Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Grumpy DBA SSChampion Points: 12515 More actions · Answer 1

Steve Jones - SSC Editor (1/8/2016)
BTW, apparently the quality of my writing has also gone down. Got this lovely note today
Your article today compels me to seek your “Unsubscribe” button.
I don’t see it.
Where is it?
Or will you please unsubscribe me? That was way over the top. I’m glad I’ve ignored you so long.
So long

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is the new version of a haiku in the Oxford format.

Or a Tom Waits song.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736255 More actions · Answer 2

Jack Corbett (1/8/2016)
Was that in response to today's editorial?
That response seems "way over the top"

Day or two ago. The rulebreaking developer one.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736255 More actions · Answer 3

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

SSC Guru

Points: 736255

January 8, 2016 at 2:46 pm

#1850706

Third place: http://db-engines.com/en/ranking

rodjkidd SSCoach Points: 15916 More actions · Answer 4

TomThomson (1/8/2016)
BrainDonor (1/8/2016)
Hugo Kornelis (1/8/2016)
Are you sure that the email for Manchester went out? I have not received any mails for this event, and I would have submitted sessions if I had? (As I have for the Belgium event, obviously)
I was notified via an email on Thursday. The email address used was sqlsaturday418@sqlsaturday.com. A little confusing, as that is the SQLSaturday number for last year's conference.
I'm a previous attendee and I haven't received it.
Also, when I look at the website it appears not to be listed, despite Rodders statement that it is (or does his "still" indicate that he intended to type "not" but left it out?)

Tom, no I typed what I meant to say.

It's currently listed under reserved.

But it hasn't been moved to upcoming, or confirmed if you like.

Which is odd and probably explains why the call for speakers hasn't gone out yet.

As for you you didn't get the email, the only thing I can thi of is that you were on the waiting list and got bumped up the day before. I remember because I asked the organisers about you specifically 🙂

I would expect it to go live officially next week, but if not there are a couple of people I can ask.

Rodders...

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398886 More actions · Answer 5

Steve Jones - SSC Editor (1/8/2016)
BTW, apparently the quality of my writing has also gone down. Got this lovely note today
Your article today compels me to seek your “Unsubscribe” button.
I don’t see it.
Where is it?
Or will you please unsubscribe me? That was way over the top. I’m glad I’ve ignored you so long.
So long

That's seriously messed up on multiple levels. And that was a really benign editorial. That response is... over the top and so long.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt

Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004361 More actions · Answer 6

Steve Jones - SSC Editor (1/8/2016)
BTW, apparently the quality of my writing has also gone down. Got this lovely note today
Your article today compels me to seek your “Unsubscribe” button.
I don’t see it.
Where is it?
Or will you please unsubscribe me? That was way over the top. I’m glad I’ve ignored you so long.
So long

You are the meat and the salt of this site and your editorials have been incredible even when we don't always agree with them, which is a rare thing. It's only natural that the smell of good meat will draw a few flies.

A couple of thoughts... you know these things but I thought I'd bring them up anyway.

You obviously know what editorial you wrote that provoked this person's response . I'd take this as an opportunity to learn something. I gave a presentation on the "theory" of pseudo-cursors and the Tally Table last year and got rave reviews... except for one. That one said something to the effect of "fairly useless session... these have a very limited use". My human instinct led me to initially think, "Are you nuts? There are more uses than you can shake a stick at"!

On my long drive home, I pondered the less than stellar note and started replaying the presentation in my head. Having no clue what I was looking for (although it should have been totally obvious in this case), I actually broke out the presentation and went through it again as soon as I got home. It was the second time through when the problem hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. I taught the "theory" with just a couple of examples and, apparently the person who wrote the note couldn't see past those examples to other uses even after rattling off a couple more. That reminded me of me when I was first exposed to Trigonometry as a kid. The instructor used an example of how to figure out how far away a tree was with an uncross able river between us and the tree and I couldn't imagine ever being in such a position. I lacked the imagination to see what else the technique could be used for and the instructor apparently didn't have the imagination to realize that could be a problem for some. That means that, as the instructor in this case, I had failed to inspire imagination for this one fellow and, with that, learned something new. A rewrite will be done before I give that presentation again.

I don't know what article (edit... just saw your post on which one it was after I wrote most of this) your "lovely friend" took exception to but I can well imagine that it might have been the article titled "Rulebreaking Developers" and, despite the very good intentions of the article, may have pushed a Developer that's been shot at and missed, s__t at and hit way too many times. Between the title of the article and the reference to Devs possibly engineering the cheater software on their own, I can see some sensitivities coming into play that the rest of us may not understand or even be aware of. It could even be someone who was in such a situation and was told to write the software that way and when that person tried to do the right thing and protested, their job may have been threatened.

Much like that note I got, the person writing your note left no real specifics (certainly less that what I got)... which means that the chase is on and when you realize what the possible problem might be, then you will have learned a whole bunch of stuff that you might not have known/figured out without the less than helpful criticism. Does it mean you did a bad job? Hell no. It just means that you missed something, probably a sensitivity.

As a bit of a sidebar, I had no opportunity to ask the person that wrote the note to me why they thought the methods taught were very limited. You, on the other hand, could ask the person for more information as to how they were offended and what you might have done differently. It may or may not be good information but at least you'd know. If the information is offered, rather than try to justify or counter anything in the response, I'd just post "Ok. I'll take a deeper look at this. Thank you for your help and your time". I remember you doing something similar for me way back when a particular member of this forum was getting carried away with his responses (and it wasn't Celko, believe it or not).

Heh... and remember that such things usually aren't personal (although they sure as hell sound like it). They're usually based on some lack of awareness, perhaps on the part of both parties as was the case with me.

Of course, I could be totally wrong there. It could be this person is nothing more than an ill tempered troll with a really bad attitude.

Either way, there's something to be learned. 🙂

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

SQLRNNR SSC Guru Points: 281334 More actions · Answer 7

rodjkidd (1/7/2016)
SQLRNNR (1/6/2016)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (12/14/2015)
Jack Corbett (12/14/2015)
rodjkidd (12/13/2015)
Hey Grant,
I have a ticket for Marillion in Boston Friday Nov 4th. 🙂
It's a early show - doors at 6.
I then have one for New York the week after. Tuesday 8th.
Not sure if I will try for a 3rd in between Summit and the those.
They might add extra dates in those cities, they are doing two back to back in Chicago when Summit is on - they normally do two completely different nights then...
But plan at the moment is;
Maybe fly out early enough for Portland, then Summit, go to Boston the following Monday, 4-5 days in Boston, Saturday or Sunday to New York, 4-5 days in New York, fly back end of the week, maybe the Saturday.
So hopefully we can meet up in Boston! Yay
Cheers,
Rodders...
I'm offended now. I think I'm almost as close to Boston as Grant and you don't want to meet up with me? 😛
Rodders overlooked you.
Get it. It's a joke. :w00t:
:hehe:
Wait, where is Jack?
And Jason is baaaaack!
Be afraid, very afraid!
Rodders...

Absolutely!!