Are the posted questions getting worse?
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Michael Earl (2/13/2009)
Roy Ernest (2/13/2009)
Allright... Thanks for the explanation..Did you see this question?? :ermm:
Don't you regularly export relational database systems to an Excel file?
[font="Verdana"]Absolutely. One table per tab, and then a whole bunch of macros to enforce referential integrity. And with Excel 2007, I'm sure I can get my entire data warehouse into one Excel Spreadsheet... :P[/font]
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Adi Cohn (2/13/2009)
I noticed that many people write about the importance of backing up the databases. For some reason, I hardly see remarks about importance of testing the restore procedure.[font="Verdana"]When I was doing site audits, this is something I stressed: trial restores needed to happen once a month for every system being backed up. That included doing things like recalling backup media from off-site and the like. This ensured that not only where the backups working, but the DBAs where familiar with the process of going through an emergency restore.[/font]
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Michael Earl (2/13/2009)
I've always preferred someone with common sense and troubleshooting skills and wants to work over someone with a pile of certifications and lots of letters after their name.I've often found that experience counts for more than certificates.
The problem is that recruitment agencies and HR departments find it a lot easier to check for certification than experience.
Derek
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bitbucket (2/13/2009)
His presentation was on scripting a routine which would convert a character field (standard character set not the extended character set) to all upper case characters. Further the routine had to be modular enough to be able to be utilized in other SSIS packages by creating a dll and then simply click and have it loaded into the new package.I would have hoped the presentation would have started with a comment explaining that the function was merely an example chosen for simplicity since you'd normally use the builtin UPPER function. If it didn't then I think I'd want a refund!
Derek
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David Webb (2/13/2009)
Most of the DBA folk I have worked with came from non-computer science educational backgrounds. Our current DBA at my place of employment is a cartographer by training. My degree is in psychology. When I left college, all I was really qualified to do was to shock rats, so naturally I became a DBA. 😛It does take a particular mindset to be good at this work: curiosity, analytical thinking skills, a willingness to experiment, a smattering of non-linear thinking, and, eveidently, a deeply seated love of sarcasm.
I've been doing management stuff for the last 3 years and I hope to get back into the technical arena before too long. My boss keeps telling me I should use all I learned about psychology when dealing with my staff. I tell him they won't stand still long enough for me to attach the electrodes to their legs.
Sounds like perfect training...
Take a rat. Drop it in a maze. If it takes the wrong path, it gets shocked. If it takes the right path, it gets a reward. Always remember the rats can learn but can act quite stupidly.
Take a user. Give it a computer. If it does the wrong thing, it loses all its data. If it does the right thing, it gets the report it wanted. Always remember that users can learn... 😀
Derek
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bitbucket (2/13/2009)
shhh tell no one, but heck it was better than using a slide rule to do the calculations.I still have my slide rule and can even remember how to use it. 🙂
Derek
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This isn't actually a bad question, but my thought when I read
louisevb (2/16/2009)
I have decided to change my career from accounting to Database Developer (BIG change . . BIG challenge), so i am a complete novice!!was that my advice would be to go back to accounting!
In my experience, most accountants seem to earn a lot more than most developers!
But perhaps the work is more interesting... 🙂
Derek
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Derek Dongray (2/16/2009)
This isn't actually a bad question, but my thought when I readlouisevb (2/16/2009)
I have decided to change my career from accounting to Database Developer (BIG change . . BIG challenge), so i am a complete novice!!was that my advice would be to go back to accounting!
In my experience, most accountants seem to earn a lot more than most developers!
But perhaps the work is more interesting... 🙂
My first supervisor at my last employer came from accounting. He found he liked it better. In accounting they wanted him to do everything by hand, and he found it easier and faster to have the computer do the work.
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Derek Dongray (2/16/2009)
Sounds like perfect training...Take a rat. Drop it in a maze. If it takes the wrong path, it gets shocked. If it takes the right path, it gets a reward. Always remember the rats can learn but can act quite stupidly.
Take a user. Give it a computer. If it does the wrong thing, it loses all its data. If it does the right thing, it gets the report it wanted. Always remember that users can learn... 😀
BWAA-HAA!!!! At least rats remember that something caused pain! I've got a developer that ran some code that they took out of production because it took too long to run. The developer looked at the code and decided it was what he wanted to do... for our largest client. It created a cross join between a 2 million row table and a 700 thousand row table. Thankfully, he tried it during the day and I was able to catch it, but only after it had caused TempDB to expand to almost 200 gig! (Note that the "Systems" DBA's didn't catch the explosive growth).
After notifying the developer, killing the job, and getting TempDB back down to a reasonable 9 Gig (the boot value), I sent a priorty email to the developer with the "world" on copy saying not to run the code as it was ever again and explained why. That's was at 5:30PM... I started my 70 minute drive home.
After another hour went by, I get a call on my cell phone from one of the big dogs saying that the "world" had come to a stand still and they didn't know what was wrong. The developer was on the call, as well. Despite my warnings, they had run the code I said not to run, again. I got up to 4 WTF's per minute and I think they finally got the idea I was pissed... especially since I don't yet (I'm a contractor) have remote access. I had to walk the developer that caused the problem through the repairs. Talk about the mouse guarding the cheese...
So, my take is that a rat can learn by pain... users, especially developers who are "put on the spot" by their bosses because of schedule, cannot or will not. 😉
--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) -
Derek Dongray (2/16/2009)
bitbucket (2/13/2009)
shhh tell no one, but heck it was better than using a slide rule to do the calculations.I still have my slide rule and can even remember how to use it. 🙂
I've still got a slide rule and still know how to use it... but it's a whole lot different that what most people have used... it's a "circular" slide rule... keeps you from having to throw the stick back and forth. Ya just gotta remember each time you pass "GO". 😛
--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) -
Derek Dongray (2/16/2009)
David Webb (2/13/2009)
Most of the DBA folk I have worked with came from non-computer science educational backgrounds. Our current DBA at my place of employment is a cartographer by training. My degree is in psychology. When I left college, all I was really qualified to do was to shock rats, so naturally I became a DBA. 😛It does take a particular mindset to be good at this work: curiosity, analytical thinking skills, a willingness to experiment, a smattering of non-linear thinking, and, eveidently, a deeply seated love of sarcasm.
I've been doing management stuff for the last 3 years and I hope to get back into the technical arena before too long. My boss keeps telling me I should use all I learned about psychology when dealing with my staff. I tell him they won't stand still long enough for me to attach the electrodes to their legs.
Sounds like perfect training...
Take a rat. Drop it in a maze. If it takes the wrong path, it gets shocked. If it takes the right path, it gets a reward. Always remember the rats can learn but can act quite stupidly.
Take a user. Give it a computer. If it does the wrong thing, it loses all its data. If it does the right thing, it gets the report it wanted. Always remember that users can learn... 😀
A guy in my class in high school did an experiment where he setup a simple T-shaped maze where a mouse could go either left or right to see if they could learn the difference. If they went left, they got food; if they stayed at the start or went right they got shocked.
None of the mice ever learned, because the shock was too powerful; it was from a charger used by farmers for electric cattle fences. When the mice got a shock, they would jump violently, and then set trembling in fear until they got the next shock. Apparently a shock designed for a 1,000 pound animal with half-inch thick skin was a bit much for a mouse.
If there is any value to this story (other than don’t let a high school boy experiment on small animals), it’s that too powerful a punishment does nothing to help the learning process.
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Michael, did he end up on MythBusters?
😀
Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]
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Alvin Ramard (2/16/2009)
Michael, did he end up on MythBusters?😀
Heh... I would think more like "MouseBusters". 😉
--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) -
Jeff Moden (2/16/2009)
Derek Dongray (2/16/2009)
bitbucket (2/13/2009)
shhh tell no one, but heck it was better than using a slide rule to do the calculations.I still have my slide rule and can even remember how to use it. 🙂
I've still got a slide rule and still know how to use it... but it's a whole lot different that what most people have used... it's a "circular" slide rule... keeps you from having to throw the stick back and forth. Ya just gotta remember each time you pass "GO". 😛
I used to have one of those too, but can't remember where it is now (I wouldn't have thrown it out! :))
"throw the stick back and forth" - also known as an "end switch":
1. Move cursor to slide end.
2. Move slide (opposite end) to cursor.
3. Move cursor to stock position needed.
Mine was made by British Thornton, so from looking at the pictures here, it must be a model P.I.C.221. I don't think mine has the letters PIC on it.
Derek
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Ooookay. You know, I am just going to resist the temptation to whip mine out and compare here.
😀
[font="Times New Roman"]-- RBarryYoung[/font], [font="Times New Roman"] (302)375-0451[/font] blog: MovingSQL.com, Twitter: @RBarryYoung[font="Arial Black"]
Proactive Performance Solutions, Inc. [/font][font="Verdana"] "Performance is our middle name."[/font]
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