I've written here a little about how I work during the day, including things like using a stand-up desk (still doing that, by the way). Inspired by a Twitter conversation yesterday, I thought I might explain how I set up my computing environment. First, a couple of important points. I work in Cloud Computing, specifically (but not limited to) ...

I work from home – and I would find it difficult to work any other way. For decades I’ve worked in traditional offices, cubicle-farms, and open-plan work areas. I find them too bright, too loud, too distracting, and in some cases, too depressing to be effective. Working from home offers me a zero-commute, largely stress-free way of working that I ...

This is a continuation of the books I challenged myself to read to help my career - one a month, for year. You can read my first book review here. The book I chose for January 2012 was: The Elements of Persuasion by Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman. Why I chose this Book: As I mentioned in a previous review, I think good storytelling is an ...

I do a little speaking here and there and I’ve been asked about the method I use to get ready for a talk. I thought I might share the method I use, although as you read through this remember that not everyone has the same style, processes and procedures they use. As long as you feel prepared when you speak and the audience learns something from ...

This is a continuation of the books I challenged myself to read to help my career - one a month, for year. You can read my first book review here. The book I chose for July 2011 was Rhetoric, by Aristotle. You can read it here for free: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8rh/ Why I chose this Book: I read this long ago, but I would ...

I normally post technical topics here on this blog, but I’m extending this post a bit to include a little professional development. Don’t worry; there’s some tech (and Distributed Computing tech, no less) in this post as well. I recently presented a few sessions on a “SQL Cruise” to Alaska (more on that here) and one ...