Data storage and retrieval for geospatial data in SQL Server 2008

I have a need to use geospatial data which will assist plotting the trainees available by region and compare wtih the sales staff region in our company. Here is a link from myssqltips that I found as part of that project.

Why Powershell?

Did you also have this question when you first heard about Powershell? I did indeed and googled the why........ Here are a couple of links that answer this question.

Windows Powershell: Why developers should care?
Why Powershell?

Have you heard about Dropbox?

Dropbox is the easiest way to store, sync, and, share files online. There's no complicated interface to learn. Dropbox works seamlessly with your operating system. Here is the link to it.

Common DBA tasks

Any idea what a common DBA tasks are?

• Adding users in SQL Server is one of the most funtamental tasks you'll perform. This article describes in great detail the different steps you have to take to establish a new user in SQL Server.
• Have you ever needed moving the database from one location to another? In SQL Server, you will need functionality to detach and attach your database in order to move it from one location to another. Here you will find a thorough description of what you'll need to do.
• As a DBA, you will very likely need to move bulks of data from one database to another, or make a copy of your data. This article provides a step-by-step tutorial on Import and Export in SQL Server
• Today's database systems need mechanisms to increase performance. One of the most important things you can do, is adding SQL Server indexes
• Scheduling jobs is a very useful functionality of the SQL Server database. There are several uses of this feature. Read more in this article on SQL Server jobs
• Preparing a maintenance plan is an important task, but SQL Server provides you with a wisard for such a plan. Read this tutorial on how to set up a SQL Server Maintenance Plan
• Every database needs a backup copy. Hopefully, you will never need it, but all practice has learnt us that a backup can come in very handy. Read this tutorial on how to produce a SQL Server backup
• When disaster happens, you have of course a disaster plan and a backup of the database?. If so, it is easy to perform a SQL Server Restore Database operation.
• Sooner or later, you will most likely have to search for performance bottlenecks, or perform other monitoring tasks. This article is a simple tutorial on how to use SQL Server Profiler
• If your database should go down, you need to bring it back to as current state as possible. In case of a system failure, the SQL Server Transaction Log will prove invaluable.

What is Windows Azure?

The Windows Azure platform offers a flexible, familiar environment for developers to create cloud applications and services. With Windows Azure, you can shorten your time to market and adapt as demand for your service grows.


The Windows Azure platform gives you:

• A familiar development experience
• On-demand scalability
• Reduced time-to-market for your applications

Windows Azure offers a platform that is easily implemented alongside your current environment.

• Windows Azure: operating system as an online service
• Microsoft SQL Azure: fully relational cloud database solution
• Windows Azure platform AppFabric: makes it simpler to connect cloud services and on-premises applications

Unsubscribe from alerts in Sharepoint 2007

Today I had a need to remove alerts from a sharepoint site for a group of users. I did not want to login as each user and then unsubscribe. It took me a while to figure the following.

To unsubscribe users for a sharepoint alert Click on Site Actions ---> site Settings -----> User alerts.

Now select each user and click on Update. The alerts are shown which can then be selected and deleted.

Add a line break in an Excel cell

Sometimes you might have a need to add a line break (press enter so that a new paragraph is created). To do this the key combination is Alt + Enter