CTP6
In case you haven't heard, CTP6 for SQL Server 2008 was released last week, earlier than expected. I think most people, myself included, expected it to come out at the launch event. Surprise, surprise!
This release was supposed to be feature complete, which was the guidance that I'd heard for quite some time. However it appears that there is at least one feature in Reporting Services still coming.
No complaints from me, other than that if you don't want to release a less stable product, than don't let marketing or an arbitrary release date force you to let it RTM early. I'd rather see a more stable platform and have features cut than things rushed out.
For those of you with some spare time and wanting to look at 2008, there's a bug bash contest and you can win an XBOX.
More Jobs, Less Pay?
There's been a few stories about IBM cutting pay because of an overtime settlement and it's something that very much concerns me. After being forced to compensate employees that weren't paid overtime, IBM has decided to "pay remix" their employees. Meaning that in addition to requiring manager approval for overtime (and reducing the amount of overtime), they'll also get a 15% pay reduction. So likely they'll get just enough overtime to match the 15% pay cut.
Or they'll just get 15% less pay.
Since IBM made money last year, they're obviously doing well. I'm not completely sure of the details here, but I tend to side with workers, especially long time workers. This sounds like a case where IBM wants to reduce costs and perhaps get rid of workers without forcing a layoff. I had something similar almost happen at Peoplesoft. They proposed outsourcing most of IT and said it wouldn't cost any jobs. When I quizzed them further, I learned that 85% of jobs would be retained.
This is potentially a very bad precedent that might get set for other companies to "remix" the pay of other IT workers.
All Digital
The Analog cellular networks in the US get turned off Monday. These were the first, scratchy, static-filled networks that many of us in the US.
While this shouldn't affect most people with cell phones, it could affect some other businesses. Alarm and fire monitoring companies often used this network as well, and while they've been aware of issues, you might want to be sure that your services won't be affected.
Steve Jones
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Top Ten Mac v PC Videos - Parodies of the Mac v PC videos. Some are pretty funny. The Letterman one might be my favorite. |
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The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
The podcast feeds are now available at sqlservercentral.podshow.com to get better bandwidth and maybe a little more exposure :). Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.
or now on iTunes!
- Windows Media Podcast - 31MB WMV
- iPod Video Podcast - MB MP4
- MP3 Audio Podcast - 4.9MB
Today's podcast features music by Incompetech. Kevin Macleod has some great compositions in all genres of music. Check him out at www.incompetech.com.
I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don't like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you'd like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.