Professor Patrick Winston of MIT used to give a one-hour talk about how to speak. Though Professor Winston is no longer with us, his talk still is. If you want to get better at speaking, even if you're an experienced speaker, I recommend taking the hour to watch the recorded video.

But as I've matured over the years, I came to realize that I needed to ask a critical question, "Who am I doing this for?" When I agree to work crazy hours, am I doing it for me, my family, or the organization?

Google Moves Up Post-Quantum Cryptography Timeline

In cryptography, the RSA and ECC algorithms which we use primarily for asymmetric cryptography are susceptible to Shor's Algorithm in quantum cryptography. Cracking those algorithms with classical computing is seen as requiring thousands of years,…

In-Person CISA Training – April 13-16, 2026

I will be leading an in-person Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam prep class on April 13-16, 2026, in Columbia, SC.

If your organization is spending money, then meaningful results are a must. Pen testing isn't supposed to be a pat on the back. It's supposed to be a tool to assess defenses so you can make adjustments. It's a critical feedback loop for cybersecurity. So a report back of, "We didn't find anything,"

“We love to debate minutiae”

I am guilty as charged. The quote was in reference to how people argue about details in fitness or finances that are more detailed than is useful to them. We do this with respect to a lot of things. I have argued points in projects and security that weren't worth the…

March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates

On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released patches for SQL Server to address privilege escalation vulnerabilities in supported versions. Time to patch!

If you want to learn better, pause more in your learning to intentionally review.

If you don't have a plan, you'll accomplish it. That's not a good thing.

Love God most of all. Yes, love people, your nation, your ideals, and other things, but never more than God.

Whenever there is time, teach why we do something. Otherwise, it'll be lost.

Following the advice in Smart Brevity improves communication.

When you are faced with the choice between kindness and personal gain, choose kindness.

Pass or fail, act on your certification test results.

We can be tempted by a short term reward over long term success. We must resist such temptation when it occurs.

Resetting on the AI hype train

There's a great article from MIT Technology Review about resetting on the hype of AI. AI's current state is somewhere between the die hard evangelists and the doomsayers

Every year, the South Carolina State Internal Auditors Association and the South Carolina Midlands ISACA Chapter partner together to put on a "CPE catchup" opportunity in December to provide last minute CPEs for those needing them for certifications as well as to raise money for Harvest Hope.

For a number of years I have subscribed to Randy Franklin Smith's Patch Tuesday newsletter. It tends to hit my inbox in the wee hours of Wednesday.

In Parts 1-3, I covered how I prepare for a certification exam. In this last part, I'll talk about how I go about taking the exam.

Even preparing for a class or seminar with set materials takes a lot of time and effort, more so when you build your own content. So why teach?

Microsoft AI Red Teaming Course

here is the compiled video of the Red Teaming course Microsoft put together.

In parallel with the presentation I gave at the PASS Data Community Summit on quantum computing's impact on data, I wrote an article specifically on impact with respect to Microsoft SQL Server.

After I have understood the details for a certification test (part 1), including format and the rules for taking it and after I have taken time to learn how the test is structured and what's covered (part 2), next is studying for the exam.

If you're looking for particular "Black Friday" deals, here is what I've seen advertised in the community. I have not taken any of these classes, so I can't give a review/recommendation except to say all are being offered by current or former Microsoft Data Platform MVPs:

In the United States, today is Thanksgiving. The intent behind the holiday is to remember all that we have to be thankful. I have a lengthy list from friends and family, health, and a whole bunch of other things.

I mentioned this in my talk on Quantum Computing at the PASS Data Community Summit: Microsoft has announced that the post-quantum cryptography APIs are now generally available.

This was announced last week at Microsoft Ignite and it's been covered by others such as Brent Ozar, but if you haven't heard, SQL Server 2025 is now generally available.

The advantage of understanding the make-up of the exam: I can tailor my efforts for best results.

Resisting the DBA in me to provide a snarky response. 😀 But, yeah. It feels like I just got here.

If you're an attendee at the PASS Data Community Summit this year, there are mechanisms to get slides from every speaker who uploaded them. This slide deck is the same as you can get from the PASS mechanisms.