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September 2006 - Posts

Saturday, September 30, 2006 12:15 AM

Database Programming: A Prime Number Contender From Down Under

Denis' Prime Number Challenge just won't die. I think this topic has spurred more dialog than any other in this blog's 15-month, 180-odd post history. Just imagine if I could've harnessed this global outpouring of SQL skills for something with commercial
Posted by Ward Pond | 6 Comments
Friday, September 29, 2006 7:45 PM

DWWTWT?: September 29

As predicted yesterday, September ended on a telecommuting note: Telecommuted: 4 Walked: 53 Drove: 14 Did Not Compete: 9 Here are the totals for the month of September: Telecommuted: 1 Walked: 17 Drove: 2 Did Not Compete: 1 More Monday.. -wp
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Thursday, September 28, 2006 6:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 28

Yet another near-80-degree day; who could pass up a "long walking commute" on a day like this? Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 53 Drove: 14 Did Not Compete: 9 Tomorrow is looking like a telecommuting day.. at least there will be no internal combustion involved!
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Wednesday, September 27, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 27

Another near-80-degree day, another "long walking commute" this morning: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 52 Drove: 14 Did Not Compete: 9 Tune in tomorrow to see if I can keep this up.. -wp
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Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 26

Yesterday , I said It's supposed to be sunny and in the 70s all week 70s? Try 80s! In Seattle in September! While a top-down internal combustion experience is certainly tempting, I took a "long walking commute" this morning: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 51
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, September 26, 2006 4:45 PM

Technical News: Windows Vista September EDW Now Available

I spent my lunch hour today upgrading my laptop from Windows Vista RC1 to the latest EDW (External Developer Workstation) build, build 5728. You can get the new build in the following languages: English German Japanese I've been running it for a couple
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
Monday, September 25, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 25

On Friday , I said With any luck, we'll break 50 on Monday Well, it's Monday and I'm feeling lucky : Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 50 Drove: 14 Did Not Compete: 9 It's supposed to be sunny and in the 70s all week (autumn? what autumn?); if that prognostication
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Monday, September 25, 2006 5:00 PM

Database Programming: Closing The Door On The "Discredited" Prime Number Tangent

One more PDA-incompatible post: lessons learned from "discredited" prime number syntax
Posted by Ward Pond | 4 Comments
Sunday, September 24, 2006 7:15 PM

Database Programming: Sunday Night Prime Number Update

Our blogging site is going to go dark in an hour or so for a software upgrade, so I won't be able to post my full findings tonight. What I can say is that, based on the current "rules of engagement" (i.e., the timer starts when the tables are populated),
Posted by Ward Pond | 3 Comments
Saturday, September 23, 2006 11:45 PM

Database Programming: Denis' Prime Number Challenge: A New Leader

Well, folks, there's a new sheriff in town.. this is a continuation of a conversation here and here . I've tweaked Hugo's syntax to further filter the initial seive population (similar to the pre-filtering present in the discredited tangent ). Where's
Posted by Ward Pond | 12 Comments
Saturday, September 23, 2006 11:00 PM

Database Programming: Denis' Prime Number Challenge: Fourth Place Finisher

Hugo Kornelis posted a wonderful reply on his blog to the Prime Number Challenge, which runs in 9.3 seconds on my laptop. Denis posted his solution in a reply on Hugo's blog ; Denis' solution runs in 6 seconds . WOW! Perhaps this isn't such a crazy undertaking
Posted by Ward Pond | 6 Comments
Saturday, September 23, 2006 2:30 AM

Database Programming: Denis' Prime Number Challenge

I answer Denis' challenge with another post to refrain from downloading to your mobile device.
Posted by Ward Pond | 10 Comments
Friday, September 22, 2006 6:45 PM

DWWTWT?: September 22

The week ended with a "long walking commute": Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 49 Drove: 14 Did Not Compete: 9 With any luck, we'll break 50 on Monday, the 76th working day of this experiment.. -wp
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Thursday, September 21, 2006 10:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 21

Today was the annual Microsoft Company Meeting at Safeco Field in downtown Seattle. This, combined with the fact that I needed to join my wife and son for some family business in the University District, rendered walking highly impractical: Telecommuted:
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006 11:15 PM

Database Programming: Set-Based Update -- Hugo's Syntax Outperforms Shaun's; Ward Tweaks Hugo's Syntax Even Further

A long post continuing last night's discussion regarding the generation of 1M GUIDs. I'm not sure I'd download this one to your PDA...
Posted by Ward Pond | 6 Comments
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 10:00 PM

DWWTWT?: September 20

Despite a light drizzle this morning, I braved the elements: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 48 Drove: 13 Did Not Compete: 9 Tomorrow's activities are likely to involve an automobile.. -wp
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Tuesday, September 19, 2006 10:15 PM

Database Programming: Game, Set, Match -- Why Writing Code In Transact-SQL Is Different Than Writing In A Compiled Language

More tidbits from an internal discussion.. it'll take us awhile to get to the answer to the titular question; hopefully you'll find this a worthy journey. Mike asked, in a nutshell, why this batch is taking so long to run: SET NOCOUNT ON DECLARE @Rows
Posted by Ward Pond | 4 Comments
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 8:30 PM

Welcome Back, Peter Gammons!

I haven't subjected you to a baseball post in awhile . Don't worry, I'll be brief.. I can't let the day pass without noting that the great Peter Gammons has returned to his nonpareil column (link requires subscription) on ESPN.com after his health issues
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Tuesday, September 19, 2006 8:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 19

There was a great deal going on today that didn't have much to do with work. I had to give my teenagers a ride to school this morning; I had a doctor's appointment at 12:15, and Kyle had his first basketball game of the season this afternoon. All that,
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, September 19, 2006 8:15 AM

Made In Express Contest Winners Announced!

Yes, the winners are in ! The Made In Express contest has announced its Grand Prize , First Prize , and Community Choice award winners. Congratulations to Ernie Hall , Ali Khalid , Jonas Martinsson , and Sanchez Roman Canlas !
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Monday, September 18, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 18

Our freakishly dry summer is definitely a distant memory now. It was raining hard enough this morning to cause water to puddle on the sidewalk, but I walked through it undaunted: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 47 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 9 Alex once again
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Friday, September 15, 2006 11:30 PM

DWWTWT?: September 15

Autumn continues to make itself felt in Western Washington, but not with sufficient vigor to discourage a walk to work: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 46 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 9 I was once again ditched by my grandson. I figure he'll throw a bone the old
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:45 PM

DWWTWT?: September 14

The meteorologists were right yesterday , as this morning's options presented a new benchmark in the history of this project: plans to walk to work combined with non-trivial rainfall. Out came the raincoat and the walking shoes.. Telecommuted: 3 Walked:
Posted by Ward Pond | 1 Comments
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Wednesday, September 13, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 13

There was definitely a touch of fall in the air this morning; a light mist was falling and it was a good ten degrees cooler than yesterday. After weighing his options very carefully, Alex invited me to join him on his walk to school, so this morning was
Posted by Ward Pond | 2 Comments
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Tuesday, September 12, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 12

A brisk, sunny morning combined with my grandson's continuing desire to walk to school by himself caused me to roll out my foot-based "short morning commute": Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 43 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 9 Stay tuned to see if Alex invites me
Posted by Ward Pond | 1 Comments
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Tuesday, September 12, 2006 4:30 PM

Database Programming: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About JOIN Semantics, But Were Afraid To Ask

Every once in awhile, I get an opportunity to look around for new and interesting things to read. With the emphasis my new position places on building world-class training resources for SQL Server types, I'll be spending even more time on this sort of
Posted by Ward Pond | 1 Comments
Monday, September 11, 2006 5:30 PM

Five Years On

As a wide-eyed boy from Long Island, I watched them go up . As a jaded middle-aged man a continent away, I watched them fall down . Never forget .
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Monday, September 11, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 11

I think my grandson has dumped me. Last Friday, we were running through our morning routine and we were all a little late; Alex asked, "Grandpa, can I walk to school by myself today?" Well, not walking him to school would save me 20 minutes and I was
Posted by Ward Pond | 1 Comments
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Monday, September 11, 2006 5:00 PM

Database Programming: Sergey Offers Another FOR XML EXPLICIT Syntax For Steve

If you've worked with databases long enough, you develop a set of truisms that you carry around in your head. One of mine, related to building T-SQL syntax, is, "there are at least 87 ways to skin any particular cat." While we're still 85 methods short
Posted by Ward Pond | 3 Comments
Monday, September 11, 2006 12:45 PM

Database Programming: Buliding a FOR XML PATH Statement Containing Both an Element Value and an Attribute Associated With The Element

On Friday afternoon, I shared an answer to Steve's question seeking a FOR XML EXPLICIT query to produce this XML: < Product > < Category rank = " 0 " > Category Name </ Category > </ Product > Well, over the weekend my "geek beanie"
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
Friday, September 08, 2006 8:00 PM

Database Programming: Buliding a FOR XML EXPLICIT Statement Containing Both an Element Value and an Attribute Associated With The Element

Well, the title of this post is so long, I almost don't need to reconstruct Steve's question, but here it is.. I need to construct a FOR XML EXPLICIT statement that essentially produces something like < Product > < Category rank = " 0 " >
Posted by Ward Pond | 5 Comments
Friday, September 08, 2006 7:00 PM

DWWTWT?: September 8

The week ends as it began, with a walk down 156th Avenue NE: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 41 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 9 Hope your weekend is grand.. -wp
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Thursday, September 07, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 7

There's nothing like a fifty minute walk to start the day off correctly: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 40 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 9 One day left this week, and the rain is forecast to hold off until Saturday. Stay tuned.. -wp
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Wednesday, September 06, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 6

The second day of my newly extended walk to work went as smoothly as yesterday's debut: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 39 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 9 There's no rain in the forecast until the weekend, so we're still looking good for the rest of the week. Stay
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Tuesday, September 05, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 5

The work week and the school year both started today, which means I now walk my grandson to school before continuing to the office. This adds another 3/4 mile or so to the trip.. I was walking for almost an hour this morning! Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 38
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Monday, September 04, 2006 4:15 PM

Windows Vista RC1 Has Arrived!

Last week I mentioned that I'd installed Beta 2 of Windows Vista on my new laptop. Well, last Friday came the internal announcement the RC1 was ready, so I pointed the new PC at the download bits just as fast as I could. RC1 will be available for public
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
Monday, September 04, 2006 4:00 PM

DWWTWT?: September 4

Today is the Labor Day holiday in the US; we spent it running last minute errands to get the boys ready for tomorrow's first day of school: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 37 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 9 Best wishes for the holiday, and good luck to all of you
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Friday, September 01, 2006 5:15 PM

DWWTWT?: September 1

The new month begins and the week ends with another invigorating stroll up 156th Avenue NE: Telecommuted: 3 Walked: 37 Drove: 12 Did Not Compete: 8 No birthday wishes today, but my best wishes to those of you in the US (and outside as well, if you're
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
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Friday, September 01, 2006 4:15 PM

Made In Express Contest Voting Closes Tonight

I last blogged on this contest a couple of weeks ago , as well as in March and in June . The community voting for the contest ends at 11:59 PDT tonight (less than eight hours from now), so if you'd like to vote for your favorite, time's a-wastin'! I'll
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
 
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