All posts by Craig Murphy

Community, Developer Events, Podcasts, SQLBits-10/2007

035 – SQLBits – Simon Harriyott – On SQLBits and Dave McMahon in a wig…

21/10/2007 Craig Murphy

On Dave McMahon:
“always entertaining seeing Dave…this time was no exception”

“whatever else…you’ll remember Dave in a wig”

On Martin Cairney:
“definitely knows his stuff”

On the event:
Always something worth seeing

Very well organised…timetable has been well organised

SQLBits, the sponsors: Microsoft | Idera
Quest Software | Solid Quality Learning | redgate

Simon and Microsoft’s Andrew Fryer at the bowling (Andrew’s got another great picture here.)

Welcome to podcast#35. Simon Harriyott sat down with me to chat about SQLBits, the sessions he attended and Dave McMahon’s spectacular close to his Top 10 SQL Keywords session (a video of this can be found below!) Simon’s other interest, as noted in this podcast are the Sussex Geek Dinners. Simon works for madgex, alongside Jane who also attended SQLBits.

Recorded live after SQLBits, some background music can be heard…and I’ve left one tannoy announcement in for Elaine Marshall’s benefit. That’s more of my comedy genius coming through – can’t you tell?

A Mac in Microsoft is going to feel a bit nervous

I guess it’s the most hostile environment in the world for a Mac [being used to deliver a presentation in a Microsoft building]

Podcast feed – subscribe here!

This podcast: http://www.craigmurphy.com/podcasts/035-SQLBits-Simon-Harriyott.mp3

Recorded at SQLBits, 6th October 2007, Dave does a good job entertaining a packed room of 120 delegates in a Top of the Pops style!

Video: SQLBits – Dave McMahon – Top Ten SQL Keywords

Technorati Tags: Simon Harriyott, Sussex Geek Dinners, GeekDinner, Sussex, BarCamp, MadgeEx, Dave McMahon, , SQL, SQL Server, Top Ten SQL Keywords, NxtGenUG, Top of the Pops, DDD, DDD6

Community, Developer Events, Podcasts, SQLBits-10/2007

034 – SQLBits – Liam Westley, Matt Barrett discuss SQLBits and Dave McMahon

20/10/2007 Craig Murphy 1 Comment

On Dave McMahon:
“the man needs a national tour…he’s a living legend”

“no embarrassment factor…will do anything to make a talk a great.”

On the event:
Really good day…very enjoyable…I do like these days out

Very impressed…definitely be back at another [event]

SQLBits, the sponsors: Microsoft | Idera
Quest Software | Solid Quality Learning | redgate

Welcome to podcast#34. Liam Westley, a DDD speaker and SQLBits GrokTalk speaker, sat down with me to chat about SQLBits, database encryption, Dave McMahon, rugby, F1 qualifying and what he wears under his kilt. Matt Barrett joined us quite early on in this podcast.

Inflection. Pen sponsored by Idera.

Recorded live after SQLBits, some background music can be heard…and I’ve left one tannoy announcement in for Simon’s benefit!

Liam’s write-up:
SqlBits – notes from grok on using NTFS file encryption to secure SQL Server databases on laptop computers

Podcast feed – subscribe here!

This podcast: http://www.craigmurphy.com/podcasts/034-SQLBits-Liam-Westley-Matt-Barrett.mp3

Recorded at SQLBits, 6th October 2007, Dave does a good job entertaining a packed room of 120 delegates in a Top of the Pops style!

Video: SQLBits – Dave McMahon – Top Ten SQL Keywords

Technorati Tags: Liam Westley, Matt Barrett, Burns Night, Haggis, kilt, boxer shorts, deboxered, de-boxered, Dave McMahon, inflection, SQL, SQL Server, Top Ten SQL Keywords, NxtGenUG, Top of the Pops, DDD, DDD6, new sexy stuff coming out of Microsoft

GTD

Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero Google Tech Talk

20/10/2007 Craig Murphy 1 Comment

I’m a great fan of the Inbox Zero approach to productivity. Indeed, I’ve managed Zero E-mail Bounce (ZEB) myself and it feels great – it can be hard staying there though.

The man behind Inbox Zero gave a Google Tech Talk back in July. Here it is in all its glory:

Technorati Tags: Inbox Zero, Zero E-mail Bounce, productivity

Community, Developer Events, Podcasts, SQLBits-10/2007

033 – SQLBits – Colin Mackay on SQLBits and events in Reading

20/10/2007 Craig Murphy 3 Comments

SQLBits, the sponsors: Microsoft | Idera
Quest Software | Solid Quality Learning | redgate

On Dave McMahon’s Top 10 SQL Server Keywords
Dave’s a fantastic presenter…he puts on a really good show.

On Richard Fennell’s SQL Server Unit Testing
It was absolutely stowed out…really interesting session

On events at TVP, SQLBits, DDD
Brilliant events…well worth it…absolutely enjoyed coming down [from Scotland]

SQLBits…been a fantastic day…technical content…social content…a good mix.

Colin showing his recent acquired Channel 9 guy!

Welcome to podcast#33. In this show, I’m talking with Colin Mackay. Colin was an attendee and room monitor at SQLBits. Recorded live, in the bowling alley after the SQLBits event, there is some background noise, apologies for that!

Podcast feed – subscribe here!

This podcast: 033-SQLBits-Colin-Mackay.mp3

Related Resources
Scottish Developers

Recorded at SQLBits, 6th October 2007, Dave does a good job entertaining a packed room of 120 delegates in a Top of the Pops style!

Video: SQLBits – Dave McMahon – Top Ten SQL Keywords

Technorati Tags: Colin Mackay, SQLBits, Channel 9, C9, Channel 9 Guy, Dave McMahon, SQL, SQL Server, Top Ten SQL Keywords, NxtGenUG, Top of the Pops

Community, Developer Events, Podcasts, SQLBits-10/2007

032 – SQLBits – Martin Cairney on Securing SQL Server

20/10/2007 Craig Murphy

SQLBits, the sponsors: Microsoft | Idera
Quest Software | Solid Quality Learning | redgate

Welcome to podcast#32. In this show, I’m talking with Martin Cairney. Martin delivered a session at SQLBits all about Securing SQL Server. Recorded live, in the bowling alley after the SQLBits event, there is some background noise, apologies for that!

Podcast feed – subscribe here!

This podcast: http://www.craigmurphy.com/podcasts/032-SQLBits-Martin-Cairney-Securing-SQL-Server.mp3

Technorati Tags: Martin Cairney, SQLBits, Securing SQL Server

On blogging, Opinion

When you receive bad/poor customer service…what do you do?

20/10/2007 Craig Murphy 2 Comments

Receiving poor customer service is somewhat unacceptable. More so if you have paid for a service and aren’t receiving it.

Paul is enduring such customer service pain and has blogged about it here.

Companies need to understand the power of the Internet – and whilst it’s a current medium, the power of the blog should never be under-estimated.

The effect that bad publicity can have on your search engine rankings can be devastating. One need only search for “company name+suck” to realise why. See what I mean here.

Here’s another example.

Technorati Tags: carphone warehouse, customer service, poor service, poor customer service, bad service, bad customer service, search engine rankings

Community, Developer Events, General, Podcasts, SQLBits-10/2007

031 – SQLBits – John Van Hoof

19/10/2007 Craig Murphy 1 Comment

“Great conference, really enjoyed, it has been fantastic, well worth the Saturday”

SQLBits, the sponsors: Microsoft | Idera
Quest Software | Solid Quality Learning | redgate

Welcome to podcast#31 – In this show I’m talking to John Van Hoof. John asked me about Martin Cairney’s session about Securing SQL Server, which I knew very little about. So I invited John to follow me to the speaker’s area where I knew Martin was busy prepping – unorthodox perhaps, but Martin was very willing to “sell” his session! SQLBits. Watch out for a podcast with Martin – coming soon!

“So you came to SQLBits to pick up some bits”…I’m in the wrong business, move over Peter Kaye, Ricky Gervais, you’re on my comedy turf.

Podcast feed – subscribe here!

This podcast: http://www.craigmurphy.com/podcasts/031-SQLBits-John-Van-Hoof.mp3

Recorded at SQLBits, 6th October 2007, Dave does a good job entertaining a packed room of 120 delegates in a Top of the Pops style!

Video: SQLBits – Dave McMahon – Top Ten SQL Keywords

Technorati Tags: John Van Hoof, Whofit, SQLBits, Dave McMahon, SQL, SQL Server, Top Ten SQL Keywords, NxtGenUG, Top of the Pops

Community, Developer Events

Deep Lean Seminar : Nov. 3-4, Cambridge, MA.

19/10/2007 Craig Murphy

A two day deep dive into lean software development success

Further information can be found here:
http://www.agilebazaar.org/DeepLeanAgenda.htm

Only do things that deliver value to the customer!
Focus on high priority/high payback features first!
Eliminate waste – especially in corporate processes!
Don’t do it unless the customer wants it!
Decide as late as possible!
Deliver early/deliver often/deliver good!
Build high performance teams – and then keep everything that doesn’t add customer value out of their way!

A seminal 2-day event at MIT in Cambridge, MA. with Mary & Tom Poppendieck, Jeff Sutherland and Nancy Van Schooenderwoert.

This will be a unique opportunity to be in a relatively intimate conversation with these Lean/Agile/Scrum/XP thought leaders for two days. This will be an in-depth discussion of Lean/Agile/Scrum software development challenges, principles and practices. The event is all volunteer run and produced by the Agile Bazaar, an Agile Alliance Affiliate and newly an ACM chapter in the Boston Area.

For one competitive price, you will get:

2-day registration covering all presentations and workshops
A formal set of lecture notes
Breakfast, lunch and snacks
You are invited to dine and socialize with the speakers and volunteers at a local restaurant on Saturday night (all participants are responsible for their own expense).

Deep Lean is an in-depth seminar targeted to people familiar with Lean, Agile, Scrum and XP software development. For those needing more background, we recommend reading Mary & Tom Poppendeick’s first book: Lean Software Development – An Agile Toolkit in advance of the seminar.

Technorati Tags: Lean, Agile, Scrum, XP, Mary Poppendeick, Tom Poppendeick, Jeff Sutherland, Nancy Van Schooenderwoert

Community

Win two tickets to the Web 2.0 Expo in Germany

18/10/2007 Craig Murphy 1 Comment

Sarah has two tickets for the Web 2.0 Expo, you could win yourself a ticket!

Further information can be found here:

http://girlygeekdom.blogspot.com/2007/10/web-20-student-competition.html

I should add that this is a “Ladies Only” or “Girly” offer!

Technorati Tags: Sarah Blow, girlgeekdom, Germany, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Expo

On blogging

Comment Spam – The Return?

18/10/2007 Craig Murphy 5 Comments

I’m starting to see a handful of spam comments getting through.

They are taking the form of “…wrote an interesting post today on…” – the “person” making the comment and their URL look reasonable enough, except the URL points to a copy of the original post and a shed load of useless adverts. For example:

[…] The Social Programmer wrote an interesting post today on DDD6 – The Recruitment Panel – Your help is needed!Here’s a quick excerpt Colin needs your help! Whilst we’re still voting for the DDD6 sessions, … : Founder of Girl Geek Dinners and software Engineer at Cardinal Health. She has grown up around technology … Insurance Services in Glasgow. His team writes enterprise applications for internal customers using […]

The same trick has come from a couple of domains, I’m tempted to blacklist anything that has “wrote an interesting post today on”, however not right away.

Has anybody else hit upon this problem? Any solutions?

I’m using WordPress 2.3 with Spam Karma. I’ve not looked at Akismet, should I be running that too?

Thanks in advance.

Technorati Tags: WordPress, comment spam, Spam Karma, Akismet

Community, Developer Events, General, Jobs

DDD6 – The Recruitment Panel – Your help is needed!

17/10/2007 Craig Murphy

Colin needs your help! Whilst we’re still voting for the DDD6 sessions, Colin is keen to prepare this session! If you can spare some time, and the panel topic interests you, would be kind enough to consider providing Colin with “your question”?

Thanks in advance.

A panel of experts will answer audience questions on the subject of recruitment – chaired by Colin Mackay. This session is for you if you are looking for a job and want to find out what companies are looking for. You are trying to hire someone but don’t know what to look for. You have been burned in the past and don’t want to repeat the experience. You have a question about recruitment no one else seems to have an answer to.

There will be a question box on the day for you to post your questions, but if you want to email in advance, you can email your questions to colin@scottishdevelopers.com.

Submissions by email close at 23:59 on the 23rd November.

The panel consists of:

Sarah Blow: Founder of Girl Geek Dinners and software Engineer at Cardinal Health. She has grown up around technology and HR with parents in both industry sectors and works closely with Women & Technology and companies to create a better understanding about how women may be recruited in different ways to men.

Barry Dorrans: Senior consultant for Charteris PLC and Microsoft MVP. When interviewing he takes the red pen and becomes intellisense for whiteboards.

Frank Kerrigan: Development team lead for Erinaceous Insurance Services in Glasgow. His team writes enterprise applications for internal customers using C# and SQL Server. Frank has been in devolvement and support of enterprise systems for 15 years.

Karl Lightfoot: Recruitment Consultant that for the last 9 years day in day out has only been recruiting developers in the Midlands region for the largest IT Recruitment consultancy in the UK. He has successfully recruited for large and small corporations through different market states of the supply / demand of talented Developers from Visual Basic 3 to .Net 2005.

Technorati Tags: DDD, DDD6, Panel Discussion, Colin Mackay, Barry Dorrans, Sarah Blow, Karl Lightfoot, Frank Kerrigan

Podcasts

New poll – brand my podcasts!

17/10/2007 Craig Murphy 4 Comments

A good buddy has suggested that I get a name for my podcast “show”.

I kind do like “Murphy’s Minutes”, however since that would be stepping on the toes of the mighty Scott Hanselman, so I’ll refrain from that.

I’m toying with the idea of “In Conversation”, as in “Craig’s in conversation with …” And I’ve received some feedback that suggests this might work.

However, since I’m a democratic kind of guy, I’d be interested to know what you think: there’s a poll on the right hand side of this blog – would you be so kind? Thanks muchly!

Feel free to suggest other names in the comments.

The right hand side is this ——————> way!

Craig Murphy: author, blogger, community evangelist, developer, speaker, runner