Ward Pond's SQL Server blog

This Space Is Closed -- at least for now

WardPond — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:15:00 GMT

(updated 14 October 2010 to include a pointer to my new SQL Server-related blog) Today I received the unhappy news that my current position at Microsoft has been eliminated, effective this Friday. This was not entirely unexpected, but I find...(read more)

More About Our Dad, Thomas Alexander Pond

WardPond — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:00:00 GMT

We've posted Dad's obituary online at my website . Please stop by and read it. He lived a remarkable life. -wp this copyrighted material was originally posted at http://blogs.technet.com/wardpond . the author and his employer are pleased to provide...(read more)

RIP Thomas Alexander Pond: 1924-2010

WardPond — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:30:00 GMT

I’ve been down, but not like this before - Paul Barrere (Little Feat), All That You Dream It’s a very disturbing trend in one’s life when so much of one’s writing begins with the three letters which this entry does. It’s...(read more)

RIP Richie Hayward: 1946-2010

WardPond — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:45:00 GMT

Sad, sad news today from the worlds of music and friendship: Richie Hayward – founding member, drummer, writer, and singer in the seminal American rock and roll band Little Feat – lost his year-long battle with liver cancer today. He was only...(read more)

Two New Corners of the InterWebs -- and They’re Mine!

WardPond — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:00:00 GMT

A busy weekend here in central Florida, as I established two new personal domains: http://WardPond.net , my personal website, and http://pondsponderings.wordpress.com , my personal blog While you’ve been in no danger of being deluged by personal traffic...(read more)

Serving the SQL Server Blogosphere for a Twentieth of a Century!

WardPond — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:56:00 GMT

It’s been exactly five years since this blog went live with a questionable Admiral Stockdale reference, and despite an extended hiatus recently to due a confluence of personal and professional issues, your interest in my ponderings continues to a humbling...(read more)

Five Things About sp_.. (okay.. Four Things and a Closing Argument)

WardPond — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Celebrating the first day of Summer with the first technical post on the blog since mid-Winter (apologies for my absence).. Jens has a great post regarding the internal behavior of various forms of sp_-named programmability objects. Some SQLRAP-related...(read more)

Happy Birthday, Mom v78.05

WardPond — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:15:00 GMT

Today would’ve been my mother’s 83rd birthday if we hadn’t lost her to emphysema on 4 November 2004. I wish I could call her today, but I can’t. Please find time soon, if you’re able, to call your mother and thank her for your life. Such precious...(read more)

MERGE, XML Access, and a CTE: Not So Fast

WardPond — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:45:00 GMT

A bit of old news, as I return to the blog in earnest after some time away.. Last summer, in the posts Database Programming: What I’ve Learned About SQL Server 2008 (with a little on SQL Server 2005 thrown in) and Database Programming: Why I Like MERGE...(read more)

R.I.P. Robert B. Parker

WardPond — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Sad news today from the world of letters with the passing of Robert B. Parker , author of over 50 books, including the thirty-seven which comprise the Spenser series of detective novels. I’ve been an unabashed fan of Parker’s since I read my first Spenser...(read more)

Happy Birthday Dad v85.0

WardPond — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:45:00 GMT

Today is my dad’s eighty-fifth birthday. It was my intention to travel to Vermont to surprise him and take him to dinner, but a recent illness renders long-distance travel ill-advised in the short term. So he and I will have to settle for the telephone...(read more)

New Career Campaign From Microsoft Learning

WardPond — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:45:00 GMT

UPDATED 27 October 2009 with the correct expiration date for the E-Learning Collections discount (thanks, Lain !). Whether you are currently unemployed, looking for a promotion, or trying to become indispensible in your existing role, Microsoft has launched...(read more)

Pond’s Laws Home Page Now Live

WardPond — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:30:00 GMT

Thanks to yet another kick-in-the-pants from Jimmy May (did he play soccer as a youth?) the Pond’s Laws Home Page is now live. Jimmy wanted to find all of Pond’s Laws in one place, and now he (and you) can. There’s also a link to the new page in the...(read more)

Windows 7 Now Available

WardPond — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:45:00 GMT

You might have heard about this somewhere else.. but Windows 7 was launched today . I recently got an upgraded laptop from my employer, upon which I installed Windows 7. Both the machine and the software are quite remarkable. First, the machine...(read more)

Pond’s Thirteenth Law: Change Won’t Be Cheaper Tomorrow

WardPond — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:45:00 GMT

Herewith, a discussion of the emergence of Pond’s Thirteenth Law (if you need to catch up, here are Laws One through Ten , Eleven , and Twelve , as well as three ruminations on the implications of Pond’s Seventh Law ).. One of the great things about...(read more)

Beta 2 Release for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Available for Download

WardPond — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:15:00 GMT

Exciting news for the developer community: yesterday Microsoft released the second beta for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. Click here for the download page. If you need it, go get it! -wp this copyrighted material was originally posted...(read more)

Mark Your Calendar: Windows 7 Readiness Webcast on October 6

WardPond — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:30:00 GMT

The following description of a pending webcast arrived in my inbox earlier this week; I thought it might be of interest to some of you as you prepare for the launch of Windows 7: Is Your Organization Ready for Windows 7? October 6, 2009 12:00 PM Eastern...(read more)

A Gift From Jens and Jimmy

WardPond — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:15:00 GMT

Two Microsoft folks frequently featured in this space, Microsoft Certified Masters Jimmy May and Jens Suessmeyer , have joined forces to bring to the world SQLIOSimParser, a tool to parse and interpret the XML output of the Bob Dorr’s SQLIOSim testing...(read more)

SQL Server 2008 R2 August CTP Available for Download

WardPond — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:45:00 GMT

If you’re interested in the next release of SQL Server, the BI-focused SQL Server 2008 R2, you’ll be pleased to know that the August CTP is available for download here for MSDN and TechNet members. Here’s the skinny from the download page: SQL Server...(read more)

Pond’s Twelfth Law: In Your Pursuit of Five Nines, Don’t Practice in Front of the CIO

WardPond — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:09:00 GMT

After a long hiatus , Pond’s Laws of System Design (or, How to Be a Competent Professional in an Irrational World) returns. Thanks to Jimmy May for a kick-in-the-pants on this topic several months ago; I hope he’ll understand why I just had to wait until...(read more)

Database Programming: A New String Concatenation Contender for SQL Server 2008

WardPond — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:15:00 GMT

UPDATED 11:11p 7 September 2009: Based on my latest exchange with Adam (see the comments for this post), compound operators should be avoided for string concatenation due to the ORDER BY bug discused in KB 287515 . The XML variant below is the preferred...(read more)

Database Programming: Did You Know IN Can Do This?

WardPond — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Courtesy of Jens Suessmeyer comes this little gem purloined from an internal discussion; cut-and-paste this into SQL Server Management Studio and see if you can answer the questions in the comments before you execute the script: -- create and populate...(read more)

Download a New Browser and Help Feed the Hungry

WardPond — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:30:00 GMT

I sure wish I’d known about this sooner.. If you haven’t yet downloaded Internet Explorer 8, here’s a great opportunity to acquire some fantastic software and help out some folks less fortunate than we are in the bargain. If you download Internet Explorer...(read more)

Adam Machanic Likes MERGE, Too

WardPond — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:45:00 GMT

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s MERGE discussion comes a complementary (and far more detailed) take from Adam Machanic . It’s a nifty technical discussion, under the banner of an outstanding Dr. Strangelove pun. To see some of the true power of...(read more)

Database Programming: Why I Like MERGE

WardPond — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:30:00 GMT

In the wake of last month’s post on my new development efforts in SQL Server 2008, several of you have asked me to go into further detail. This post is my first effort to answer those questions; right now, we’ll focus on these two , which relate...(read more)