Database performance is heavily influenced by data volume and cardinality (or how unique that data may be). It’s interesting to watch the look on someone’s face when this concept clicks. There is a look of understanding from a developer when…
When I was in my early thirties, I was diagnosed with a learning disability. This really put my learning style into perspective. Teaching myself via a book was incredibly hard, and still is in some ways. Where I thrived was…
One of the struggles for any well-employed person is to find time for further training and educating themselves. Thus I find that I make a lot of progress toward my data science learning goals on airplanes and from airports. ……
Last year I crossed the line. The IDUG conference in Europe is now my favorite. But the North American technical conference is a very close second. Nowhere else can you get this level of detail and the contacts with IBMers…
This blog entry is designed to serve as a roadmap for current blog entries directed at those newer to Db2. In my mind, this likely includes anyone who has been working with Db2 for less than 2 years. However, often there are areas we spend more time in than others, so I think of these topics also as "spackle" - to fill in gaps for the self-taught. Note that some of the topics below are not links. This is because they're areas I plan to blog about in the future.
What is Db2? This article is one of my few that is not directed at a Db2 DBA or someone trying to fill some of the roles of a Db2 DBA. This is directed, as much as I can manage,…
Once IBM made the Request For Enhancement (RFE) program workable last year, I blogged about it and tweeted about it, but now that we’ve seen more action on it, I thought I’d share some additional details. What is an RFE?…
Recently I was forced outside my comfort zone and asked to vet various open source BI tools. I was a report developer in a past life, a database administrator supporting datamarts at various employers, and even supported Cognos backend databases.…
You may have seen some people posting IBM badges (through Acclaim) that they’ve earned. These are now conferred along with some IBM Certifications, but there are more that you can earn. Unofficial Badge Types You can access and search a…
My favorite weeks of the year are IDUG conferences. I was lucky enough to go to my first European IDUG last year, and I am looking forward to IDUG in Lisbon this year! Overview The IDUG EMEA technical conference is…
Updated 6/26/2017 to include links on details for DSM 2.1.4 and a link to the DB2Night Show replay. June 22 and the week surrounding it brought a number of announcements from IBM about DB2. “Marketing Investment” IBM has recognized that…
As usual, I loved nearly every minute of the IDUG North American technical conference this year. I wanted to share a few highlightsand comments. IBM highlighted and announced several things. Note: these are my memories and notes of things that…