Blogs

Microsoft has published 157 great Power Point template examples and how to create cool effects to spice up our slide decks: http://blogs.msdn.com/inside_office_online/archive/2009/10/29/watch-ppt157-everything-in-this-video-is-a-powerpoint-template.aspx

I keep a folder on all my computer systems that store cool template files that I like and would want to re-use in the future. Comes in handy done the road.

-Chuck

Kevin Kline (Twitter|@KeKline) wrote up an article on SQLPASS.org about learning opportunities and opensource education couseware. This was news to me that it even existed and I know a lot about free software! There is a consortium http://www.ocwconsortium.org that has a list of the major Universities that participate, including MIT. Very cool.
-Chuck

Since the Red-Gate software sponsored award website doesn't post much information about us, I thought I would post my application letter so you get a better feel for what I do at work. Thanks for voting - click Vote Now image on this site: http://www.exceptionaldba.com/vote.htm

Update: I won a prize for my short answer to the contest http://summit2009.sqlpass.org/AboutSummit/ROI/BestThingWinners.aspx

Sometimes you wonder how your technical management ever got to be a manager or even a director without knowing the fundamentals of leading people who have emotions and are not like computers. Effective leadership can easily be seen in action, you just don't recognize it until you miss it.

I have always wanted to get into RC vehicles to wind off some workday stress and keep my daughter entertained. Recently I have purchased the Traxxas e-Stampede and an eflite helicopter. Nitroplanes.com has a ton of resources and if you look for the image below, you can find some really inexpensive (<$99) planes ready to fly and I can't see why anyone wouldn't want to have this much fun, so I put an ad on all the pages. Maybe I can get enough kick backs to fix my helicopter ;-)

It is getting harder and harder to keep good employees. I gathered some ideas from Fortunes top 100 companies to work for as there is always something to learn from people doing it right. 

Even during an economic downturn, there are still many companies hiring good candidates. Here are a couple of tips I gathered from Fortune Magazine and other sources:

Here is my short list of software programs I use for finding and preventing spyware:

I didn't think this day would come, but I welcome it. Microsoft with Zend and community input is developing a SQL driver for PHP! Read more here: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/technologies/php/default.mspx