SQL Server R2 Launch Event – May 25th in Santa Clara
Microsoft is launching SQL Server 2008 R2 on May 25, 2010 at the Santa Clara Marriott. Attendees will get have the chance to learn about the new features, ranging from PowerPivot for self-service BI to StreamInsight, the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship database product.
You can register for the free all-day event SQL Server R2 Launch Event here.
Tom Casey, Microsoft’s General Manager for SQL Server BI will deliver the keynote for this event. It looks like I will have the privilege of introducing him. During my introduction, I will provide the details about our new PASS Chapter, the Bay Area Microsoft Business Intelligence User Group.
Here’s a recent interview with Tom Casey on Microsoft’s BI Strategy in SQL Server Magazine.
If you’re interested in learning about StreamInsight, contact me for slides from the May 2010 Silicon Valley SQL Server User Group meeting with Mark Simms of Microsoft’s esteemed SQLCAT.
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Making Software Development Hum
Ron Lichty spoke to SofTech recently. His presentation, Making Your Software Development Hum, contained a lot of useful information for software professionals. Since I manage DesignMind’s custom software development and database teams, I found this topic particularly interesting and valuable.
Ron learned his trade at companies like Apple, Schwab, Berkeley Systems, and Avenue A/Razorfish. He’s Co-chair of SDForum’s Emerging Technology and Software Development Best Practices Special Interest Group. I’ve known Ron since the dot-com boom, and over the years have seen him leverage his large development community following to raise a lot of money for charity, an effort I’ve always admired.
Software development is difficult to be good at individually, and even harder to perfect as a team. This is a discipline where you have to deliver something that works, and if you don’t, it’s obvious. What’s not so obvious, though, is whether you got the job done as well as you could have. It’s worthwhile to look over Ron’s slides and see his suggestions for making your software development efforts more productive and enjoyable.
If you missed Ron’s presentation to SofTech, he’ll be presenting to the East Bay Innovation Group on October 7, 2009.
You can learn more about SofTech’s upcoming meetings here. SofTech is a San Francisco Bay Area business and technology networking group.
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Think Like a Hacker
Think Like a Hacker really got me thinking! Sudha Iyer of LogLogic and Slavik Markovich of Sentrigo spoke to the Silicon Valley SQL Server User Group on how hackers attack databases, and what can be done to reduce their likelihood of success. Sudha gave a good overview of the threats, and about some unfortunate organizations who were vulnerable. For instance, Heartland Payment Systems had a breach exposing 130 million credit and debit cards! How was it done? SQL Injection Attacks.
There are some obvious best practices that should be implemented. Remember the SQL-Slammer worm? Microsoft had closed that vulnerability, but many thousands of servers had not been properly patched.
Slavik talked about basic hacking techniques, ranging from brute force password cracking, and to SQL Injection. He walked us through different forms of SQL Injection attacks, culminating with complete control of an admittedly vulnerable server (as many are). Slavik talked about best practices for securing SQL Server, many of which apply to Oracle, DB2, MySQL, and other databases.
The amount of database talent we have here in the San Francisco Bay Area is remarkable and I can guarantee we’ll be thinking more like hackers at DesignMind. Thanks again to Sudha, Director of Product Management at Loglogic, and Slavik, CTO at Sentrigo, for a fantastic presentation. You can follow Slavik’s Database Security Blog here.
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Twitter: Why I’m Using It
Chances are, you’re either sick of hearing about Twitter or you’re tweeting. Well I’ve been tweeting for about two months now and it’s already paid off. Twitter is easy, informative, and it’s a great way to stay in touch with my software network. You can view my Twitter profile here.
Twitter Users by Age Group
Right now I’m following 387 people and 199 are following me. That means I see the tweets of the 387, and 199 of my digital admirers see mine. I follow people that have similar interests and are in the same loops. You need to have something in common with your Tweeple, and for me, it’s primarily business related. How did I find them? Easy, just go to search.twitter.com
A few weeks ago, someone who knows me saw one of my tweets and it prompted him to drive about 60 miles to the Silicon Valley SQL Server User Group meeting I was hosting at Microsoft in Mountain View. He wouldn’t have learned about the meeting otherwise. I must admit, I was impressed by the power of Twitter.
There are a few folks who I enjoy following on Twitter, like Brad McGehee. Brad was just in San Francisco in March, but he travels worldwide in his role as a SQL Server evangelist for Red Gate Software. Thanks to Twitter, I know that Brad attended the European PASS Conference last week and is on his way home to Hawaii. Brad tweets on the latest news in the SQL Server world, including new books coming out and news from his latest blog posts.
Other folks I follow on Twitter are Tech Bubble (that’s Nik Kalyani of DotNetNuke),TechWatching, ProWebDevBlog, TechCrunch, MSFTBizBuilder, SharePoint Buzz, Database Journal, and (why not) Lance Armstrong.
Tune in later this week when my next blog post will be an interview with San Francisco Bay Area Twitter guru Ted Prodromou on the hows and whys of using Twitter for business.
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