Misc Archives - Page 4 of 15

23Aug 2013 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

SQL CAT is on the Move

Misc

Not a big deal really, but they're consolidating from the SQLCAT.COM to put everything on MSDN. Read all about it here. I love the SQL Customer Advisory Team. They tackle some of the hardest problems out there and then tell us about how they did it. That's a resource you can't ignore.

15Jul 2013 by Grant Fritchey 5 Comments

A Tale of Two Hotels

Misc

This is a long and convoluted post about my experiences at two hotels, but it has a point for DBAs and other data pros. Please stick around to the end. I stay in hotels fairly frequently. I have friends who stay at them even more than I do. We tell each other stories about turning left in the middle of the night when the bathroom in this hotel is on the right. And, we share good and bad experiences in order to help ensure that our travels are quick, safe, and as worry free as possible. All of us tend to focus on staying at one hotel chain or another in order to maximize our benefits. My personal chain is Hilton. I've recently had a very bad experience and a…

03Jun 2013 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Microsoft Teched 2013 Keynote

Misc

Welcome to Teched 2013 We're starting off with some type of James Bond video. Chase scene with a really cool car. Not quite French Connection, but good. OK, that was, if a little ballsy, "you'll never crack it" Jeez, how to upset people. And the car from the video drives out on stage. And that is Brad Anderson arriving. Guy7 looks like he does crossfit. "We spend our time making other people great" He's laying out the path of the future and, shock of shocks, he said SQL. Out loud. On stage. Twice. That's pretty cool. SQL Server often feels like a red-headed step child. Iain McDonald, comes out to introduce information about Windows Core. The OS covers everything from the phone to tablets to xbox to your servers. The…

21May 2013 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Microsoft Lync Through the Web

Misc

Get an invite to a Microsoft meeting? Are they using the new Lync interface? And, you don't have a paid Office365 account do you? So, you click the link, figure it'll open a web browser and off you go, right? Wrong. Instead it opens up a Lync app that you installed with Office, or the one that comes with Windows 8. And then you're stuck. You can't log in if your office doesn't have a Lync server (office?). Thankfully, there's a simple solution. Many thanks to Michael Wood. You just add a string to the end of the URL and you're off to the web app. I couldn't find this anywhere, so I figured I'd share with those who might need the help. Just add '?sl=1' to the end of…

18Mar 2013 by Grant Fritchey 8 Comments

Star Trek and the Death of IT

Misc

GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I feel slightly better, but only slightly. I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix just to unwind my brain and relax a little. Instead of relaxation I found myself pacing back and forth in front of the television, gesticulating wildly, with a string expletives coming out of my mouth in a torrential flood (yeah, my kids loved it). What happened in the 24th century? Did the entire race of IT Pros die out in the 23rd? Because there sure as heck is no evidence that they are ANYWHERE to be found. Episode after episode there are computer problems. And episode after episode my blood pressure is rising. I can't believe what I'm seeing. For example, in one episode they get an alien computer virus (firewall, checksums,…

16Jan 2013 by Grant Fritchey 7 Comments

You Can Say “No”

Misc

I heard about this new law that was passed to prevent employers from asking for your social media passwords. After the laughter stopped, I realized that, maybe, this would be needed. Not because I need the government to help me manage my interactions with my employers and potential employers. And not because I think the government needs to be involved in other peoples interactions, not at this level. But because I don't think people realize they have a word that they can use with employers. That word is 'No.' "We want you to sign this non-compete agreement that says you'll never be a DBA for any other company after leaving ours." Ha! No. And yes, I really had one of these. And yes, there actually are laws against it (I…

29Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

HDInsight: Trying again

Misc

And I thought this would be so easy. Latest attempt. I just did an uninstall of HDInsight. Then I found all the Hadoop folders on the drive and removed them. I validated that there were no services left running or anything else that might interfere with a fresh install. Then, I rebooted the server (have you tried turning it off and on again?). After all that, I tried rerunning the HDInsight Community Preview. This time I ran it as an administrator on the system, even though I already am logged in as one. Paranoia at every step is my new approach since there have been no errors until I try to turn the silly thing on. And the install went perfectly. I can see two folders, Hadoop and HadoopFeaturePackSetup. Last…

26Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Treat Yourself to Knowledge

Misc

There's a one day sale going on at Apress today, 11/26/12. All their eBooks are $15. This means you can start learning about query performance tuning, or get started as a DBA, or explore a whole range of topics by different authors presenting some of the best in the business knowledge. Yes, these are all Apress books that I've written on different topics. This is your chance to pick them up at a pretty steep discount. I know I'm heading over there to buy Jason Strate and Ted Krueger's book on indexing. Check mine out. Check Jason & Ted's out. Just find yourself something and treat yourself to some knowledge. Today's a great day to do it.

21Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Final 2012 Learning Opportunity

Misc

There's still a little time left in the year. I know some businesses have allocated training budgets and if they don't spend the money, they lose it from their budget. So a few of you might still be looking for opportunities to get your learn on. I've got one more big one before the end of the year. You can try heading down to Florida for the Live 360 conference. I'll be there along with several friends (love my #sqlfamily). I'm presenting two sessions, one on setting up an environment for performance testing using the new distributed playback capabilities from SQL Server 2012 and one on introducing the accidental DBA to backups. You can still register here to attend these sessions and all the other great ones being presented. Last…

26Oct 2012 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

Scary Reading List for Halloween

Misc

I know I focus on community, SQL Server, professional development and process. But you need to do other stuff occasionally too. For example, I've long been a fan of horror stories (and science fiction/speculative fiction and some historical novels and history books and... I like to read, OK?). I received this link because I guess I have Scary in the name. It's a pretty good list of scary books. I've read 12 of the 13 books listed (and I just added Blindness to my Kindle so I'll have all 13 done). Now, I wouldn't make anyone read The Castle Otranto or Mysteries of Udolpho unless, like me, you're completist nerds. However, the rest of the books really should be read, especially if you are a horror fan. But, I can…

Category: Misc