Vineet Gupta

Ken Henderson is updating his SQL Architecture book for 2005 and is looking for some feedback. Please do visit this blog entry and offer your suggestions.

 

Barely out of IDF and I am off to Sri Lanka. It is Tech Ed time in Columbo!!!

 

This time I am not speaking on the SQL Server track, that honor is with Vinod. I am talking on the systems infrastructure track - a session on SQL Server and one on Biztalk Server 2006. The BTS session has me totally excited! I think this is the first time anyone has talked about BTS in Sri Lanka. So this should be pretty cool.

 

I am also doing a lab on SQL Server T-SQL Enhancements and XML Enhancements, and a session with the academia on Data Mining using SQL Server.  The IDF Lab on Data Mining was a big hit so this session should be well taken too.  I am particularly happy that this is with the academia - I have noticed that the academics don't leverage our products as much as they can. I had lots of academics in my lab at IDF and they were excited to find that Data Mining can be so approachable. Hope SQL gets a similar reception in Sri Lanka.

 

Details on TechEd Columbo are here!

 

Check out http://www.oazabir.com. In the words of Omar Al Zabir, the creator of the site,

 

"This site presents exact Windows 2000™ user interface with all its outstanding UI concepts and user-friendly environment. 

This site does not use Macromedia Flash™. It also does not use any ActiveX or Java Applet either and thus keeps you safe from worms and viruses. Whatever you see here is the marvel of pure DHTML, JavaScript and CSS.

 

Good design, rich user eXPerience, and enjoyable surfing, all can be achieved without using costly technologies and this portal shows you how."

Isn't this really outstanding work? I am totally impressed!!!!

 

My sincere apologies to folks who attended the IDF lab today. I got late reaching the venue and nothing gets worse than that. Vinod gamely started the lab on time and I am so grateful to him for stepping in. While this is no excuse for my delay in showing up, read on to find out what happened today.

 

The lab was scheduled to start at 2:00 pm, and I had planned to take the early morning flight but my wife was rather unwell. So forced between not going at all or taking the next flight, I took the latter option. This one starts at 9:50 am, and lands at 12:30 pm. But not when you take off ninety minutes late. The flight left only at 11:15 am. It was eventually late by one hour so I landed at 1:30 pm and … well, 30 minutes is just not enough time in Bangalore.

 

What caused the delay? Apparently, the Airspace above Delhi was closed for two hours in the morning from 8:00 am to 10:00 am. And then it got extended to 11 am. That means that no aircraft could take off or land at Delhi in that timeframe. You may wonder, why, there must have been something really serious going on for this to happen. After all, the morning hours see the highest air-traffic, and for the airspace to be closed in this period, something really critical would have happened.

 

Nothing like that. Believe it or not, but the Airspace was taken over the Indian Airforce for some air-display practice runs for the forthcoming Air Force Day on 8th Oct! Or at least that's what we were told. This could be true - there were helicopters doing some complex maneuvers over the Delhi Airport. But it does not sound convincing to me. I do not think the civil aviation authorities are so stupid as to allow the airspace to be closed in peak hours for some air-display practice runs. What makes it worse is that the Airlines had no clue about it. I was traveling on Jet Airways, and they are typically quick to inform passengers on delays. No call came. Not even at the time of boarding were we told that the flight was delayed. And I am sure this would have been planned several days in advance. Or at least it should have been planned several days in advance.

 

So what was going on? Why make the passengers suffer? Why make the Airlines suffer losses in business? For practice-runs on air-displays? Why the failure on informing passengers about the delay? Would someone from Indian Airforce or Airports Authority of India or Jet Airways please respond?

 

As for me, this is the last time I am cutting it so close. Risking bad user experience of hundred-odd folks is just not worth it. And the anxiety is killing.

I am in Bangalore tomorrow and day after at the Intel Developer Forum where I am doing a lab on Data Mining using SQL Server 2005. BTW, if you follow that linkm you'll find that they've got the title of the lab wrong - it's mentioned as SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. The session abstract is correct.

 

I am not alone in this; my good friend, fellow SQL junkie and SQL MVP, Vinod Kumar from Intel is joining me for the lab. Vinod is a fun guy to be with and knows more about SQL Server than I ever would. I am really looking forward to doing the lab along with him.

 

So if you are attending IDF, don't miss the lab - Data Mining in SQL Server 2005 is more powerful than you thought, and it is certainly a lot of fun!!