Woodworking and IT

I recently joined the Fine Woodworkers of Austin. It is amazing how many woodworkers are retired from IT careers. There must be something about the engineer in all of us that likes to design, create, solve problems, and actually have something tangible to show for our efforts.

During the last meeting, I brought my cherry end table to “show and tell”. This was my first large, expensive piece of furniture, and I think it turned out quite nice. After the meeting, Charlie Plesums, gave me a few pointers on techniques and design. Charlie is retired IT, a full time woodworker and a part time consultant in the records management field.

Earlier today, I received a phone call for job and since one of the requirements was document control, I gave Charlie a call for advice. Charlie makes a clear distinction between document management and records management. Records Management is concerned with identifying, classifying, and retention of records. Document Management is  more concerned with version control, change management, and approvals. For example in the construction industry, you have a layer for the outside of the building, layers for each floor, layers for electrical, etc. Each layer needs version control and processes to keep track of changes. Charlie was very helpful, and I look forward to seeing him at the next woodworking meeting.

Getting Things Done, (GTD)

Today, I researched online and stand alone applications for “Getting Things Done”.  While I was adding content to my Netvibes home page, I discovered a widget for NOZBE, clicked on the home page, and took the quick video tour. Bottom line – The software is based on David Allen’s “Getting Things Done”. I really like “starring” next actions, instead of prioritizing actions. NOZBE has potential, but I give it a big thumbs down for its clunky user interface. Next, I discovered Vitalist, which has a much better user interface. My only gripe so far, is no calendar. I created a link on my home page, and will be trying it out for a while. Here is a sample screen shot:

Foxpro for McIntosh

In the late 80s, I was into database programming with DBase related programming tools. I took a programming job with a small state agency that, believe it or not, had supplied the entire office with McIntosh computers! This was great job for me, at least for a few years. I got to do everything: design the databases, program the applications, install networks, and troubleshoot performance issues. I also enrolled in my first and only network training course. I found the subject matter, like the 7 OSI layers to be extremely dry.  Later, I came to realize that being a network engineer is a pretty good gig. They seem to be left alone by upper management

As I was writing client-server applications in FoxPro, we ran into performance issues when we increased the number of users. We upgraded the network to Ethernet and tested performance on upgraded client machines. The best performance gain for the least cost, was to move key database indexes on the server to a solid state memory card! This job really got me hooked on databases, database performance tuning, and data modeling.

I started to get bored in this job after 2 years. I also was a little put out that a co-worker with 1/2 the output of myself got exactly the same 3% raise as I did.

GeekAustin Semantic Web Launch Party

I attended the GeekAustin Semantic Web Launch party. This was my first GeekAustin event and their first with a new format of mixing drinks and speakers. I stayed for a few hours and listened to the first speaker, Troy Lane Williams, founder of Questia and now with PeoplePad. I’m not sure how the other speakers faired as drinking continued .

May 20th TDWI Dallas Chapter Meeting

On May 20th, I attended The Data Warehouse Institute, (TDWI), Dallas Chapter meeting. It was a long day trip from Austin, but a good networking opportunity and my first TDWI meeting. The meeting was held at the new Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. It has a large indoor water park and caters to families. If we had one in Austin, I’d be tempted to check in the family for a cheap vacation.

Bill Inmon spoke on The Data Warehouse 2.0 and unstructured data. He really packed them in; I think attendance was close to 160.

For creating an unstructured Data Warehouse, he gave an example of writing a custom parsing engine to tag keywords in Oil and Gas contracts. It has a lot of potential, but he did not give many details. My new friend, Mike Lampa from TeamDNA gave a overview of the recent Chicago TDWI World Conference.

My Resume

I’m currently seeking employment in PMO / program / project / database management.. I’m open to travel.

Here is my current resume: ray_chapman_restxs

Data is King!

Early in my IT career, I decided that I wanted to specialize in data management. My reasoning was that in a profession with ever changing programming languages and applications de jour, databases seemed to provide a stable framework to base a career.

Why is Data King?

Data is the fuel that can make or break most applications. I believe that 9 times out of 10 application programmers will deliver an excellent user interface and correct technologies, but tend to stumble over data models, sql queries, database performance, and general data management. Why is this true? It is true because programmers have a full plate just trying to master their chosen specialties. Do they really have the time or passion to also master databases?

Topics for this Blog

Over the next few months, I’ll be discussing data modeling, database performance, data warehousing, and business intelligence.

Cheers