The John Barker Mentoring Project

John Barker retired from the US Air Force in or around 1975. He returned home to rural Blackstone Virginia, in part to help care for his aging parents. He had experience in electronics as a technician and built a Southwest Technical Products M6800 computer kit. Although I’m not sure this is an accurate image of …
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As 2022 Closes, I am Grateful…

I write this 26 Dec 2022, about half a week before the end of 2022. How was 2022 for me – personally and professionally? This year was pretty good. For that, I am grateful. God is good. Personal I am aware of – and pray regularly about – troubles in the world. Some are closer …
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On Experience

The following images (from FreeCell) illustrate a couple points about: Net Promoter Score (NPS) Experience Image 1 For the purposes of this post, please imagine the FreeCell win percentage is our Net Promoter Score (NPS). Image 1 displays a perfect NPS. But note something the NPS does not include – the number of games played (and …
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How to Stand Out and Gain Followers on Social Media

How’s that for click bait? Does Unsolicited Stuff Bother You? I have to admit, some unsolicited stuff bothers me. It’s one thing if I sign up for a newsletter or follow an account. It’s different if someone visits a contact form on my site and spams me. I have a personal rule to never, ever, …
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Why I Rarely Criticize

First, I do criticize. Sometimes I criticize publicly. Please realize my public criticism follows a series of events that has involved private criticism. In Business Some criticism in business is comparison. Other criticism is competition. I recently learned about “negative SEO.” I must admit, my reaction was part horror and part nausea. “Why would anyone …
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Enterprise Data & Analytics and SentryOne

I am honored to announce Enterprise Data & Analytics is a SentryOne Consulting Partner! We began communicating regularly with SentryOne soon after they acquired the SSIS people and products from Pragmatic Works. Becoming a partner just made sense because we have been recommending Task Factory and LegiTest for years. We are honored and excited to …
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Biml, Book Reviews, and Metadata-Driven Frameworks

I occasionally (rarely) read reviews at Amazon of books I’ve written. If I learn of a complaint regarding the book I often try to help. If a reader experiences difficulty with demos, I often offer to help, and sometimes I meet with readers to work through some difficulty related to the book (as I offered …
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Two (or More) Kinds of Developers

I’ve made statements about “two kinds of developers” for years. These statements are false inasmuch as all generalizations are false. The statements are not designed to be truisms. They are designed to make people think. Last week – while presenting a full-day pre-conference session at the PASS Summit 2018 and again when delivering a session …
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Free Stuff for People Who Give Back: Announcing 2019 Scholarships

Do you work for a charity or non-profit organization? Submit your application today. I haven’t advertised this in the past and… I’m not sure why: I donate licenses for SSIS Catalog Compare and (non-free) SSIS Framework Editions – and subscriptions to Biml Academy and SSIS Academy – and Enterprise Data & Analytics Training – to individuals who …
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