20 Feb 2020
By Bob Pusateri
The Luhn Algorithm

The Luhn Algorithm

Computing, Powershell
Checksums can be very helpful for validating that data is intact and free from simple mistakes. They are extremely fast to calculate, and computing power has made them all but trivial over the past few decades. Because of this, checksums often hide in plain sight. One of these is the Luhn Checksum, which is produced by the Luhn Algorithm. The Luhn Algorithm was invented by Hans Peter Luhn, a scientist at IBM. It's patent was granted in 1960, but has since expired and it is now in the public domain. The best place where you can find its handiwork? Your…
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02 Feb 2020
By Bob Pusateri
Updating the PowerShell Kernel in Azure Data Studio

Updating the PowerShell Kernel in Azure Data Studio

Azure Data Studio, Powershell
In my previous post, I discussed an issue I encountered where comments caused strange issues in a PowerShell notebook in Azure Data Studio. I opened an issue in GitHub about this, and got some very prompt feedback from a member of the team. It turns out I did not have the latest version of the PowerShell Kernel running on my machine. The latest version is currently 0.1.3, and I had 0.1.2. Upgrading appears to have solved this issue for me - yay! This solution also raises the issue that there is no notification from Azure Data Studio that a PowerShell…
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02 Feb 2020
By Bob Pusateri
Strange PowerShell Notebook Behavior When Comments Are Involved

Strange PowerShell Notebook Behavior When Comments Are Involved

Azure Data Studio, Powershell
This is not the blog post I was intending to write. I started off writing about a different topic, and had some code that I wanted to share in a PowerShell Notebook. Getting that notebook to behave like it should have, however, is another story entirely and worthy of its own post - this one. PowerShell Notebooks are a great new feature in Azure Data Studio, first becoming available in the November 2019 release. Like SQL notebooks, PowerShell notebooks are based on Jupyter Notebooks format, which are interactive documents containing text and executable code blocks. Having some working PowerShell code…
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27 Jan 2020
By Bob Pusateri
SQL Saturday Chicago 2020 Schedule Posted!

SQL Saturday Chicago 2020 Schedule Posted!

Events, SQL Saturday
We have just under two months to go until SQL Saturday Chicago 2020! This year we received over 150 abstracts, and we are very pleased to announce our schedule. Thank you to all who submitted! I hope to see you on Saturday, March 21, 2020, at Benedictine University in Lisle for what will be a wonderful day of free training, networking, and career development. (Lunch is available for $15.) We have once again broken our previous record for registration (set last year), and are now at capacity. But fear not! There are still ways you can attend: Join our waiting…
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23 Jan 2020
By Bob Pusateri

Chicago SQL Association – Now With A New Logo!

Community
A while back I wrote about starting a not-for-profit, detailing the genesis of the Chicago SQL Association. This organization allows us to better manage the finances of our user groups and our SQL Saturday event. That post has proven quite popular, so I can only assume it has been helpful to others looking to set up their own legal entities. With that in mind, I would like to share our recent experience of getting a new logo designed. Why Our original (and now former) logo was designed by...me. Over a period of about two hours. I am not a graphic…
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