I noticed, today, that CNBC.com was listing the 10 unhappiest states. A few days ago, I noticed they listed the most religious states. Interestingly, when I compared these, 3 of the unhappiest states were in the list of the top 10 least religious states. None of the top ten most religious states were in the list of the 10 unhappiest states. Is there a connection? Don't know, but I sure found it interesting. Particularly since the 10 most religious states that are not among the 10 unhappiest states have similar unemployment rates (with the obvious exceptions of Michigan and California) and much lower median income rates with matching sales tax rates. It doesn't appear that wealth has much to do with happiness, but religion just may. Curious.
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Microsoft has changed the edition structure for SQL Server 2008 R2 by adding two new editions: Datacenter and Parallel Data Warehouse. The Datacenter edition adds features for management improvement and support for more than 8 processors. The Parallel Data Warehouse edition supports much larger data stores and enhanced data warehouse functions. For more information about these new editions and the traditional editions and what they'll look like in SQL Server 2008 R2, visit this page:
http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/R2-editions.aspx
The most up-to-date list of compatible (or incompatible) applications is now available at Microsoft's website. The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Pros is available for download at the Microsoft TechNet site. The list includes more than 7000 applications and covers both business apps and games. The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List is a Microsoft Excel file that rates apps from compatible to future compatibility to incompatible. If your application is on this list, it will save you lots of analysis time so take advantage of it. I know I am.
Over the years, I've taught six different SQL Server training courses. The first two were designed to teach only SQL Server 2000. The next four were designed to teach SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2000 combined. I loved teaching these courses as they were real-world courses; however, I've never been as excited about a SQL Server course as I am the about the one I'm currently preparing for ASPE. This SQL Server course will focus on the topics that students have begged for over my seven years of teaching SQL Server.
In all of the other SQL Server training courses I've delivered, some tie has existed to a Microsoft certification. Not with this one. We've decided to give the attendees the topics they've asked for over the years. These topics include:
- Installing SQL Server right the first time
- Designing and implementing well-performing databases
- Optimizing the performance of existing databases
- Improving security
- Understanding advanced features such as SSIS, SSRS and SSAS
Any many more topics as well. The training will be focused on SQL Server 2005 and 2008 with just a few referenced so SQL Server 2000. If you'd like to know when the training class is coming to your area, just contact me through the SysEdCo.com contact page.
DirectAccess (which is properly spelled as one word and not two, such as Direct Access – even though Microsoft gets it wrong in their website meta tags – though possibly intentional) is one of the most touted new features in Windows 7. Sadly, it’s not really a Windows 7 feature alone. You must deploy Windows Server 2008 R2 in order to take advantage of the DirectAccess feature.
Microsoft has, however, provided a lab demo configuration document here:
You can use this document as a starting point to explore DirectAccess configuration processes even if you don’t have a Server 2008 R2 machine at this time. Now, for some really good news. If you just want to play with WIndows Server 2008 R2, get the evaluation VHD that works in Hyper-V here:
Hopefully this information will help you get started with configuring DirectAccess. Remember, you must configure DirectAccess on the Server 2008 R2 server as well as the Windows 7 clients.
I’ve had dozens of people email me to ask what it means now that McGraw-Hill is no longer the publisher of the Official CWNP study guides (CWNA, CWSP, CWTS, etc.). I decided to answer this question in a blog post. This way I can just refer the new emails to the post. Here’s the basic benefit of being the official study guide:
- The CWNP program picks who the author/authors will be. This is a benefit in that the reader can be sure the CWNP program believes in the author.
- The book gets to be listed as the official book.
No special insights into the exam are provided to the authors of the official book beyond that available to anyone, so no real benefit exists for the reader from the perspective of the "official" label. Giving special insight would be unethical (since the author would always claim to have passed the exam and yet he or she would have been exposed to special information about that exam) and the CWNP program is anything but unethical. In other words, the authors of the official book have no more insight into the exam than the authors of any other book. Anyone who writes a book for the exams – official or not – has access to the same resources:
- Official classes
- Objectives
- CWNP.com
That’s really it. Now as far as picking the authors goes. The CWNP program picked me for Wireless#, the first book outsourced to be completely authored by a non-CWNP program employee. They picked myself and two co-authors for the CWSP study guide 2nd edition. They then picked me for the 4th Edition of the official CWNA study guide. They also hand-picked Joel Barrett to help guide the series at that time. Joel is an amazing engineer working with Cisco in wireless implementations on a very large scale. I am a consultant and trainer who implements an average of 4 to 5 wireless LANs each year. I teach from 5-6 week long custom CWNA/CWSP classes each year and I am continually researching the newest in wireless technologies. The point is that they would have picked me to write the official books again if I were available. In fact, I was offered the opportunity to write the official CWTS book for Sybex, but could not due to contractual obligations.
Due to their contractual issues with the CWNP program and nothing at all related to the content or writing style, McGraw-Hill lost the official label to Sybex. Sybex is also a great publisher (I write for them as well on non-overlapping topics) and the authors of the official study guides know their stuff well. Their new official CWNA book is exceptional and I expect their CWSP book will be as well.
I am in the process of writing a CWNA/CWSP All-in-One Guide book for McGraw-Hill that will be amazing because of the books format and intent. It will be a study guide, yes, but it will also be a very practical implementation resource. You will be receiving step-by-step instructions for implementing real hardware. I’m very excited about it. In addition, my CWTS book for McGraw-Hill is done and should hit the shelves in the next four weeks.
I hope this clears up any confusion and let me end by saying this: I work with both McGraw-Hill and Sybex and they are both great companies. I know David Coleman, one of the official authors now, and he is an awesome trainer with excellent knowledge. Finally, I absolutely love the CWNP program and the vendor neutral certifications they offer. Any rumors out there which cast a negative light on any of these three companies (McGraw-Hill, Sybex or Planet3/CWNP) will hopefully cease. Sometimes things don’t work out between companies, but I’m thankful that multiple products exist and the user community gets an excellent set of resources.
Happy modulation!
OK. We’ve decided to change the title of my upcoming SQL Server 2008 book. Instead of DBA’s Guide to SQL Server 2008, we’re calling it Real World SQL Server 2008 Database Administration: Skills and Knowledge for MCITP Certification and Beyond.
The reason for the title change is simple. We are covering the objectives for 70-432 and 70-450 in the book and we want this to be clear; however, we also realize people want more than a certification prep book. In fact, this book includes several entire chapters that have nothing to do with the certification, but everything to do with effective SQL Server 2008 administration. Hopefully, the new title will help to clearly communicate the purpose of the book.
It’s really no wonder senior citizens are afraid of the Internet. Maybe we all should be. Have you noticed just how many scam artists are working the Net?
First, today I received a U.S. Postal mail-based scam: the Union Workers Credit Services scam. They send you a postal letter indicating that you’ll get a credit limit of X amount and all you have to do is pay the $37 annual membership fee. How could you spot this as a scam?
The language can often reveal the true scamish nature of the beast. Read the following and see if you can spot something a bit out of kilter:
"It’s nice to inform you that you have been identified and PRE-APPROVED for a PLATINUM CARD Membership from Union Workers Credit Services…"
What’s wrong with this sentence fragment? "It’s nice to inform you…" Have you ever received a mailing from a real credit source that used a phrase like this? Not likely. Here’s the last part of the same sentence:
"…with a GUARANTEED $10,000.00 credit limit valid exclusively toward all credit purchases from credit provider!"
That’s a weird phrase. You mean you can use this great credit to buy anything you want from Union Workers Credit Services. That makes sense. I’d like to buy some more debt please. So, what you’re really getting into is a buyers club of sorts. I haven’t seen their catalog, but I’d bet it’s full of crap.
The bad thing for you is that if you send the $37 you’ll never get a refund. Why? They’ve worded it all perfectly to make sure you cannot get a refund and even your bank will reject a stop payment because they NEVER say it is a credit card.
If you have friends and family, please talk with them about this and other scams. They are becoming more and more common and I hate to see people hurt financially by these vultures. If I could do something legal to cost them so much money that they would lose everything (the scammers), I’d do it in a heartbeat.
If you can think of any ideas, let me know. I’ll be glad to participate. Maybe we can find their number and all call them every day with our cell phone surplus minutes… of course, liars like this probably don’t have a business line that costs them for incoming calls anyway.
Am I the only one mad at these idiots!
Here’s the best way to avoid scams: Always assume any unsolicited contact is a scam. It’s really getting that bad. Go online and search for the company name or a unique phrase and the word scam. For example, a quick search for Union Workers Credit Services scam would reveal many people talking about this evil, wicked company. Hopefully, this blog post will help.
My new book, the DBA’s Guide to SQL Server 2008 is well under way. The SQL Server 2008 book should be available early next year (2010) and it will include coverage of SQL Server 2008 R2. The book is focused on helping DBA’s effectively implement and support SQL Server 2008 servers and databases. Unlike many books on the market, it does not attempt to be all things to all people. It is not a book for programmers. It is a book for DBA’s and network admins who must support SQL Servers. If you would like to see coverage of specific topics, feel free to comment here and I’ll make sure as many are included as possible; however, I can only include topics provided to me by the end of September.
Back to writing!
I can’t help but be curious about this Windows version of the Safari web browser. First, a disclaimer: I am not an Apple user; I use only Windows and Linux systems. With that said, I have many friends and business acquaintances who use Apple computers exclusively. I’ve heard the same thing from nearly all of them: Safari is a horrible browser on the Apple. Now, if the Apple users don’t like it, why would Windows users want to use it?
NOTE: Someone will undoubtedly cite the Zeldman post about text rendering in Safari versus FireFox; however, if one reads the large number of blog posts that reference Jefferey Zeldman’s post, he will quickly find that far more people like some other browser because Safari doesn’t work as well with many modern web technologies.
To me, FireFox is a great browser for the Windows and Apple platforms. Though I have not had any of the problems with Internet Explorer that many people have complained about. I actually use FireFox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. Using these three I can quickly test my web pages to make sure they work in all of the common browsers. I’m just not sure what Safari adds to the mix.
Safari gives you the ability to track and display your most visited sites in a nice tab, but this is already in Chrome in an almost identical implementation and it is in FireFox through a simple menu. Safari lets you click and drag to rearrange them, but that’s not worth changing browsers. Don’t get me wrong. I think the MAC OS is a great OS – particularly now that it runs on Unix, but why would a Windows user want an inferior Apple browser? We’ve had enough problems watching Internet Explorer grow up of the past 15 or so years. I’m just curious.
