Problems displaying this newsletter? View online.
Database Weekly
The Complete Weekly Roundup of SQL Server News by SQLServerCentral.com
Hand-picked content to sharpen your professional edge
Editorial
 

What Sport Would You Play?

We’re halfway through the Olympics, with all the usual drama – highs, lows, special interest stories - and even a surprise hero in Yusuf Dikec at the 10-meter air pistol (the memes have been strong with this one). As I was talking with my children this week, one of them asked, “So dad, what sport would you do if you could wake up, not have to change anything about yourself, but could be at the top of a sport?”

Wow, good question.

This led to a discussion about the myriad of sports that we don’t normally watch, or quite honestly, had no clue it existed at the Olympic level. (I’m looking at you Trampoline, Canoe Slalom, and Flag Football - coming in 2028). The answers were surprising as we went around the room. One child said that they would do rowing. Another mentioned the new sport, Break Dancing, or Canoe Slalom. After a few minutes, they realized that I hadn’t given an answer yet. “Tick-Tock dad.”

I enjoy my indoor rower for exercise, so rowing was a reasonable option. There was also my newfound interest in the 10-meter air pistol thanks to Yusuf. Fencing is just cool. And Badminton is intriguing simply for the speed and reflex required.

But then I finally realized what I’d probably want to compete in given no limitations. And not just one event, but an event of events. The Modern Pentathlon. Fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, running, and laser pistol shooting. (BTW, did you know that the competitors have to ride a horse that they’ve never met before?) It’s such an interesting mix of events.

As we talked about it, I realized that one of the reasons the pentathlon appealed to me is because of that variety. I admire athletes that dedicate years of their lives perfecting their skills at one sport, but I don’t think it’s something I could do. In life, exercise, and work, I enjoy variety and making connections across different disciplines and interests.

Now, I don’t know enough about biomechanics to understand if somehow the skills needed for each of these events correlate in some way with each other. But I imagine that the focus and quick reflexes of fencing, for example, correlate with the ability to shoot a target in the middle of a run.

I see the same thing in my professional career. Over time, as I’ve gained knowledge and experience in one area of technology, it often has a positive impact on my abilities in another area. Particularly as the speed of change increases within our profession, I see the need for this cross pollination more and more. And, as I’ve said often, community plays a big part in how I get exposed to developing areas in the data platform space. Conferences, conversations, and well curated emails with links to new trends are just some of the ways that I stay sharp and keep from atrophying in any one discipline.

There are many opportunities coming up this fall to make some of those connections for yourself. SQL Saturday events continue to increase, there are some excellent webinars to consider, and even a larger event like PASS Data Community Summit in November is available to attend. Nearly every positive change in my career over the last 18-20 years started because I was in the right place to hear and learn about a new aspect of technology and data. There’s just something about being in a space with many people that have diverse skill sets, all desiring to spur others on. It’s a catalyst for growth and change.

I’ll leave you with two questions consider this week as the Olympic games head into the final week of competition.

  • Where do you find opportunities to learn from other related skill sets in the data community?
  • What sport would you compete in if you woke up tomorrow with the skills to perform at an elite level?

Cheers!

Ryan Booz

Join the debate, and respond to the editorial on the forums

 
The Weekly News
All the headlines and interesting SQL Server information that we've collected over the past week, and sometimes even a few repeats if we think they fit.
Vendors/3rd Party Products

Have your say in the State of Database Landscape Survey!

The database landscape is constantly evolving, driven by major technologies like Artificial Intelligence that are now widely available. Which new technologies and trends are most important for you, and how will these impact your career trajectory? Join our latest survey to explore the current hot topics and have the chance to win one of x2 $250 Amazon vouchers.

AI/Machine Learning/Cognitive Services

New Research in Detecting AI-Generated Videos

From Schneier on Security

The latest in what will be a continuing arms race ...

OpenAI has released a new ChatGPT bot that you can talk to

From Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories

OpenAI is rolling out an advanced AI chatbot that ...

What has ChatGPT got to do with Baseball Umpiring?

From The Bit Bucket

What many people who follow me don't know, is that I spent a lot of years playing baseball. Early on I played third base, later I pitched, and my...

Administration of SQL Server

Regular Expressions to Generate Disable/Drop Index Scripts

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

Earlier this year, I embarked on a bit of a projec...

Check Constraints And Query Performance In SQL Server

From Erik Darling Data

Check Constraints And Query Performance In SQL Ser...

Finding Where xp_cmdshell is Used

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

I saw a post recently where someone was concerned ...

Azure Databricks, Spark and Snowflake

Tracking Task History in Snowflake

From Curated SQL

Kevin Wilkie is interested in just one thing: By the table function name, you’re probably wondering “Sherpa, why on Earth do I really need to…

Querying History By Sessions in Snowflake

From Sherpa of Data

Last time, we talked about a query using the Query...

Community Interests

Kilt Day!

From Scary DBA (Grant Fritchey)

This is a quick blog post to announce that I am reviving Kilt Day at PASS Data Community Summit. Over the last few years… ah hell, let’s just say...

Our State of Database Landscape Survey is back! Have your say on the latest industry technology and trends

From Blog – Redgate Software

The database landscape is constantly evolving and, with major technologies such as Artificial Intelligence now emerging, it’s changing the landscape permanently. In 2024, we’re seeing many advances in technology...

Conferences, Classes, Events, and Webinars

Save on PASS Summit 2024 sponsorship by August 29

The sponsor lineup for PASS Summit is growing fast! AWS were recently announced as a Platinum Sponsor and Google Cloud as a Gold Sponsor. If your company is interested in generating new leads, raising brand awareness with the data community, and networking with customers and partners, then you might like to consider sponsoring PASS Summit 2024. Don't miss out on our Standard pricing - secure your spot before the next price increase on August 29 at 11:59 PM PT. Request a prospectus today.

Simple Talks - Episode 3 - The Evolution of Database DevOps; listen now!

Listen in to Steve Jones, Grant Fritchey and Ryan Booz discussing the evolution of Database DevOps, from the concept's origins to its significance today. This is episode 3 of Simple Talks, the new podcast brought to you by the Simple Talk team.

The full agenda for the Redgate Summit New York is live!

The full agenda for the Redgate Summit New York is live! Join us to stay ahead of the curve and gain valuable insights from industry experts such as Bob Ward (Microsoft), Mri Pandit (Navy Federal Credit Union), Erik Darling (Darling Data), Steve Jones (Redgate Software), and many more. Click above to view the full agenda and book your spot today.

PASS Summit Futures Scholarship revealed

To help mark Redgate’s 25th birthday, the company has launched a new initiative to foster knowledge and skills in the data industry. 10 students or early-career professionals will be awarded a complimentary 3-day ticket to this year’s event, as well as US$2000 to help fund travel, accommodation and other expenses. Students and early-career professionals who are passionate about database development and management, who might not otherwise get to attend the conference, are encouraged to apply now. The deadline is August 23, 2024.

Fall is around the corner, and hence the PASS Data Community Summit, too

From Simple Talk

Welcome to the dog days of summer in the Northern ...

5 Ways to Spend Your 2024 Learning and Development Budget in the US

From Simple Talk

Not many data professionals get a personal Learnin...

Introducing the PASS Summit Charitable Organization Scholarship

We’re pleased to unveil the PASS Summit Charitable Organization Scholarship, with support from Microsoft, to help make the conference as accessible as possible. 16 individuals working in the charity sector will receive a 3-day ticket to this year’s event. The scholarship aims to support those who may have limited access to learning and development budgets, enabling them to experience the magic of PASS Summit for the first time. The application deadline is August 23, 2024 - apply today.

Data Science

Generate a report with generative AI | Data Exposed: MVP Edition

From Azure SQL

A data source (Azure SQL / MI / Fabric) may genera...

MDX/DAX

Row context in DAX explained visually

From Sqlbi

This article describes the DAX row context using a...

Row context in DAX explained visually

From Sqlbi

A visual representation of the DAX row context hel...

How to Slice Data by Fiscal Month using DAX for Power BI Reports

From MSSQL Tips

In this article, I explain how to set the current fiscal month identity in a calendar table using DAX for Power BI when dealing with fiscal periods.

Microsoft Fabric ( Azure Synapse Analytics, OneLake, ADLS, Data Science)

Security considerations when using GitHub with Microsoft Fabric Git integration

From Kevin Chant

Reading Time: 5 minutes In this post I want to sh...

Microsoft Fabric: Capacity Cost Management Part 3, Pause Capacity During Christmas with Azure Logic Apps

From BI Insight

In the first blog post of this series, I explained...

CI/CD for Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouses using GitHub Actions

From Kevin Chant

Reading Time: 6 minutes In this post I want to cover CI/CD for Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouses using GitHub Actions. I want to do this post for various reasons. Including the fact...

PostgreSQL

Andrei Lepikhov: Designing a Prototype: Postgres Plan Freezing

From Planet Postgres

This story is about a controversial PostgreSQL fea...

Security News and Issues

Hackers Race To Win Millions in Contest To Thwart Cyberattacks With AI

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Computer scientists brainstorm in Pentagon-backed ...

T-SQL and Query Languages

The World is CASE Expressions

From Curated SQL

Chad Baldwin re-enacts the astronaut meme: Well…not really, but a handful of functions in T-SQL are simply just syntactic sugar for plain ol’ CASE statements and I…

SQL ROUND Function vs. Bankers Rounding with T-SQL

From MSSQL Tips

In this article, we look at rounding values using ...

flyway

Using TOML Configuration Files with Flyway

From Product learning – Redgate Software

This article discusses Flyway's transition from CO...

 
RSS FeedTwitter
This email has been sent to {email}. To be removed from this list, please click here. If you have any problems leaving the list, please contact the webmaster@sqlservercentral.com. This newsletter was sent to you because you signed up at SQLServerCentral.com. Note: This is not the SQLServerCentral.com daily newsletter list, and unsubscribing to this newsletter will not stop you receiving the SQL Server Central daily newsletters. If you want to be removed from that list, you can follow the instructions on the daily newsletter.
©2019 Redgate Software Ltd, Newnham House, Cambridge Business Park, Cambridge, CB4 0WZ, United Kingdom. All rights reserved.
webmaster@sqlservercentral.com

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -