Slide Decks
Hello everyone! Just a quick note. I’ve removed all my slide decks from SlideShare. I found they were inserting ads into the slides and I didn’t sign up for...
2025-08-02
38 reads
The Scary DBA
T-SQL Tuesday #187: It’s Extended Events. It’s Always Extended Events
Joe Fleming wants to know how I solve weird problems. I’m not sure I’m actually qualified to answer this question since I, myself, am a weird problem, but I’ll...
2025-06-30 (first published: 2025-06-10)
337 reads
SSMS 21 Fixes Irritating Problem
I have a proper blog post coming out tomorrow for T-SQL Tuesday, but today, celebrate with me that SSMS 21 finally, at long last, fixes the irritating fact that...
2025-06-23 (first published: 2025-06-09)
1,023 reads
Query Hints and Estimated Plans
I’m working on an update to my Query Performance Tuning book for SQL Server 2025 and I found myself wondering, will a query hint be immediately apparent in an...
2025-06-11 (first published: 2025-05-26)
489 reads
Do Yourself a Favor, Check Out Woodler
I recently was privileged to speak at SQLDay in Wroclaw Poland… man, I love visiting Poland… Anyway… Great event. Worth your time to attend, and if you’re a speaker,...
2025-05-22
39 reads
Stack Overflow & AI
I won’t try to pretend otherwise, I’ve had some mixed feelings about Stack Overflow for a long time. I think the concept of the place, ask a question, get...
2025-06-04 (first published: 2025-05-21)
413 reads
SSMS 21
Just a quick one this morning. I’m on the road and haven’t worked up a full blog post, apologies. I’ve been using the preview for SQL Server Management Studio...
2025-05-12
205 reads
AI in the DBeaver Query Editor
You know I had to do it as soon as I found it was possible. Yes, I installed and enabled AI in the DBeaver Query Editor so I can...
2025-05-21 (first published: 2025-05-05)
255 reads
So You Think You Should Get a Radio
This is not database related, so if you’re not interested in hearing about something besides SQL Server, PostgreSQL, DevOps, community or data management in general, time to move on....
2025-04-30
29 reads
Can AI Read Execution Plans?
Yeah, yeah, second AI post in a row. I promise not to make a habit of it. But I saw someone else mention that you can feed them XML...
2025-05-07 (first published: 2025-04-21)
551 reads
Blogs
The Book of Redgate: Spread across the world
By Steve Jones
This was Redgate in 2010, spread across the globe. First the EU/US Here’s Asia...
Merry Christmas
By John
Today is Christmas and while I do not expect anybody to actual be reading...
Self-Hosting a Photo Server the Whole Family Can Use
By Bert Wagner
Until recently, my family's 90,000+ photos have been hidden away in the depths of...
Forums
UNISTR Escape
Comments posted to this topic are about the item UNISTR Escape
Celebrating Tomorrow
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Celebrating Tomorrow
SQL Art: I Made a Christmas Card In SSMS
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art: I Made a...
Question of the Day
UNISTR Escape
In SQL Server 2025, I run this command:
SELECT UNISTR('*3041*308A*304C\3068 and good night', '*') as "A Classic";
What is returned? (assume the database has an appropriate collation)
A: 
B: 
C: 
See possible answers