Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • The 2011 SQL Saturday Schedule is Filling Up

    I have been trying to figure out where to go in 2011 for SQL Saturdays, especially as Red Gate is looking to have me do a few more demos and sessions at events. It seemed that there were relatively few events, and I’d already decided on these two:

    I’ve never been to these cities, but I have a relative in one, and a number of friends in another. So I decided to skip Tampa (they have lots of speakers) and Houston (can’t travel two weekends in a row) and hit those.
    So when I saw the announcement of SQL Saturday #71 from Grant Fritchey (Blog | @gfritchey), I thought “cool, another event.” Then I saw the date: Apr 2.
    😦
    That’s the same day as SQLSaturday #63 in Dallas, and I’d already submitted a session as well as semi-committed to the organizers there. So it looks like I’ll miss Boston, which is a little disappointing. I like that city.
    As I checked thhttp://www.sqlsaturday.com/default.aspxe schedule, I saw a few other conflicts as well. I have somewhat committed to Chicago (#67, Mar 26), which is right before Dallas. A busy time for me, and with Tech Ed and the Rally before that, I’m going to have to limit some travel. Right now I’m thinking to skip TechEd since it’s not the best show for me to go to anyway.
    However Columbia is getting ready for another event on Mar 19 (SQL Saturday #70). If I went there, I’d be gone 3 weeks in a row, which is a lot. Actually it’s too much, both on the family and me, so I’ll have to miss Columbia again.
    However it’s good for the community. Already there are:

    • Jan – 3 events
    • Feb – 4 events
    • Mar – 3 events
    • Apr – 3 events
    • Aug – 1 event

    I’m sure more are coming, and I will really, really try to get to new cities next year and meet more of the SQLServerCentral community.

  • Put Your Thinking Caps On

    A repost from SQLServerCentral.
    What would you like for Christmas?

    Hint, hint, a little visual imagery of the kind of prize that you just might win from Red Gate software next week. And just in time for Christmas!

    To celebrate the release of SQL Monitor, Red Gate is letting me give away 10 iPads along with 10 licenses of SQL Monitor to 10 lucky winners. But it’s not just me, there are a few others that get to give away prizes as well. Anyone know this guy?

     


    or these guys?

    All three of us will be giving away 10 iPad/SQL Monitor combos next week. Each of us will be running a separate contest, with separate ideas, that will give you the chance to win an iPad. Keep an eye on the daily editorial for Steve’s contest, BrentOzar.com for Brent’s, and ScaryDBA.com for Grant’s.
    You can only enter one contest, so don’t enter too quickly. Put some thought into your one and only chance for a Christmas iPad. The standard rules will apply (no family, employees, etc) and will be posted on each site Monday.
    A few hints for you to think about: SQL Monitor (of course), life balance, traveling far away, and synergy.
    Good luck!

  • T-SQL Tuesday #13 – What the Business Says Is Not What the Business Wants

    TSQL2sDay150x150It’s time to wrap up T-SQL Tuesday for the year 2010 and I was invited to host his month’s blog party by Adam Machanic (Blog | Twitter).

    What’s T-SQL Tuesday?

    This monthly event is the brainchild of Adam, and you can read about the inspiration in his very first T-SQL Tuesday post. Adam Machanic , a long time SQL Server MVP came up with an excellent idea of improving community involvement around blogging where bloggers around the world post their views on a same topic chosen by the host on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. If you are interested in hosting an event like this and then send a note to Adam.

    What are the rules?

    1. Since this is a global event, your post should go live between 2010/12/14 00:00:00.000 GMT (2nd Tuesday) and 2010/12/15 00:00:00.000 GMT. Since those of us in the US as sometimes date challenged, that’s sometime during Dec 14, 2010 using GMT time.
    2. Your blog post has to link back to the hosting blog, and the link must be anchored from the logo (found above) which must also appear at the top of the post.
    3. If trackbacks won’t work properly then please leave a comment below so that your post is accounted for in the roundup.

    Nice Things To Do

    1. Include a reference to T-SQL Tuesday in the title of your post. (The more we bloggers advertise T-SQL Tuesday, the more we bloggers get T-SQL Tuesday readers)
    2. Tweet using the hash tag #TSQL2sDay to follow links and other relevant conversations.
    3. consider hosting T-SQL Tuesday yourself. If you’re interested let Adam Machanic Know. If you’ve participated in two T-SQL Tuesdays previously and you don’t let your blog go stale (blog once a month for the last six months) then he’ll put you in the rotation.

    The Topic

    I was giving a presentation recently and someone in the audience started to ask about why I recommended against a certain technique. Without getting into it, this person kept saying that she had to implement things her way since the “business” said they needed it done that way. However a little digging showed that the business didn’t really understand the technology. They were asking for a result, and she took them literally in how she implemented a process. A classic impedance mismatch.

    I think we’ve all had situations that are similar. The business, the client, the customer, is asking for something, but they don’t know how to ask those of us building the technology. Or they don’t understand the implications of asking for something like “absolutely zero data loss” to be implemented.

    The official topic this month is:

    What issues have you had in interacting with the business to get your job done.

    Post your answer on Dec 14, 2010, based on GMT time, make sure a trackback or link appears in the comments for this blog, and I’ll look forward to reading what issues you have had to work through.

  • Moving Windows in Windows 7

    I had my laptop connected to a projector recently, and for some reason a few windows got moved off screen, like Twhirl. That was strange, so I did what I have done in the past and right clicked the icon. However that got me this:

    twhirl;

    I was expecting something more like this:

    twhirl2

    How did I get that? First I googled and found this link from Ask Leo. He explains the same issue I had and notes that I Windows 7 you have to hold down SHIFT and then right click.

    Sure enough, that works and you can select “Move”. From there I use the arrow keys to move things back on screen for me.