SQLServerCentral.com | 3/13/2010 7:43:00 PM
A while back I blogged about using Checklists , but there's another task you want to incorporate into your workflow - documentation. Now, I'm not just talking about documenting the logic, system flow and data and structure changes, I'm also talking about...(read more)
Journey to SQL Authority with Pinal Dave | 3/13/2010 7:30:54 PM
In February 2008, Microsoft announced a record-breaking data load using Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS): 1 TB of data in less than 30 minutes. That data load, using SQL Server Integration Services, was 30% faster than the previous best time using a commercial ETL tool. This paper outlines what it took: the software, hardware, [...]
SQLblog.com - The SQL Server blog spot on the web | 3/13/2010 12:43:00 PM
A while back I blogged about using Checklists , but there's another task you want to incorporate into your workflow - documentation. Now, I'm not just talking about documenting the logic, system flow and data and structure changes, I'm also talking about documenting your daily activities (commonly referred to as a journal.) It's amazing how useful a private journal can be when you need to revisit the thought process you went through to develop the processes you're implementing. I'm also talking about...(read more)
SQL Server Community Blogs | 3/13/2010 7:42:00 AM
I started writing an article for my blog on surrogate keys drawing in the original research by E F Codd and C J Date, its getting a bit big :) so I'm going to chop it up into a number of posts over the coming weeks depending on my time. I'm interested in your thoughts and if you disagree please let me know but more importantly give me references back to papers stating why you take that position. Hope it makes sense. Surrogate keys There are two factions in the world of Database Design that...(read more)
SQL Server Community Blogs | 3/13/2010 6:33:00 AM
Discounted Visual Studio 2010 upgrade...(read more)
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/13/2010 2:14:51 AM
The Suggestion The Modern Language Association hasn’t made up all the new rules yet to govern how one blogger should reverence, er, reference another in their blog posts. But they should! Let’s get that ball rolling for them. I’m not exactly sure who started this format, but it’s my favorite. When writing a blog post in which you mention another person’s blog, let’s do it like this: “blogger name (blog_hyperlink | twitter_hyperlink)” So, we might read a blog post by my friend Kimberly Tripp (blog | twitter) that might look something like this: “…the Scottish Terrier was so well known in early American society that as recently as the 1910’s, Manhattanite nannies instructed their young charges to be good else the “Scottish Terrier” would eat them, after a lengthy session of slobbery nuzzling and years of canine devotion. It is for this very reason that I’ve given my Scots/English husband, Paul Randal (blog |twitter), several variations of the nickname “Scottish terrier”, “scotty”, “snotty”, and “scotsnots” until such a time as needed for me to roll up the newspaper, give him a good spanking, and stick his nose in …” Well, you get the point. And didja notice that I worked in not just one, but TWO entire examples of the blog-reference syntax?!? I can hardly believe my own craftiness. I went to university for four years to learn that y’know – and to learn how to funnel beer – but I digress. The Call To Action One thing I love about the SQL Server community is our very community-ness. (I also like the fact that you’ll let me invent stupid words on the fly without too much criticism.) So, let’s make the glob, {ah! damned dyslexia!} , blog reference business even easier by having you (yes, YOU) post your own blog & twitter links as a comment here. I repeat – post a comment here containing your name, blog (with embedded hyperlink to your blog), and twitter (with embedded hyperlink to my twitter, er, YOUR twitter account). I’ll then repost a brand new shiny article with a full compendium to everyone’s blog & twitter hyperlinks (except Brent Ozar’s (blog | twitter) ) which you can save to some obscure cranny of Outlook or WordPerfect to call up at a moments notice when the urge to both blog and reference other bloggers strikes you. Thanks and looking forward to seeing your blog reference soon! -Kev -Twitter @kekline
The Modern Language Association hasn’t made up all the new rules yet to govern how one blogger should reverence, er, reference another in their blog posts. But they should! Let’s get that ball rolling for them.
I’m not exactly sure who started this format, but it’s my favorite. When writing a blog post in which you mention another person’s blog, let’s do it like this:
“blogger name (blog_hyperlink | twitter_hyperlink)”
So, we might read a blog post by my friend Kimberly Tripp (blog | twitter) that might look something like this:
“…the Scottish Terrier was so well known in early American society that as recently as the 1910’s, Manhattanite nannies instructed their young charges to be good else the “Scottish Terrier” would eat them, after a lengthy session of slobbery nuzzling and years of canine devotion. It is for this very reason that I’ve given my Scots/English husband, Paul Randal (blog |twitter), several variations of the nickname “Scottish terrier”, “scotty”, “snotty”, and “scotsnots” until such a time as needed for me to roll up the newspaper, give him a good spanking, and stick his nose in …”
Well, you get the point. And didja notice that I worked in not just one, but TWO entire examples of the blog-reference syntax?!? I can hardly believe my own craftiness. I went to university for four years to learn that y’know – and to learn how to funnel beer – but I digress.
One thing I love about the SQL Server community is our very community-ness. (I also like the fact that you’ll let me invent stupid words on the fly without too much criticism.) So, let’s make the glob, {ah! damned dyslexia!} , blog reference business even easier by having you (yes, YOU) post your own blog & twitter links as a comment here.
I repeat – post a comment here containing your name, blog (with embedded hyperlink to your blog), and twitter (with embedded hyperlink to my twitter, er, YOUR twitter account).
I’ll then repost a brand new shiny article with a full compendium to everyone’s blog & twitter hyperlinks (except Brent Ozar’s (blog | twitter) ) which you can save to some obscure cranny of Outlook or WordPerfect to call up at a moments notice when the urge to both blog and reference other bloggers strikes you.
Thanks and looking forward to seeing your blog reference soon!
-Kev
-Twitter @kekline
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 10:13:00 PM
When developing reports that use Analysis Services as a data source end user can sometimes be confused about some of the options they see in report parameters. Anytime you have a parameter that allows for multiple values to be selected then you will see a (Select All) option that Reporting Services adds that make for an easy way to check off each item in the parameter dropdown. If you followed most of the defaults when developing you dimensions in Analysis Services you likely also have an option...(read more)
Journey to SQL Authority with Pinal Dave | 3/12/2010 7:30:43 PM
SQL Server 2008 R2 offers an impressive array of capabilities for developers that build upon key innovations introduced in SQL Server 2008. The SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Training Kit is ideal for developers who want to understand how to take advantage of the key improvements introduced in SQL [...]
Journey to SQL Authority with Pinal Dave | 3/12/2010 7:30:21 PM
Download the SQL Server JDBC Driver 3.0 CTP, a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 5. In its continued commitment to interoperability, Microsoft has released a preview of the upcoming Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver. The SQL Server JDBC Driver [...]
SQLblog.com - The SQL Server blog spot on the web | 3/12/2010 7:15:00 PM
Help build a brand new shiny centralized reference with a full compendium to everyone blog & twitter hyperlinks who are active in the SQL Server space...(read more)
SQLServerPedia | 3/12/2010 7:14:51 PM
The Suggestion The Modern Language Association hasn’t made up all the new rules yet to govern how one blogger should reverence, er, reference another in their blog posts. But they should! Let’s get that ball rolling for them. I’m not exactly sure who started this format, but it’s my favorite. When writing a blog post in which [...]
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 6:12:37 PM
The Monsoon My trip to the meeting, short as it was, involved some of the worst driving conditions I've ever personally encountered. It was coming down in sheets and I was doing 40mph on I-95. Before you roll your eyes about how I'm one of "those guys", note that only 2 or 3 people passed me for the several miles that I drove that speed, and they were still going under 50. It was bad. If I didn't need to give a presentation at the meeting I'd probably have waited till later or skipped the evening. Overall, I think the weather had a large impact on the attendance for this meeting(we only had 8 or 9 people), which is really a shame because it was a great presentation. In any case , had a couple slices of Domino's Pizza ("New recipe" apparently involves melting a couple sticks of butter over the top of the pizza.), gave a quick presentation of all the upcoming SQL/Dev events that I knew about(after quickly adding the Orlando Code Camp thanks to a comment from another member... pretty sad that I missed that one) and cleared the way for David Pless. The PFE I really enjoyed the presentation. Tons of information (We didn't even get through half of what he had slides for and he has offered to come and give us a part 2 to cover some more of it). One thing I particularly enjoyed about the presentation it is that he makes an effort not to just throw out 'best practices'; but explains the reasoning behind them and why they don't always apply. This is a very important element that is all too often overlooked. SQL Server is so broad and there is so much to know that I think it's common to know 'to do' something without actually knowing why. Without that knowledge, you can't make an educated decision on when not to apply the rule instead of the exception. A couple things I took out of the meeting were: How to better diagnose server level performance problems and what not to use as symptoms. Auto Update stats can be set to asynchronous so that it doesn't add the overhead to the process that triggers it. Using local variables in a query can impact the performance vs. hard coded values. Adding WITH RECOMPILE can sometimes address this. This is somewhat vague... it behaves somewhat similarly to parameter sniffing... but it's not quite the same. I intend to do some research on the specifics here when I have some time and will post what I figure out. The World of Loud Music After the meeting, we all(only 1 person didn't come with) headed over to World of Beer to have a brew or two and some less formal banter. When we weren't going deaf from the obnoxiously loud outdoor speakers that they kept turning up, we had some great conversation. Thanks again to David Pless for driving down and sharing his knowledge and experience with us. I'd encourage anyone in the area to come on by for our next meeting on April 8th, where Herve Rogerro will talk about SQL 2005/2008 performance. If you're not in the area, I'd encourage you to see if there is an active users group near you. Note: I uhh... 'borrowed' the format of this post from Jack Corbett because I really liked it. Thanks Jack!
The Monsoon
My trip to the meeting, short as it was, involved some of the worst driving conditions I've ever personally encountered. It was coming down in sheets and I was doing 40mph on I-95. Before you roll your eyes about how I'm one of "those guys", note that only 2 or 3 people passed me for the several miles that I drove that speed, and they were still going under 50. It was bad. If I didn't need to give a presentation at the meeting I'd probably have waited till later or skipped the evening. Overall, I think the weather had a large impact on the attendance for this meeting(we only had 8 or 9 people), which is really a shame because it was a great presentation. In any case , had a couple slices of Domino's Pizza ("New recipe" apparently involves melting a couple sticks of butter over the top of the pizza.), gave a quick presentation of all the upcoming SQL/Dev events that I knew about(after quickly adding the Orlando Code Camp thanks to a comment from another member... pretty sad that I missed that one) and cleared the way for David Pless.
The PFE
I really enjoyed the presentation. Tons of information (We didn't even get through half of what he had slides for and he has offered to come and give us a part 2 to cover some more of it). One thing I particularly enjoyed about the presentation it is that he makes an effort not to just throw out 'best practices'; but explains the reasoning behind them and why they don't always apply. This is a very important element that is all too often overlooked. SQL Server is so broad and there is so much to know that I think it's common to know 'to do' something without actually knowing why. Without that knowledge, you can't make an educated decision on when not to apply the rule instead of the exception. A couple things I took out of the meeting were:
The World of Loud Music
After the meeting, we all(only 1 person didn't come with) headed over to World of Beer to have a brew or two and some less formal banter. When we weren't going deaf from the obnoxiously loud outdoor speakers that they kept turning up, we had some great conversation. Thanks again to David Pless for driving down and sharing his knowledge and experience with us. I'd encourage anyone in the area to come on by for our next meeting on April 8th, where Herve Rogerro will talk about SQL 2005/2008 performance. If you're not in the area, I'd encourage you to see if there is an active users group near you.
Note: I uhh... 'borrowed' the format of this post from Jack Corbett because I really liked it. Thanks Jack!
SQL Server Community Blogs | 3/12/2010 5:27:12 PM
I did a presentation at DDD8 on the entity framework and how to stop your DBA from having a heart attack. You can find my demos and slide deck here http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/archive/2010/01/30/Entity-Framework-how-to-stop-your-DBA-having-a-heart-attack.aspx Whilst at DDD Mike Ormond interviewed me about my view on ORMs and the battel between DBAs and Devs. To see what I said go tohttp://bit.ly/bnf1By
I did a presentation at DDD8 on the entity framework and how to stop your DBA from having a heart attack. You can find my demos and slide deck here http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/archive/2010/01/30/Entity-Framework-how-to-stop-your-DBA-having-a-heart-attack.aspx
Whilst at DDD Mike Ormond interviewed me about my view on ORMs and the battel between DBAs and Devs. To see what I said go tohttp://bit.ly/bnf1By
SQLServerPedia | 3/12/2010 4:43:02 PM
I have worked in many industries, but most of my time has been in the publishing industry. For those not familiar with this industry it is rather interesting. The main objective is to "sell" as many books as possible to as many retailers and distributors as possible. I put sell in double quotes, because it is a loose term. A bookseller or distributor can return a book at any time for any reason for a full refund. This industry standard of getting a sale booked has some interesting database ramifications, such as dirty reads. Many front-end applications are written such that when a person calls for an order (be it a single book or a buyer for a chain) and customer service checks inventory, that check is usually a dirty read. Business is looking to accomplish two things. First, they don't want the ordering system (customer service, web, etc) blocking the warehouse from shipping. Books out the door is important. Second, inventory does not need to be precise when taking an order. I take the order and if it turns out that there are not enough books to fulfill the order they go on backorder and you get notified through your invoice. I worked for a small publishing company that had a mandate. No book is ever out of stock. Orders were ALWAYS taken as though the book was in stock. I also found the same mandate at a small specialty clothing company that I did consulting for. This clothing company serviced unions, companies, and also specialty industries like electrical workers (they had special clothing for them that wouldn't catch fire). They would offer special rates in exchange for managing the clothing budget. Many unions have a clothing budget of say $200/yr. This company provided the catalog that they could shop from with approved clothing choices including logo or any specialty needs (such as the electrical requirements I mentioned above). They would always take the order even if that specific size or material was out of stock. So in this place exact inventory was not required when taking an order, reconciliation was done later by the inventory process. In both of these industries is no guarantee that when you place your order, you will have it fulfilled, even though at the time inventory showed there was enough stock. This can be for any number of reasons; The stock was needed for a larger more lucrative customer, inventory was not exact at the time of order, orders are not necessarily fulfilled in the order they were placed, etc. More often than not order entry and fulfillment are two different processes that happen at two different times. Normally order entry is done during the day and the fulfillment system runs at night, placing orders for the next day's run. There is no need for real-time data to be exchanged and so business needs dictate 'dirty reads'.
I have worked in many industries, but most of my time has been in the publishing industry. For those not familiar with this industry it is rather interesting. The main objective is to "sell" as many books as possible to as many retailers and distributors as possible. I put sell in double quotes, because it is a loose term. A bookseller or distributor can return a book at any time for any reason for a full refund. This industry standard of getting a sale booked has some interesting database ramifications, such as dirty reads.
Many front-end applications are written such that when a person calls for an order (be it a single book or a buyer for a chain) and customer service checks inventory, that check is usually a dirty read. Business is looking to accomplish two things. First, they don't want the ordering system (customer service, web, etc) blocking the warehouse from shipping. Books out the door is important. Second, inventory does not need to be precise when taking an order. I take the order and if it turns out that there are not enough books to fulfill the order they go on backorder and you get notified through your invoice. I worked for a small publishing company that had a mandate. No book is ever out of stock. Orders were ALWAYS taken as though the book was in stock. I also found the same mandate at a small specialty clothing company that I did consulting for.
This clothing company serviced unions, companies, and also specialty industries like electrical workers (they had special clothing for them that wouldn't catch fire). They would offer special rates in exchange for managing the clothing budget. Many unions have a clothing budget of say $200/yr. This company provided the catalog that they could shop from with approved clothing choices including logo or any specialty needs (such as the electrical requirements I mentioned above). They would always take the order even if that specific size or material was out of stock. So in this place exact inventory was not required when taking an order, reconciliation was done later by the inventory process.
In both of these industries is no guarantee that when you place your order, you will have it fulfilled, even though at the time inventory showed there was enough stock. This can be for any number of reasons; The stock was needed for a larger more lucrative customer, inventory was not exact at the time of order, orders are not necessarily fulfilled in the order they were placed, etc.
More often than not order entry and fulfillment are two different processes that happen at two different times. Normally order entry is done during the day and the fulfillment system runs at night, placing orders for the next day's run. There is no need for real-time data to be exchanged and so business needs dictate 'dirty reads'.
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 4:10:34 PM
Predicting the future with bold certainty is not for the faint of heart. It’s a hard job. A few get it right; most just get egg on their face. Want some examples? In 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune gambled that Dewey would beat Truman in the US Presidential election and ran the presses before the final result was certain, a mistake that literally made front page news. In 1936, the New York Times asserted that “A rocket will never leave the earth’s atmosphere.” Wrong. Tradition attributes “There is a world market for maybe 5 computers.” to Thomas Watson of IBM in 1943. Wrong again. Finding More Time In a similar vein, pundits and marketing folks predicted that the personal computer would revolutionize the way we work, that we would get more done in less time, and that the work week may actually shrink to 25 or 30 hours as a result of our increased productivity. Ha! I wish that was the case! Most people that I know are working longer and harder than ever. There just seems to be much more to do in our professional and personal lives just to keep up, not to mention trying to get ahead. Hey Buddy, do you have the time? With so many activities and only a finite amount of time to devote to them, something has to give. You can either stop doing some of the activities. Or, you can somehow find more time. Since most people either really enjoy their activities (leisure) or feel compelled to keep at them (work), finding more time is the more appealing option. But how to find more time? Unless you get into Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, time is a fixed asset. Everyone has exactly the same amount of time during the course of a week: 168 hours. The answer: offload some of your activities to someone else, also known as delegation. But what if you don’t have anyone that reports to you? What if you don’t have an assistant to whom to delegate? Enter: the Virtual Assistant. Using a Virtual Assistant With this in mind, I recently decided to try a Virtual Assistant. This is an industry that has really gained in popularity over recent years. If you’re not familiar with the term, essentially it’s like having a personal assistant that’s on call when you need him. A Virtual Assistant can pretty much do anything that doesn’t require their physcial presence. There are varying levels of experience and skills available from Virtual Assistant companies. Some are highly skilled and can help you with such activities as keeping your financial books, updating your web page, and even drumming up new leads for your business. Other Virtual Assistants focus on doing the more mundane tasks for you like making travel arrangements and doing internet research. Since this was my first experience with a Virtual Assistant, I decided to go with the a company that specializes in taking care of the many short duration but very distracting tasks that come up throughout the day. After a fair amount of research on the internet (a task I would have loved to have delegated to a Virtual Assistant), I discovered a relatively new comer to the business, TimeSvr that repeatedly received great reviews from their clients. I decided to give them a try. I won’t fully restate their service offerings here; you can visit their web site for that. Sufficed to say that for 69 USD, you receive up to 8 tasks daily that require 15 to 20 each to complete. My Trial Period with TimeSvr I signed up with free three-day trial period with the company on Monday morning. It took just a few minutes and was relatively painless. Shortly thereafter, I received a welcome email describing the many ways I can submit tasks: the dashboard, Skype, email, and a telephone call are all available. My First Task: A Clarification I decided to test out the timeliness of their responses so my first request was very easy. I asked for some clarification on their services. Within an hour, I received a very polite email explaining exactly how they can help me to save time during the day. I was impressed since I know that the company is based on the other side of the world and it was night time there. My Second Task: Location Information For my second request, I asked my Virtual Assistant to find the closest UPS drop-off location that would accept a box of a certain size. Within 20 minutes, I received another email providing me with the location address. The email even included the name of the person that my Virtual Assistant spoke with confirming that they’d accept packages of the size I’d indicated. My Third Request: Internet Research The third task I asked of my Virtual Assistant was a bit more difficult. I asked him to find some possible course materials for a technical class that I may deliver to a client. I gave him a basic outline with a list of topics that I’d like to cover. I also explained some other preferences I have. This request took much longer to complete; in fact it took nine hours to for me to receive a reply. I can’t say if the research took that long or if there may have been some kind of technical glitch in their system that prevented my Virtual Assistant from becoming aware of my new task. I did however submit a fourth task before this one was complete and within one-half hour of delegating that task, this one was also completed. My Forth Request: Internet Searching My fourth request was very straightforward. I asked for a recipe for cooking pizza in a Dutch Oven. I made it easy for them by providing some potential locations for the information. In half an hour, I received links to several recipes, along with a link to some instructions for cooking with Dutch Ovens. A nice touch, I thought. Parting Thoughts Overall, I was very impressed with the timeliness and quality of services that I’ve received from TimsSvr. Every person I’ve communicated with has been very professional and pleasant. I’ve only used the Dashboard to submit tasks so I cannot comment on the other means. However the Dashboard has proven very convenient. It even has a good mobile front end page too. 70 USD isn’t cheap, but for what you get from TimeSvr, it’s worth it. The way I see it, if it saves me one hour a month the service has more than paid for itself. As an aside, I didn’t receive any free compensation for this review. However my Virtual Assistant did have a hand it helping me to put it together. I asked him to find the pictures for me and to find me a list of predictive quotes that later proved to be false. Not bad, eh? Oh, and one more thing. I’ve referred through this post to my Virtual Assistant. In actuality, it’s a team of people that field my requests. You can, if you prefer, actually contract with a specific individual within TimeSvr. I may consider that one day but for now this arrangement meets my needs. Now some questions for you: Have you used a Virtual Assistant? Would you be comfortable using a Virtual Assistant for more complex tasks? What are some tasks that you’d like to outsource?
Predicting the future with bold certainty is not for the faint of heart. It’s a hard job. A few get it right; most just get egg on their face.
Want some examples?
In a similar vein, pundits and marketing folks predicted that the personal computer would revolutionize the way we work, that we would get more done in less time, and that the work week may actually shrink to 25 or 30 hours as a result of our increased productivity.
Ha! I wish that was the case! Most people that I know are working longer and harder than ever. There just seems to be much more to do in our professional and personal lives just to keep up, not to mention trying to get ahead.
Hey Buddy, do you have the time?
With so many activities and only a finite amount of time to devote to them, something has to give. You can either stop doing some of the activities. Or, you can somehow find more time. Since most people either really enjoy their activities (leisure) or feel compelled to keep at them (work), finding more time is the more appealing option.
But how to find more time? Unless you get into Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, time is a fixed asset. Everyone has exactly the same amount of time during the course of a week: 168 hours.
The answer: offload some of your activities to someone else, also known as delegation. But what if you don’t have anyone that reports to you? What if you don’t have an assistant to whom to delegate?
Enter: the Virtual Assistant.
With this in mind, I recently decided to try a Virtual Assistant. This is an industry that has really gained in popularity over recent years. If you’re not familiar with the term, essentially it’s like having a personal assistant that’s on call when you need him. A Virtual Assistant can pretty much do anything that doesn’t require their physcial presence.
There are varying levels of experience and skills available from Virtual Assistant companies. Some are highly skilled and can help you with such activities as keeping your financial books, updating your web page, and even drumming up new leads for your business. Other Virtual Assistants focus on doing the more mundane tasks for you like making travel arrangements and doing internet research.
Since this was my first experience with a Virtual Assistant, I decided to go with the a company that specializes in taking care of the many short duration but very distracting tasks that come up throughout the day.
After a fair amount of research on the internet (a task I would have loved to have delegated to a Virtual Assistant), I discovered a relatively new comer to the business, TimeSvr that repeatedly received great reviews from their clients. I decided to give them a try. I won’t fully restate their service offerings here; you can visit their web site for that. Sufficed to say that for 69 USD, you receive up to 8 tasks daily that require 15 to 20 each to complete.
I signed up with free three-day trial period with the company on Monday morning. It took just a few minutes and was relatively painless. Shortly thereafter, I received a welcome email describing the many ways I can submit tasks: the dashboard, Skype, email, and a telephone call are all available.
I decided to test out the timeliness of their responses so my first request was very easy. I asked for some clarification on their services. Within an hour, I received a very polite email explaining exactly how they can help me to save time during the day. I was impressed since I know that the company is based on the other side of the world and it was night time there.
For my second request, I asked my Virtual Assistant to find the closest UPS drop-off location that would accept a box of a certain size. Within 20 minutes, I received another email providing me with the location address. The email even included the name of the person that my Virtual Assistant spoke with confirming that they’d accept packages of the size I’d indicated.
The third task I asked of my Virtual Assistant was a bit more difficult. I asked him to find some possible course materials for a technical class that I may deliver to a client. I gave him a basic outline with a list of topics that I’d like to cover. I also explained some other preferences I have.
This request took much longer to complete; in fact it took nine hours to for me to receive a reply. I can’t say if the research took that long or if there may have been some kind of technical glitch in their system that prevented my Virtual Assistant from becoming aware of my new task.
I did however submit a fourth task before this one was complete and within one-half hour of delegating that task, this one was also completed.
My fourth request was very straightforward. I asked for a recipe for cooking pizza in a Dutch Oven. I made it easy for them by providing some potential locations for the information.
In half an hour, I received links to several recipes, along with a link to some instructions for cooking with Dutch Ovens. A nice touch, I thought.
Overall, I was very impressed with the timeliness and quality of services that I’ve received from TimsSvr. Every person I’ve communicated with has been very professional and pleasant.
I’ve only used the Dashboard to submit tasks so I cannot comment on the other means. However the Dashboard has proven very convenient. It even has a good mobile front end page too.
70 USD isn’t cheap, but for what you get from TimeSvr, it’s worth it. The way I see it, if it saves me one hour a month the service has more than paid for itself.
As an aside, I didn’t receive any free compensation for this review. However my Virtual Assistant did have a hand it helping me to put it together. I asked him to find the pictures for me and to find me a list of predictive quotes that later proved to be false. Not bad, eh?
Oh, and one more thing. I’ve referred through this post to my Virtual Assistant. In actuality, it’s a team of people that field my requests. You can, if you prefer, actually contract with a specific individual within TimeSvr. I may consider that one day but for now this arrangement meets my needs.
Now some questions for you:
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 3:49:00 PM
The Montreal XV Rugby Club (rejuvinating the Rugby Football Club name from the 1920s) first practice was the other night at Collège Marie de France - 30 guys showed up, and the facebook group is FIFTY(!), thus we are heading to Quebec's ever growing 2nd and 3rd Division, which starts in May, with a great pool of energetic Ruggerheads!Première pratique du XV de MontréalLocation:collège International Marie de France Really looking forward to next weeks' pratice.
The Montreal XV Rugby Club (rejuvinating the Rugby Football Club name from the 1920s) first practice was the other night at Collège Marie de France - 30 guys showed up, and the facebook group is FIFTY(!), thus we are heading to Quebec's ever growing 2nd and 3rd Division, which starts in May, with a great pool of energetic Ruggerheads!
SQLSkills Complete Team Blog | 3/12/2010 2:17:00 PM
Once in a blue moon I come across something cool and it happens to be Friday, and I blog about it. Last time was drinking Guinness in Dublin and the time before was an insane driving skills video (see here). My (scary) friend and fellow SQL MVP Grant Fritchey (Twitter|blog) posted the first two lines of the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Twitter a few minutes ago, to which I responded with the next two lines. They're burned into my brain and I blame my parents. My Mother used to run a drama school in Scotland when I was a kid (Helensburgh Theatre Workshop) and in the bi-annual shows someone would always "accidentally" says "I'm lucky, you're lucky, we're all LUCKY". Then the clock chimes would start and my Mum and Dad (dressed as Magenta and Riff-Raff) would come on stage and everyone would do the whole Time Warp song. Fond memories, and yes, my family is very outgoing (and strange :-) In homage to them, Richard O'Brien and Tim Curry, here's a YouTube link to the movie version of the song. Wonderful! (Safe for work btw). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yarYjuN-m8I It's just a jump to the left! (Twitter @paulrandal)
Once in a blue moon I come across something cool and it happens to be Friday, and I blog about it. Last time was drinking Guinness in Dublin and the time before was an insane driving skills video (see here).
My (scary) friend and fellow SQL MVP Grant Fritchey (Twitter|blog) posted the first two lines of the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Twitter a few minutes ago, to which I responded with the next two lines. They're burned into my brain and I blame my parents.
My Mother used to run a drama school in Scotland when I was a kid (Helensburgh Theatre Workshop) and in the bi-annual shows someone would always "accidentally" says "I'm lucky, you're lucky, we're all LUCKY". Then the clock chimes would start and my Mum and Dad (dressed as Magenta and Riff-Raff) would come on stage and everyone would do the whole Time Warp song. Fond memories, and yes, my family is very outgoing (and strange :-)
In homage to them, Richard O'Brien and Tim Curry, here's a YouTube link to the movie version of the song. Wonderful! (Safe for work btw).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yarYjuN-m8I
It's just a jump to the left!
(Twitter @paulrandal)
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 10:26:00 AM
Within a couple of days of each other, both Andy Leonard (@AndyLeonard) and Paul Randal (@PaulRandal) tweeted about possible job opportunities which would entail working with them. Here they are This got me to thinking about working with/for high caliber folks. Andy and Paul are both SQL Server MVPs. Andy is well-known for his SSIS prowess and bringing design patterns to solutions (translation: he is a true application / enterprise architect). Paul? He only had a hand in writing key aspects of the product and managing other folks who did likewise. Needless to say, working with these two should be like drinking from the firehose, to borrow an expression. I know some probably saw one or both of the opportunities and went, "Dream job!" while others went, "I couldn't handle it!" And I'm sure there were reactions that varied somewhere in between these two extreme views. And as I was thinking, my mind wandered off to Mike Walsh, who used to work for Andy Kelly. Mike credits Andy with teaching him how to be a professional caliber DBA. I haven't had the pleasure of working for such high caliber folks with respect to SQL Server, but I have in ministry. One of my mentors is Dr. Tom Fillinger, and the years I spent working under him as a children's minister were challenging (in the best way possible). In the SQL Server world it's about knowing your craft well. In ministry it's the same thing. I knew that because that's common sense. But how exactly do you approach ministry, how do you ensure that you do so with standards and expectations, and how do you measure how you're doing, especially when talking about an age group (bed babies through elementary school) where obvious growth tends to show only much later in life, were areas we focused on and dug into. There was also the constant reminder that ministry wasn't just about numbers and results. Yes, those are important. But ministry is about people. It's about caring for them and loving them and encouraging them and finding ways to reach them. And ministry is about what you believe. You have to stay true to that. And while all of that is common sense stuff, it's the HOW that Tom taught me that has been so key to my development in ministry. Quite simply, his example has stood as a constant challenge to reach for. That example, by the way, almost discouraged me from signing on in children's ministry. I could tell right away that Tom was one of those high caliber folks. And so naturally the thoughts of, "Can I do this?" and "Will I survive his expectations?" came up. But I was sure of my calling and sure that this is what I wanted to do. So I became children's minister, grew tremendously, and served in that role until I felt the calling to move to a different challenge.When it comes to IT, things aren't very different. Most folks, when faced with the prospect of working with high caliber folks, start to doubt. That's a natural response. In Mike's case, he didn't know what he was getting into with Andy Kelly (and here Andy would likely quip, "Does anyone?"). But most folks who would have seen Paul's or Andy Leonard's tweets do know. And it can be very easy to talk oneself out of trying because of the magnitude of the people involved. If that sounds like you, stop it. Working for Tom was the most challenging time in ministry I had at that point in my life. It grew me tremendously to be able to take on youth ministry. When I left the Air Force, that was what I wanted to do: be a youth minister. Now, having the experience of almost 10 years where I wasn't a youth minister, but serving in other roles (mostly children's ministry), I understand I wasn't ready back then. There are days when I doubt I'm up to the task now, but I remember that with Tom, those days of doubt always turned out to be awesome learning and growing experiences. This is the way it is when you work with high caliber folks, regardless of the field. But we have a tendency to let the reputation discourage us. That's the wrong attitude. The right attitude is to look at the opportunity for what it is. Yes, it'll be hard work. But approach it right and it should be a time of solid growth. Even taking the interview (since only one person will get each job) should be a learning experience because it shows what they are looking for which you don't know. And that tells you what to go look at in more detail if that's the field you wish to continue in. That's useful information if you want to grow your career. Also, these opportunities also represent chances to build relationships with these kinds of high caliber folks. During the time I worked with Tom, I had the opportunity to build a solid relationship with him. I still seek him out for advice quite frequently. If you get the job with a high caliber person, use the time wisely to not only learn your craft better, but also to build a good relationship with said person. Even after you both have moved on to other opportunities, the relationship should still be there. Oh yeah, and lest I forget, working with a high caliber person can teach you to be a high caliber person yourself. A lot was made out of how, during the Olympics, Kobe Bryant showed others, like Carmelo and Lebron, how he worked and how he pushed himself. In football the same was said about Jerry Rice. In baseball it was Nolan Ryan and his bucket of rice. You see how they work. You see how they process information. You see what makes them high-caliber. And that should give you ideas of how to be likewise. I know Tom's example challenges me every time I sit down with a theology book or every time I try to think of a new idea for a ministry I'm a part of. That's what high caliber people do: they continue to challenge you to be high caliber like them. And that's yet another reason to want to work with or for them.
Within a couple of days of each other, both Andy Leonard (@AndyLeonard) and Paul Randal (@PaulRandal) tweeted about possible job opportunities which would entail working with them. Here they are
This got me to thinking about working with/for high caliber folks. Andy and Paul are both SQL Server MVPs. Andy is well-known for his SSIS prowess and bringing design patterns to solutions (translation: he is a true application / enterprise architect). Paul? He only had a hand in writing key aspects of the product and managing other folks who did likewise. Needless to say, working with these two should be like drinking from the firehose, to borrow an expression. I know some probably saw one or both of the opportunities and went, "Dream job!" while others went, "I couldn't handle it!" And I'm sure there were reactions that varied somewhere in between these two extreme views. And as I was thinking, my mind wandered off to Mike Walsh, who used to work for Andy Kelly. Mike credits Andy with teaching him how to be a professional caliber DBA.
I haven't had the pleasure of working for such high caliber folks with respect to SQL Server, but I have in ministry. One of my mentors is Dr. Tom Fillinger, and the years I spent working under him as a children's minister were challenging (in the best way possible). In the SQL Server world it's about knowing your craft well. In ministry it's the same thing. I knew that because that's common sense. But how exactly do you approach ministry, how do you ensure that you do so with standards and expectations, and how do you measure how you're doing, especially when talking about an age group (bed babies through elementary school) where obvious growth tends to show only much later in life, were areas we focused on and dug into. There was also the constant reminder that ministry wasn't just about numbers and results. Yes, those are important. But ministry is about people. It's about caring for them and loving them and encouraging them and finding ways to reach them. And ministry is about what you believe. You have to stay true to that. And while all of that is common sense stuff, it's the HOW that Tom taught me that has been so key to my development in ministry. Quite simply, his example has stood as a constant challenge to reach for. That example, by the way, almost discouraged me from signing on in children's ministry. I could tell right away that Tom was one of those high caliber folks. And so naturally the thoughts of, "Can I do this?" and "Will I survive his expectations?" came up. But I was sure of my calling and sure that this is what I wanted to do. So I became children's minister, grew tremendously, and served in that role until I felt the calling to move to a different challenge.
When it comes to IT, things aren't very different. Most folks, when faced with the prospect of working with high caliber folks, start to doubt. That's a natural response. In Mike's case, he didn't know what he was getting into with Andy Kelly (and here Andy would likely quip, "Does anyone?"). But most folks who would have seen Paul's or Andy Leonard's tweets do know. And it can be very easy to talk oneself out of trying because of the magnitude of the people involved. If that sounds like you, stop it. Working for Tom was the most challenging time in ministry I had at that point in my life. It grew me tremendously to be able to take on youth ministry. When I left the Air Force, that was what I wanted to do: be a youth minister. Now, having the experience of almost 10 years where I wasn't a youth minister, but serving in other roles (mostly children's ministry), I understand I wasn't ready back then. There are days when I doubt I'm up to the task now, but I remember that with Tom, those days of doubt always turned out to be awesome learning and growing experiences.
This is the way it is when you work with high caliber folks, regardless of the field. But we have a tendency to let the reputation discourage us. That's the wrong attitude. The right attitude is to look at the opportunity for what it is. Yes, it'll be hard work. But approach it right and it should be a time of solid growth. Even taking the interview (since only one person will get each job) should be a learning experience because it shows what they are looking for which you don't know. And that tells you what to go look at in more detail if that's the field you wish to continue in. That's useful information if you want to grow your career. Also, these opportunities also represent chances to build relationships with these kinds of high caliber folks. During the time I worked with Tom, I had the opportunity to build a solid relationship with him. I still seek him out for advice quite frequently. If you get the job with a high caliber person, use the time wisely to not only learn your craft better, but also to build a good relationship with said person. Even after you both have moved on to other opportunities, the relationship should still be there.
Oh yeah, and lest I forget, working with a high caliber person can teach you to be a high caliber person yourself. A lot was made out of how, during the Olympics, Kobe Bryant showed others, like Carmelo and Lebron, how he worked and how he pushed himself. In football the same was said about Jerry Rice. In baseball it was Nolan Ryan and his bucket of rice. You see how they work. You see how they process information. You see what makes them high-caliber. And that should give you ideas of how to be likewise. I know Tom's example challenges me every time I sit down with a theology book or every time I try to think of a new idea for a ministry I'm a part of. That's what high caliber people do: they continue to challenge you to be high caliber like them. And that's yet another reason to want to work with or for them.
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 9:39:00 AM
I saw this blog about an Accenture survey of potential car buyers. It mentions that people likely won’t buy a green car unless it is superior in every way to a gasoline only car. The blog tends to lean towards the side of someone that doesn’t like hybrids. There’s a comment about why they look so bizarre, which seems odd to me. There are a lot of hybrids out there that look just like the gasoline versions. The Prius is shaped differently, but so is the Dodge Caliber. Are they really odd? Are these really that different? I might argue the Prius has softer lines, which contribute to better gas mileage.I think that there is a lot of fear out there for people in looking at hybrids. I have a few friends that are down on them, based on comments from other friends, that don’t seem right. I think there is some mis-information out there, as well as just some prejudice for no reason. I have had friends, and strangers, come ask me about my Prius experience and if I recommend them. I think it’s a great car, but I do caution them that they ought to do some analysis. I had one guy actually send me a bunch of data on his driving habits, and I crunched numbers with him, arriving at the decision that a Prius didn’t make sense for him.In 3 years, I’ve driven 60,000 miles. That’s 20k a year, and I think that at the current $2.75 a gallon, I think it saves me about $1000-1100 a year in gas over even something like a Ford Focus, which is listed as the same class by the government as a Prius. If I compare to a minivan, which was what we considered, I’m more like $1500 a year.That’s significant, and it means that my $4500 “hybrid tax” has been paid off. It actually paid off sooner since my first year we drove 26k miles and gas was $4/gal!However if you drive more like 10-12k miles, and consider a better vehicle that gets closer to 30mpg, then it might be savings of more like $500 a year. If you have a of highway driving, then you might be saving less, so it doesn’t make sense. Unless you just want the car.
I saw this blog about an Accenture survey of potential car buyers. It mentions that people likely won’t buy a green car unless it is superior in every way to a gasoline only car. The blog tends to lean towards the side of someone that doesn’t like hybrids. There’s a comment about why they look so bizarre, which seems odd to me. There are a lot of hybrids out there that look just like the gasoline versions. The Prius is shaped differently, but so is the Dodge Caliber. Are they really odd?
Are these really that different? I might argue the Prius has softer lines, which contribute to better gas mileage.
I think that there is a lot of fear out there for people in looking at hybrids. I have a few friends that are down on them, based on comments from other friends, that don’t seem right. I think there is some mis-information out there, as well as just some prejudice for no reason.
I have had friends, and strangers, come ask me about my Prius experience and if I recommend them. I think it’s a great car, but I do caution them that they ought to do some analysis. I had one guy actually send me a bunch of data on his driving habits, and I crunched numbers with him, arriving at the decision that a Prius didn’t make sense for him.
In 3 years, I’ve driven 60,000 miles. That’s 20k a year, and I think that at the current $2.75 a gallon, I think it saves me about $1000-1100 a year in gas over even something like a Ford Focus, which is listed as the same class by the government as a Prius. If I compare to a minivan, which was what we considered, I’m more like $1500 a year.
That’s significant, and it means that my $4500 “hybrid tax” has been paid off. It actually paid off sooner since my first year we drove 26k miles and gas was $4/gal!
However if you drive more like 10-12k miles, and consider a better vehicle that gets closer to 30mpg, then it might be savings of more like $500 a year. If you have a of highway driving, then you might be saving less, so it doesn’t make sense.
Unless you just want the car.
SQLServerPedia | 3/12/2010 9:13:45 AM
Allen Kinsel, my brother in arms for the Summit 2010 Program, posed a question about how to grow the pool of speakers for the PASS 2010 Summit. Allen has proposed that in order to bring in more speakers, we limit things to 1 session per speaker. With 168 sessions across the board, that’s a lot [...]
SQLServerPedia | 3/12/2010 9:10:34 AM
Predicting the future with bold certainty is not for the faint of heart. It’s a hard job. A few get it right; most just get egg on their face. Want some examples?In 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune gambled that Dewey would beat Truman in the US Presidential election and ran the presses before the final result [...]
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 7:50:26 AM
This evening I had the opportunity to once again give a presentation at our local SQL Uses Group (SSSOLV). I went into the presentation with the hope of trying to encourage participation and group discussion. I think the presentation started off a little shaky for a couple of reasons. I had sent out an email requesting additional info to help prep for the presentation – however, I sent it late which impacted the feedback. I also didn’t review the PASS Monthly slide deck and sort of shot from the hip going through that stuff. Despite that, the presentation went well. I had several people give good feedback. They liked the presentation!! Participation really went well and it felt more like a conversation than a presentation – that is a good thing. Probably the best thing to come from the presentation was the resounding support in favor of trying to get a SQLSaturday down here. With that info, it looks like I will be starting the process to host a SQLSaturday and organize it from our side. Another benefit to be derived from this presentation is a growing warmup that has been happening with the group. Each presentation I have given has improved in group participation. That would be coming from both sides – I am sure. Going back to some of my early blogs about participating in the Local User’s Groups, I want to reiterate how good it feels to participate. I am glad I have had the opportunities to present.
This evening I had the opportunity to once again give a presentation at our local SQL Uses Group (SSSOLV). I went into the presentation with the hope of trying to encourage participation and group discussion.
I think the presentation started off a little shaky for a couple of reasons. I had sent out an email requesting additional info to help prep for the presentation – however, I sent it late which impacted the feedback. I also didn’t review the PASS Monthly slide deck and sort of shot from the hip going through that stuff.
Despite that, the presentation went well. I had several people give good feedback. They liked the presentation!! Participation really went well and it felt more like a conversation than a presentation – that is a good thing.
Probably the best thing to come from the presentation was the resounding support in favor of trying to get a SQLSaturday down here. With that info, it looks like I will be starting the process to host a SQLSaturday and organize it from our side.
Another benefit to be derived from this presentation is a growing warmup that has been happening with the group. Each presentation I have given has improved in group participation. That would be coming from both sides – I am sure. Going back to some of my early blogs about participating in the Local User’s Groups, I want to reiterate how good it feels to participate. I am glad I have had the opportunities to present.
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 7:47:00 AM
My wife and I try to have dinner out every other week or so, but we tend to fall into ruts, visiting the same handful of restaurants that are close to home, reasonably priced, and reasonably dependable. Sometimes that dinner night comes at the end of a long week or a hectic day, and while we think (briefly) about trying something new, sometimes we just want something that meets our expectations, call it a comfort restaurant! If you’ve watched Spy Game you might recall ‘Operation: Dinner Out’ where Bishop is having food flown in from London, wanting some home cooked food. Good idea, so I borrowed the name and mangled it some for my entertainment needs at home. We went through the local Foodie awards and came up with a list of about 20 restaurants that we either have never been to, or it’s been a long time, and we’re going to try to work most of these in during the year. We tried it this past week, planning to go to the Four Rivers Smokehouse here in Orlando, not realizing that all they have is outdoor seating, this on a windy and chilly evening. Short of time on a Friday night we had to come up with Plan B, which turned out to be Smokey Bones. Ok food, extra credit for the pretzel appetizer – nice to have an option other than fried cheese! It’s interesting how having a list drives behavior. We’re not glued to it, but it does help us think about where we want to go. Even if we only discover one or two new favorites it’s worth the effort, and of course the conversation about where to go is always interesting, if you’re married you’ll know what I mean!
My wife and I try to have dinner out every other week or so, but we tend to fall into ruts, visiting the same handful of restaurants that are close to home, reasonably priced, and reasonably dependable. Sometimes that dinner night comes at the end of a long week or a hectic day, and while we think (briefly) about trying something new, sometimes we just want something that meets our expectations, call it a comfort restaurant!
If you’ve watched Spy Game you might recall ‘Operation: Dinner Out’ where Bishop is having food flown in from London, wanting some home cooked food. Good idea, so I borrowed the name and mangled it some for my entertainment needs at home. We went through the local Foodie awards and came up with a list of about 20 restaurants that we either have never been to, or it’s been a long time, and we’re going to try to work most of these in during the year.
We tried it this past week, planning to go to the Four Rivers Smokehouse here in Orlando, not realizing that all they have is outdoor seating, this on a windy and chilly evening. Short of time on a Friday night we had to come up with Plan B, which turned out to be Smokey Bones. Ok food, extra credit for the pretzel appetizer – nice to have an option other than fried cheese!
It’s interesting how having a list drives behavior. We’re not glued to it, but it does help us think about where we want to go. Even if we only discover one or two new favorites it’s worth the effort, and of course the conversation about where to go is always interesting, if you’re married you’ll know what I mean!
SQLServerCentral.com | 3/12/2010 7:46:00 AM
One of the dangers of being an “Internet Journalist” or even just a blogger, is that you might compromise who you are to attract readers. Or in the case of your “modern resume,” impress someone for a new job.Here is case of someone losing control of their ethics, for the sake of ratings. This is more of a journalism story, and the only person that I think it really hurts is the writer, but maybe that’s not true. Maybe it didn’t even hurt him. He still has a job.You, however, might not be so lucky.There are companies that would let you go if they found out you misrepresented yourself in an interview, or with a resume.Don’t write something for the sake of attracting or impressing readers. Write about what you know, and what you don’t. Admit your mistakes, and highlight your successes. Your blog, your presentations, your articles, are all a part of your career, and you should treat them as though they are precious. You are the product in your career, you are what you can sell, and your brand is what you have to sell.If people stop believing in that, you are in trouble.