Data: The Asset/Liability Paradox
December 2, 2025
This post is written by a human; all errors and omissions are the author’s responsibility. Data is not a cliché. We’ve all heard from technical vendors that “Data is the new oil”, and “Data is our strategic Asset”. While those statements have a ring of truth, they lull us into a false sense of security. They emphasize only the positive aspects of creating, obtaining, storing and
Good, Clean, Fair: It’s Time for a Slow Data Movement
November 3, 2025
When you sit down at Rick Bayless’ Topolobampo restaurant, you aren’t rushed into a menu. Instead, you start on a narrated journey. You hear about Chef’s own experience of Mexico. You are told and can read about that journey. As you go on this vicarious journey, it’s brought to life before you with each thoughtfully
The Age of Data Advocates Has Begun
October 7, 2025
I watched Bob Ward demo vector search in SQL Server at the NYC PASS road show in late August, and I have a confession that I’m not proud of. I felt that little knot in my stomach that every DBA knows too well. His pre-recorded PowerPoint videos typed a few commands, asked questions in natural
It’s The Data, Stupid
November 6, 2014
No Offense I mean no offense by the title. The title goes back to American election politics. Someone somewhere (James Carville said this in 1991 about the focus of the campaign he managed for Bill Clinton.. Forgot that, but I found it in about 8 seconds because of fast data in the cloud). I’m not
Microsoft Loves Your Big Data
October 12, 2011
This week at the SQL PASS Summit, Ted Kummert – Corporate Vice President of the Business Platform Division at Microsoft (think SQL Server) made an announcement in Wednesday’s keynote presentation. It is an awesome announcement for companies who have “big data” (think semi structured or even unstructured large data sets. Think data that is perhaps