June 2011 - Posts

• Book Review: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services Unleashed

  Yet another book that I started re-reading last week (but haven't finished again yet as it's so large) is Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services Unleashed by Irina Gorbach, Alexander Berger and Edward Melomed. This book has always left me with mixed Read More... Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2011 4:13 PM by Greg Low | 1 Comments

• Book Review: Fast Track to MDX

  Another book that I re-read while travelling last week was Fast Track to MDX . I still think that it's the best book that I've seen for introducing the core concepts of MDX. SolidQ colleague Mark Whitehorn, along with Mosha Pasumansky and Robert Zare Read More... Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2011 4:00 PM by Greg Low | 1 Comments

• Book Review: Expert Cube Development with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services

  I spent last week on campus in Redmond with the SQL Server Analysis Services Maestro program. It was great to have a chance to focus on SSAS for a week. As part of that, I did quite a bit of reading as I had quite a bit of travelling time. Ironically, Read More... Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2011 3:49 PM by Greg Low | 8 Comments

• SQL Server 2008 R2 Cumulative Update 8 now available

  CU8 is now available for SQL Server 2008 R2. You will find it here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2534352/en-us It includes the following fixes: VSTS bug number KB article number Description 726734 2522893 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2522893/ ) Read More... Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2011 3:37 PM by Greg Low | 0 Comments

• Free SolidQ eBook - Data Quality and Master Data Management with SQL Server 2008 R2

  Almost every day, I find I'm amazed at what some of my SolidQ colleagues achieve. Today is another such day. Dejan Sarka and Davide Mauri have written an eBook on Data Quality and Master Data Management. What can i say? Go and get it. It's here: http://www.solidq.com/ce-en/News/Pages/Data-Quality-and-Master-Data-Management-with-Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008-R2.aspx Read More... Posted Wednesday, June 01, 2011 6:07 PM by Greg Low | 1 Comments

• Review: Kindle (Amazon)

  Since I've been posting book reviews, I've already had a few questions about the Kindle and what I think about it. I have the 9" DX with 3G and love it. The 3G is so useful. You don't need to have a 3G provider account and it just seems to work almost Read More... Posted Wednesday, June 01, 2011 5:31 PM by Greg Low | 10 Comments

• Book Review: Dreaming in Chinese - Deborah Fallows

  Another book that I've just finished reading on the Kindle is Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows. I had purchased the hard cover edition a while back on the recommendation of colleague Ron Talmage but hadn't got to reading it. I was glad to then see Read More... Posted Wednesday, June 01, 2011 4:35 PM by Greg Low | 2 Comments

• Book Review: Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010: Give Your Data Meaning

  I'm loving my Kindle. I seem to be getting through books so much faster. One book that I recently read was Book Review: Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010: Give Your Data Meaning by Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari. I really liked this book. It provided Read More... Posted Wednesday, June 01, 2011 4:22 PM by Greg Low | 2 Comments

• DCL clauses in CREATE SCHEMA

  I’ve never been very keen on the option to add additional clauses in the CREATE SCHEMA statement as I’ve seen lots of issues when scripts are executed manually. You get a different outcome, depending upon how you execute it. For example: CREATE SCHEMA Read More... Posted Wednesday, June 01, 2011 7:58 AM by Greg Low | 3 Comments