travel

On Visiting Israel

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I’ve always wanted to go to Israel, and I never quite knew why. Earlier this year, I made it. I flew over to Vienna first for SQLSaturday Vienna and had an absolutely wonderful time. I’d heard Austria was charmingly beautiful, and it surpassed expectations. The museums are great, quality of life is clearly quite high, and the people are lovely. Oh, and Klaus Aschenbrenner‘s flight simulator is amazingly realistic. Then, I flew to Israel. (No, not in the flight simulator.) Tel Aviv, Israel Visiting Israel on a Saturday I arrived on Saturday, aka Shabbat, and this is where I have to start by explaining a few things…
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The Immovable Ladder and Legacy Software

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One of the things I looked forward to the most about my Jerusalem visit was seeing the Immovable Ladder in person. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is home to many things that are sacred to many different religions. This isn’t a church like you or I usually think of churches – even just calling it a church is the understatement of the millennia. It’s built around the site of the crucifixion, Jesus’s tomb, and four of the Stations of the Cross. Look slowly at the outside of the building. Notice the different stones and styles. It’s been pieced together slowly over the last…
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Road Warrior Packing Tips

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Put a folding travel toothbrush and travel-sized toothpaste in the outside pocket of your carryon. When the plane starts to descend, go into the bathroom and brush your teeth. You’ll feel much better instantly. Keep a couple of energy bars in the outside pockets too. Getting ready to pack an Eagle Creek compression bag While you’re in that outside packet, throw in a ziplock bag of FAA-approved-size mini-toiletries. Just leave one in every carryon and suitcase. Having it in the outside pocket means you can pull it out to get past checkpoint lanes fast without unpacking the whole suitcase. (Yes,…
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Presentation Speaker Survival Kit

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Things are gonna go disastrously wrong. Sure, every presenter should bring their laptop, a wireless presenter remote, an array of video adapters, a stack of business cards, and so on. But that’s just assuming that things go right. Here’s what I carry to help reduce the carnage when things go awry: Slippery Elm throat coat lozenges. Speaking for an hour or more can burn your throat up, especially if you have to yell because the audio system isn’t working well. These things are like magic. I take one as a preventative measure when I start setting up my laptop, and I’ll…
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Want Me At Your European SQL Server Event in April 2016?

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Hmmm, who do I know in the old country? I’m going to SQLSaturday Israel on 3-4 April, 2016. If you’re organizing a European event and we can work it around those dates, I’d love to go to other events on the trip. I don’t charge appearance fees or anything like that, but I do need to teach a pre-con in order to offset my flight & hotel costs. If it makes your event registration process easier, I can run the registrations through our e-commerce platform, and just pay you your share as people register. If you have questions, email me at…
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Dufl Review: Easier Way to Pack Clothes for Business Trips

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Dufl Bag Update 2020/07/24: Dufl declared bankruptcy and closed up shop due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A little background about me first: I travel 1-2 times per month Most of my trips tend to be one week long (or longer) When I travel, I wear clothes I wouldn’t normally wear at home (like cashmere sweaters) A lot of the stuff I wear onsite should probably be dry cleaned I’m lazy Dufl sounded perfect for me. They ship you an empty suitcase, you fill it up with your business clothes, and send it back. Then, whenever you wanna go on a…
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The New MacBook’s USB-C Port

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The new Apple MacBook has only one port: a single USB-C port. That’s an idiotically minimalist design, but that’s another discussion. Two things you need to buy: PlugBug The PlugBug, $35 – this pops onto your power adapter and gives you a separate USB power plug good for simultaneously charging your USB devices. It was designed for the larger MacBook power supplies, so it hangs off the edge of these smaller USB-C ones, but whatever. Still works great. USB to USB-C cable, $15 – lets you run or charge your MacBook off a USB battery charger, car charger, another laptop’s…
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The Logistics and Economics of Speaking in Europe

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I’m heading out on a tour through Europe to speak at SQLRally Nordic and SQLBits London. Here’s what the schedule looks like: Weds, Feb 25 – fly out of Chicago to Frankfurt. Thurs – fly from Frankfort to Copenhagen. Fri-Sun – enjoy a weekend in Copenhagen and adjust to the jet lag. Mon – teach an all-day pre-conference class at SQLRally Nordic. Tues – teach a one-hour conference session. Weds AM – fly from Copenhagen to London, get to the conference hotel on the other side of town. Thursday – teach an all-day pre-conference class at SQLBits. Friday – teach a one-hour…
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What In My Laptop Bag – Fall 2013 Edition

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Clockwise from left, starting with the bag: What’s In My Laptop Bag Cote & Ciel Isar Rucksack – black melange, medium size for 13″ to 15″ laptops. It’s like a hobo bag for men – thin when you don’t need to carry much, but can balloon out to huge sizes to carry all kinds of stuff. Easily handles a couple of changes of clothes in addition to my laptop, iPad, and everything you see here. Review by Carryology. 40 Blinks Sleep Mask – the blue bra-looking thing is to be worn on your face during long flights. Yep, on your…
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Why I Keep eBaying Cameras

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In the last year, I’ve bought and sold a handful of cameras.  I keep trying to find exactly the right one for my needs, and I’m just not having much luck.  Today, I’ll share my current moment of frustration. Sony DSC-HX200V: Built for Vacations Last year, I went on a couple of SQLCruises and I wanted a camera that was purpose-built for travelers.  I looked for: Built-in GPS – to automatically tag my photo locations Really, really high-powered optical zoom (in this case, 30x) Bokeh mode to automatically defocus the background 1080p video recording Panorama shots to capture the amazing…
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Hi. I’m Brent.

That's me, Brent.

I live in Iceland with my wife Erika. I'm on an epic life quest to have fun and make a difference.

I co-founded Brent Ozar Unlimited to help make your SQL Server go faster. I also maintain sp_Blitz® and the open source First Responder Kit repo.

My current car collection includes a Porsche 911 Targa, a Jaguar XKR-S, and a Land Rover Defender.

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