Ahh, is it really Friday the 13th?!! So before Jason gets me, I’ll be reading…

A whole day of PowerShell & SQL
Join Rob Sewell and Chrissey LeMaire at SQL Sat Vienna on the 20th of Jan for a pre-con on PowerShell and SQL Server

Why open offices are bad for us
I’ve only ever worked in open plan offices and I have to admit, the noise can be an issue.

The MongoDB hack and the importance of secure defaults
The cynic in me says that if this happened to a MS product, how much of a backlash would there have been?

Ooops! Was that was me?
Monica Rathbun details a mistake she made setting up SQL Server alerts and sets a challenge for others to blog about mistakes they’ve made whilst working with SQL Server

An Introduction to SQL Server Containers
Paul Stanton from Windocks runs through a quick intro into the world of containers running SQL Server

Have a good weekend!

Happy New Year to all of you out there! I know, I know it’s a week late but hey I’ve had a bit of a hectic one plus once again I’ve managed to catch the same bug that I always seem to get this time of year (excuses, excuses).

Well 2016 was a bit of a wild ride, wonder what 2017 has in-store for us? Personally I’m hoping that container technology continues to mature, the bugs are fixed in SSMS (possibly see that dark theme released? ha!) and that we see some cool blog posts about SQL on linux being utilised. I’ve read enough posts on how to install SQL on linux but I wonder how many people out there are actually using it (someone’s got to be mad enough)?

Anyway this week I’ve been reading: –

Magnificent app which corrects your previous console command
Anyone out there using bash on windows? Anyone out there as terrible at typing as I am? Have a look at this…

The Input Club
Custom mechanical keyboards? Yes please!

Leave your comfort zone in 2017
Irish Times article on 5 keys areas to focus on when trying to leave your comfort zone.

Running SQL queries with Visual Studio Code
Rob Sewell guides us through using VS Code to run t-sql queries

Wired – Microsoft’s old school database was the surprise software of the year
Anyone else roll their eyes at “old school”?

And finally…

Dr Donald Henderson
With so many celebrity deaths in 2016, I want to draw attention to Dr Donald Henderson who also died last year at 87. Dr Henderson was instrumental in the eradication of the smallpox virus and as such has saved countless lives.

It was my office Xmas party last night so whilst recovering on my settee, I’ll be reading:-

The Most Important Role of a SQL Server DBA
Back to basics, Angela Tidwell talks about what the most important task of a DBA is (can you guess?)

Don’t blink you might READPAST it
Cool post about the query hint READPAST

The ambiguity of the ORDER BY in SQL Server
Klaus Aschenbrenner talks about quirks with the ORDER BY clause

Evernote’s new privacy policies
So Evernote’s new privacy policies basically say that its employees can view your notes, yea…

Going to take a break over the holiday period so have a good Xmas and see you in the New Year.

Thanks for reading.

One week nearer to Xmas! Before I spend the weekend braving the centre of town desperately wondering what presents to get my family, I’ll be reading…

Mr Robot killed the Hollywood hacker
Article on MIT Tech Review about how hacking is depicted in Mr Robot.

Understanding Scan Count 0, Logical Reads N
Shane O’Neill details why the output of STATISTICS IO can sometimes show 0 scans but a non-zero value for logical reads.

Cassini sends back 1st images from new orbit around Saturn
CBC News article on the first images sent back by Cassini from Saturn

This is How I Work
Inspired by Adam Bertram’s post, Chrissy LeMaire shares details on her work setup

The 12 Days of 2FA: How to Enable Two-Factor Authentication For Your Online Accounts
The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s article on enabling 2FA for all your online accounts.

Have a good weekend!

Another week almost over so here’s a random selection of articles that I’ve been reading…

Changing the SQL Server port on Linux
Denis Gobo goes through the process of changing the port that an instance of SQL Server running on Linux is listening on

Reload a table quickly
Kenneth Fisher talks about how to reload a table’s data. It’s a really nice tip!

Free scripts and tools for SQL Server
Free scripts and tools from the Microsoft Tiger Team for monitoring SQL Server. Run them on a dev instance first!

Docker and Canonical Partner on CS Docker Engine
An agreement between Docker and Canonical means that stable, maintained releases of Docker will be available as snap packages on Ubuntu. Another step into making containers a viable production option (support being available is a big thing).

Capacity Planning Using Performance Data
Excellent article by Erin Stellato on capacity planning, with links to articles by the equally good Glen Berry.

Have a good weekend!