It’s no secret that I hate NULL values. Well, to be clear, I hate working with NULL values. I’ve written before about why I dislike NULLs. I’ve even had public debates (which I won) about the topic. What I’ve gradually come to realize over time is that it is not the NULL values themselves I(…)
SQL Server on vSphere Workshop at VMware
This past week I was fortunate enough to have been selected to take part in an elite SQL Server on vSphere workshop at VMware headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. It was, without a doubt, the finest training event I can recall attending in my life. I’ve written previously, and received negative feedback about, my opinions for(…)
Junk Science
“Baby, you believe what you want to believe.” – Tom Petty This past weekend there was a report that the mysterious case of Jack the Ripper had been solved. Not by Scotland Yard, or INTERPOL, or even the Smithsonian Institution. No, the case was solved by an amateur detective and a university professor. While I(…)
Why I Fell in Love with Adam Spencer
Because Adam Spencer (web | @adambspencer) is a math geek, that’s why. You don’t have to just take my word for it though. Check out the TED talk he gave in February of 2013. http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_spencer_why_i_fell_in_love_with_monster_prime_numbers Math is something that is near and dear to my heart also (MS, Mathematics, Washington State University). Watching Adam give(…)
Data Is The New Oil
Does the weather affect your sales, either by location or by season? Maybe it does, maybe not. The only way to know for certain is to collect the data. But collecting such data may prove to be more expensive than it is worth. After all, you can’t control the weather. How about happiness and stock(…)
The Real SQL Server 2014 Power Feature (It May Not Be Hekaton)
Just a quick post today to tell you about a webinar I am doing on the 27th of August, 2014. The title is “The Real SQL Server 2014 Power Feature (It May Not Be Hekaton)”, and it is me talking about the new cardinality estimator (CE) in SQL Server 2014. You might recall that earlier(…)