Predictions for PASS
Steve is missing the PASS opening keynote, but he has a few predictions for the day.
2019-11-06
167 reads
Editorials
Logging Tables
Today Steve Jones looks at the need to log data from an application or process. Are there good and bad ways to design the structures to log information?
2019-11-05 (first published: 2015-09-25)
635 reads
2019-11-04 (first published: 2015-11-13)
427 reads
A Faster tempdb
I like to call tempdb the “workhorse” of SQL Server. I’ve heard some other people call it other terms that were not so flattering, but since I like to keep things positive, I’ll stick with workhorse. SQL Server uses tempdb for many things. The obvious uses are temp tables and table variables, but tempdb is […]
2019-11-02
1,160 reads
A Mindset Shift
Microsoft has grown and changed their culture in the last few years, which greatly impresses Steve.
2019-11-01
316 reads
2019-10-31
286 reads
Falling Behind and Digital Bankruptcy
The challenges of information overload can weigh on technology workers.
2019-10-30
202 reads
Rogue Software Changes
Today Steve Jones wonders if software developers would make changes to software on their own, without direction from management.
2019-10-29 (first published: 2015-11-16)
311 reads
Contracting for Work
The decision to work for yourself instead of full time for an organization can be a hard one.
2019-10-28
366 reads
Become a Technological Historian
This week Grant muses on how history can impact our decisions moving forward, and having a little empathy can be useful when re-examining the past.
2019-10-26
166 reads
Blogs
Adding an HTTP MCP Server to VSCode
By Steve Jones
I wrote earlier this week about the SQL MCP Server using the Data API...
Microsoft announces new cybersecurity AI multi-model
By Brian Kelley
Yesterday, July 27, 2026, Microsoft announced a new cybersecurity effort called Project Perception. Included...
Getting the SQL Server MCP Server Running
By Steve Jones
If you’ve wanted a SQL Server MCP server for your databases, it’s available. The...
Forums
Symmetric Key Encryption
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Symmetric Key Encryption
The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why Your Login Auditing Strategy Might Be Hurting Your Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The “Successful Login” Dilemma: Why...
Building Your Own Software
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building Your Own Software
Question of the Day
Symmetric Key Encryption
If I run this statement in SQL Server 2025, how is the password encrypted?
CREATE SYMMETRIC KEY MySymmetricKey WITH ALGORITHM = AES_256, KEY_SOURCE = 'My secret key source passphrase', IDENTITY_VALUE = 'My secret identity value' ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'S&perS#cretP@ssword7'; GOSee possible answers