Ajarn Mark Caldwell Blog

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PASS 2005: D-1 Wrapup

Calling it an early night tonight, many people seem to be exhausted from travels. I certainly am. And the pool was closed by the time we were done with dinner, so no beach ball volleyball tonight. Read more →

SQL Server 2005 Launch Events

SQL Server 2005 officially launches November 7, 2005 with a big launch event in San Francisco, California. But just because you can't get to San Francisco doesn't mean you have to miss out on everything. Read more →

PASS 2005: D-1: Swag & Fiasco

What an adventure already! I got checked-in to the conference and picked up the swag. Once again they have given us a bag to carry our junk. This one appears more durable and better designed than last year's. Read more →

PASS 2005: Getting Ready

The 2005 PASS Community Summit in Grapevine, Texas is just two weeks away! If you haven't started to prepare for it yet, NOW is the time! I assume (as dangerous as that is) that by now you have already completed your registration online and made your hotel reservations. Read more →

Know Anyone Near Dallas, Texas?

Update: Call for Speakers Closed. Thank you to those who responded. I'm working on the PASS program committee to help put together the speaker list for this September's Community Summit. The PASS conference will be at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, the last week of September, 2005. Read more →

MSDN Events: Winter 2005

I just returned from attending the latest MSDN Event (Winter 2005) where once again, we had Rory Blyth as our presenter. The three segments today were WinForms Bonanza, Debugging ASP.NET Web Apps, and Visual Studio Team System. Read more →

MSDN Events: Fall 2004

Today, I was surrounded by celebrities. I went to the MSDN Event in downtown Seattle today where the infamous Rory Blyth, was the speaker. His boss, Paul Murphy was also there. Read more →

PASS 2005: Getting Started

The planning for the PASS Community Summit for 2005 has begun. This year, I am happy to be participating on the Program Committee, helping to build the schedule of speakers and subjects for the Summit in Grapevine, Texas (there is also one in Munich, Germany this, errr, next year). Read more →

PASS 2004: Summit CDs

The new CDs are here! The new CDs are here! I'm a DBA! If you are a member of PASS (Professional Association for SQL Server) then you have been inundated (in the newsletter if nowhere else) with advertisements and reminders to purchase the PASS 2004 Community Summit CDs. Read more →

PNWSQL: Query Execution

At tonight's meeting of the Pacific NorthWest SQL Server User's Group (a.k.a. PNWSQL) we had Craig Freedman from the Query Execution Team at Microsoft talk. Also, as a special treat, Scott Stauffer (a. Read more →

Native Web Services in SQL 2005

Just got back from the local SQL Server User's Group meeting tonight where the topic of discussion was Native Web Services in SQL 2005. There were a few points that stood out, which I will share with you here. Read more →

PASS 2004: D+1 Veritas Keynote

When is a vendor presentation not just a sales pitch? When it actually provides information that is useful whether you buy their product or not. And during the first half of the keynote session on Thursday, Veritas did it right! Read more →

PASS 2004: Other freebies

Kevin Kline, current President of PASS and author of SQL in a Nutshell was giving out free, autographed copies of his book at the Exhibit Hall Reception. Several people waited in line to get theirs and were happy to have a free book. Read more →

PASS 2004: D - 1

While some people like Lance Harra took the time today to attend one of the pre-conference seminars, some of the others of us just relaxed by the pool. Unfortunately, I also had other work to wrap up, so I didn't get as much pool time as I would have liked. Read more →

PASS 2004: Swag

Just got back from breakfast with Graz, Chris, and Denise. Went over to registration to pick up our stuff. So far, we've got a large soft-side laptop case/briefcase. It's thick enough to hold a laptop computer, 3-ring binder, and several other things. Read more →

PASS 2004: D-2

Technically, it's 1:30 AM on Tuesday, but for me it's still 10:30 PM Monday night. After leaving Seattle at 1:30 PM local time, I flew to Kansas City with a screaming child sitting behind me. Read more →