Microsoft recognizes Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) on the first day of each quarter and yesterday was an ''MVP Day.'' Some people had a great day yesterday. Congratulations to new and renewed MVPs! Others were disappointed. I've been there and want to encourage those nominated and not awarded. You're not doing community stuff for ...

Back in January 2007, SQL guru Itzik Ben-Gan posted a series of MS Connect enhancement requests concerning windowing function enhancements.  Those who have used the ROW_NUMBER(), RANK(), DENSE_RANK(), and NTILE() functions on SQL 2005 and 2008, you already know how useful they are.  They simplify code and can improve performance ...

On October 1, I received my email stating that I was again renewed as an MVP. One of the greatest honors I have ever received is the Microsoft MVP Award, certainly it is the greatest professional honor. And while there are some benefits to getting the award, I am not honored because of the benefits.  While there are a few benefits that are ...

I just got tagged by my old friend Jacob Sebastian at Beyond Relational, and it turns out it's my turn to explain how I became such a geek :) Way back in the day I got my start on the TRS-80 Model III (affectionately known as the ''Trash-80s''), a nice little Z-80 based desktop computer with an 80x25 monochrome screen and a whopping ...

You've probably already read about the SQL Server MVP Deep Dives book, which will be making its debut at PASS in November. Many of my friends and colleagues have blogged about it already.  But just in case… SQL Server MVP Deep Dives is an all-volunteer book. All author proceeds are going to WarChild.org – an organization that helps ...

A project that I worked on a while back is finally coming to fruition, and it is one of the coolest around.  Usually when I see a book that has 5+ authors, I am a bit concerned about quality.  In this case however, there are 53 authors and even if the quality was not all that great (which it will be excellent, by the way), the proceeds ...

Responding to BillG’s MVP Summit challenge to “Do philanthropy where you are,” The SQL Server MVP Deep Dives book is a collaboration of 53 MVPs sharing their expertise and passion for SQL Server. This is an all-volunteer book. All author proceeds are going to WarChild.org – an organization that helps children traumatized by war. Because this ...

The MVP authored book, SQL Server MVP Deep Dives is now available for early access and pre-orders at http://manning.com/nielsen/.  The book is divided into 5 sections that cover everything from building a proper relational database to developing BI solutions: 1. Database Design and Architecture 2. Database Development 3. Database ...

Red Gate just published a new free e-book in their High Performance SQL Server series.  The book is SQL Server Tacklebox: Essential Tools and Scripts for the Day to Day DBA by Rodney Landrum. Rodney is a professional DBA by trade, an author by choice, and a SQL Server MVP. With the SQL Server Tacklebox Rodney demonstrates dozens of ...

SQL Server MVP Jacob Sebastian's new e-book, The Art of XSD, is available as a free download from Red Gate software at http://www.red-gate.com/specials/Ebooks/XSD_0409.htm. You may reognize Jacob from his many XML-related articles on SQL Server Central (http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Authors/Articles/Jacob_Sebastian/212008/). This book allows him ...