Voice of the DBA

Tag: Redgate

  • Do You Want to be a DBA in Space?

    Not the trip for me, but it might be for you. Enter today.

    I had a chance to see a few of the DBA in Space videos before the contest was released and I shared them with my kids. My son’s first reaction was “can I go?” He couldn’t, but it did excite him a little to think about potentially going into space at some point in his life and he thought it was amazing that some average computer worker, like me, would get the chance. It’s an amazing contest and I’m still stunned that my employer, Red Gate Software, is offering it to anyone that works with databases.

    And that’s interesting. Developers, administrators, if you’re administering databases in any way, you’ve got a chance to enter the contest. You can get started now by signing up and going through all the videos, answering the questions as you go. The contest ends Friday, November 18, 2011, so there are a few days left to follow Brad McGehee on his space alien adventure and have fun with a few silly questions.

    I, however, wouldn’t go to space. I don’t like flying, and I’m not thrilled with heights, and it wouldn’t be my choice for a prize. I do know many people that love science fiction, the space program, and would be thrilled to go. If I could win (I’m not eligible), I’d take the cash alternative, $102,000, and probably take the trip of a lifetime. Maybe take the family and ski in Switzerland, maybe fly to Australia and enjoy surfing and diving down under with the kids, but definitely fly first class everywhere.

    Let your mind wander, ask your friends and family where they’re like to go? Would they have the adventure of a lifetime with you or would they think about sending you up in a rocket, as many of the Slashdotters want to do. It could be your choice, but only if you enter the contest this week.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • SQL in the City – LA

    I had a fantastic time at SQL in the City in London, and it was quite an honor for me to speak there, at the Royal Society of Medicine. Tomorrow I’m taking off for LA, for SQL in the City – LA, the second part of our experiment. This time I’m joined by Kalen Delaney, Denny Cherry, Aaron Nelson, and Rob Sullivan in addition to Grant, Brad, and a number of Red Gate’ers.

    We’ll be at the Skirball Cultural Center, which is just off the 405 in LA. If you’re in the area, the map is below, and you can still register if you can come on Friday.

    The last time we did this, we had a great mix of sessions, having panels of breaks taking place in one room when someone was speaking in another. There was plenty of refreshments, including a closing thank you with Red Gate beer.

    This should be another fun event, and I’m hoping that it goes over well. If you enjoy it, please let Red Gate know so we can schedule more of these next year.

    Location

  • Guest Appearance in DBA in Space

    Win a trip into space!

    The DBA in Space competition continues today with the third question. This time I get to ask it, a sci-fi film question. No hints, but do a little research and don’t make a mistake. You only get one chance at each question to get through them. New questions are coming every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so keep an eye out for the new ones.

    I had fun filming it, and I’ve got a few outtakes below from my efforts. It was surprisingly hard for me to remember two or three lines in between all the other things I normally do and the podcasts I record.

    Enjoy and good luck with the competition

  • The Contest That’s Out of the World

    Who wants to win a trip into space?

    If you were in the Exhibition Hall yesterday at the PASS Summit, you were witness to an amazing announcement about a new contest. Red Gate Software is sending a DBA into space, giving you the chance to actually take a trip into space. Someone will get to experience weightlessness and see the planet as only astronauts have before. It’s a view that they always say has changed their lives. How absolutely, freaking, amazing is that?

    As a kid I loved science fiction, dreaming of the chance to have a flying car, or serve on some spaceship like the Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon. As I grew up, it seemed that most people were enamored with the idea of technology advancing to the point where we would fly in space, or more easily travel around the world. It still seems that we’re missing the Jetson’s cars that I expected would be around by 2011. Not only haven’t we duplicated the feats of 2001: A Space Odyssey by sending a ship to Jupiter, we haven’t even sent a manned mission to Mars. Forty years after landing a man on the moon, it seems that space travel has barely advanced.

    However it has advanced, at least to the point where an ordinary human, albeit one with a deep wallet, can book a trip on a ship to travel into space. Red Gate has eliminated the wallet restriction, and all of you have a chance over the next five weeks to enter this contest and have a chance to experience weightlessness.

    I hope you have fun with it and enjoy the quiz that goes along with the DBA in Space short webisodes that we’ve put together. The questions aren’t too hard, but they might require a little research on yur part.  Take your time, however, as you only get one shot to answer them.

    They shows are a little corny, but it was done to bring a smile to your face, and I’m looking forward to hearing what you think.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts