Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Android Tablet

    I was in Best Buy, actually returning a couple iPads the other day. I had gotten a few for a Red Gate giveaway and left them at home. I purchased two on the road, and when I got back, I took these back to Best Buy.

    I’m still debating if an iPad is worth it for me. I like to read electronically, and I think that I could use some of the features on the iPad to better understand how people are publishing content, as well as do presentations. However it still feels like an electronic toy more than a tool, and I’m not sure if it’s worth the cost.

    While I was at Best Buy, I noticed that there was an Android based tablet there, and decided to check it out.

    It’s the Huawei Ideos 7″ tablet and it runs Android v2.1. That’s what most Android phones run, though a few have v2.2. I had enjoyed my Android phone in the past, and at $299, this seemed like this might be a good buy.

    So I tried to do a few things. It was rather annoying that the Internet wasn’t connected. To me that’s a major failing on the part of Best Buy. You’d think they’d enable a wi-fi link so that you could test a few things.

    However it really didn’t matter. I opened the dictionary and tried to look up a few words, and I was amazed by how slow it was to respond, especially with touch on the screen. I don’t remember my phone being that slow to catch a touch, but this took a good half second to pick up a touch, so after the iPhone, it felt like I……..was………typing……..really………slowly…….

    Just to check, I popped open the calculator and tried two problems. 9*8 and then 96/12. It took me easily 8-9 seconds each to enter those problems. For comparison, I walked over to the iPad and entered the same problems, both of them, in about 3 sec. For comparison, it was about 8 sec on my Win 7 tablet using the stylus.

    That was enough for me. I was hoping that an Android tablet might be a nice alternative, and stack up well at a reduced price, but this isn’t even close. I wouldn’t pay $100 for this one as it’s so slow and annoying to use. The iPad is pricey, but it’s smooth, refined, and it works well. I was looking forward to seeing the Galaxy from Samsung, but after this review from some Red Gate folks, it doesn’t look like it deserves to cost the same as an iPad.

  • Back Home

    And glad to be there. I was gone almost 7 days, home only for 24:15:00 before back out on another trip. Between SQL Connections, and a little setup for the PASS Summit, I was beat.

    And behind. I had scheduled out newsletters and editorials, but I came back to over 20 articles submitted in the last week along with a dearth of editorials and blog posts. I had hoped to write some while I was gone, but the days get so long and busy that I really didn’t. An attempt on the planes didn’t really work either, and I was actually too burned out from the travel to even get coherent thoughts out.

    I’ll be back with more tomorrow, talking about my impressions of Connections, and a few notes from the pre-PASS Summit as well.

  • Code of Conduct for Software Maintenance

    I ran across this article about a recent symposium for CIOs where a code of conduct for IT maintenance that was developed as a guideline for how companies want their software vendors to behave.  This is strictly a customer driven initiative, organized by the Gartner Group, to try and ensure that software companies treat their customers fairly.

    I was surprised to hear that the CIO of Lowes say that software maintenance costs are the largest growing line item in his budget. If that continues, then the price of maintaining software could be a real issue for companies. If it is, then will they slow down they software upgrade cycles? What happens to the innovation of software if companies expect versions to be in production use for 5-7 years? Will that impact the 18-24 month cycle of SQL Server?

    It’s hard to say what might happen, but I do think that sometimes the cost of software maintenance is out of line with the true maintenance costs. Is a 20% margin fair? Especially when it seems every software package out there needs regular maintenance in order to work well. Is that because software just needs repair and enhancement once it gets used by the public? Or is it because software vendors are not testing enough and expecting clients to just live with their level of quality?

    The code is a good idea, and if enough large companies agree that adherence is necessary for them to purchase upgrades, I can see software companies starting to abide by its provisions. I have to say that Microsoft already follows some of the guidelines, like regular patches for its products. I think Microsoft has fair licensing practices for test and development machines, though it might be nice to see different support levels for different levels of criticality.

    Steve Jones

  • Do You Need a Mentor?

    When I was young, I never thought I did. I was sure that I knew what was best for my career and that I could figure things out by studying more, reading more, and learning more. Probably I had some trusts “issues” somewhere in my past, but I didn’t want to put my career in anyone else’s hands.

    Over the years I’ve doled out advice to a number of people when they’ve asked, and they’ve come back to thank me. I even was in conversation with a few groups this year and two separate people (different people/places) spoke out in the group, crediting me as a mentor to them.

    That surprised me, but it made me stop and think about what I’d asked them and how it had influenced them, based on what they told me. Apparently I had been a bit of a mentor. When someone recently asked me if I’d be a mentor to them, listening and offering advice, I agreed.

    Mentoring

    Those of us with kids try to mentor them. By definition, mentoring is a more senior person (in experience) providing advice or counsel to a more junior person. This has nothing to do with age, and a mentor in one area might be a mentoree in another.

    Looking back I think my career would have been more successful if I had had someone to help guide me, bounce ideas off, and get advice about the directions to take. I’ve had a good career, but I felt like I’ve stumbled in many ways. Fortunately my wife has helped, and my business partner has taught my a lot in the last 6-8 years.

    If you are looking to grow your career, I would look around and think about someone that you trust and have a good relationship with that is a more senior person. It could be your boss, a colleague, or even a neighbor. Ask them if they would help you, and see what they say.