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Tuesday, December 2, 1998 Dear SQL Server Professionals, The purpose of this message is to provide you with the latest information about the Heartland Users Groups' SQL Server SIG. This e-mail message was sent to you as a "blind copy" to protect your privacy. Please feel free to forward this message on to whomever you feel may have an interest in the Heartland Users Groups and/or the SQL Server SIG. If you wish to be removed from this e-mail list simply send a reply to this message and indicate so. NEXT SQL SERVER SIG MEETING: Thursday, 12/03/1998 ************************************************************ The December SQL Server SIG meeting will be held on Thursday, December 3, 1998 at 5:30 PM. This meeting will be hosted at the offices of Analysts International Corporation, located in the Broadway Summit Building, 3101 Broadway, Suite 101, Kansas City, MO. This building is situated on the SOUTHEAST corner of 31st Street and Broadway. AIC's offices are on the first floor. Please use the entrance located on the SOUTH side of the building. Parking in the building lot is FREE. Rob Kraft will be presenting "Optimizing Performance with RDO and DAO". Rob is works for Advanced Technical Solutions (ATS) as a software developer, is the leader of the VB SIG, and is a former SQL Server instructor. GENERAL INFORMATION ************************************************************ 1. The regular meeting time for the monthly SQL Server SIG meeting is 5:30 PM on the first Thursday of every month. This time is in effect for all SQL Server SIG meetings for the rest of 1998. 2. Please let me know if you have an opinion about what time to hold SQL Server SIG meetings in 1999. Some persons have expressed that 5:30 PM is too early to allow for some persons to attend. I need to know your feedback, whether it is in favor of 5:30 PM or for another time. Please submit your feedback to me via e-mail or by telephone (see below for contact information). 3. Here is the schedule for the next three SQL Server SIG meetings: a. Thursday, December 3, 1998 @ 5:30 PM at AIC, 3101 Broadway, Suite 101 b. Thursday, January 7, 1999 @ time and place TBA c. Thursday, February 4, 1999 @ time and place TBA VOLUNTEERS WANTED ! ! ! ************************************************************ The SQL Server SIG board is looking for two volunteers to serve as the SIG's membership chair and programs chair. Please contact me or any other SQL Server SIG officer if you would like to volunteer to serve in either position. See the following web page for descriptions of the duties of all of the SQL Server SIG offices: http://home.gvi.net/~spyder/sqlofficers.html . Also, we are always looking for volunteers to be presenters for SQL Server SIG meetings. If you or someone you know is interested in presenting a topic of interest to SQL Server professionals, please contact me or any other SQL Server SIG officer. MEETING PLACE WANTED ! ! ! ************************************************************ We are still looking for a place to hold our January and February 1999 SQL Server SIG meetings. Please let me or any SQL Server SIG board member know if you are aware of a suitable place that can accommodate up to 30 persons. UPCOMING HEARTLAND USERS GROUPS EVENTS ***************************************************************** All Heartland Users Groups' meetings are open to the general public. Joining the Heartland Users Groups entitles you to receive door prizes and the monthly newsletter. Please consider joining -- an annual membership is only $25.00. You can obtain a membership form at any of the Heartland Users Groups' events. Thursday, December 3, 1998 at 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM SQL Server SIG -- Rob Kraft presents Optimizing Performance with RDO and DAO At Analysts International Corporation 3101 Broadway, Suite 101, KC, MO See http://home.gvi.net/~spyder/sqlserver.html for details Monday, December 21, 1998 at 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM General Meeting - Holiday Networking Party At Johnson County Community College Room GEB 233, OP, KS see http://www.hugkc.org for details COMMENTARY: "The Oracle Challenge" ************************************************************ In apparent retaliation for the deluge of favorable press SQL Server 7.0 has recently received, Oracle is offering up a $1,000,000 reward to the "first person who can demonstrate that SQL Server 7.0, with a 1-terabyte TPC-D database, can come within 100 times of Oracle's best published performance for query number 5 of the current TPC-D specification (Version 1.3.1)." It seems very interesting that Oracle would want to bring attention to itself and the TPC standard given the bad press Oracle received in 1993 when Oracle was widely accused of tampering with their product in order to achieve favorable results with the TPC benchmark. To judge for yourself, search for the keyword 'Oracle' on the following web page at TPC's web site: http://www.tpc.org/articles/tpc.overview.history.1.html . In the final analysis, MS/SQL Server is still the hands-down winner of TPC's award for the best performance at the least cost. And judging by the prominence of the challenge on the front page of Oracle's web site http://www.oracle.com, this seems to give veracity to the general notion that Oracle really _IS_ getting scared of SQL Server. SQL SERVER JOB OPPORTUNITY ************************************************************ Analysts International Corporation (AIC) is looking for a SQL Server DBA. Requirements are 2-4 years of experience as a SQL Server DBA, 2-4 years of writing front-end applications that interface with SQL Server, knowledge of Crystal reports or other ODBC reporting tools, and good oral and written communication skills. This is a full-time contract-for-hire position located in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Analysts is a high energy high tech consulting firm. Pay is competitive and commensurate with experience. Interested parties may e-mail resumes to mailto:kc.jobs@analysts.com, FAX them to 816.531.5636, send them via snail-mail to AIC, Broadway Summit Building, 3101 Broadway, Suite 101, Kansas City, Missouri 64111-2416, or call 816.531.5050 for additional details. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS ************************************************************ The Heartland Users Groups' home page is at: http://www.hugkc.org . The SQL Server SIG's home page is at: http://home.gvi.net/~spyder/sqlserver.html . Feel free to offer any ideas for improving the SQL Server SIG's page or for adding any links. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, criticisms, and/or referrals of persons who may be potentially interested in the SQL Server SIG.