In the spirit of Steve's request to stop at the end of page 1 and join the discussion, I have also not reviewed anyone else's comments yet. (5 pages...

There is a great deal of information from the government, but not all of it is easily used by the people who might want it. Web pages are not...

Yes, I thought I remembered XML being new with 2005. Some of the new features will work against 2000 databases if you run them in the 2005 Manager, but...

The query works great in 2005 - thanks! While the same fields exist in 2000, the "CAST AS XML" doesn't seem to work (even running in 2005 Management Studio).

For my...

Definitely a DIYer, and currently remodelling all three bathrooms in the house. I did call in the pros for the tile work, since I have some time limitations. ...

I just say I work with computers, and everyone then asks if I work for Microsoft! 😀 I don't have a problem with being called "IT guy" or...

I don't agree with the chair example either in the context of this discussion, which is doing code "right" rather than "wrong", not "perfect" versus "imperfect" (and you'd still need...

Please note that "Time to Market" is a short-term goal. Doing the same thing over and over is long term, and should not be a goal at all, because...

I decided long ago, when I was a teenager, that Friday the 13th was my lucky day (I tend to be a bit contrary...) And ever since then, I've...

I agree with a lot that has already been said - we're not indispensable, but if management thinks we are then there is a problem - either with staffing or...

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

We run a lot of ad-hoc queries for a group of users, and send the results back in Excel spreadsheets - this help immensely.

The last line from Steve's original poll was "I'm sure some of you have strong opinions on this, but if you walked into a situation, what are you more concerned...

That depends on your definition of "Consistent", doesn't it? Consistent only means inflexible if you use definition # 4 below. Courtesy of dictionary.reference.com:

Dictionary.com Unabridged

con·sist·ent

–adjective

1....

Perhaps Steve should have defined the meaning of the words "consistency" and "quality"! (But then the conversation would not have been NEARLY so interesting!) 😀

Some people equate standards...

I, too, believe consistency breeds quality. And we use jim.powers phrase where I work, a lot! (meaning too much :hehe: )

A number of my personal peeves and...