SQLSaturday #13 – 3 days to go

Holy cow, I’ve got a lot left to do. I know this is probably boring for most of you, but this post is mainly going to be a list of unfinished business. I’ve to to make the list anyway, and I’m committed to making at least one blog post, so let me cheat it out. Anyway, here goes (in no particular order):

  1. Send out Silver and Gold level sponsor emails to all registrants.
  2. Pick up name tags & tickets from Larry (one of our volunteers).
  3. Print out missing name tags and tickets for the people who bumped up the list (when others dropped out).
  4. Count the number of prizes I have to give away, so I know how many drawings throughout the day to have. May have to wait until Friday since two of our sponsors have stuff in the mail.
  5. Go to Sam’s and renew my membership. Buy 300 cans of Coke, 300 cans of Diet Coke, and 300 bottled waters.
  6. Attend the Speaker’s dinner Friday night; don’t forget to bring the shirts!
  7. Pick up boxes for every sponsor raffle and for every class raffle.
  8. Print out registration lists for people to register; send a copy of the list to Microsoft for security purposes (&%^%$%^ that was due today!).
  9. Work on my Powerpoint presentation for “Welcome!” speech

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but this is a start.

2009-04-22 by Conferences 1

Testing Windows Live Writer

So WindowsUpdate prompted me that there was a few new updates available for my PC, including a selection of stuff for Windows Live.  I like this tool, but I’m going to have to put it through it’s paces to really get a feel for how well it’s gonna work.  This is just a quick post to see what’s up.

Tried uploading an image, but that didn’t work.  xml-rpc error.

Found a plug in for inserting code; let’s see if that works.

 

SELECT *
FROM sometable
WHERE column = 'column'

 

Rough day 🙂

2009-04-22 by Blogging is FUN! 2

quick post to say “sorry for not posting”

I’ve been incredibly busy the last few weeks, and unfortunately, any attempt at updating this blog had to give. With personal stuff (the Easter cantata at church and spring break for the kids), work stuff (lots of new projects), and SQLSaturday (what was I thinking when I signed up for this?) , I’ve barely had a few minutes to sit down, let alone write.

Life’s good, and I hope to post more soon. Still dropping weight slowly (sorry, no chart this time), and I’m almost in the home stretch for SQLSaturday, so perhaps my stress level will drop as well.

Stay tuned.

2009-04-15 by Blogging is FUN! 0

Call me a believer: Microsoft SSAS

This week, I’ve spent most of my days working with Microsoft’s Premier Support; they’re on site at our office, showing us the basics of SQL Server Reporting Services and SQL Server Analysis Services. I must admit that I was NOT looking forward to this week, because I felt like we were going to spend a lot of time defending design choices we had made.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

Our rep has been very helpful in helping us understand the power of SSAS and SSRS; I’ve always appreciated the potential of OLAP cubes, but I’ve never really worked with them. We spent most of yesterday talking about the tools, and stepping through the various concepts, but what really helped today was when we took an existing report that we currently deliver to our clients (using standard SQL queries) and developed an analog to it using SSAS and SSRS.

I think what made the difference for me was that this was MY data; I know this stuff in and out. For all of the imperfections in my design, it’s still my design, and I was able to see how the use of OLAP cubes could very effectively address some business problems we have. That’s a very effective teaching tip that I need to remember when I go to classes (and something I remember from way back in my education classes at UGA): PEOPLE UNDERSTAND CONCEPTS BEST WHEN THEY CAN GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY.

I’ve tried tutorials on SSAS before, and often found myself not quite able to grasp the concept; today, I was working to answer a common question using data I was familar with, but a totally different language. It was very enlightening, and I think it’s going to be what pushes us toward implementation. There’s still a lot of ground to cover (why is MDX so frikking complicated?), but I think I’m going to enjoy the challenge.

2009-04-01 by Code Education SQLServerPedia Syndication 0

Brief health message

For those of you who are interested, yes, I have continued to lose weight 🙂 Not as quick as before, as illustrated by the following chart:

Over 22 days, I’m down 5.6 pounds, with an average drop of 2.82 pounds during that period. All I’ve done is three simple things:

1. Change what I eat: more veggies, more fiber, less carbs.

2. Change WHEN I eat: I eat when I’m hungry (a little snack in between regular meals), but I never eat after 7 pm.

3. Exercise AT LEAST 15 minutes a day. Mostly doing strength training (I hate aerobic exercise), but if I do strength training, I do it at a high rate of speed.

Looking forward to a loss of 20 pounds by June. Now back to your typical geek jargon 🙂

2009-04-01 by Health 4

Quick update: SQLSaturday, life in general

Not going to be a long post; I’ve got a major report due for work tomorrow, so I’m sitting at Schlotzky’s (I really should buy stock), waiting on the kids to get out.

* SQLSaturday is going well. Just picked up speaker shirts and gift mugs today, and they look awesome. Sent the check to Microsoft a couple of days late, but hopefully they won’t dump us. Started cleaning the roster from lunch no-pays, only to discover there’s a bug in our pay process, and a lot of people did pay. I think Andy Warren is just going to pay for everybody’s lunch next time rather than put up with me (just kidding, Andy).

* A couple of weeks ago, I started talking about the impact of Facebook on my own personal appearance. I’m proud to announce I’ve lost 5 pounds so far, and I’m determined to lose the next 5 by next Wednesday. My secret? Lots of veggies, very few carbs, and a lot of exercise. We’ll see what happpens.

* Anyway, Microsoft is coming in to the office next week to show us what SSAS and SSRS can do for us. I dread meetings like this because I’ve rarely met a consultant that doesn’t have the “I-have-a-hammer-and-that-looks-like-a-nail” mentality. It’s a good excuse to update documentation (which we’ve been needing to do, but it’s hard to justify hours for).

2009-03-25 by Blogging is FUN! Conferences Health 0

SQLSaturday #13 Update

So much stuff going on that it’s hard to keep track of; as of this moment, we’re at budget, which means that all of my expenses are able to be paid. I’m still working on getting a little more funding (just in case we need it), but I’m feeling really good about things right now. I’ve still got a long list of stuff to do, but we’re getting there.

Just in case you care, here’s my remaining to-do items:

1. Make sure that the restaurant is still available on April 24th for the speaker’s dinner. I sent a request in, and got a few initial emails, but haven’t heard back. I need to follow up with that.

2. Need name badges for volunteers, and hopefully for all of the registrants. My wife said I could find some at Office Max, which is good, because I was getting prices on fancy lanyards (which we don’t need).

3. Pick up event bags; Regions Bank is actually donating the event bags to us, so here’s a little shout out to them 🙂

4. Prep the event guide. The Microsoft conference center has names for its rooms, so I need to go back and change the names of the tracks to match. Should simplify my life as best I can.

5. Prepare my volunteer army for stuff they need to do. I still haven’t laid out a logistical plan, which I need to do soon.

6. The week before the event is going to be printer mayhem; I need to check on prices at the various business stores to see what printing the event guide will cost me.

7. Pursue the non-pays on the lunch fee list, as well as prepare to reimburse volunteers who paid.

8. Contact the SQL Short Session Speakers and see where they are at with their topics.

Ugggh. Too much stuff to do. On the plus side, free stuff is continuing to come in, so that’s exciting.

2009-03-18 by Conferences 0

Facebook, and the world I left behind… (Part 2)

Continuing in my observations of my Facebook experience, I’ve noticed something else beyond just the collision of worlds; Facebook interactions often lead to self-reflection on physical attributes. In other words,

People want to see what you look like. You can’t hide physical features like on a traditional forum environment; there’s a strong pressure to post pictures of not only who you were (because most of your friends on Facebook are going to be people in the past), but who you are now. In my case, the who I am now could probably eat the who I was then for breakfast.

As a side note, I have noticed that most of the women I went to high school with have aged very well; if they were cute at 16, they’re beautiful now. Most of the men… well, let’s just say that I’m not the only one who didn’t hold up well over the years 🙂

A focus on the physical is not necessarily a bad thing; while part of me is now increasingly self-conscious about the fact that I have changed over the years, that self-consciousness may save my life. When I graduated high school, I weighed 120 lbs; college, 130. First Master’s? 180 (I had started working out, and was in pretty good shape at that point). Three years ago, (after long since ceasing regular physical exercise) I crossed the 300 pound mark. I started having some health issues, and I’ve been working out since then, and am now at 260. Looking at my friends on Facebook, I’m determined I’m going to get down to 220 by the time of my high school reunion (in August; 5 months). Facebook’s focus on the physical is going to be my motivation.

I realize that my true friends from high school don’t care that “there’s more of me to love”, and that an obsession over looks can be unhealthy, but I’m trying to put a positive spin on this; I need to get healthy. Seeing my friends that have been successful at that over the years is inspiring, and I want to be a part of that.

2009-03-11 by Health The Social Web 0

Facebook, and the world I left behind… (Part 1)

OK, so a few posts ago, I was questioning the level of connectivity required for the social DBA to be considered “involved” in the community, and I took a mild swipe at Facebook. Obviously, I now have to eat my words; I got connected to Facebook over the weekend, and I can begin to understand the addiction. I find myself checking every few hours or so to see if any one new has become my friend, or to see if any of my current friends have anything witty to say (or better yet, any old pictures to post).

Anyway, after a few days on Facebook, I have some observations (which I’ll cover over a few posts):

First, Worlds collide, and you better be ready. Goffman had a sociological theory commonly known as the Face and Mask. His principal thesis was that face is a mask that changes depending on the audience and the social interaction. In other words, we manifest a different persona around different audiences; you don’t act the same way around your boss as you do your best friend, do you (well, some of you might)?

With facebook, there is no distinction between friends; I’m friends with people from high school, college, a couple of jobs ago, and my current job. I’ve changed over the years, and I’m not always certain that I want my friends of today exposed to the hijinks of the past, yet, there’s no stopping it. The 17-year-old me collides with the 21-year-old me, the 30 year-old-me, and the near-40 me.

Furthermore, your own devilish past may not haunt you much, but Facebook also makes it too easy to introduce your friends from different worlds (“Pastor, I’d like you to meet Bob; Bob was my roommate in college, and he currently films adult movies.”). If I comment on a picture from 20 years ago, it’s very easy for anybody I know to read that comment, and trace it to anyone else involved now.

This is not necessarily a bad thing; life is about chance encounters, and it’s fun to see how things get sewn up into a spider’s web of interconnectedness. Just be prepared to run naked on Facebook; there are no masks to hide behind.

I plan on adding more thoughts to this later, but figured the image of naked Facebookers was enough to leave you hanging; Part 2 to follow.

2009-03-11 by The Social Web 0