Gentlemen, Start your Word Processors

I am one of three authors of the Microsoft Press book on Developing/Programming for SQL Server “Yukon” due out when the product ships. Last night I met with fellow authors Andrew Brust and Bill Zack at Andrew’s house and discussed the final outline, chapter assignment and writing schedule. Bill has written an article on the new SQL Server Service Broker for SQL Server magazine, so look for that in the March issue and I have written and article for MSDN magazine for the February issue on the new TSQL improvements, IDE and CLR Stored Procedures. These of course are excepts from chapters, so the writing process has officially begun.

This is going to be a great book since we will target .NET developers more than the DBA, while covering all the administrative features and tools. Since performance is as much of a developer concern as DBA concern, expect lots on performance tuning and optimization. I can’t post the outline and sample chapters here just yet (stay tuned, one day I can), but I can tell you we cover everything from soup to nuts. I was assigned (actually asked) for the chapter on XQuery, XML and the XML Datatype. Clemens must find that so funny!

Movin' On Up

Like George and Wese. Today is moving day.

Not sure how much Linda will miss me, but Andrew must be happy to get his room back.

Do you like what I’ve done with the place?

Saw Matrix Revolutions last night and it was good and bad. If you saw the first two you need to see it. Lots of eye candy in the fight scenes, but the movie ran out of gas in the end.

Linux on the Desktop

Not anytime soon. This actually bums me out, I would like to see what the competition would do to Microsoft. From ZDNet:

“Linux is seen by Microsoft as its most dangerous competitor for desktop operating systems, and after a number of high-profile cases where government departments have switched from Windows to Linux-based systems, the OS has been making some progress. However, Red Hat said that the hype around desktop Linux is still mostly unfounded at the moment.

Matthew Szulik, chief executive of Linux vendor Red Hat, said on Monday that although Linux is capable of exceeding expectations for corporate users, home users should stick with Windows: "I would say that for the consumer market place, Windows probably continues to be the right product line," he said. "I would argue that from the device-driver standpoint and perhaps some of the other traditional functionality, for that classic consumer purchaser, it is my view that (Linux) technology needs to mature a little bit more."

An Evil Company Forcing Expensive Upgrades

Today an evil company told its customers that it will force an upgrade on its users. The company will discontinue maintenance and errata support for versions 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 8.0 as of December 31, 2003," and that the company will "discontinue maintenance and errata support for version 9 as of April 30, 2004," and that the company "does not plan to release another product in the line." You will have to upgrade to a very expensive Enterprise version.

So you say the boys in Redmond are at it again. Think again, these are Germans. Got this in the mail today. I have a lot to say on this, but will let it sink in, because I predicted this years ago and the Linux crowd created a FUD site dedicated to me. Payback is a bitch.

The email:

Thank you for being a Red Hat Network customer.

This e-mail provides you with important information about the upcoming

discontinuation of Red Hat Linux, and resources to assist you with your

migration to another Red Hat solution.

As previously communicated, Red Hat will discontinue maintenance and

errata support for Red Hat Linux 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 8.0 as of December

31, 2003. Red Hat will discontinue maintenance and errata support for

Red

Hat Linux 9 as of April 30, 2004. Red Hat does not plan to release

another product in the Red Hat Linux line.

With the recent announcement of Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.3, you'll

find migrating to Enterprise Linux appealing. We understand

that transitioning to another Red Hat solution requires careful planning

and implementation. We have created a migration plan for Red Hat Network

customers to help make the transition as simple and seamless as

possible. Details:

****************

If you purchase Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS or ES Basic before February

28, 2004, you will receive 50% off the price for two years.[*] (That's two

years for the price of one.)

****************

In addition, we have created a Red Hat Linux Migration Resource Center

to address your migration planning and other questions, such as:

* What are best practices for implementing the migration to Red Hat

    Enterprise Linux?

* Are there other migration alternatives?

* How do I purchase Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS or ES Basic at the price

    above?

* What if my paid subscription to RHN extends past April 30, 2004?

****************

Find out more about your migration options with product comparisons,

whitepapers and documentation at the Red Hat Linux Migration Resource

Center:

    http://www.redhat.com/solutions/migration/rhl/rhn

Or read the FAQ written especially for Red Hat Network customers:

    https://rhn.redhat.com/help/rhlmigrationfaq/

Sincerely,

Red Hat, Inc.

[*] Limit 10 units. Higher volume purchase inquiries should contact a

        regional Red Hat sales representative. Contact numbers available at

        http://www.redhat.com/solutions/migration/rhl/rhn

--the Red Hat Network Team

Stephen Put on Some Pants, Andrew Brush Your Teeth 

Linda was on a mission yesterday morning to get us up and motivated to watch the NYC Marathon up at Banshee on 1^st and 74^th as she ordered Andrew and I around before breakfast. The runners had awesome weather (sunny and in the low 70s) while we drank some beer and cheered them on. A band was playing in the street and some random runners even kissed random people in the crowd.

While Linda and I are running a marathon on February 26, 2005 in Antarctica, I could not get her to commit to running the NYC marathon with me next year. Kathleen did agree. Training starts this winter.

Its gotta be the shoes (aka a Night of Sin exposed)

The madness known as the Halloween Night Party started around 4pm on Halloween at East Side Nails on Lexington Avenue when the manicurist questioned my decision to paint my nails alternating blue and purple. I spent about 10 minutes picking out the correct colors to match my costume. I should have known, this set the tone for the entire evening.

Linda (a sailor), John (a Scottish man in a kilt) and I (masquerade masked man) picked up Kara (hot chick in red fishnet) in the cab and headed down to the Annual Halloween Festival and Costume Ball in the East Village. Andrew, with his new shows, playing the role of a gay British guy met us there and we got going. The night started off well when we found out that beers only cost $2, so we drank a lot (Please don’t tell Scott Hanselman). After Kara, Andrew and I got our Tarot cards read (it was soooooo scary how accurate it was), we got a little freaked out and had to drink and dance more. Andrew and I took over the stage on one of the dance floors and grooved until it was time to go. I was told that I was very drunk, but I don’t believe them.

As we walked to a bar called the Opium Den, we passed on the Bowery between 2^nd and 3^rd a bunch of homegirls grooving outside of their car. Andrew and I started dancing with them in the street. They got into it and started to smack our butts and one girl really got down with Andrew.

After dancing to some retro 80s tunes at the Opium Den, we decided to head home around 3:30, surprisingly we got the 5 train without any problems. After the 4am McDonalds Big Mac call (where that mean lady who cut us on line called Andrew and I gay), we ran into a bunch of dominatrix chicks across the street from home who whipped us pretty good.

After some beer and watching Governor Arnold in True Lies we finally got to bed around 5am. It was slow going at 2pm when we got up when John and Stephen went to the store and cooked breakfast. As I type this we are sitting down to eat breakfast at 2:45 pm. What a cool night..

Everyday is Halloween

Today for Halloween I am going to dress up as a coder from the future. A future where Longhorn is on my desktop (with the eye candy Avalon graphics), I am coding with Whidbey (refactoring away) against a Yukon database (sorry Clemens). Now that I attended the PDC, I am counting down the days. I am going to start my count, today is day 1.