Month: November 2010

Booq Push iPad Case

My Favorite iPad Apps and Cases

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These days, I find myself using my iPad more and more as my main computing device on the road.  Some recent OS & app updates brought some killer improvements that have let me leave my laptop at home more often.  Here’s my favorites these days: Be social with the Twitter app – The official Twitter…
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Breakfast of Champion Consultants

Un-SQL Friday: Branding – Tough Love Edition

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Jen McCown (the wife part of the husband-and-wife MidnightDBA team) declared yesterday to be the first Un-SQL Friday – a day where bloggers talk about anything other than SQL Server.  The topic of the day was branding, and Jen’s post declared me a branding superstar.  (Awk-ward.) I couldn’t participate right away because I already had…
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Step Up

Plagiarism Week: Pilfered Presentations

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I’m angry when people steal my blog posts.  I’m bummed when people give away pirated PDF copies of our book.  But the very worst feeling for me is when someone steals my presentations. Step Up I pour dozens of hours into each of my 45-60 minute sessions.  For every single one, I have to: Write…
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WordPress Dashboard

Plagiarism Week: Finding the Slimy Slimeballs

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When I complain about plagiarism, I hear the same thing over and over from other bloggers: “Nobody ever plagiarizes me.  I guess I’m not that important.” Really?  So you’ve been checking to see if your stuff has been copied? “Uh, no….” Exactly.  It’s time to find out how. Watch Your Trackbacks and Incoming Links Odds…
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Worst. Plagiarist. Ever.

Plagiarism Week: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

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“If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by.” – Proverb “The tribe has spoken. It’s time for you to go.” Jeff Probst, Survivor In Monday’s post about the latest plagiarist, I talked about how WordPress.com is wonderfully responsive to complaints of plagiarism.  Whenever I find…
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SQL Server Setup Checklist Search Results

Plagiarism Week: Caught Another One

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Every now and then I get enough content piled up about a subject that I decide to dedicate a whole week-long blog post series to it.  The good news is that you’ll have plenty of original material to read this week, but the bad news is that you’ll also have copied material too.  Welcome to…
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Microsoft Atlanta

Microsoft Atlanta: Cloud-Based SQL Server Monitoring

SQL Server
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Microsoft Atlanta is a new cloud-based SQL Server monitoring tool.  Companies can deploy an agent on their SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 instances, and the agent will communicate up to Microsoft’s servers in the cloud (through a secure gateway also installed inside the company’s network.)  Microsoft aggregates the data, analyzes it looking for problems,…
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Tina Turner Onstage at #SQLPASS

#SQLPASS Summit Keynote Day 1

#SQLPass
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You can refresh this page every couple of moments to see what’s happened.  The most recent updates are at the bottom. You can watch the keynote live online too. Tina Turner Onstage at #SQLPASS 8:21AM – Today opened with Tina Turner singing “Simply the Best.”  It’s either that or I drank entirely too much last…
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Keynote Demos with Ted Kummert

What the #SQLPASS Summit Means to You

#SQLPass
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Every year, the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) holds a big conference for SQL Server professionals – DBAs, developers, BI people, etc.  Depending on how you look at it, it’s either their North American conference or their global conference – people come from all over the world to attend. This year’s PASS Summit takes…
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Free-Con 2010 at the Hugo House

My Latest Experiment: #SQLPASS Free-Con

#SQLPass
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At big conferences like the Professional Association for SQL Server Summit in Seattle, attendees can pay extra to attend a pre-conference or post-conference session.  Select speakers talk all day on just one topic, so the attendees get really deep coverage on it.  Competition among speakers is tough for these slots because there’s money involved –…
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Conferences and WiFi Security

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Just a few quick notes about security before anyone shows up at the PASS Summit. First, set up lock codes on your phones, iPads, and laptops.  Those of us who are security-conscious tend to play pranks on those of us who aren’t.  (Ask Tom LaRock about the year he found a shirtless fireman on his…
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Geekbench Results After CPU Tweaks

Proof that CPU Power Matters

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At least one person was paying attention when I recently blogged about the problems running SQL Server on power-saving processors.  One of my clients, the Northwestern Medical Data Warehouse, decided to check out the settings on their brand-new IBM x3850.  Sure enough, they were set to save power by default, so they tweaked that and…
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