I got this image in the mail recently, and it made me laugh. It looks like a police lineup, perhaps something from The Usual Suspects.

I don’t think there are any suspicious looking characters in there (though maybe the third and fourth from the left in the second row… Read more

This is a short series on some customizations in SSMS to make it visually more appealing.

As a presenter, I’ve learned how to change the way Management Studio (SSMS) looks to make it easier for people to see the screen on a projector. I had wrongly assumed that so many… Read more

A great piece by LZ Granderson, and one that really make me stop and think a bit. Work and life is always a balance, and men certainly don’t have it easier. We make different choices, or we set different priorities. It’s worth the read, and as you do, before… Read more

It’s the second Tuesday of the month and time for T-SQL Tuesday again. This is a monthly blog party, where the participants write on a particular theme. This month Jen McCown, of Midnight DBA fame, invites us to talk about files and filegroups in SQL Server.

If you’re like to… Read more

I use the Google calendar service extensively. I host my domain there and I’ve gotten used to the calendar. When I set up my Windows 8 desktop, I was curious if I could use the built in calendar app instead of living in a web browser.

A quick search found… Read more

This weekend is SQL Saturday #187 in Richmond, VA. Today’s a travel day for me, as I head out early because Red Gate Software is sponsoring a half day event tomorrow, Friday, where myself and Grant Fritchey (b | t) will be speaking. This is an experiment for… Read more

While working on some demos recently, I needed to drop an index for a test. I executed this generic statement for an index I’d just created.

   1: DROP INDEX ix_IndexName

Needless to say I was surprised when I got this error:

Msg 159, Level 15, State 1, Line 1

Must… Read more

This spring I’m speaking at the SQL Intersection conference. It’s a new conference, managed by SQLskills founders Kimberly Tripp and Paul Randal. It’s April 8-11 in Las Vegas, and it’s got a slew of amazing speakers that I’ll be alongside, including Brent Ozar, Grant Fritchey, and more.

If… Read more

I bought a new (to me) desktop recently to replace my aging hardware. I’ve had a quad core machine, but it’s about 4+ years old, still running DDR2 RAM, and it’s been slowly failing. That sounds crazy with electrical hardware, but the clock has been flakier the last few months,… Read more

Attaching an MDF file without an LDF file can be a little tricky. I had to go through this recently when I downloaded the AdventureWorks2008R2 database, which was just an MDF file. I know I’ve done this before, but I had to stop and look things up, which means… Read more

In a little over a week, SQL Saturday #187 takes place in Richmond, VA. I’m looking forward to going back as I attended school not too far from there (Charlottesville), and even worked on the West side of Richmond for a time. My brother lives in MD and my mother… Read more

I’m not sure I love this advice on slide design, but some of it makes sense. Much too often I see people putting lots of information on slide decks, as though readers will be studying the slides. I am working to reduce the amount of letters or “data” on… Read more

Actually I’m off to Bellevue this week for the annual MVP Summit that Microsoft puts on each year. This is a conference, with over 1000 MVPs attending where we get the chance to hear presentations and interact with the developers in our particular areas. I’ll be in downtown Bellevue for… Read more

There are a number of articles on dealing with the insertion of binary data into SQL Server using BULK INSERT, OPENROWSET, and even Java. However I saw someone asking recently how to insert data dynamically and thought that was an interesting question.

If you are working… Read more

A slightly off topic post, but since I was asked recently, I thought I’d take my reply, make a post and have it handy for people to refer to.

As technology people, electricity is important to us. Without it, we can’t get a lot done. I’ve lost power at work,… Read more

This month the invitation is from Wayne Sheffield, asking if you have a PowerShell story for everyone. That’s fitting since Wayne is currently writing a month of PowerShell blogs, and they are worth reading.

The second Tuesday of each month is T-SQL Tuesday, with a new theme each month.… Read more

This past weekend was the first SQL Saturday in New Mexico. I had written about our trip down last week, with a few fellow Coloradan’s that were speaking at the event. We drove to Taos on Thursday and stayed the night. Friday we skiied, and had a great time.… Read more

Last week I noted that I was speaking at the new SQL Intersection event. Hopefully I’ll see some of you there and get the chance to shake some hands.

As I was writing that post, I included a “I’ll be there” graphic, which I’ve included here as well. It… Read more

It’s not too hot, it can be fun, and after a full day of SQL Server learning, there are lots of things to do. I’m heading back to Las Vegas in April to speak at the new SQL Intersection event. It’s in conjunction with DevIntersection, and it’s at the… Read more

I installed Windows 8 recently and needed to activate it. I didn’t do this on the install since I didn’t have an Internet connection when I first set things up. This is a hardwired desktop, and I had to move it to my office to plug it in. However I… Read more