Book ordering from Borders

I was looking for a book on learning about Excel pivot tables to give as a gift recently (makes a change from chocolates or a gift voucher – I know!) I found Pivot Table Data Crunching For Microsoft Office Excel 2007 on Amazon for $AU37.14 (25.93 + 11.21P&P).

Figuring it would be quicker to get it from a real bookshop, I dropped into the Adelaide Borders bookshop, but they didn’t have it on the shelf 😢

I then tried the Borders website - their online price for the same book is just $AU35.95, and they also happen to have an online price guarantee that they’ll beat Amazon’s standard price + shipping (not required in this case).

It would have been interesting to compare Borders online price to in-store price to see if they were the same. In any case, I ordered from them so we’ll see how quickly they deliver.

This all does make me wonder with the advent of Kindle eBook readers and downloadable movies what the future is for traditional book shops and video rental stores. Not particularly bright I suspect.

Update 3pm

BenMc suggested I have a look at The Book Depository. They have the same book for $AU25.33 with free shipping. Might try them next time!

Rebuilding the home PC on a budget

I purchased an Antec TruePower 550 power supply today, but unfortunately that didn’t solve the BSOD issue, so it looks like I’ll be rebuilding the computer completely. As I’ve already got a decent server for more serious computing tasks, my aim is to do this as economically as I can. I’ve come up with the following list:

I’ll need to add a video card, as my two existing monitors only have VGA input (eg. the motherboard’s DVI-D won’t be suitable).

Rockin' the Lobster

I thought it was high time I wrote about how much I’m enjoying being part of LobsterPot Solutions. Since joining Rob and Ben about 6 months ago, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a range of clients on an interesting selection of problems utilising technologies such as:

• SQL Server
• SQL Analysis Services
• SQL Data Mining
• SQL Server Integration Services
• SQL Reporting Services
• Pivot Viewer
• ASP.NET MVC
• JQuery
• WPF
• Silverlight
• PowerShell
• .NET 4.0

Not bad!

I think it’s fair to say SQL Server and Business Intelligence (BI) are LobsterPot’s bread and butter (or should that be seafood bisque?!), but I also really appreciate the variety of tasks I’ve worked on. To complete the 3 course meal (following the food theme!), the company continues to hire talented staff. Roger (Mr SharePoint) Noble joined us in May and I’m sure he won’t be the last as demand for BI expertise increases.

Another thing that I like is LobsterPot’s commitment to staff professional development – from in-house training and conference attendance to user group participation.

Now I’m looking forward to seeing what the next 6 months bring!