bicentennial event, and even though it might not be the two hundredth event to actually occur, it represents an amazing success of the SQL Saturday franchise and I am thrilled to be a small part of these events that have helped train, teach, and network so many SQL Server professionals all around the world. We even had Bill Gates learn of the events at SQL Saturday #175 in Fargo just a month ago.

    When the first SQL Saturday took place in Orlando in 2007, Andy and I weren’t sure how it would survive or grow. We wondered if we’d ever see 50 total events, or even 12 occur in a single year. Five and a half years later, these events have exploded, with over 80 taking place in the last year. Under the stewardship of Karla Landrum, more SQL Server professionals are getting free training every year than they ever might have dreamed of.

    And they’re excited by the opportunities offered by these events.

    I’ve seen people drive from Jacksonville to Pensacola for an event. People come from Virginia to Ohio for a day. Plenty of other people adjust their travel plans to come a day early or stay a day late to attend a SQL Saturday. We’ve had attendees and speakers bring their spouses and children, and even sessions they could participate in. Hundreds of speakers have donated their time and money, traveled long distances to help others. We’ve had networking sessions, games, BBQs and water skiing scheduled at SQL Saturdays. Summer, fall, winter, and spring, in every month, in over 20 countries, the SQL Server community has come together to teach, learn, debate, practice, and take pride in the work we do.

    I’m proud of what we’ve done together and amazed at how often we have done it. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and all the events that will come in the future.

    Steve Jones

    PS – Putting together a SQL Saturday isn’t too hard. Some events are extremely well organized and funded, but really if you can find a venue that will allow you to use a few rooms, you’re set. Speakers will come, you can charge for lunch, and people will learn. That’s what it’s all about. Contact Karla Landrum if you want an event in your area.

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

    We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.