The Voice of the DBA
Archives: October 2008
The October 2008 Energy Update - So Much Passion
Do we have an energy crisis or not? Is global warming real? Are we being affected by burning fossil fuels?
I don’t have the answers. Wish I did, not confident anyone does, but it just feels like there’s an issue here. Nothing can run forever as an every increasing force,… Read more
1 comments, 1,427 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 30 October 2008
Effecting Change
Over the years Andy Warren, Brian Knight, and I have talked about PASS quite a bit. It hasn't always been pretty, but we liked the idea of PASS, though Andy and I thought we had a conflict of interest in serving on the board. Early on in the history of… Read more
1 comments, 1,397 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 28 October 2008
A Break
Only a small one, but I appreciate every one I get. Not often that I get to leave the site or shirk a few duties.
Today Phil Factor contributed an editorial for the newsletter. It was supposed to run yesterday, but for some reason it didn't get to me on… Read more
1 comments, 1,442 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 28 October 2008
SQLSaturday #8 - Orlando
The whole idea of having free events, bringing learning to people locally wasn't something that I was thrilled with. It's a lot of energy and effort, and there have been more than a few times that I questioned the wisdom of putting resources into these events. However once I've attended… Read more
0 comments, 1,409 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 26 October 2008
Absolutely (Not?) - Why Did I Write This?
I've always been a little bit of a strong DBA. I try to get along and work with people, being flexible about what rules to implement, but I am somewhat of a stickler for rules. As I was browsing through some blogs one week, I found myself reading about that… Read more
0 comments, 1,567 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 26 October 2008
37 Signals
I thought this was a great talk and interesting to watch. If you build software, I’d check it out
He has some interesting ideas and comments and I like his very practical approach. Read more
1 comments, 691 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 22 October 2008
Who Wants to Be Rich
Late in getting this one out there, but it's interesting to see people's responses. Especially to my story.
As a kid we hear stories that we can do anything if we work hard enough. 35 years later, bum shoulder, bad joints, I realize that talent affects a lot of what… Read more
4 comments, 823 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 20 October 2008
Run Your Business as a Business
I’ve thought this for a long time: you need to run your business as a business, not an investment. Too often it seems that public companies, and many startups, are run like an investment, someone seeking to maximize a stock price (or a selling price) by making short term decisions.… Read more
0 comments, 860 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 19 October 2008
The Financial Crisis - Why Did I Write This?
I've had a bunch of writings based on finances over the last couple weeks, and I've tried to spread them out so as not to overwhlem or bore people. Some people don't care and others are so deep they probably think I'm not looking at it enough. And this isn't… Read more
1 comments, 633 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 17 October 2008
Big and Small - Why Did I Write This?
I've always been very concerned about where I work. Well, maybe not always, since early in my career I took jobs just to make more money or get ahead, but once I had kids, when I was about 30, I really started to pay more attention to how I could… Read more
0 comments, 610 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 15 October 2008
Financial Trust
I’m sure that the people at Mint and Thrive have people’s best interests at heart. They built services designed to help the average guy understand more about their finances and do a better job managing their lives. That’s how most of these companies start and I think it’s great that… Read more
0 comments, 925 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 14 October 2008
Too Good at Data Analysis - Why Did I Write This?
The past few weeks have been a rough one all around the globe as economies aren't doing well. I studied finance and economics in college (along with computer science early on) and so the world of finance and money interests me. I've got a bunch of investments, and so I've… Read more
0 comments, 585 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 14 October 2008
Double Posting
I think that it’s a great idea to keep a few blogs going, and separate out your thoughts in different areas into different blogs. Tags and categories work well, but your business postings shouldn’t necessarily be mixed in with your thoughts on the election, your car, or anything else. Sometimes… Read more
0 comments, 618 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 13 October 2008
LiveWriter
I’ve been experimenting a bit in the blogging world, setting up a few blog accounts and trying different services. I set up two blogs at Blogger, for separate types of content. I’d been wanting to start these blogs, and rather than clutter my current personal blog with this stuff, I… Read more
0 comments, 617 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 13 October 2008
Back to 400
I had to research a bit, write some code, and look up things to answer questions this morning. I must have had a spurt this time last month because no sooner had I written about Meeting My Goal, then I got up Saturday to find myself back down in… Read more
0 comments, 684 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 13 October 2008
Data Farming - Why Did I Write This?
I grew up in the Cold War, with real concern that the Russians would attack us someday. I wanted to go to the Naval Academy, wanted to be on a submarine, and help defend the US. When I saw Red Dawn as a kid, that was something we thought… Read more
2 comments, 793 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 13 October 2008
One File Per Core?
For a long time in my career I heard various advice on how many files you should create for a database. Since SQL Server 7, when it we had filegroups and multiple files, I've heard various pieces of advice, and honestly I'm not sure what the truth is and what… Read more
0 comments, 927 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 10 October 2008
Database Health - Why Did I Write This?
Why did I write this? I got challenged by Andy Warren to write a bit about why I wrote something. I complained to him that he has some "mechanical" posts on this blog that just mention he wrote something with some questions, and don't really blog about why he wrote… Read more
0 comments, 602 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 10 October 2008
Meeting My Goal
Last year I was talking about goals and changes for the site as I was negotiating my continued employment with Red Gate. We talked about what I could do to make things work better and grow the site. One of those things was to be active in the forums and… Read more
1 comments, 824 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 9 October 2008
Project Management Management - Why Did I Write This?
Why did I write this? I got challenged by Andy Warren to write a bit about why I wrote something. I complained to him that he has some "mechanical" posts on this blog that just mention he wrote something with some questions, and don't really blog about why he… Read more
1 comments, 916 reads
Posted in The Voice of the DBA on 9 October 2008