Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Updated Blog List

    I added a new blogger to my list. I was surfing around for a few good examples to use in my upcoming presentation for the 24 hours of PASS and stumbled upon Barry Young’s blog, Moving SQL. Since one of my goals for this year was to regularly update my list, I decided to add him.

    I’ve been corresponding with Barry for a few years and met him last year at PASS. He’s been a great contributor here on the site for years, and I think he’s done a very nice job with his blog. I’d urge you to check it out.

  • Don’t Copy Other People’s Posts

    In my Modern Resume presentation I have a few slides on blogging, a couple of which are hints and tips on "how to blog." The second one starts out like this:

    • Don’t copy other posts
    • Don’t copy other posts
    • Don’t copy other posts

    I know that repeating something three times is supposed to be a way to get people to remember something. This is one of those things that I think is really important to stress to people, especially after a few incidents in the SQL world lately.

    Joe Webb recently wrote "The theft of ideas and content" after some of his content was plagiarized. I’ve seen a few other professionals in this the SQL Server world respond to similar issues of their own content. A couple professionals, Brent Ozar and Tom LaRock did a short presentation on how to deal with this.

    You can’t build a brand of your own if you don’t do the work. It sounds cliche, it sounds like the advice you’d get from your parents. Do the right thing no matter what. Lots of people think that everyone lies on their resume, and I’m sure many do, but it can come by to bite you later. Here are six examples of people who lied on their resume and got caught.

    In today’s world, it’s getting easier and easier to check up on plagiarism. I strongly urge you to do your own work.

    Your blog is a part of your resume. It’s a part of what people will look at before they call you for an interview. Even after you have the job, this survey said you might get fired if they discover you lied on your resume.

    I don’t know that I’d fire someone for lying on their resume, but I certainly would if I found you copying someone’s blog and claiming it as your own.

  • Looking for Syndicated Blogs

    We’ve finally implemented a blog syndication process here at SQLServerCentral that allows us to pull in posts each night from other blogs. The idea is that we’ll allow some syndication from other blogs and sources.

    As a test, I’m pulling in this post and I’ll be contacting a few others selectively who keep other blogs and we are looking to give them other exposure.

  • Can Wives Shorten Work Hours?

    Or spouses in general, to be fair to all. I saw this piece that commented on long work hours and that spouses withholding attention, love, whatever, might help to reign in those crazy work hours.
    I guess it depends and I know that finding a balance between home life and work is a hard thing to do, and it’s a very personal thing. You have to really work at it and make those tradeoffs that work for your family. I know that executives are sometimes in a different situation than most of the rest of us, but it does seem that with people in technology, there is this tendency to work any and all hours, treating many situations as a crisis that has to be resolved immediately.
    I know it’s not just technology, doctors, lawyers, and other professions seem to attract and require long hours for success. Starting young, with no family, it’s easy to get sucked into long hours, trying to “outwork” the next guy and get ahead, get more experience, show that you are a great employee. And with that build up a good salary, get yourself set for life. I know I’ve often seen younger people try to get ahead at the expense of those with families because they’re willing to work more.
    Perhaps that’s just the nature of the beast, and I know that we do need people like that. Those that work the extra hours, that spend more time on problems, are more devoted, are often the ones that really can drive a business forward.
    But lots of people contribute to success and can make a difference. Not always with long hours. There are lots of people that put family and downtime at a higher priority than work and their careers. Not that they are less professional, or that they are less valuable, but they have their own agendas and their own lives to live. A good manager, a good leader, will work with those people’s strengths and use them to the best advantage of the company without requiring them to work crazy hours and be connected all the time. Something that would likely drive them away.
    Most professionals will stay late, pull the all-nighter, really help out when it’s needed in a crisis. Just don’t ask them to do it everyday.
    Steve Jones