Things to make my life easier

Filed in Apple | Blackberry | Blogging | Google | Grooveshark | Microsoft | Netflix | Windows Home Server Leave a comment

I thought it was time to put together a little list of my favorite computer things i use to make my life easier.  No big deal just the things i use everyday no matter if I’m at work or at home. I find myself using these products all the time.

Hope you enjoy my list and post comments and share your thoughts

1) Evernote – I first found the app for my the iPad before i knew about the website. But it’s be came one of my favorites and there’s a desktop version and one for my blackberry too.

2) Grooveshark – This is one awesome little music service no need to download the music or playlist you can stream it from anywhere. They even have a app for blackberry’s too.

3) Click for more screenshotsiPad – Web browsing, video, music, and wide range of other things all in the palm of your hand.

  1. Flipboard – It’s like a magazine with my twitter and facebook feeds.
  2. Keynote – I can make amazing presentations on it very quickly and wow the hell out of people.
  3. RDP Lite – in case i get inspired to do some real work from it and it’s free.

4) Toggl – I love this program it helps me manage my Jaycees development task and hours.

5) Lifehacker – All around good reading and excellent tips

6) Google Doc’s – It’s like Microsoft Office but free and online.

7) Windows Home Server – Every need a file on your home pc while on the road? well this little thing can serve you up the files from anywhere anytime.

8 ) Google Chrome – it’s not just a another browser it’s one of the fastest ones out there and i like how fast it loads pages on my laptop and desktop.

Favorite Business Intelligence Blogs

Filed in Blogging | SQL | Work 1 Comment

As I start to dive deeper into the Business Intelligence area I’ve started putting together a list of my favorite blogs covering this area, in no particular order.

SSIS Reference Points

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This is a shout out to my former team member learning about SSIS packages for the first time and getting ready to move from SQL 2000 to SQL 2008. Here’s some good reference points for how to do the basics.   Now before you call me and ask what does SSIS stands it stands for SQL Server Integration Services. So below is a couple links that i found i think you may find helpful in your new adventure.

Some Awesome SQL Development Blogs  
http://jessicammoss.blogspot.com/ http://www.sqlservian.com/
http://adventuresinsql.com/ http://sqlblog.com/blogs/andy_leonard/
http://www.sqlis.com/sqlis/ http://www.brentozar.com/
http://agilebi.com/jwelch/ http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mattm
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson/ http://blog.sqlauthority.com/
http://crysmanson.com/ http://thesqlagentman.com/
http://jesborland.wordpress.com/ http://sqlchicken.com/
http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/paul/ http://sqllunch.com/Default.aspx

Virtual Meetings For Free

Filed in Blogging | Jaycees/JCI 2 Comments

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You every want to plan a project or host a committee meeting virtually but don’t have a conference call imagenumber of your own or know where to start?  Well your in luck thanks to a little company called Dimdim you can now host online meetings, trainings, and brainstorming sessions from the comfort of your own home for free. Dimdim is a software company that provides a web-based platform for real-time, rich-media  collaboration and meetings. Dimdim provides free web conferencing service where users can share desktops, show slides, collaborate, chat, talk and broadcast via webcam. Dimdim was recognized in 2009 as a up and coming startup and received many awards over the years. Dimdim is free for meetings under 20 people and only 25 dollars month for meetings larger then 20 but with that extra cost you get tons of premium features such ask online meeting logging meeting attends automatically and recording of the meeting and online signups of the meetings. Which comes in handy for tracking who attended your training and allowing for people to sign up for it up for them online.  Dimdim is a awesome product i found out about from Kevin Rose and it comes in handy so often. if you have questions about it let me know and i would love to tell you more about it.

Documenting Isn’t That Hard

Filed in Blogging | Work Leave a comment

Just like the title said it’s not that hard and it one of the most important things in software and process fridgeNotebookHack.jpgdevelopment is the the Documentation part. But it’s most often the most over looked do to time and no short term benefit. But long term after the developer has forgotten what they did back then the documentation they have written will still be there for the next developer to come along and revise, enhance, or just get a better understanding of what is taking place and how it done. Below are a couple of things everyone should remember when documenting.

  1. Don’t forget to spell check, what you say will live on forever so try not to look so dumb with all the spelling error. As for grammar who cares right? your a developer not a English teacher.
  2. Process flow charts are golden, everyone likes pretty pictures and maps to follow.
  3. Show samples, though the reader may not understand the code work they can at understand the references you put in front of them.

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