The continuity of operations during a disaster is as critical to running a business as just about anything. Somewhere, within your organisation, there is a document that provides all the technical details with respect to disaster recovery for production applications running on Microsoft SQL Server database management system - if… Read more

As I blogged about previously, I had decided to go ahead and pre-order the Kindle 2. It was slated for delivery on Thursday, February 26, but came a day early.I've had it in my hands now for two days and here are some of the things I've noted:

The… Read more

Some things and readings today reminded me of this: a security control inconsistently applied is not a control. The whole point of a security control is to provide a check in order to catch malicious behavior. Some controls are preventative. Others are detective or compensating. An example of a… Read more

OK, I’m not going to make a huge habit of responding to these chains, but I have a few spare moments, and I like Aunt Kathi, so I’ll join in here.

My actual first computer was a Vic-20. I saw one when I was 11 or 12 and was… Read more

If you haven't visited yet, you definitely want to read Linchi's blog - it's packed full of on topic posts about SQL Server, most around performance and real (serious) performance testing to prove or disprove a lot of popular assumptions and questions. Definitely a must read!

Discover more blogs via… Read more

I've got three speaking engagements lined up in next two months:

• Wed, March 11 @ oPASS: The Truth About Disk Performance & Configuration. This presentation is based on the results from my recent Disk Performance Hands On series
• Sat, March 28 @ Orlando .NET Code Camp: Useful…

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The BoiseCodeCamp and TechFest will be held Saturday, March 28th at Boise State University. This free event include 57 one-hour sessions covering a wealth of topics, including software development, networking, Windows virtualization, robotics, project management, OSX, agile practices, web design, C++, C#, SQL Server, and much more.

This is the… Read more

Last year I was in a bookstore and looking through some books with Andy Warren of End to End Training. I didn’t have the Kindle with me, and was waiting while Andy found a few books for his flight home. But I was still browsing since I hadn’t been… Read more

Most of us aren't good decision makers. We make decisions based on emotion rather than facts, and for many decisions the top most emotion is fear. As I pause at mid life to assess where I've been and where I want to go, in almost every case I regret making… Read more

Like most everyone who works hard in our industry, I’ve run into more than a few conflicts trying to balance work and life.  Personally, the further I progress in my career, the blurrier the lines become between work time, family/me time, and just plain lazy downtime.  It’s quite easy to… Read more

If you are interested in speaking at the devLINK Technical  Conference in Nashville, TN, August 13-15th, you need to get your speaking proposals in no later than March 13, 2009. Visit www.devlink.net for more information.

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Microsoft has introduced a new website (part of Microsoft.com) called Thrive. It is still in its infancy, but its focus is on Career Care (professional development), Technical Competency (certification and enhancing your skill set), and Business and IT Alignment (how to align company and IT’s goals).

The website includes… Read more

The other day Paul Neilson wrote a simple post making predictions about SQL Server in the Cloud. That got a response from Denis Gobo talking about a few things that need to happen before we can really take advantage of SQL Server in the cloud.

Most of my work… Read more

Chris Shaw, owner of SQL Oncall, recently had an issue in his business. Chris provides DBA services on a remote basis to companies that need supplemental help or don't want to hire a DBA. It's a good business and I think Chris works hard to be fair to people. However… Read more

I've scheduled another iteration of my Technical Speaking Seminar for March 14, 2009 in Orlando. It's free, and I'm hosting it on a Saturday this time to open it up to those that can't get away from work during the week. It's designed for the novice to intermediate level speaker… Read more

Today, Microsoft release a security advisory about a new vulnerability in Microsoft Excel. This one affects both PCs and Macs. The Microsoft Security Response Center blog has a post there as well. SecurityFocus has a bit more information, basically indicating Symantec is detecting files containing an exploit to… Read more

This question comes up a lot in the forums: "How do I know if the login owns any objects?" Usually the reason this question is asked is to be able to find those objects and change the ownership so the login/server principal could be dropped. The first key is to map… Read more

When the weather is cold, the Prius performs much worse (relatively) than it does when it’s warm. It makes sense with the need to run the engine to heat the car, but it’s disheartening to someone like me that watches the mileage.

I filled up the Prius the other day… Read more

I like being able to view samples on my Kindle. It's one of the very neat features of the Kindle experience, kind of like spending 10 minutes in a bookstore reading the first chapter or so of a book. The advantage to me, however, is that I don't have to… Read more

All of the videos I've done are up under my profile. However, the video for The difference between GRANT, DENY and REVOKE in SQL Server should appear on the front page of JumpStart TV shortly.

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