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Do you know what determinism is? It’s something that comes up periodically in Books Online as various SQL objects require deterministic functions. Things like indexes views.

I ran across a question on this for our ASK site, and thought it was interesting. I started to reply, then had to double check myself and make sure by looking things up in Books Online. I was right, though I’m not sure I’d have been able to actually classify all functions correctly.

For example, RAND can be either deterministic or non-deterministic, depending on how it’s used. If you have a seed value, it’s deterministic. CAST and CONVERT are usually deterministic but it depends on the data type. There are some good exceptions spelled out in this BOL entry: Deterministic and Nondeterministic Functions

I knew that deterministic meant you could determine the output given the input, and that these are "predictable" functions. However I didn’t realize that somethings, like GetDATE() wouldn’t fit. It always returns the current time/date, but it’s not based on input, or the database, so it doesn’t count. It’s a non-deterministic function.

Non-deterministic functions like the @@ ones (@@Connections, @@idle, etc.) are listed, and I’m not sure I’d have thought of them off the top of my head, but it was good to read them in the article. Next time I need to I should remember, or at least be able to easily scan code and decide if it’s deterministic or not.

It’s one week until the PASS Summit. At this time next week I’ll be on a plane, heading to Seattle with a weeks worth of clothes and a bunch of prizes to give away. This will be my 8th or 9th Summit, and the 5th or 6th one I’ve attended in Seattle. They tend to blur for me since it’s an annual event and I run through a similar routine most years. The biggest event being the SQLServerCentral opening night party. After that I’m usually just trying to relax for the rest of the Summit.

This year I’m looking to participate a bit in the PASS feedback sessions, which are still trying to get set up. I’m not sure where they’ll be, but after the comments and blogs on the election process, I’m hoping people will participate. However most of my planning this week is getting the site prepped for very little work from my next week and trying to prepare for the party.

What prizes am I bringing? I’m not completely sure. IT partially depends on my budge which is a little low this year. With less people attending, or at least using my promotion code, I’ve had to pare things back. We still plan on giving away two gifts to all attendees:

• The Best of SQLServerCentral, Volume 7
• A SQLServerCentral polo shirt

Because of the budget, I’ve decided to reuse some of the existing shirts that I’ve been storing. So we’ll actually have black, green, gray, and burgundy shirts to choose from, though not all sizes in all colors. Come early to be sure you get what you want.

I’ve also gone back to my standby of DVDs are basic gifts. I bought about 25 of them recently on sale, though this year you won’t know what you’re getting. My daughter wanted to wrap them, so the titles are hidden. I grabbed a few flash drives, but was trying to figure out what might be a nice, cheap gift I could give out.

And then I thought of one of my passions: reading. I read about 50-70 books a year, and really enjoy it. I’ve encouraged my kids to read, and I’ve enjoyed having them get more interested in reading over the years. I even got my wife to try the Barnes and Noble reader on her Blackberry. She told me it was a "horrible" idea when I showed it to her one day and said "she’d never read that way." She’s now read 5 books and things it’s great.

So I’m ordering some of my favorite sci-fi books for the party. No hints about what titles they’ll be, but they are some that I’ve read multiple times and even given to friends.

My prize budget is hovering around $1200, which sounds like a lot. But when you try to get 50 prizes out of that, you realize that you’re really limited to $25 a prize. If you consider that we try to get a couple $100-$200 prizes, the cost/prize needs to go way down.

So I’ve got books, DVDs, and then a few more things coming. Likely we’ll reserve something like a Wii or an XBOX for the top gamblers, but with 100-130 people expected, you’ve got a good chance to walk away with something.

So be sure that you register with our code (SSC3D) if you haven’t registered, and if you have, feel free to come to the party Monday night. We’ll charge $30 admission, and you can come in and have some fun on the first night of PASS.

There has been quite a discussion today on the direction of PASS (the Professional Association for SQL Server) and some controversy about the opinions, blogs, and whining (yes, someone said whining) that’s been taking place. I’ve certainly had my say, with an editorial and a couple of blogs on the election and the board of directors.

A few people have said that if you don’t volunteer, or run for the board of directors you shouldn’t criticize. Or that you’re part of the problem, not the solution.

I disagree with that. I’ve had that attitude in the past, and it’s wrong. Is it only the 30 people that volunteer (rough guess) or the 12 on the board can speak out? Is it only former government officials that get to criticize the current people serving? Is it only people inside a company that can give opinions on the board of director’s performance?

Not in the US. And while PASS does seek to be a global organization, it’s a US non-profit entity.

The fundamental right that people should have is to express their opinions. Without those opinions, along with ideas and criticism, how does any organization, any board of directors, any management know how to measure their performance?

They don’t. Without knowing the wants and needs of those that belong to the group, you can’t know what decisions to make.

Without accounting for your constituents you are a dictator. A benevolent dictator perhaps, but still a dictator.

There are multiple problems with PASS as an organization, and a lack of participation and volunteers is definitely a problem. However that’s not an excuse for ignoring the opinions of those that are expressing them. Or are criticizing the group.

You need transparency, and accountability, and communication. If PASS is doing a great job, PUBLICIZE IT. Don’t tell me that we’re doing well, in general terms. Tell me specifically what you’re doing. Tell me what didn’t get done. Give me reasons.

I can accept failure, I can accept missteps and mistakes. I just can’t take your work that you did the best you could without some accountability.

If it is only the 50 loudest people that share their opinions, then those opinions should help you govern. If you get more, use those, but don’t run things in a vacuum.

Each year at the PASS Summit I have run a party on opening night. The last 4 or 5 years we’ve had a casino theme, with real dealers coming in and letting people try their luck at blackjack, poker, roulette, craps, etc. It’s a good time, and we hand out lots of prizes. We try to give them out randomly so your skill level doesn’t matter, but we also give a few away to the big money winners.

To make sure everyone gets something, I’ve also ordered copies of "The Best of SQLServerCentral" book and a bunch of polo shirts to hand out. We’ve wanted to make everyone feel like a winner, and the format has been popular. I usually rotate the shirt color so that people coming back from last year get a new shirt, and have some variety in their wardrobe.

The timing of the event, however, means that I’m never quite sure how many people will come. Typically about 60-70% of the people signing up with our code come to the party, but we try to ensure we have enough for everyone. And since there’s a lead time with ordering books and shirts, that means that I have to place an order weeks, or even months, in advance of the Summit.

Which means guessing.

I usually guess a little high, and have ended up shipping back shirts and books to my house over the years. It worked out well when we sold shirts through the site, or gave them away as prizes, but we’ve done less of that over time, and I have more than a few extra shirts stored in my basement.

With the economy slow, and attendance to the Summit down, at least by my estimates based on the number of people using my code to date, I decided that I needed to cut my expenses a bit. After all, the other prizes are what matter, right? Everyone wants a Nintendo DS, a picture frame, or an Iron Man DVD . So I decided to reuse shirts from previous years. I’m sorry, but I have about 100 green, gray, and black shirts, and need to let them go.

I have a bunch of sizes, M, L, XL, but not at the extremes, so I’ve ordered some S, XXL, and XXXL to round out the bunch. I’m not sure what colors are coming since I told my supplier to pick from those colors or burgundy, just get them sewn up and shipped to Seatle FAST.

My apologies to those people that might get a color from a previous year, but times are tough now. Hopefully next year the Summit will grow larger and I’ll have a bigger budget.

And get to pick a new shirt color 🙂