John Paul Cook

CPU benchmarking and time for an upgrade

2012-01-21T21:59:05Z

Is your SQL Server running slower than you’d like? Is it your SQL Server configuration or your slightly old hardware? We need to use tools to gather information. My subjective impression is that my 2.2 GHz laptop outperforms my 3.0 GHz overclocked desktop in CPU bound tasks. Both are quad core machines. The desktop has a first generation quad and the laptop has a second generation quad core processor. To introduce objectivity, PassMark’s Performance Test was used to benchmark the two machines. If...(read more)

[OT] Best Christmas Gift Imaginable

2011-12-25T22:10:12Z

One of my friends in declining health received the best possible Christmas present – a lung transplant! I am sad for the donor’s family who has Christmas without their loved one. I am thankful to all organ donors and their families for giving life and hope to others....(read more)

SQL Azure, the cloud, and Comcast

2011-12-13T22:59:16Z

Microsoft upped the level of service for my SQL Azure account. I can think of things I’d like to do, but there isn’t any point with Comcast as my ISP. This is the problem with cloud based services – the ISP is the weak link. I can make a PowerPoint slide of a grand plan, but it is all for naught when connectivity can’t be taken for granted. My connection speed has dropped from 30++ mbps to under 5 mbps while my monthly bill has gone up. It took over half an hour of my lost time for Comcast to suggest...(read more)

Making a poster with Microsoft Publisher

2011-12-06T03:05:17Z

Sometimes we have no choice but to make a physical poster instead of using a video projector. Over the weekend, I used Microsoft Publisher to make a 48”x36” color poster. I have two tips for you. First, save your final, ready to print file as a pdf. The printing companies I contacted told me they greatly preferred pdf files. If you need a pdf, you’ll have it. If you don’t need it, no harm done in creating it. Second, I found that a flat panel HDTV is a great way to proof your final draft. Even my...(read more)

Superscripts, subscripts, special characters, and Unicode

2011-10-31T02:51:24Z

Office applications and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) handle superscripts and subscripts differently. Office apps such as Word allow you to assign font properties to make a character appear superscripted or subscripted. SSMS doesn’t support font properties, but Unicode does provide special characters for common superscripting and subscripting symbols. Before you get the green light to build that SQL Server database, you’ll first have to make a compelling case for it using Word or PowerPoint....(read more)

Speaking at Houston TechFest on October 15.

2011-10-09T23:55:02Z

I’m speaking at the free Houston TechFest on Saturday, October 15. If you haven’t registered yet, please do so ASAP. My topic is SQL Server Tips and Tricks. If you’re in Houston, check it out. There are many other topics and speakers so there should be something of interest to you. I hope to see you there!...(read more)

Enabling custom spell checking in Word 2011 on a Mac

2011-10-06T01:06:29Z

I previously posted how to add a medical dictionary to Word 2010. It’s a simple matter of copying a file and adding it to Word. Although the concept is the same with Word 2011 on a Mac operating system, implementation on a Mac requires some additional effort. For those of you who aren’t Mac power users, I’ve provided screen captures detailing the tricks you must know to achieve success. The file you need is downloaded from here where where I posted how to add a custom dictionary to Word 2010 on Windows...(read more)

Spell checking in Excel

2011-10-01T16:07:23Z

Many people have added a custom medical spell checker to Word after reading my blog post found here , which was updated and simplified earlier today. Some people have mistakenly thought that spell checking in Office applications doesn’t work in Excel. It does, but you have to explicitly invoke it. When you invoke spell checking in Excel, it uses the standard default list of Words that come with Office as well as any custom dictionaries you may have added. Notice in the screen capture below that the...(read more)

Fixing PowerPoint 2010 on Windows 7 running on a MacBook

2011-09-13T00:13:32Z

If you try typing anything in PowerPoint 2010 running on Windows 7 installed in Boot Camp, PowerPoint may abort. The first time I installed Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro, PowerPoint 2010 worked just fine. But the second time was a disaster. PowerPoint aborted every time I tried to type anything. The fix is easy and is detailed in the screen captures shown below. You have to specify a keyboard layout to resolve this issue. I do not know why the first installation was fine and the second was not, but...(read more)

Silently booting Windows 7 on a MacBook

2011-09-10T14:51:23Z

After using Boot Camp to install Windows 7 on a MacBook Pro, it is annoying to hear an Apple chime every time the machine is booted. It is easy to remedy. Although the noise is made before booting into an operating system (either Apple’s or Microsoft’s), suppressing it requires booting into Apple’s OS and changing a setting. Below you will see the screen captures showing you what to do. Pressing the mute button on the MacBook Pro keyboard when booting does not prevent the Apple chime when running...(read more)

Searching PowerPoint files

2011-08-06T16:40:26Z

PowerPoint’s find feature is limited because it works on only a single file at a time and I need to search groups of files. There is a simple, high value search capability available in Adobe Reader X that I’m using to search PowerPoint files. All I had to do was open the PowerPoint files with Office 2010/2011 and save them as pdf files. Using the advanced find feature in Adobe Reader X makes it easy to find a word in a group of files. I’m using this technique to prepare for final exams as I study...(read more)

Windows and Mac not playing nicely with zip files

2011-07-08T22:38:28Z

I’m having a terrible time with a new Cisco E4200 router and WMP600N dual band wireless network adapter. Cisco directed me to download a zip file of driver files, but they created it on a Mac. Zip files created on a Mac can sometimes unzip on Windows as NTFS encrypted files. Cisco doesn’t believe me, but it’s true nonetheless. Using the built-in Windows 7 unzip feature, Mac zip files will under still mysterious circumstances unzip on Windows as NTFS encrypted. In other words, they appear as green...(read more)

Adding custom medical spell checking to Word

2011-07-08T18:07:00Z

Adding custom spell checking to Word is easy. Office applications use lists of properly spelled words stored in simple Unicode text files will a file type of dic for dictionary. There is a legally free, GPL licensed medical list of words found at http://www.e-medtools.com/openmedspel.html . It isn’t in Unicode, so we’ve made a Unicode version of this custom dictionary file and packaged it in a zip file which you can download by scrolling to the bottom of this post. Under the terms of GPL licensing,...(read more)

Matte vs. glossy

2011-07-06T01:08:00Z

Here's a great article explaining matte vs. glossy: http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-10041-10146&sr=hotnews . Scroll down toward the bottom of the page and look at the two photos. Do a mouseover to see what happens to a glossy display (top) and a matte display (bottom) when the blinds in the room are opened. The difference in the matte display is barely perceptible. Why people who actually do work on a computer would want a glossy display eludes me. Notice that the article...(read more)

SQL Kinect Management Studio

2011-07-05T23:18:00Z

SKMS - yes, I made that up. But look here to see that Microsoft has released an SDK to connect Windows machines to Kinect. It's something I've been thinking about for months. I'd like to use Kinect to administer SQL Server. I understand that many people feel compelled to say that a Kinect interface for SQL Server is a complete waste of time and totally unnecessary. But wouldn't it be fun to try SQL Kinect Management Studio? I wonder if the Kinect SDK can make calls to PowerShell. UPDATE: As a reader...(read more)