Republish: How Much AI Do We Need?

Posted on December 30, 2024 by way0utwest

I’m back today from holiday, but gone tomorrow. As I try to close down the year, I decided to re-run How Much AI Do We Need? as it was an interesting look back at a piece from 2020, when the LLM/GenAI hype wasn’t a thought in most people’s minds. Instead, the AI systems were simpler and more focused on specific siutations.

I find myself thinking back a bit and thinking about the world back then and re-reading the linked article. In that one it seems like “smart” is more about better communication and coordination in the kitchen, and less about the appliances having any intelligence. Some of the image recognition items might lightly be called AI/ML work, but most of the added features aren’t.

Re-read the piece and article and think about how much AI do you need, or want.

Posted in Editorial | Tagged | Comments Off on Republish: How Much AI Do We Need?

Capturing Ideas for Blogs

Posted on December 30, 2024 by way0utwest

As we close out the year, I decided to drop this post here and maybe inspire a few of you to write in 2025. This post looks at some examples of how I capture ideas for later and jot notes that turn into these blog posts.

Everything is an idea

Let me start with how I look at the world. I was in a meeting with some of our solution engineers and Kathi Kellenberger. Kathi was showing how to get started with the Redgate Monitor PowerShell API, which is something relatively few of our customers use. However, it’s very powerful and as she started, I noticed a few things.

  1. She pointed out how to download and load the module
  2. She showed how to make a basic connection
  3. There was a section on adding tags to a list of servers
  4. There was a section on reading in a CSV with server names and settings
  5. There was a section on changing settings for alerts based on the csv

In this list, there are 4 blog posts at least. Here is what sketched out. Each of these sections is the draft title of a blog post with the items I captured inside.

Getting Started

purpose of PoSH with RGM

download module

get an auth token

make basic connection with your monitor server

Get data from a query

Adding Tags to a Server

check sample scripts

Pick group of servers, get group list from

load csv, loop, applying tag to group

Load CSV

Basic PoSh

Load CSV, show how fields are represented

loop through different rows

Change Settings from PoSh

Get list of servers and settings in csv

load and loop through

alter alert setting for server based on csv

Summary

Those are light sketches, but they capture the idea. I’ve got 4 draft posts now that I can flesh out when I have time. While I was doing this, I grabbed a couple screenshots as well, which help me remember the context of what I saw.

This is the way I grab lots of ideas when they occur to me, without worrying about finishing these right now. From these descriptions, I can build a larger blog post, in this case, a series that I’ll add to my other Redgate Monitor posts.

Try grabbing ideas for tools, fixes, patches, changes, etc. during your workday. Drop them in a folder somewhere, use Open Live Writer, Word, whatever. Then when you’re looking to blog or improve you career or fix something, you’ll have a list.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Capturing Ideas for Blogs

A New Word: Lilo

Posted on December 27, 2024 by way0utwest

lilo– n. a friendship that can lie dormant for years only to pick right back up instantly, as if you’d seen each other last week – which is al the more remarkable given that certain other people can make every lull in conversation feel like an eternity.

I’m very lucky that I get to travel and meet so many people, and that I have the opportunity to see many of them time and time again at different events. I’m truly blessed in this way.

I have lilo with many people, close friends, good friends, casual acquaintances, even new-I-just-met-you-for-five-minutes-once friends.

With many people, when I see them again, we can pick up a conversation or a familiarity right away. I don’t have a great memory for names, which is why you might see my look at your name badge, but I remember faces well. When I was a bartender, I knew many people by what they drank, but few names.

In the tech world, I pick up friendships once a year with some people, less often with others. A quick story.

20241107_111414

I met Nate many years ago at the PASS Summit. I can’t remember if we met in the convention center or in the hotel up the hill, but we got to chatting and enjoyed a few minutes together. Since then, I’ve seen him at a number of Data Community Summits, and we always take time to stop and catch up and see how we’re doing.

I look forward to lilo every year, thinking I’ll get the chance to see Nate and get a hug, a picture, and a conversation. I’ve missed him the last couple of years, but was delighted to see him in 2024. I hope we both keep making the Summit or some other event until we both get to retire.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Posted in Blog | Tagged , | Comments Off on A New Word: Lilo

Republish: Choosing Sequences Over Identity

Posted on December 23, 2024 by way0utwest

It’s the start of the holiday season for me. I’m off all this week and a few next week, so I’m really done for the year.

You get to re-read Choosing Sequences Over Identity.

Posted in Editorial | Tagged | Comments Off on Republish: Choosing Sequences Over Identity