Writing a Technical Book

I am often asked for more information about writing a technical book. As author or co-author of twelve books focused or touching on technology, I consider myself experienced – not an expert. I’ve noticed “ah-ha” moments recently when sharing insights and advice, so I thought I’d write a post about it. I hope that’s ok. …
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Writing about Apache Storm Stirs Up a Storm

A storm is coming… I’ve been spending some time learning other data integration and analytics open-source-y stuff. Perhaps you’ve noticed recent blog posts like: Apache Storm Stream Processing in Azure HDInsight Achievement Unlocked: Certified in Implementing Predictive Analytics with Spark in Azure HDInsight Achievement Unlocked: Completed Processing Big Data in Hadoop with Azure HDInsight If …
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On Writing

Introduction Brent Ozar (Blog – @BrentO) published a series of posts on experinces authoring his first book. If you’re interested in writing, Brent is fresh from the battlefield and eloquently conveys a sense of the trials and triumphs of the experience. Additional Links Kevin Kline (Blog – @kekline):The Book Writing Business, Part 1The Book Writing Business, …
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#TSQL2sday Has AI Helped you with your SQL Server Job?

This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by my friend and brother from another mother, Pinal Dave. My job title is Chief Data Engineer for Enterprise Data & Analytics and Enterprise Data & AI. So, “Has AI Helped you with your SQL Server Job?” In a word, yes. I can hear some of you thinking, … …
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One Way to Build a Custom GPT

As I stated in my post titled Three Ways to Work with LLMs, I’ve built a handful of custom GPTs. Custom GPTs allow users to configure personal* chatbots. For example, you could base a GPT on your favorite coach or someone famous. You could add more people to the mix for a blend of context. …
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Three Ways to Work with LLMs

I am admittedly fascinated with large language models. I’ve been enamored with the idea of automated assistants since before the days of Microsoft Bob. The notion of a searchable, integrated, digital-life-spanning, automatable solution appealed to me. I can hear some of you thinking, “Why did it appeal to you, Andy?” I cannot articulate a rational answer …
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Fabric: Test-Driving the New Office 365 Outlook Data Factory Activity

In my last post titled Fabric: Load Data from a CSV File Stored in Azure Blob Storage to Azure SQL DB, I documented one way to create a pipeline to load data from a CSV file stored in Azure Blob Storage to an Azure SQL Database in a new Fabric workspace. In this post, I …
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A Procrastination Tale

Late in the evening of 30 Dec, the temperature in casa de Leonard began dropping. The thermostat continued to report a 68°F setting, our setting for cool-ish to downright cold evenings. When I first checked the in-house temperature a little after midnight, the current temperature read 64°F. By morning, the current temperature had dropped to …
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