10Dec 2008 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Tagged Again, Two Mistakes

Misc
OK. I really do need to take a look at incoming links more often. This one was pointed out to me. Now I'm to provide two mistakes... Only two? This is another idea originating with Chris Shaw who apparently spends all day providing a duel service. He torments fellow DBA's and provides blogging fodder. I'm not sure which is more useful to the public. 1)  HUGE mistake. Way back, much earlier in my career, I thought I could do no wrong and learn anything I needed to learn within a week or so. First time I learned that wasn't true was when I claimed to be a database expert at the consulting company I was working for. They sent me off to a client where I proceded to trash a database…
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10Dec 2008 by Grant Fritchey 7 Comments

SQL Quiz Part 2

Misc
Gee, thanks TJay. I have apparently been tagged to take part in a quiz started by Chris Shaw. It's an experiment in learning where a series of people answer the same question, hopefully spreading some useful knowledge. The question: What are the largest challenges that you have faced in your career and how did you overcome those? This is tough. You could answer based purely on technical issues, what was my toughest technical challenge. You could talk about career issues, tough bosses, ignorant co-workers, incompetent subordinates, clueless clients. You could also talk about shifting jobs as companies fail or are mismanaged or you move. You could also talk about missed opportunities, when you faced the large scale challenges and didn't quite rise to the occasion. Anyway... My Answers) 1) My…
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29Oct 2008 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Twitter?

Misc
After much discussion in a set of emails between some of the more dangerous people that attend the PASS conference, I've decided to create a Twitter account. I created it under my name for the time being. I may blow it up later & go with something else. I'm not sure. I still don't quite get the point of this one, but I'm hooked in now. If you're interested in "following" me (like I could lead you anywhere), click here.
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01Aug 2008 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

A Horseless Carriage?

Misc
I've talked before about my concern that I'm manufacturing buggy whips.  Jason Massie over at StatisticsIO has posted a pretty convincing argument that cloud computing could be a horseless carriage coming down the road. Effectively we're still looking Diesel's first engine, but that could mean it's just a matter of time. As Mr. Massie points out, the speed of change in IT is one heck of a lot faster than in other parts of the world. So, when you do finally see that Stanley Steamer roar by, belching smoke and going half the speed of a good horse, don't laugh and point. Someone is spending time & money on that thing and they're not buying your buggy whip. Clouds are just like any other major technological shift (ORM anyone?) that could…
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23Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey 5 Comments

Article Ideas, specifically on SQL Server 2008

Misc
I'm trying to come up with some ideas for an article (or six) on SQL Server 2008. I know I'm getting about 40 views a day on this blog. That must translate to about 20 users (the statistics on this site aren't clear, so I'm guessing). Do any of you have any good questions about new functionality in SQL Server 2008? I've been thinking about looking at sparse columns and filtered indexes or maybe the spatial data types. Those are the topics I'm most excited about as a database developer and designer. If I think about it in terms of being an admin, policy management, the data collector, and those types of new functionality are very interesting. I'm not even sure what's new in the BI space. So, if you're…
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11Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

SNESSUG Speaker

Misc, PASS
Tonight we have Rob Walters of Microsoft speaking on Visual Studio 2008 Reporting Services. This should be a good one. Rob also recently published a book, Accelerated SQL Server 2008. I'm going to a party at the MS building in Waltham next week to celebrate the release of Rob's book. Hopefully that means I can finagle a copy too.
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