Restarting

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve written anything.  I have lots of excuses for not writing, but none of them are rally valid.  There are 2 real reasons for why I haven’t been writing:

1. Writing is hard work for me and I wanted to be lazy. 
2. I don’t want the blog just to become a place where I announce events I’m involved with and where I comment on things PASS is doing that I don’t agree like.

My plan is to try to get at least one blog post out a week that hopefully teaches someone something and also post what I’m up to.  To try to keep up with that I’m working on getting a head start by scehduling educational posts in advance.  I hope to stay 3-5 weeks ahead so there isn’t pressure to get a post out today.

I know there are a ton of blogs out there, and odds are, my posts won’t be anything earth-shattering, but it is a way to share what I’m learning, and if I learned it recently I’m sure someone else out there hasn’t learned it yet either.

Thanks for reading and I hope that, my future posts will be of help to you.

An Explanation of Why to Use Stored Procedures

I wish I was a smart as the guys I interact with on sites like SQLServerCentral and Twitter.  Paul Nielsen, @PaulNielsen on Twitter, has an excellent blog post today on Why Use Stored Procedures that I think is a must read for everyone involved with SQL Server.  I am a huge advocate of stored procedures and Paul does much better job explaining the why’s than I ever could. 

So thanks Paul, now I have someplace to point the nay-sayers.

Favorite blogs and why I read them

Over the last several months I have added to the blogs I read and I thought I'd share my favorites and the ones I find the most useful. I'll also share the newsletters and web sites I like.

Blogs:

It Depends - Andy Warren. This is not always a deep technical resource but there is helpful information on Professional Development, Speaking, and SQL Server. I like the fact that he posts often and that his posts are usually fairly short and to the point.

SQL Musings - Steve Jones. Another well rounded blog that has some personal, general professional development and SQL Server content. Again regular posts and not long.

Rock's Thoughts - Chris Rock. More of a .NET blog. I like Chris's writing style which is informal and usually entertaining along with informative. He shares real-world problems and solutions. He hasn't posted as regularly as he was, but when he does post it is worth reading.

Scary DBA - Grant Fritchey. Grant is a guy I have encountered in the forums on SQLServerCentral, and based on the quality of his answers, I started reading his blog.

Bart Duncan's SQL Weblog - Bart Duncan. Good blog on msdn for performance tips.

In Recovery - Paul Randal. If you want to know about SQL Server Storage Engine and recovery techniques, this is the place to go.

SSIS Junkie - Jamie Thomson. A great blog on SSIS.

What do I look for in a blog? Regular posts, real-world problems and solutions, and a variety of topics. I'm not interested in BOL regurgitated and these blogs regularly provide information that I can use in my job.