What makes a good man? When I contemplate this question, I think about the Boy Scout Law – the standard of excellence for men – young and old alike... ]]>
If ever there was a document that needs to be perfect in every way, it better be your resume, and every word needs to be spelled correctly with excellent grammar. If you don't have enough attention to detail to create a perfect resume, there's only one file that your resume is headed towards: the circular file.
Enjoy your day, Scott]]>
I returned to the movie theater and spoke with the "professional" behind the window. She paged the manager, and supposedly the manager would search the theater for my missing wallet.
Of course, it wasn't found. The manager took my name and cell phone number and promised he would call me if it turned up.
I spent the rest of that Sunday night and the following Monday calling all of my credit card companies - at least the ones that I could remember. I also had to order replacement health insurance cards. As for the most miserable task of all, I also had to go and visit our local driver's license office. TALK ABOUT A WASTE OF LIFE AND PRECIOUS TIME!!! Ordering a replacement driver's license took over FIVE hours!
I lost my cards. I do not have the account numbers.
Since I don't have the account numbers handy, it is completely aggravating trying to reach a human. Each call probably takes at least 10-15 minutes longer than it should. Fortunately, once you reach a human, they can look you up via your social security number.
So, in light of worldwide health concerns, it seems to me that it is important to choose your friends wisely. This photo was just too cute not to share.
And remember to wash your hands continuously.
And don't touch anything or anyone, especially in a public place.
Wear leather gloves, leather boots, leather pants, and a leather jacket in public if you must go out, and cover your face too with a mask.
Well, maybe this is getting a little carried away. 
Stay safe,
Scott
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IBM is kicking off a Smarter Planet initiative. Let's have a look at how a little bit of DB2 performance tuning can have a substantial impact on your organization. Watch this short 9 minute video:
As you hopefully saw, Database Performance Management plays a pivotal role in achieving GREEN IT and IT Cost Optimization Initiatives. By adding "the right" missing index, response times tumbled from 6-9 seconds to sub-second, CPU utilization dropped from 100% down to 5-15%, and Power consumption dropped by 7%.
DBI provides the tools you need to identify "the right" indexes so that you can be an IT Cost Optimization Hero within your organization. For Oracle professionals, check out
In other news, I've done some interesting research lately on GREEN IT, cost cutting, saving power, and the value of performance management and tuning. I hope to blog about this soon on www.ibmdatabasemag.com.
In the meantime, I encourage everyone to remain focused on personal growth and achievements that are within the power of your control. Daily personal successes make it easier to deal with national and international news.
Have a fantastic day,
Scott]]>
I hope your holidays are filled with good family memories.
Kind regards,
Scott]]>
Do you only have a general practitioner doctor? Do you see an oncologist when you have a tooth ache? If you were diagnosed with terminal cancer, would you not seek treatment advice from multiple doctors and then select the one with the most promising methods? I hope that you will not have your general practitioner or family doctor perform your heart bypass if you need one.
If your one neck to choke vendor only sells hammers, soon your problems may begin to all look like nails. Have you considered an alternate vendor that provides nail guns?
If your one neck to choke database vendor wants to sell you his or her performance tools, isn't that like having the fox watch the hen house?
DBI helps hundreds of customers around the world run their businesses faster and more efficiently. During calendar Q2 2008 DBI ran a Tune Your Database for Charity contest. 100% of the databases submitted were ripe with performance problems, inefficiencies, or substantial "opportunities for improvement". Remarkably, over half of the contestants already had licenses for the database vendor's performance tool. The contest winner was able to shave hours off data warehouse end user queries by using DBI's performance tools.
If you are faced with GREEN IT initiatives and performance management challenges, I assure you that DBI can help you be successful beyond your wildest objectives. We are the oncologists of DB2 LUW and Oracle database performance and efficiency. If you have another name brand database, please see a proctologist. We are not one neck to choke and do not aim to be, but every customer gets my cell phone number and I welcome calls 24x7 if DBI's products or services ever fail to please you.
Do you have Sam Palmisano's cell phone number? Larry Ellison's? Vinny ..]]>
The big press release hit at 1am EDT earlier this morning for distribution around the globe. Much to our chagrin, around 9am EDT our web site tanked. Too many hours later, our provider got us back online.
I guess this is what is meant by "bleeding edge". When you innovate and you do things that capture the world's attention, I suppose it is probable that you take a beating along the journey.
No matter how hard it is being a trail blazer when it comes to helping IT organizations lower their costs AND simultaneously improving business performance, we will be relentless in our pursuit of being helpful. So, please pardon our occassional imperfections. We will emerge from each growing pain a little stronger.
With best regards,
Scott
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