Two years ago, we were talking about how cool it would be to get a bunch of unpublished authors to write about what they thought was important about databases. You know, tribal knowledge. So we sent out a call for abstracts and got the ball rolling on one of the coolest things we’ve ever been a part of: TribalSQL.

Thanks to the authors, a slew of volunteer peer editors and technical editors, and not least of all Red Gate software, we’ve got a community-created, professionally-polished tome coming out in very short order!

Check out www.TribalSQL.com for information about the book, the authors, the backstory, and the wonderful charity that this project benefits, Computers 4 Africa. And of course, watch the Red Gate Book Store for the impending release…

Thank you, Red Gate! Thank you to the editors and the new authors. Thanks VERY much to all the folks who contributed to this project!

The man who really pulled it all together (after we pulled it all together)

Red Gate editor Tony Davis, who is rabidly (I presume) supportive of the Chelsea Football club and has a “penchant for real ales“.

(Thanks for all the emails, Tony. Show me a real ale and I’ll buy you one. Maybe three.)

The volunteer editors…

• Brent Ozar, a SQL consultant whose “true skills are knitting and water polo.”
• Frank Moore, er, for whom I’m finding it difficult to find a link…
• Meredith Ryan, the chapter chair person for the Women In Technology Virtual Chapter of PASS
• Neil Hambly, who has the noble objective “genrally cajoule Sql server to OBEY and FULFILL my every command”
• Sean McCown, a chef-turned-DBA who might seem somewhat familiar to you
• Thomas Stringer, a Microsoft PFE with a SQLife

And definitely the authors and peer editors!

Each and every one a wonder and a gem, and also very kind to animals and children.  Also hardworking: getting through three-plus rounds of edits over two years is no small feat:

• Ben Seaman
• Bob Pusateri (author)
• Chuck Lathrope (author)
• Colleen Morrow (author)
• Craig Purnell
• Dave Ballantyne (author)
• David Tate
• Dev Nambi (author)
• Diana Dee (author)
• Ed Watson
• James Zimmerman
• Jason Thomas
• Jason Yousef
• John Barnett (author)
• John Morehouse
• Joseph D Antoni
• Justin Dearing
• Kevin Feasel (author)
• Mark S. Rasmussen (author)
• Matt Velic
• Melody Zacharias
• Nicholas Cain
• Robert Volk
• Scott Murray
• Shaun Stuart
• Stephan Lawson
• Stephanie Locke  (author)
  
• Steve Stedman
• Tara Kizer (author)
• Thomas Rushton
• Wil Sisney (author)

And one more…

Thanks to Melanie Townsend over at Red Gate, for coordinating the TribalSQL site, graphics, authors, and associated miscellany!

This is a cross-post from Jen’s blog…like we do, for important things.

@YourAnonNews: It’s official #CISPA is back. A law that violates your basic right to privacy. Sign & share this petition to stop it: bit.ly/VSuCiz

Lots of illegal things happen, everywhere, every day. People smuggle guns, drugs, and other people in cars and on their persons, to buildings and houses. Even so, authorities aren’t allowed to search an individual, their car, or their home without cause. There are strict limits on invasion of privacy for a reason. The biggest problem with CISPA (and similar bills) is the weakness of the requirements.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but: modern government is happy to pass the kind of bill that allows men with badges into your home on a whim, patdowns and strip searches at checkpoints on the streets. Only, the laws are already long-established for that kind of privacy, so they’ll get all they can online.

I’m an average person. I don’t pay super close attention to politics, to bills, to laws. I’m sure there are nuances and arguments to be made. And after all those nuances and arguments are done with, it will still come back to those basic rights, being taken away because it’s the Internet is still a brand new venue.

What You Must Do

Start paying attention again.

Watch President Obama’s State of the Union tonight at 9pm ET, see what he has to say.

Read up when they reintroduce CISPA tomorrow.

In the meantime, feel free to bone up on what this is all about:

• Wikipedia: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act
• Mashable: CISPA Cybersecurity Bill Is Coming Back Wednesday
• RT: Obama to ‘bypass Congress’ on CISPA with cybersecurity executive order (this one is pretty vague, which is why I’ll be watching the SotU tonight)
• Anonymous: CISPA is Back
• BoingBoing: CISPA is SOPA 2.0: petition to stop it (From April 2012)
• EFF: Rogers’ “Cybersecurity” Bill Is Broad Enough to Use Against WikiLeaks and The Pirate Bay (March 2012)

Happy, ever-vigilant days,
Jen McCown
http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen