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.

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.

Tech conferences aren't just for networking and learning how to address a problem you're having technically. They are also for expanding your view of what's possible.

It was great catching up with @way0utwest.bsky.social and @kbriankelley.bsky.social at this morning's #passdatasummit keynote

I'm speaking on Quantum Computing at the PASS Data Community Summit. It's scheduled for Friday afternoon, so I'll be around for the regular conference from Tuesday evening through Friday. The session itself doesn't expect you to have any previous experience/knowledge.

Have you done something you knew was wrong? Worse, you had time to clearly think about your choice and still decided to commit the infraction? That's where Moses found himself. Yet God would restore him. Yet God would call him to serve in an incredible way.

When I read through the Scriptures about how God led Moses to save His people, I find a lot of hope and inspiration. I am reminded of how God can deliver even when things seem impossible.

I thought it would be good to put my thoughts down on how to prepare for a certification. I don't know how many posts I will make on this, hence the question mark.

I refresh my test SQL Servers at least monthly with a fresh VM. Setting up directories, installing SQL Server, setting up security, and restoring databases all take time. And I want it to be flexible enough where I can switch out files as they are updated, such as was the case with SQL Server 2025.

For those testing SQL Server 2025 before it officially releases, Microsoft has made the first release candidate available. There's a lengthy article on all the new features that are included in this release version.

Today's reality is that cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to develop better attacks. This is just the latest reported technique, probably because it's starting to be used more often. Like is often the case with cybersecurity, we're in an arms race between attackers and defenders...

Our churches should be welcome to visitors who are seeking after God. We shouldn't expect them to fully, or even partially, to believe what we believe. Everyone is at a different point of the journey with regards to knowing God.

In the interest of self-esteem, we are told, "It doesn't matter what others think." But that's wrong. It does matter. Have you ever been right about something, knew for a fact you were right about something, and in that feeling of being right, you did or said something that hurt another person?

If you're not having success in convincing your organization to send you to this year's PASS Data Community Summit, you could win a 3-day registration by submitting some basic information here:

One of the themes I see repeated in Scripture is when a follower of God doesn't believe in himself, God still helps that person accomplish the thing God called them to do. Often times, when a person says, "I can't do this," God responds back with, "But with Me, you can."

There are always bad actors who will seek to get access to and, likely, exfiltrate (exfil) the data. But they don't want to get caught; they don't want to tip off the fact that they are doing such actions.

I hate waiting in lines. I hate large crowds. I'm not good with being patient. I've always been this way about just about everything. When I used to play chess regularly, it was said about me, "Brian can find an attack in any position." That's partially a complement and partially a criticism.

Worldview or not, we see tragedy all around us. Children die young. Wars happen. Criminals steal and murder. Natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires destroy and can cause loss of life. Addictions overwhelm individuals and families, causing great damage and loss.

On August 6, 2025, Microsoft announced a vulnerability with hybrid deployments because of a shared service principal between the Exchange on-premises deployment and Exchange Online. The vulnerability is found in the on-premises side.

If you live long enough, you'll experience regret where you wish you had done something before that fateful day. For instance, wishing you had had spent more time with a loved one is a common lament. We can come up with a lot of reasons why we don't act.

Back in June I blogged about pig butchering and the amount of reported losses we're seeing here in the United States of America. This type of cyber scam is highly destructive because it's effective across all strata but is especially damaging towards the most vulnerable.

Just as we have to be careful about hero worship, we also have to be careful of villainization. It is easy to think less of someone, especially a group of people, if they differ from us.

How long has AI been around in different domains? What was it called before we starting using the phrase, "Artificial Intelligence?" Is Clippy included in said history? Here is a 15 minute video that walks through the high points of AI and machine learning in several domains, including art.

We don't like it when our heroes fall. They are our heroes and that means they are supposed to beyond the ability to fail, right? Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of people deny this thinking, but their actions reflect otherwise.

Life can be overwhelming. Christian life can also be overwhelming. It's something even the Apostle Paul struggled with, as he wrote to the Romans (Romans 7).

Therefore, if I want to see change around me, I need to focus on what I can change first and foremost: me.

If you are responsible for securing databases, SQL Servers and others, I would strongly urge you to read the following post by Andreas Wolter, former data security PM for Microsoft. In this post, he talks about implementing audit trail effectively.

Churches and congregations are filled with sinners. Sinners make the wrong choices sometimes. Sinners fall prey to their emotions, their biases, and they pre-conceived notions. We should expect to occur within the walls of any particular church building. However, how it's dealt with is important.

Early on in my walk with Christ, I kept asking myself the same question, "Why would Jesus save someone like me?" I was trying to come up with a reason I was worthy of salvation, of His sacrifice, of His grace. I'll admit this is something I struggled with for many years.

the better skilled we are communications, the more likely we will be understood. Whether we're talking work colleagues or our families and friends, being understood is more important than we often give it credit for.