If you haven't done so, check out this Simple-Talk Editorial by Tony Davis, in addition to all the comments the editorial has generated. It will keep you chuckling for the rest of the day. Read more

One of Google's tenets is to "do no evil" as they run their corporation. This article questions their motives as they've changed the agreement for Chrome, their browser.

I don't necessarily think that Google is evil, and in many ways I think they've learned from Microsoft in how to not… Read more

I guess I'm stuck in the past, but the Office Ribbon still hasn't grown on me. I think it makes discovering stuff harder rather than easier, more than once I've been stuck on trying to find the word count menu button (if it's so smart, shouldn't it know I was… Read more

It’s my boss, or rather the owner of the company I work for (yes I work for someone in addition to owning a company), but it’s still an interesting post.

Hiring Your First Employee

I don’t know when Neil hired the first person to work for… Read more

There's one report that I look at every day to assess how things are going on a project we launched this year. The report is nothing fancy, if anything it's down right ugly, but it is very easy to modify when needed and lets us measure things and then see… Read more

I was reading through the SQL Server 2005 SP3 release notes yesterday (sadly, it was enjoyable) and clicked through to the Bugs Fixed link. After reading through the KB articles that I felt had direct implications to my current environment, I kept scrolling.

Third fix from the bottom is one… Read more

I saw a question today on restoring a SQL Server 7 backup to SQL Server 2005, and I wasn't sure this was supported. So I went browsing through Books online and sure enough, it's supported. I ended up in the SQL Server 2008 books online first and it's… Read more

Last and not least this week, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. This is an authorized biography that I wanted to read this during the trip to/from PASS, but the book was too big to stuff in the laptop bag. If you're not familiar with Buffett… Read more

I was tagged by Gail Shaw to post two big mistakes made during my professional career.  The only challenge here was to narrow the list down to two :)

The first one is very easy.  During my early days working with SQL Server, I wore a lot of hats, including… Read more

My friend Jack has been blogging for almost a year now and is looking for feedback. If you're a blogger you know what it is to crave feedback and how hard it is to get it, so I'm hoping some of you that visit with me here will offer him… Read more

I missed the November Car update, but I was too busy with the PASS Summit to get one done.

However last night I got gas for the Prius and got inspired. Delaney, my son, was in the car with me and he was asking about how much gas the Prius… Read more

Magazines today instead of books, but hopefully you'll count that as close enough to my theme of the week. I find magazines a great way to learn a new topic and to stay up on what's latest and greatest. At times I've had as many as 20 subscriptions going (most… Read more

In a previous blog post, I suggested that less than professional content, that you or others post on the Internet about yourself, could have a negative effect on your career as a DBA. In this post, I offer suggestions on how to project a professional image on the Internet. Read more

I have been active on the Internet for 15 years, and during that time I have left a long trail behind me. If you Google my name, there are over 5,000 hits. If you check my name in Live Search, there are over 8,000 hits. If you wanted to, you… Read more

Can you believe it?  Microsoft has just released an iPhone application for the first time and I doubt it will be the last one.  It is really hard to believe knowing that Microsoft has it’s own platform for mobile users.  I can tell you without a doubt after using both… Read more

I'm still finishing up two books that I'll mention today. Most non-technical books I read straight through, anything technical/learning based tends to be start and stop effort as I absorb it.

First up is Follow The Story by James Stewart is about how to write non-fiction by a well published… Read more

You might think it's the e-ink screen. It's not.

You might think it's the ability to carry around hundreds of books in one device. It's not.

You might think it's the lower cost of brand new books. It's not.

So what is it? The best thing about the Kindle is… Read more

Back in October I had the opportunity to work with Andy Warren and do a series of SQL Server security videos for Jumpstart TV. Chris Rock did a bit of editing to add some polish to them as I was (and still am) a complete rookie at the video-type training.… Read more

I remember when each of my boys started to read a lot. There was a time when both of them picked up books devoid of pictures, with 50 or more pages, and would sit and read and really enjoy it. Kendall has done some reading on her own, but tonight… Read more

Another diabolical idea of Chris Shaw. I'm actually late to the game because I got tagged a week ago by Jason Massie.

The Questions for this quiz…  What are the largest challenges that you have faced in your career and how did you overcome those?

Challenge #1: Taking… Read more