Book Reviews

Book Review: The Education of an Accidental CEO

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ April 19, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

This past weekend while doing some Spring cleaning I came across this book on my bookshelf. I read it last year and found it to be a great read but for one reason or another I never got around to writing up a review. I forget how I came across the book to begin with, [...]

SQL University – Creative Writing Week

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ April 14, 2010 ⋅ 6 comments

Last Fall I was the Basketball Coach for SQL University, and I loved being back on the hardwood. Some days I think the best place to be on a Friday Night in the Winter is in your home gym getting ready to play some hoop. Writing for SQL U last FALL helped bring back some [...]

How Many Faces?

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ April 2, 2010 ⋅ One comment

Looks like I had an excerpt from my book published over at CTOEdge.
The excerpt includes my “shards of broken glass comment” with regards to merge replication. The exact context is as follows:
“I would rather eat shards of broken glass than implement merge replication, but that’s just me. Some people make a great living eating [...]

Chris Hansen and Code Reviews

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ March 30, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

About a year ago I blogged on how I thought Chris Hansen would make a great DBA. A few people said they liked that blog post and I loved the idea of getting Chris Hansen involved but he has yet to return my phone calls, emails, or telepathic messages.
Anyway, as I [...]

Forewords for DBA Survivor

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ March 17, 2010 ⋅ One comment

I wanted to give a big thanks to Kevin Kline (blog | twitter) and Buck Woody (blog | twitter) for writing the forewords to my book. I put them on their own page at http://dbasurvivor.com, as well as posted a blog entry for them.
I’m not sure I could ever thank them for taking the [...]

My Book Has Arrived!

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ March 15, 2010 ⋅ 17 comments

Today I got home and found a package on the steps…in the rain. The box was addressed to me, had yellow police tape across the top, and a green sticker that said ‘AUTHORS COPIES’.
I brought the box into the house and eventually opened it. You can get more of an idea how I felt by [...]

SQL Server Training Resources

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ March 10, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

I get asked from time to time to recommend SQL training resources. Many times the question is more about free training, as most everyone would like to avoid having to spend money (in good times, and in bad, but especially in bad). The trouble with anything free is that you get what you pay for. [...]

Book Review: The Tipping Point

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ February 25, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

At least one of the readers to my blog (either Mom or Dad) should recall how I previously did a review of the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. At some point it was suggested to me that I should read The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, [...]

Good Way To Start Your Day

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ February 23, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

I have a lot of things to read on a daily basis. Some of them are recreational, but most of them are aligned with my technical interests. It is rare for me to have the time to sit down and read one book from cover to cover. So I have started reading a handful of [...]

Book Review: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

By Thomas LaRock ⋅ February 4, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

I recently finished this book and wante to share it with everyone. John C. Maxwell has written other professional development and leadership books. If you are familiar with his other works, and liked them, then you will like this one as well. The book is an easy enough read and Mr. Maxwell does a great [...]