My first podcast interview!

About a week ago, I received an email from Carlos Chacon of SQL Data Partners inviting me to take part in a podcast.  This was my first such request, and I jumped on the opportunity. The podcast recording took place last night.  My topic was along the lines of "writing and communication: why it matters …

The Streisand Effect

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

This is a post from my friend, Greg Moore, with whom I share an alma mater in common (in my case, a graduate alma mater). There is currently a looming crisis there, and I’m reblogging Greg’s post to 1) voice my disgust and displeasure at the school, 2) let the world know about what’s going on, and 3) serve as a warning.

greenmountainsoftware

I had originally planned on a slightly different topic for this week’s blog, but an email I received from my alma mater last night changed my mind.  First, a little background. I’m a 1990 graduate of RPI in Troy NY, a fact I’m quite proud of. Second, lately there has been a growing controversy over the shape and direction of the school administration, led by Dr. Shirley Jackson.  Let me say that I find Dr. Jackson’s credentials impressive and many of her initiatives have led RPI into the right direction for the 21st Century.

But (and you knew that was coming), all is not rosy in Troy (especially today as I write, it’s a dreary, cloudy day).

So let’s back up a bit though and discuss the Streisand Effect. Originally and mainly the effect refers to bringing unwanted attention to something by trying to suppress access to information in…

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Are You Patched?

Reblogging this from my friend Steve Jones. This is too important to not share.

Voice of the DBA

It’s been a few weeks since the Spectre/Meltdown bugs were announced for most CPUs. Microsoft has been working hard to build patches, and they’ve provided fixes for Windows and SQL Server. Other manufacturers have released fixes for other platforms, though I wouldn’t be surprised if more patches are coming. We put together a page at SQLServerCentral with information and links, and if you haven’t checked it out, you should.

If you haven’t patched systems, patch them ASAP.

This is a bad bug, affecting many CPUs, across multiple architectures, and includes potential issues with virtual machines. The guidance and conversations I’ve heard from various vendors is that many of them aren’t completely sure of all the potential risks or attack vectors, but they are worried that customers will leave this vulnerabilities open in the future. Since this affects hardware, it’s entirely possible that an exploit could read memory from other applications…

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What are effective communication skills?

I cam across this article on Grammarly, and I thought it spoke volumes -- enough that I'm sharing it in this 'blog article.  Read and enjoy!

Why design matters

"A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good." -- unknown There are two elevators in the building where I work, including one that doubles as a freight elevator -- it has front and back doors for access.  This particular elevator has a bank of buttons shown …