Voice of the DBA

Tag: blogging

  • Syndication on SQLServerCentral

    I have a few people ask about this recently, so I thought I’d blog about it, and maybe get an explanation out there.

    When we started accepting bloggers on SQLServerCentral, it was a challenge to get people to move their blogs. We had some people that just started blogging with us, but others that were already blogging elsewhere. At first I wasn’t sure what to do, but when SQLServerPedia started syndicating bloggers, using feeds, I requested similar functionality for SQLServerCentral.

    We built it, and while it’s a little crude, and we’ve modified things a few times, here’s how it works:

    • You send us a note with
      • Your SQLServerCentral registered email
      • A feed URL
    • You blog in English (sorry, English only)
    • We read the feed and publish your blog on SQLServerCentral.

    The Scary DBA has syndicated his blog, so you can see how the different things look on our site v the source. Some things don’t come across cleanly, and I’m working on getting some of those things fixed.

    Frequency

    We used to read feeds once a day, now we do it once an hour. So if you blog about something, it ought to be on the SQLServerCentral site in under 2 hours. If you think there is an issue, please contact the webmaster.

    Hints

    I use Live Writer to actually publish this blog on Blogspot. It lets me test things, but also gives me a backup of my blog and control over what I write. I think it’s a good idea to own your content, as well as keep a backup of it on your own blog.

    Live Writer is a great piece of software for drafting blogs, scheduling them, working offline, etc. I actually sync my Live Writer folders  across my desktop and laptops. That gives me some additional capabilities to draft stuff on one machine and finish it on another.

    I highly recommend people tag stuff they want to syndicate with a specific tag and then send us the feed of that tag. That allows you to still blog about something that you want to publish, but not syndicate it if you don’t want to. I know some people do this to publish other stuff in other languages, or they mix their personal/career blog and don’t necessarily want to send everything to SSC.

    Setup

    If you want to get setup, send a note to the webmaster at SQLServerCentral.com and we’ll get you syndicated.

  • Why I Write

    I have a great job. Actually it’s a fantastic job for me. I have flexible hours, I can work almost anywhere, which means that I can do things like go with my kids to events, even trips out of town and still work. I get to express myself, and talk about interesting things.
    However there are hassles, it can be a grind, and there is pressure to come up with something interesting on a regular basis. I do enjoy it, but I have had times where I thought about going to be a DBA somewhere and letting someone else point out work for me to do.
    Then I get notes like this:
    I’ve been in this business since 1980, starting with CDC punch cards, so you can see how much ‘experience’ has accumulated in what seems like the wink of an eye. I don’t get the chance to read all your editorials, but from the ones I have read, you have the gift ( because it is a gift ) of seeing the whole picture!
    … Your insight and knowledge of not just ‘work’ but of people and careers is the best, more so than any other I’ve read. Don’t lose that deep appreciation of life/work, care and intelligence your editorials have come to be.
    That’s cool. It arrived in my Inbox recently and made my day.

  • Writing Technical Articles – A Few Simple Tips

    A few simple tips that I’ve learned over the years. Keep these in mind as you write your next article.

    That and Which – It’s amazing how often I correct this in writing, and it was something I learned early on. If you use "that" in a sentence, you don’t need a comma. If you use "which", you do. A few samples:

    • The DMVs are system views that allow you to gain insight into the server operation.
    • The DMVs are views, which give you insight into the server operation.

    There are a few other rules here as well. That should be used for essential clauses, meaning the are necessary in the way things are worded. If you have non-essential clauses, like descriptive information, use "which."

    If you use "that" in one sentence, or earlier in the paragraph, you can switch over and use "which" for the sake of better flow.

    Its vs. it’s – I still mess this one up at times, but here is an easy way to read your sentences and avoid mistakes. Replace "its" with "it is" when reading. If it makes sense, you’re supposed to be using the contraction "it’s" and not "its." If it doesn’t make sense, as in it’s possessive, then stick with "its."

    • I have found it’s important to test the boundary cases. (Test: I have found it is important to test the boundary cases)
    • In this particular boundary case, its result is zero. (Test: In this particular boundary case, it is result is zero. Doesn’t make sense. stick with "its")

    Capitalization – Surprisingly this is more difficult than it seems. Proper nouns and names are capitalized, and of course, the first word in a sentence. Outside of that, don’t capitalize random words. So SQL Server is the proper name of a product, but "the database server" is a generic. Don’t capitalize "Database Server," which is something I see often. The same thing applies for groups, even if you think they’re specific. I realize you are talking about your "development team" or your "manager", but unless you call them out by name, or you are using the title of the group, they aren’t capitalized.

    If you’ve got questions, post them in a comment and I’ll try to answer them. I’d also recommend that if you want to write, pick up a style guide. Microsoft has published a technical one and the Chicago Manual of Style is always a good book to keep around.

    The best advice I can give you is to have someone else look over your article. I realize that I don’t always do that for my editorials, and some of that is because of the time pressures and crunches I get under to get things done, but for technical articles, I’d be sure that you have a friend read it.

  • 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.