I vividly remember 2004 when I decided to specialize in MySQL because the year before I was homeless and living in my car. It’s been a long road and an amazing journey ever since.

A relational database is more than a data bank, it’s a profound philosophical expression. This is the second and final part of “Lessons From 20 Years Hacking MySQL”.

No, I don’t think so. But it is does change our profession and have important implications for software engineers using (not managing) MySQL.

No, I don’t think so. But it is does change our profession and have important implications for software engineers using (not managing) MySQL.

No, I don’t think so. But it is does change our profession and have important implications for software engineers using (not managing) MySQL.

I stopped freelancing on upwork in 2011. I used to be a part-time freelancer on upwork (previously known as oDesk) from 2008 to 2011 besides my full-time job. Since 2011, I have been developing my own Indie mobile apps which is a great success for me and in my career.

I am still earning very good passive income from my own portfolio apps, today I will discuss why I have started freelancing again.

1. Indie Developing

There is a saying:

If you walk alone you can go faster
If you walk in group you can go further

Stephen O'Grady at RedMonk has launched a new Podcast called Hark. In his second episode, he and Agile programming guru Kent Beck have a thoughtful discussion around the ideas in O'Grady's book "The Software Paradox."  Even though software is "eating the world" and become more widespread and strategic, its economic value appears to be declining rapidly. Certainly, we've seen a shift in the …

My former boss, Marten Mickos, has created an excellent new resources for early stage founders, managers and execs called www.Schoolofherring.com. Each post has a short write up and often a 2-3 minute video covering a topic such as giving feedback, Peter Drucker's principles of good management, what it takes to build an effective team, hiring for strength etc. Some of these topics are very practical, like how to send good email, others are more thought-provoking, such as the notion that …

We would like to wish you a happy holidays on behalf of the DBAHire.com team. May all your dreams come true in 2015!

Photograph taken at the Christmas market of Valencia (Spain) in December 2014.

May your MySQL innodb_buffer_pool_reads be low and your Uptime high in 2015.

Today, we officially announced the fact that Blackbird.io has been acquired by Pythian.  I first met its founder, Paul Vallee, in 2007. Paul reached out to me about joining Pythian to found a San Francisco presence.  At the time, I was one year into PalominoDB, and was having such a good time being my own boss and building a business that I politely declined.  Since then, Paul and I have caught up at PerconaLive (O’Reilly’s MySQL conf for you old schoolers) regularly - using the time to catch up, share successes (and failures), and discuss the marketplace at large.  We’ve also competed, healthily and as good sports.  

Over those 6 years since that first contact, I’ve also fallen in love with the world of open-source data, both big and small.  I’ve enjoyed working on the IOUG mysql conference, presenting at Percona Live, Kaleidoscope, Velocity and more.  I’ve …