The Daily Routine
Steve Jones compares his daily routine now to that of being a DBA. This editorial was originally published on Mar 10, 2008. It is being re-run as Steve is on holiday.
2012-12-27 (first published: 2008-03-10)
593 reads
Editorials
The Shortage of Programmers
Steve Jones thinks that programmers should be able to negotiate any deal they can and Joel Spolsky has no reason to be upset. This editorial was originally published on May 12, 2008. It is being re-run as Steve is on vacation.
2012-12-26 (first published: 2008-05-05)
496 reads
2012-12-25
53 reads
DBAs Take Sixth Place
The hot jobs for 2013 are compiles and a number of tech jobs make the top 100. DBAs come in 6th and Steve Jones thinks that's good news for data professionals.
2012-12-24
258 reads
It's the Bits
A woman sues Best Buy for $54million. That's absurd, but her laptop is worth more than the hardware. This editorial was originally published on Mar 3, 2008. It is being re-run as Steve is traveling.
2012-12-24 (first published: 2008-03-03)
338 reads
The Load Poll
This Friday Steve Jones asks what the load on your systems are. Do you know what it is and how it compares to other systems?
2012-12-21
94 reads
The Auto OS
Automobiles are becoming more complex, with more computerized systems every year. Steve Jones talks about some advances and how we must be sure that security is a part of future design considerations.
2012-12-20
100 reads
Those Who Can, Do
Does certification help your career? Is it the choice for those that can't actually accomplish something in the real world? Steve Jones says that it can go either way, but it's up to the individual.
2012-12-19
249 reads
Holidays and other Social Technologies
A look at what passes for technology from Bill Nicolich in our guest editorial.
2012-12-18
128 reads
Better Licensing for SQL Server
Why is SQL Server licensing so complex? Today Steve Jones asks the question and wonders if Microsoft would make some changes to make it easier to understand.
2012-12-17
197 reads
Blogs
Resolving SQL Server Transaction Log Issues Efficiently
By Arun Sirpal
Transaction log issues are one of the quietest ways a healthy database turns into...
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...
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