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Wednesday, 17 September 2008
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Children's conversation provoking reading list
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General
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The topic came up today, when discussing politics, of "The Little Prince" - one of my all time favorite books. I love books that make you think. It reminded me of the glorious times I shared with my daughter before she was really reading on her own and even after she was reading until about the age of 10, where I read to her. It opened up all types of discussion about the world and how things worked and helped me to share my love of 'thinking' with her. So I thought I would start a list of some of the books that I read to her - I can add to this as more come to mind but here are a few that contributed to serious conversation about the world and how it worked. Of course we read fun books with little lasting meaning but this list is for the rest:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry's
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key
The Silver Crown by Robert C. O'Brien
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03:17 PM
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Monday, 30 July 2007
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Domains for Sale
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Monday, 18 September 2006
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You are making it too difficult.
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General
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About 2 years ago my mailbox was getting overwhelmed with the mail I get from listservers. It seemed I was getting overwhelmed with lack of time to read the posts but couldn't bring myself to just delete the incomng unread mail. I moved all of my lists except one to my gmail account, which has been a godsend, and it has greatly helped with my time management. I kept one listserver in my regular inbox - 'sqlqueriesnocode'. This morning I was thumbing through the entries that came yesterday and saw this one - the subject was "join sql server and oracle table on openquery select statement". The poster showed his tables and his query that was not working and was asking for help. I read it quickly - assumed I had no input on a sql/oracle query (it also was rather confusing) and moved on to the next post.
Then I saw Arnie Rowlands answer and it changed my attitude about a lot of things in just a moment. It changed my attitude about the tasks I am facing today, including a job interview. I have to share this post with you. The first line of Arnie's response was "You are making it too difficult." The answer was a very simple join. I think many times I tend to focus on 'that which I don't know' instead of 'that which I do know'. I believe it is a matter of attitude that could make such a monumental difference in the way we approach everything. I could have answered this post had I possessed a different attitude towards the content. Facing my first job interview in several years I have been focused on all of the skills that I don't have, the things I don't understand and negating the things I do know, the things I don't even have to think about anymore. This was a great realization for a Monday and frankly may have an impact on my approach to everything that is to come ~ R
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05:03 AM
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Monday, 25 April 2005
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I'm gonna BLOG about YOU!
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Personal Rants | General
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It happens every time I have EXCEPTIONAL customer service. And isn't that the factor that makes the difference in most comparable products. It all boils down to people. Quick response when frustrated with a product brings a certain type of joy that is incomparable. Quite likely good customer service makes such an impact because we have all spent countless hours of our lives on hold, only to get a rude, incompetent person on the other end who has never used the product. I don't use the term "exceptional customer service" lightly. It must have all of the factors - patience with what may often be just a user error, competence with the product in question, timely response; because whether they are patient and competent if they do not reply in a timely manner then your initial frustration only grows. Of course when we speak of exceptional customer service I must preface this with the fact that the product must be supportable - in other words it must be an exceptional product to warrant a mention in this blog.
ASP.Net Email is a phenomenal product. Aleviating many of the automation nightmares we often encounter when dealing with mass mail. We utilize the product for retrieving XML files (sent from Yahoo) to a mail box to parse them and push them into our SQL. The support team has stuck with me through 2 server moves (mailenable and smartermail) and the response time is AWESOME. They offer support lists as well as individual support at no cost and I can't say I have been more pleased with a product for quick install, quick configuration and seamless integration.
Threat Sentry - from PrivacyWare is another one of 'those' products that has changed my peace of mind. It is an intrusion detection system that smoothly integrates with IIS and notifies me when hackers are testing my security. Not only does it notify me via email but it blocks them based on criteria I have set up. The support team again merits an EXCEPTIONAL rating and I can't praise it enough.
A Tale of Two Gates - Automated gates... while this might be a limited audience I have to tell you guys about my recent 'gate experience'. My mother has an automated gate for 2 years. She has had more downtime then uptime and replaced the mother board TWICE. So when I put in a wrought iron fence and decided to spring for an automated gate it was a clear decision that whatever gate I went with it would not be the brand she chose. I got lucky and wound up with an US Automatic gate. Saturday morning my gate stopped working - okay this happens for a variety of reasons - the motherboard has a reset switch, testing lights that trouble shoot the problem, various DIP switch settings to manipulate the gate, etc... I downloaded the manual (Grateful that it was available to download because I have no idea where my originial copy is - ALL manufacturers should offer PDF downloads of manuals!). I then proceeded to trouble shoot according to manual instructions. Nothing! So for kicks on Saturday morning I emailed the support team from the website. 15 minutes later someone calls me - at home - on SATURDAY morning! He spent an hour on the phone with me until we identified what we believed was the issue (a bad charger - resulting in a bad backup battery). He then told me HE WOULD check back with me. I had different priorities for Saturday so when he called I was not around - I had decided to deal with it on Monday. Guess what? 8:00 Monday morning HE CALLED me again. You just don't find that kind of support from most manufacturers and of course once we were ready to get off the phone I paid him the highest compliment "I'm gonna BLOG about YOU!"
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07:14 AM
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Thursday, 4 November 2004
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Holiday Travel
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As the holidays approach and you are examining your travel schedule you may find yourself in need of some new luggage. I own several pieces of Glenroyal - a Scottish line from Checker Leather in Scotland. It is constructed of a heavy yet soft PVC that lasts forever and trimmed in leather. If you shop at GlenRoyalOnline.com you can get a 10% off coupon with Free shipping by using the coupon code "prefcustomer" on checkout.
 The laptop cases are roomy enough for the older Dells and come with an extra small bag for power cord. Several interior pockets and one large exterior pocket. It is lightweight compared to many bags and may not offer as much padding as you would expect from a laptop bag. | The line has everything from garment bags, handbags, cosmetic cases, messenger bags, etc... and makes great holiday gifts.  |
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Friday, 9 April 2004
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Back from the MVP 2004 Summit
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General | MVP
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Inspired by the MVP Summit I have made the committment to start a blog. Thanks to the slick app created by Mike Pope I got it up and running in no time and have mere customization to work on in my leisure. Mike's Blog is located Here.
The MVP Summit was fantastic. The attendees are amazing. Sure a 'roomful of geeks' at first glance, but what a diverse group of people: musicians, authors, artists and the talents go on. Conversation was definately high-level and I am continually amazed at the amount of talent Microsoft has managed to find in thier awardee pool.
Most of the content of the Summit is under NDA but a few comments that I have in general. The labs were great, the information about upcoming additions, programs and improvements was inspiring. The speakers were so good that I hung on every word and am inspired to do great things this year to repay them for the time and money they have invested in me.
More than anything else I think the networking was the best aspect of the Summit. Being face to face with one's peers has a value unto itself. I had the opportunity to visit with several Academic MVP's about an idea I have to start a 'Microsoft Mentor' list for high school students venturing into .Net programming.
I hope I am able to be an MVP, evangelist for Microsoft for many years. Thanks again to all who made this years program available.
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