It’s Monday time for this week’s weekly link round-up.  If you want to catch these links “live” (so exciting), follow me on twitter (@StrateSQL).  And see these throughout the day as I tweet out links of things I find interesting.  While these links aren’t the answer to life, the universe, and everything, they often share a few things about SQL Server and related technology topics that others may find useful. The links included in this summary are those prefixed with “Reading” and are items I’ve read over the past few days, usually after hours when sharing would be less than useful, and spaced out to avoid spamming.  The content of the links usually pertain to SQL Server, technology, and career topics; which I think others would find useful.

The Most Popular “Reading” Link

This weeks most popular link is for a blog post written by Brent Ozar (Blog | @BrentO).  In it, Brent discusses why he continues to present at user groups and SQL Saturdays.  He hits the nail on the head about the joy in presenting and sharing that drives most of us to present.

Reading: "Why I Keep Speaking at User Groups and SQLsaturdays" http://t.co/xuJRUHoj5J #career

— Jason Strate (@StrateSQL) May 1, 2014

Last week’s top 20 “Reading” Links

Along with the top link, here are the top twenty items relating to SQL Server, technology and careers that were shared last week.  If you missed them throughout the week, here’s the opportunity to get caught up on some items that other’s read after I linked them out.

1. Why I Keep Speaking at User Groups and SQLsaturdays [50 clicks]
2. How One Woman Hid Her Pregnancy From Big Data [33 clicks]
3. Min / Max Note Taking for Conferences [31 clicks]
4. Blog Post: Certification Update 2: SQL Server 2014 [28 clicks]
5. How Do I Show Memory Usage From A Columnstore Index in SQL Server? [21 clicks]
6. SQL Nexus 4.0 Released to codeplex [18 clicks]
7. 5 Seriously Cool Jobs in Big Data [16 clicks]
8. SQL Server 2014’s new cardinality estimator (Part 1) [12 clicks]
9. For the last time, NO, you can’t trust IDENT_CURRENT() [11 clicks]
10. SQL Server Diagnostic Information Queries for April 2014 [10 clicks]
11. I think I am getting duplicate query plan entries in SQL Server’s procedure cache [9 clicks]
12. Microsoft’s Data Culture: It Just Might Work [9 clicks]
13. Arcane-SQL–A PowerShell Module for Generating SQL Code [8 clicks]
14. Encryption in SQL Server (Part 4) [7 clicks]
15. Problems with Big Data [7 clicks]
16. Removing Comments from SQL [6 clicks]
17. Most Recent Cumulative Updates for SQL Server 2008-2014 [5 clicks]
18. The Modern Analytics Architecture—My PASS BA Conference Session [5 clicks]
19. Azure Automation [3 clicks]
20. Interested in Self-Service Analytics at the PASS Business Analytics Conference? [3 clicks]

Other Stuff Shared

Of course, no week would be complete without a few off-topic links.  These have nothing to do with technology or your career, but they are interesting and worth a second look.

1. Squirrel goes nuts on Maine teenager taking selfie [46 clicks]
2. This worked out as well as that code you tried to prevent from going into production. [34 clicks]
3. DOJ’s ‘Operation Choke Point’ May Be Root of Porn Star Bank Account Closings [41 clicks]
4. Frontier Airlines Will Now Charge For Overhead Space [17 clicks]
5. Graph of Netflix speeds shows the importance of net neutrality [14 clicks]
6. We all need this guy the next time everything fails [12 clicks]
7. This Abandoned Igloo Hotel in Alaska Could Be Yours For $300,000 [11 clicks]
8. Inside the Locked Room You Have to Solve Puzzles to Escape [6 clicks]
9. E.T.’s Home Is Found: Trove Of Atari Games Unearthed At Landfill [4 clicks]
10. 3D Printed Cast Speeds Bone Recovery Using Ultrasound [4 clicks]
11. New York Goes to War Against Airbnb for Disrupting Hotel Business [4 clicks]

Got something you think I should read and share, leave a comment below.  Also, if you want to see all of the links that were tweeted out last week?