The Exciting World of Data

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Exciting World of Data

  • I like data in the same way that I like snow. It's nice that it's there but it's what one does with it that's fun (which is your point mostly).

    What I do like doing is being able to help people with reports — how many x were born in y per month last year? Trend analysis and data-mining, too.

    While designing DBs and servers is enjoyable in the solving-a-puzzle-sort-of-way, it is the turning of data into information (which I define as the answer to a question) that gives me job satisfaction and drives me to be able to do more with databases and cubes, faster and better.

  • Steve Jones - SSC Editor (9/29/2016)


    We love data.

    I think that I am with Sean on this one. I love information. Sometimes working with data gives us the opportunity to garner information from data and it is that, from my perspective, that I find exciting. I have come across others who validly like working with data regardless of whether they are aware, if it even exists, of it becoming information.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • And still, we don't have transporters or warp drive yet.

  • Sean Redmond (9/29/2016)


    I like data in the same way that I like snow. It's nice that it's there but it's what one does with it that's fun (which is your point mostly).

    What I do like doing is being able to help people with reports — how many x were born in y per month last year? Trend analysis and data-mining, too.

    While designing DBs and servers is enjoyable in the solving-a-puzzle-sort-of-way, it is the turning of data into information (which I define as the answer to a question) that gives me job satisfaction and drives me to be able to do more with databases and cubes, faster and better.

    Me too. That's why I'm thankful I got into BI sooner rather than later.

    What I like most is building data products though. Taking data and doing something different with it to where it can be wrapped up and sold internally or externally to users who see the value in what was made.

  • What would help people record more of their technical presentations?

    I'm working overnight tonight, so I can't attend the local SQL Saturday tomorrow, but I think it would be great to record as many sessions as possible next year.

    412-977-3526 call/text

  • robert.sterbal 56890 (9/30/2016)


    What would help people record more of their technical presentations?

    I'm working overnight tonight, so I can't attend the local SQL Saturday tomorrow, but I think it would be great to record as many sessions as possible next year.

    Recording a presentation, even just the screen and audio, is hard. It's complex and even when you have someone trying to go a good job, it doesn't always come off well. Very hit and miss. The only ones that really come out well are those done by professionals that understand how to setup and record audio.

    Even finding a decent place for a camera to setup is hard in most locations.

    When it isn't done well, the speaker doesn't come off well.

    It's really not feasible for most events, or speakers.

  • I think the videos I find on youtube for virtual user groups are just fine:

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFX97evt_7Akx_R9ovfiSwQ

    Is there a centralized listing of videos like this, or is that a good project to work on?

    412-977-3526 call/text

  • robert.sterbal 56890 (9/30/2016)


    I think the videos I find on youtube for virtual user groups are just fine:

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFX97evt_7Akx_R9ovfiSwQ

    Is there a centralized listing of videos like this, or is that a good project to work on?

    I don't know of anything like that and might be a good project.

    Live recording is not remotely close to virtual chapters. A virtual presentation is someone sitting at their desk, not moving, mic fixed, controlled sounds and area. Much easier to do.

  • robert.sterbal 56890 (9/30/2016)


    ...the videos I find on youtube for virtual user groups are just fine...

    I think that this is because it is a prerecorded medium. Live presentations are designed to be more interactive, cater for talking points and adjust to feedback on a linear timeframe. As such they do not translate easily to a fixed medium with a non-linear timeframe i.e. one that you can go directly to a segment you are interested in or return to a former one.

    Recorded live presentations would have to have a huge caveat and I am sad to say that I think that too many people may complain about the quality of a presentation that made perfect sense if one was present.

    For the record, I have yet to be a speaker. And am rarely in the audience.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • I'm on endless conference calls that would work as a recording.

    412-977-3526 call/text

  • I loved the editorial. Very inspiring. You get across the sense of power we have in the palm of our hands. It's almost a call to action: you have everything you need - do something.

    One thing you can't do (very well): capture data from the past.

    For example: Google Street View does a fantastic job capturing images of what a street looks like now, vs. what it looked like 4, 8 or 10 years ago. But not 20 years ago. Or 40 years ago.

    I do think that short-termism is a pitfall. If you've only got meaningful data for the last 8 years - that's a very specific economic environment that wouldn't match even the prior 8 years. Forecasting, analytics, etc. can be easily mislead by such a limited timeframe, even while we boggle at how much data there is.

    Leonard
    Madison, WI

  • robert.sterbal 56890 (9/30/2016)


    I'm on endless conference calls that would work as a recording.

    Which is what Virtual Chapters do (online meeting software rather than conference calls, but similar enough), and why they're recorded.

    Recording a live presentation is far harder. The speaker's walking around, so you need a wireless mic (even if the room is small enough it doesn't need amplification), you need to record their desktop, you need to record audio and sync that back with the desktop recording, and if you want to record video, it's a third thing that needs to be edited into the final recording.

    It's not easy to set up, it requires that someone spend several hours after the session putting all the recorded bits together (and editing is tedious), and very easy to mess up. I've seen big conferences with professional AV teams mess up the occasional session.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • A 15 dollar wired headset could solve the audio issue, and for most meetings I'd be happy with the pickup from a speakerphone if the choice was that or not going to the meeting at all.

    It sounds like no one is compiling the great stuff that is out there already, so I think my next step is to do that.

    Does anyone have a link to a particular recording or list of recordings that they have found helpful?

    412-977-3526 call/text

  • Sean Redmond (9/29/2016)


    I like data in the same way that I like snow. It's nice that it's there but it's what one does with it that's fun (which is your point mostly).

    Good analogy.

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