Don’t Fear the Technology

The concern that a particular technology is going to destroy the world seems to be an ever present fear. The technology changes but the fear and the marketing around...

Creating a Custom SQL Server Security Checklist Using the DoD STIG

The STIG is detailed, which is a good thing, but I found myself wanting something a little more practical for day-to-day DBA work. Something I could open, work through...

Creating a Local Model Chatbot on Windows

After my session at VSLive last week, I had a few questions from the audience. I’m adding some of these into blogs, and this was one: How do I...

To refer and to be referred

Referrals have never been more important in the job market. They’re no longer nice to have; in many cases, they’re what gets your résumé through the door. I’ve been...

A New Word: Dorgone

dorgone– adj. wondering if you could slip away from an event or group conversation without anyone noticing your absence. I’m not often concerned about announcing my arrival or departure...

Tell It Once: Setting Up Claude With Skills and MCP Servers

Many of us use AI the same way every single day. Open a tab. Paste in a question. Copy the answer out. Fix what it got wrong. Then tomorrow,...

SQL Server Transaction Log Forensics: Preserving Evidence During an Incident

SQL Server Transaction Log Forensics: Preserving Evidence During an Incident

SQL Server Transaction Log Forensics: Preserving Evidence During an Incident

This is the companion to Why sys.fn_dblog...

What Does It Mean to Make Data AI-Ready?

Making Data AI-Ready, Part 1 (This is the first article in a three-part series on making data AI-ready. Part 1 explains what AI-ready data actually means, Part 2 looks...

Using the Data API Builder–VS Live San Diego Resources

Thanks for attending my sessions. Resources below: Slides: Using Data API Builder GitHub repo:  https://github.com/way0utwest/DAB-Experiments

Running a Local LLM On Your Laptop Resources

Thanks to everyone that attended my sessions at VS Live San Diego yesterday. It was a fun session and I’m glad a few people came up to ask questions....