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Introducing system-versioned ledger tables
As long-time readers of this blog know, I’m a big fan of temporal tables, also known as system-versioned temporal tables. Until recently, temporal tables were synonymous with system-versioned tables, but all that changed a short while ago with the introduction — in Azure SQL Database — of system-versioned ledger tables. This new series of posts
-> Continue reading Introducing system-versioned ledger tables
Why you need a Dead Man’s Switch
Right off the top here, I must note that the term “dead man’s switch” is archaic, so for the rest of this post I’ll refer to it as “operator presence control,” or OPC. The concept of an OPC is quite old and usually relates to machinery. Let’s use the example of a train. If the
-> Continue reading Why you need a Dead Man’s Switch
Let’s talk about typefaces
I have previously written about accessibility in video captions, presentation slides, and disabilities, and I thought I should expand on the latter topic as it relates to typefaces, or what we call “fonts.” To be precise, a typeface is a type design, and a font is a subset of a typeface. Unless you work in
-> Continue reading Let’s talk about typefaces
Think twice about storing JSON in your SQL Server database
During routine maintenance on a customer’s production server, I discovered that they have one table consuming 40% of the storage in their database. That table contains just under 10 million rows, which isn’t that remarkable; another table in the same database has almost 500 million rows. The remarkable thing — because you read the subject
-> Continue reading Think twice about storing JSON in your SQL Server database
Scaling down in the cloud
I may be completely off base here, but I’ve noticed a correlation between folks who use Amazon Web Services and their understanding that once you scale up a service during a busy business period, you can always scale back down again once the busy period is over. Perhaps that understanding is missing from the Azure
-> Continue reading Scaling down in the cloud
Join me on 13 August 2021 for Dativerse
This coming Friday the 13th (August 2021) is the first ever Dativerse virtual conference, hosted by our DataGrillen friends William and Benjamin. According to their site: We try to elevate those that are usually underrepresented at conferences due to their race, gender, sexual orientation, location or any other reason. We aim to create a safe
-> Continue reading Join me on 13 August 2021 for Dativerse
Accessibility is not just about slides
Although I don’t write about it much on this website, I am on the autism spectrum, and I have ADHD. I need to sit at the front of a room because it helps me see and hear better as there are fewer distractions. Venues don’t really need to make accommodations for me as long as
-> Continue reading Accessibility is not just about slides
Accessibility in your PowerPoint slide deck
This post is part of the series I kicked off here. You can read my post about captions here. Let’s talk about slides! Many of us are familiar with producing slide decks for talks and conference sessions using PowerPoint (or Keynote or whatever the Google one is called this week), but just how much thought
-> Continue reading Accessibility in your PowerPoint slide deck
Join me at the EightKB virtual conference on 28 July 2021
Next week on Wednesday 28 July 2021, I will be presenting a brand-new session titled “How SQL Server stores that data type” for the free EightKB virtual conference. I’ve made it a 500-level talk, as reading hex and binary for fun requires a bit of mental arithmetic. Bob Ward, famous for his half-day brain-melting sessions
-> Continue reading Join me at the EightKB virtual conference on 28 July 2021
Accessibility after the fact: closed captions for videos
My user group, the Calgary Data User Group, has been recording videos since April of this year, so at the time of this writing we have just two videos on our YouTube channel. As one of the Azure Data Tech Groups we have access to Microsoft Teams, and in there we can display live captions during
-> Continue reading Accessibility after the fact: closed captions for videos