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December 2008 - Posts

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 11:15 AM

DWWTWT?: December 29-31

In the second of my annual indulgences , I’m “treating” you to a summary of my commuting life this year. A note to the uninitiated: there has been a hidden feed on this blog since I started my position in the SQL CoE in June of 2006. My office was a mile
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Monday, December 29, 2008 5:30 PM

Feedback is a Gift; Thanks, Kalen!

The law of unintended consequences is an amazing thing. When I posted Dirk Gubbels’ holiday greeting last week, I very quietly snuck in a new format for displaying source code, a formatting plug-in that was recommended in an internal discussion group. 
Posted by Ward Pond | 1 Comments
Friday, December 26, 2008 12:00 PM

DWWTWT?: December 22-26

After spending six hours in Orlando airport with Zach on Monday waiting for his two hour flight to take off, I got called into work. The remainder of the week was non-competitive, spent basking in the glow of my family: Commuting Options Selected since
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Wednesday, December 24, 2008 9:00 AM

A Seasonal Query

UPDATED 29 Dec 2008: Back to the tried-and-true source code formatting method, per Kalen’s comment and my response .   UPDATED 24 Dec 2008: I got this from a couple of different sources, so I didn't realize when I drafted this post that Dirk wrote
Posted by Ward Pond | 12 Comments
Saturday, December 20, 2008 10:30 AM

SQL Server 2005 SP3 CU1 Is Now Available

Hot on the heels of the initial SQL Server 2005 SP3 release , Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2005 SP3 is available for download here . From the Knowledge Base article : Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 contains only hotfixes
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
Friday, December 19, 2008 8:45 PM

DWWTWT?: December 15-19

The working year ends with a full week of telecommuting from balmy central Florida: Commuting Options Selected since 12 June 2006 Mode of Transport Number of Invocations Telecommuted 108 Walked 218 Walked to the Bus 17 Drove 191 None (did not compete)
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Friday, December 19, 2008 8:30 PM

May Glad Tidings be Upon You

UPDATED 20 Dec 2008 to fix links It’s that time of year again, when I disappear from the blogosphere for a couple of weeks to contemplate the blessing of home and family.  Before I do that, I’d like to use the blog’s 700th post for my annual holiday
Posted by Ward Pond | 3 Comments
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:00 PM

It's Here! SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 Now Available for Download

As discussed here , SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 is now available for download here . The following information is taken verbatim from the Data Platform Insider : SQL Server 2005 SP3 is now available for download and includes the following updates:
Posted by Ward Pond | 4 Comments
Friday, December 12, 2008 9:30 PM

Linchi Shea Makes an Interesting Point About Hints

I had a couple of extra minutes today and found this post on Linchi Shea’s blog ; I wanted to commend to all of you who’ve taken in the programming methodology and set-based thinking discussions in this little corner. While I disagree some with the point
Posted by Ward Pond | 2 Comments
Friday, December 12, 2008 8:45 PM

Database Programming: OBJECT_ID Takes Three-Part Identifiers

This is another one of those tricks that’s been available since the earth was cooling, but I just discovered it recently. So, here’s a history lesson in the form of a small T-SQL script, with the moral contained in the title of this post: set nocount
Posted by Ward Pond | 2 Comments
Friday, December 12, 2008 8:15 PM

DWWTWT?: December 8-12

Another week of telecommuting (bringing the total for that mode into triple digits), including dodging a pretty significant line of thunderstorms yesterday: Commuting Options Selected since 12 June 2006 Mode of Transport Number of Invocations Telecommuted
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Friday, December 05, 2008 9:00 PM

Cumulative Update Package 2 for SQL Server 2008 Released

Can you tell I’m moving towards the top of my in-box?  My earlier release announcement was three months late; this one is only two weeks so. Cumulative Update Package 2 for SQL Server 2008 has been released and is available for download here . 
Posted by Ward Pond | 2 Comments
Friday, December 05, 2008 7:30 PM

Throw Some SPARKs: Microsoft’s First Windows Embedded Hobbyist Competition

I think contests are really cool, so I tend to blog about them here even when they’re not overtly SQL Server related. A little background..  back in March of this year, the Windows Embedded Group launched SPARK Your Imagination , the first hobbyist-focused
Posted by Ward Pond | 0 Comments
Friday, December 05, 2008 6:45 PM

DWWTWT?: December 1-5

No post-Thanksgiving lull here; a full week of telecommuting including a pretty late night last night: Commuting Options Selected since 12 June 2006 Mode of Transport Number of Invocations Telecommuted 98 Walked 218 Walked to the Bus 17 Drove 191 None
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Friday, December 05, 2008 6:30 PM

Windows Live Messenger Translation Services Available

I’m about three months late to the party on this, but in light of our previous forays into machine translation , I think it’s still worth mentioning. In my defense, this item just hit my in-box yesterday (don’t ask me about finding time to check my RSS
Posted by Ward Pond | 1 Comments
Thursday, December 04, 2008 9:30 PM

Happy Birthday, Dad! v84.0

If it's December 4th, it must be my Dad's birthday .. After our move to Florida this past August, I'm living in the same time zone as my father and sister for the first time since we last lived under the same roof, which would be approximately 1984. I'm
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Wednesday, December 03, 2008 11:45 PM

Just What *is* the Current SQL Server Patch Level, Anyway?

Courtesy of Ben Lam’s question and Arvind Shyamsundar’s answer comes the following list of resources for keeping up with SQL Server product update releases: You can sign up for security bulletin-related email alerts from Microsoft here (Windows Live ID
Posted by Ward Pond | 2 Comments
 
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