The Pace of Information

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The Pace of Information

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

SSC Guru

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November 12, 2007 at 1:15 am

#376968

Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Pace of Information

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Ross Petersen SSChasing Mays Points: 617 More actions · Answer 1

Hi Steve

Well, in general I tend to agree with your thoughts regarding the pace of information. It is something that is forcing me to cull the number of organisations that I have an email subscription to.

As for the accuracy of information from bloggers and journalists - well I cant really comment on bloggers too much as I dont spend much time reading them. As for media organisations/journalists - well I have an active interest in middle east politics and it seems to me that there does appear to be a fairly high level of ignorance in the media even among some journalists that have spent some time in the ME. Whether this is caused by bias or not I am not sure, but I am pretty sure it is.

As far as SQLServerCentral is concerned, I think the info you supply is really excellent.

Anyway, thats my thought for the day.

Keep up the good work 🙂

Ross

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398815 More actions · Answer 2

Slightly off topic...

We had the planet argument in our house too. My daughter was just adamant that there were nine planets and Pluto was one of them. She was ripped at me that I kept saying it wasn't. On a similar vein, the school my kids are attending still count Europe and Asia as two continents despite no physical seperation, but only a political one. When I insist on calling it Eurasia to my kids both of them get incredibly worked up. I really dread when they start learning history...

"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: 1004151 More actions · Answer 3

Are they like restaurants opening without a health inspection?

I couldn't have come up with a better analogy if I tried... there are so many that are absolute rubbish when it comes to good code. Sure, you can get some pretty decent ideas from them, but you have to remember that the author is only doing the best that (s)he can do... you have to be your own "health inspector" on such things and do some tests.

Wise and very colorful frequent contributer to these forums once told me "A Developer must not guess... a Developer must know." Remember that when you grab a slice of code from the WEB or, for that matter, any time you believe in what someone else has written or said. Pretty good idea to keep that in mind when you write a reply to a post, too 😉

And wasn't it the "9th" planet (Pluto) controversy? 😉

--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)

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 735513 More actions · Answer 4

I think we had a 9th planet issue a long time ago, but it was about 5-6 years ago that there was a 10th planet issue. I think it was more the definition of planet, but it certainly got the kids fired up.

There's definitely lots of "bad code" out there, but a lot of that is opinion. If something works well for you, then is it "bad code". Often bad code works as well as good code. Might be easier to define this in the Programming world than anywhere else.

In the rest of the world, hard to know what to believe anymore. After finding out coffee was bad for me, then good for me, then bad for me, I give up. I like my coffee 😉

jay-h SSCoach Points: 18816 More actions · Answer 5

Jeff Moden (11/12/2007)
Are they like restaurants opening without a health inspection?
I couldn't have come up with a better analogy if I tried... there are so many that are absolute rubbish when it comes to good code. Sure, you can get some pretty decent ideas from them, but you have to remember that the author is only doing the best that (s)he can do... you have to be your own "health inspector" on such things and do some tests.

It's not a good analogy. An unhealthy restaurant will get you sick or dead. You don't get to try alternative meals and decide which is better.

Information and opinion is simply that. Reading a questionable website does not preclude from reading more vetted ones (vetting often but does not always mean more accurate). The spontanaety in the mix is probably the most vibrant part of modern communication, information cannot be corralled by official or unofficial gatekeepers.

...

-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --

dduensing SSC-Addicted Points: 442 More actions · Answer 6

The media world is hugely dependant on reputation! I use SSC for information related to the product. The articles are relevant, and generally accurate. I "trust" the data I get here. "Snopes" gives me a place to go to verify internet "tales" if i feel like it's that important. MSDN code is generally helpful if not fully featured and vetted. I don't get my news from "Entertainment Tonight." The source reputation is probably the most important factor in my search for "news."

SqlOnMyMind SSCertifiable Points: 5062 More actions · Answer 7

While I tend to trust information coming from traditional news sources (newspaper and news TV) because I know these sources have to check their facts (yes, that can get botched), I having a nagging doubt about information gleened from the internet. It is way too easy to put faulty or intentionally misleading information on the internet, and do it anonymously. And it is so easy to seach on the internet. So how does one know which links to trust, or how accurate the information is? I have enough background in certain topics to recognize accurate information, but what about children? They haven't developed the critical thinking skills to question accuracy. If it looks like a printed article, it looks like a good source.

Bob Hoffman-209065 Hall of Fame Points: 3224 More actions · Answer 8

Because of the "first in" phenomenon you mention, those that control the media, can control the people long enough to gain power before the truth comes out.

E.G. Presidential race.

:sick:

James Stover Hall of Fame Points: 3363 More actions · Answer 9

I live by this simple philosophy - "Question everything". The Antithesis to "Blind faith".

James Stover, McDBA

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004151 More actions · Answer 10

It's not a good analogy. An unhealthy restaurant will get you sick or dead.

Heh... it's a great analogy... An unhealthy bit of code will make your database sick or dead... worse yet, you may not see any symptoms... then, BOOM! Code "grazers, beware 😉

--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)

MattieNH SSCertifiable Points: 7463 More actions · Answer 11

This is a pretty interesting explanation on the phenomenon of 'remembering'.

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Mattie

Bob Abernethy SSCommitted Points: 1946 More actions · Answer 12

Hmmmm... here I am on a Wednesday reading your article from Sunday. I guess that says something about the "pace of information" too.