25 May 2010
By Bob Pusateri

Seven Free Applications You Should Try

Software
I think all of us who sit in front of a computer for a living have a few free programs that we're particularly fond of.  Here's what I'm liking as of late. Notepad++ My favorite general-purpose text editor.  Along with pretty much anything else, I find myself writing a lot of T-SQL code in here and then copying/pasting into SSMS.  My favorite features include column editing mode, double-click searches, and a wide variety of plugins.  Supports syntax highlighting for a ton of languages out of the box, but extensions are available that allow it to handle even more.  I used…
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21 May 2010
By Bob Pusateri

Book Review: Microsoft Official Academic Course 70-443 / 70-450

Book Review, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication
When preparing to take certification exams, I always purchase test preparation materials no matter how ready I feel that I am.  I do this for two reasons: There's no such thing as being too prepared (being a Boy Scout taught me this many times over) I can be sure of what topics will be covered As I was getting ready to take the 70-450 exam (MCITP: SQL Server 2008 Administration)  I couldn't find any official training kits available for that test.  Even as I type this 4 months later I still see none when searching for "70-450" on amazon.com.  Figuring…
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19 May 2010
By Bob Pusateri

The Chicken

Humor, Literature, SQL Server
A little over a week ago, Wendy Pastrick (blog | twitter) had a blog post, Attack of the Killer Maintenance Plan, where she crafts a horror story from her experience checking out some maintenance plans designed by a former employee. After reading this, I was inspired to come up with my own tale, blended with classic American Literature.  The irony here is that I hated (and hence did terrible in) all my english and literature classes throughout school.  This was especially true for Mr. Miller's 10th grade American Lit class, where I believe my final grade was a "C-".  Thankfully,…
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13 May 2010
By Bob Pusateri

Five Things SQL Server Needs To Drop

SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Thoughts
While I wasn't explicitly tagged for participation in this meme, Wendy Pastrick (blog | twitter) was kind enough to tag everyone else who hasn't been tagged already.  Being in need of a first topic for a blog post, this seemed like a good one to start with! Since a lot of things have already been spoken for, here's 3 things I particularly hate accompanied by 2 favorites from others.  If someone else has already mentioned my 3, my apologies for apparently not reading your blog! 1.  View Dependencies Once I discovered this "feature" I quickly learned that it wasn't reliable,…
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