SQL Saturday #161 - East Iowa
A free day of SQL training in Iowa City o Aug 11. Come meet other SQL Server professionals in the area.
Set Up Grouping Intervals for Excel (SQL Spackle)
So you want to group your data for charting in Excel? Here's how, the easy way!
The DBA Database
One very handy item Steve Jones found as a DBA was a DBA only database on each instance. Today he asks you if you have one and if not, why not. There are good reasons to have one, and security is usually not a problem.
Implement Continuous Integration In Your Software Project
Continuous integration, or CI, brings developers closer to delivering error-free software flawlessly. Find out how to implement it.
Better Bosses Needed
These days it seems there's no shortage of bad managers out there. However the bad ones do more than hurt morale, they actually can impact productivity. Steve Jones wonders why companies don't do more to fix this.
Don't Share Passwords Across Sites
There is a rippling effect from the hack on Yahoo. Those users and passwords are being used on other sites. Steve Jones reminds us that we shouldn't be sharing passwords, and we should educate our users to do the same thing.
Track source dates when loading a data warehouse
A primer on how to reduce network and source system load when reading a relational source into the data warehouse.
An Introduction to SQL Server Service Broker
Service Broker is a technology built into SQL Server and utilized by the engine for its internal asynchronous processing. The great thing about Service Broker is that its functionality is exposed so we can build our own custom data integrations. Deanna Dicken introduces you to the concepts needed to create a service broker integration.
Performance Data
Great DBAs collect all kinds of metrics on their instances and let them manage themselves. However many administrators need help monitoring and interpreting the data. Today Steve Jones asks if you think this data needs extra security or is it less of an issue than other PII data.
Summarizing Imported Data
This article shows a few simple techniques to summarize table data using T-SQL.
Blogs
Databases and AI Agents
By Arun Sirpal
As part of my wider work exploring Claude Code and AI-assisted database engineering, I...
Creating a Pulsing Conducting Baton - Part 1
By Bert Wagner
Train Wreck The last time I watched a high school band nearly fall apart mid-performance...
ISACA AI Material/Exam Prep Discount (May 18 – June 30, 2026)
By Brian Kelley
If you are considering any of the ISACA AI certs like the Advanced Artificial...
Forums
Why Your Index Isn't Being Used? - Reading Execution Plans to Find the Real Culprit
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Why Your Index Isn't Being...
Distance Metric Algorithms
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Distance Metric Algorithms
What Can AI Really Do?
Comments posted to this topic are about the item What Can AI Really Do?
Question of the Day
Distance Metric Algorithms
What are the distance metric algorithms that can be used in VECTOR_DISTANCE()?
See possible answers