Fixing Access Annoyances
by Phil Mitchell and Evan Callahan
ISBN 0-596-00852-x
Admit it. Even if you are a hard core SQL Server person, now and again, you find yourself dealing with Microsoft Access. It can be a maddening experience, as Access can do so much, but can be so difficult to handle from time to time.
This is a book that I wondered about getting. I have been working (and been annoyed by) Microsoft Access since the beta for Access 2, and thought I knew pretty much all I needed to know. My mistake. In the first 30 pages, I learned something (specifically, how to set default properties for controls on a form). In the balance of the book, I learned a few things, and will keep the book nearby, as I still have one fairly major client who has me supporting a large MS Access application (developed by another developer).
If you use Access (and more of you do than will admit it, I bet) this is an important book to have on your bookshelf.
I just had an article posted on Simple-Talk.com about posting to forums. Here it is.
This is part of a continuing series on career development, and how to keep up in a fast moving software development world.
Tom Moreau is an interesting guy. Who else in the software business do you know who has an advanced degree in Experimental Space Science?
Doug: I notice you have a doctorate. Could I ask what your degree is in?
Tom: Officially, it's Experimental Space Science, but before you make any cracks about me being a "rocket scientist", I should tell you that my PhD supervisor wouldn't let me base my thesis on rockets, since they have a high probability of failure (although I did analyze some rocket telemetry data through my course work). Funnily enough, the fellow grad student, Steve MacLean, who showed me how to use the word processor (something more challenging than physics back then) went on to became a Canadian astronaut! Anyway, my specific field was molecular physics. I looked at the UV emission spectrum of the ClO free radical, which took part in the degradation of stratospheric ozone. Coincidentally, my cousin also has a PhD in spectroscopy, though he remains in the profession, studying polyatomics.
Read the entire article here.
No, I am not gay - not that there is anything wrong with that. I am Coming Out as a Cancer Survivor. My new article, Coming Out as a Cancer Survivor: A Guide for Software Developers is now available.
I have an unfortunate amount of experience on this particular topic. If you, or a coworker is dealing with cancer, please take a look at this article. It is one of those articles that I am very proud to have written, and hope it will help those who come after me.