Ok this is a random entry but when I saw this bit of "news" I realised that not only would it appeal to some of my mates ...but it also helps to explain what software engineers really do!!!?? :-) A guy in USA has built himself a fridge that can throw...

Tip before you head home from work... Stormhoek now have cartoons on their wine labels by Gapingvoid The first cartoon "Big Love" has hit the shelves of Tesco and you can vote for future labels here Tip of the day.... if you've forgotten that all important...

Today, Microsoft released the July Community Technical Preview (CTP) for SQL Server 2008. The release makes available several performance and feature enhancements designed to support customers’ mission-critical platform and enable pervasive insight across...

Here are the main points from this.... Microsoft is positioned in the Leader quadrant in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse DBMS. The analysts say that SQL Server 2005 is expected to grow in the data warehouse space. Microsoft’s vision for SQL...

To find out we have introduced 3 new modules of the what’s new in SQL Server 2008 eLearning Take the Microsoft free eLearning Collection 6187: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 In this 3 hour on-line collection, IT Professionals will learn about...

In case you missed it - at the recent Worldwide Partner Conference we announced the date for the joint launch of SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008...... In anticipation for the most significant Microsoft enterprise event in the...

Good news from www.olapreport.com – Microsoft continues to be number 1 and grow OLAP market share! We have almost one third of the market share (31.6%) (last year 27.9%). We were also one of the few vendors that actually grew market share last year and...

Office Business Applications (OBA) Technical Briefing This two day technical briefing explores an emerging category of applications, known as Office Business Applications (OBA). It explores the technologies that underpin them, in particular Microsoft...

Many of you might have seen this drawing on a number of emails/blogs/posters from Microsoft. So what is this all about? Find out more here: blue monster video Professor MacLeod has a fab blog that never fails to raise a smile. Hugh gives a few explanations...

Hurrah hurrah - Our Partners have been asking me for indepth BI training - and its here! This is a 5 day course with a combination of instructor-led sessions and hands-on exercises. We ran this course as a pilot and the feedback was fantastic so we've...

Those of you interested in SQL Server Data Mining - there is now a newsletter that you can subscribe to. This will keep you up to date with the latest happenings in the SQL Server Data Mining world and also gives useful tips. Other resouces: SQL Server...

There has been a lot of talk recently about Microsoft's "cloud". Its not just discussions on the lack of UK summer this year ... its much much more. Its Microsoft's new approach to the delivery of Internet services. I saw this article that gives a good...

Reporting Services training available - May 2007 31 May 2007, Reading: Advanced SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Learn about the advanced techniques for building reports with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services and the Microsoft Visual...

eChannelLine - January 15, 2007 Microsoft Corp. and Teradata have announced that they are working together to optimize interoperability between Microsoft business intelligence solutions and the Teradata Enterprise Data Warehouse to help information workers...

So many blogs to read.... now there is bLaugh to add to the list. In their words.... "We love to laugh - so now we’re preparing the world to bLaugh! This is the (un)Official comic of the blogosphere - colorful, satirical, and comical. Expect parodies...

Tafiti is a new showcase of how we can now mix a rich web experience with search functionality. You can view search results in a number of ways: tree view, newspaper view or drop-down results on a glass pane. You can also switch between search mediums...

We are holding a Community event for our UK Partners that have attained the Data Management Competency. Please look at the below details and register.... Data Management Partner BI Community Event – 27th September 2007 Dear Partner, I would...

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Technical training . This four day instructor-led workshop provides students with the knowledge and skills to architect and build Business Intelligence solutions using Microsoft® Office PerformancePoint Server...

Want to know more about the features in SQL Server 2008 around BI? Take a look at this whitepaper.... http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_bi.mspx Included in This Document: Introduction Unifying Data Storage and Access Building...

This Valentine's Day I am looking for new Partners to forge exciting relationships with! Long-term commitment preferred. Good sense of humour always helps. Any age group considered. No I'm not promising to solve all your private relationship problems...

When we are talking to our Partners it is important that we highlight the opportunity around expanding the Microsoft stack. For this reason, Sharepoint is an important product for any partners in the BI space. This article about how Microsoft partners...

See more @ www.microsoft.com/performancepoint Please see below the relevant information to get started. In addition there is lots of helpful documents... check out the Office Developer Portal and TechCenter for deployment and operations guides, technical...

A Microsoft Partner - Skyline - are offering a great opportunity for Oracle DBAs to attend training on SQL Server 2005. Skyline are a Partner that has strong skills in both technologies. Here is the info from Skyline. Please contact them directly to discuss...

November 20, 2006 Computerworld "At the annual conference of the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) user group, Microsoft said it is designing a 270TB multinode data warehouse for a foreign government. Microsoft is also working on a 162TB...

Dimensional Modeling in Depth by Ralph Kimball and Margy Ross 24-27 April 2007 | London Rarely available in the UK! Dr. Ralph Kimball is as an innovator, writer, educator, speaker and consultant in the field of data warehousing. And he is coming to London...