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

SQL Azure

Microsoft now offers a “cloud” version of SQL Server called SQL Azure. Cloud in this context means SQL Server lives out on the internet, on equipment managed by Microsoft. We access SQL Azure as a service over the internet either programmatically with Dot Net, or through the command line using SQLCMD. SQL Azure is very similar to traditional SQL Server and now supports many standard TSQL commands. This article will demonstrate the use of TSQL commands to create SQL Azure objects.

Installing SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services 32-bit on a 64-bit Windows Server system

We have a Windows 64-bit server and need to install the 32-bit version of SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services on this machine since there are other applications where we are using IIS on the 32-bit version. This article from MSSQLtips outlines the steps you need to take for this installation....

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AJAX Guestbook

Unobtrusive AJAX Guestbook.XML is easy to use ajax and php guestbook application. Guestbook.XML is crossbrower, skinnable guestbook and web 2.0 script Read More

SharePoint 2010 Videos Reveal Development Experience

If you are curious what the development experience will be in SharePoint 2010, there are now 10 modules with multiple videos per module that go through the details of using Visual Studio 2010 to customize your SharePoint solution.

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Log on to Internet explorer as a different user

Here is a script that you can use to logon to Internet Explorer as a user that is not the same as the logged in user.

This script is a dos command --
runas /noprofile /user:domain\user "c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe"

This is particularly useful when you have limited user licences on a web based application.

Making speedometers in Excel

I was wanting to create a speedometer gauge in excel and started researching on the internet. Here are the links that I came with...

Interesting article titled Make Excel Charts interactive with sliders, gauge, dials and more by Ashish Mohta

There are several add-ins available that can be used to create speedometers in excel. The one that I liked the most was at Mrexcel.com

The link that I most found useful was this -- Hack together a Gauge Chart in Excel without sweat

Project Gemini gets a new Name........

Microsoft has now given a new name for Project Gemini. It is called Power Pivot.

The official blurb about it is: "PowerPivot provides business users with BI at their fingertips while enabling organizations to efficiently monitor and manage collaboration using Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and SQL Server 2008 based management tools"

You can find more information at the powerpivot site.

Getting rid of overtype mode in word 2007

I had a very annoying 10 min. with Word 2007 today where the Insert key did not disable the insert mode.

Here are the steps I followed to get it back to working.


Click the Microsoft Office button
click Word Options.
Select Advanced.
Click the option to Use Insert key to control overtype mode.
Make sure the Use Overtyp mode is unticked.
Click OK.

Flade (Flash Dynamics Engine) is an open source actionscript 2.0 library for simulating 2D physics using Verlet integration. It currently features rectangular, circular, & wheel primitives, spring & angular constraints, and surfaces composed of line segments, circles, & rectangles. Read More

Creating a scorecard using Performance Point Server 2007

Microsoft is offering Performance Point SErver as part of its Sharepoint Enterprise edition 2007.

This is a very handy application to create some nice dashboards and scorecards for a company.

Here is a link from mssqltips.com that provides a step by step guide to create a scorecard using Performance Point Server 2007.

Scrum 101

Yesterday I attended the Girl Geeks Dinner in Auckland. There were 2 presenters Carolyn Sanders and Sarah both on Agile Development.

Presentation 1:
Carolyn Sanders. The core of the practice of Agile is the delivery of individual projects; it's where most practitioners start out and it fundamentally changes the way a project team works together and works with their stakeholders. Scrum is one of the most popular Agile delivery approaches at the moment. In this presentation, Carolyn Sanders uses one of her recent projects as a way to illustrate each facet of Scrum and how it panned out in real life, from start to finish. This talk is directed at developers, testers, project managers, PMO managers and CIOs - who are relatively new to Scrum and want to explore the practical detail at the day-to-day level of a single project. The session will end with a Q&A to allow you to explore how Scrum integrates with other parts of the practice of Agile, or dig deeper into how it worked for one team.

Presentation 2:
Sarah Fairbairn. Sarah is a senior developer who has worked on Agile projects in the past and is currently working on an Agile project. Sarah will give a presentation about development in an Agile environment, the pros & cons and pitfalls to look out for based upon real world examples.


I have embeded the link of Carolyn's presentation here

APN Auckland Event 9 - Scrum 101, Unleashing the Theory

View more presentations from Carolyn Sanders.

Some interesting Sharepoint web parts

Here is a good link I found today while surfing for sharepoint web parts.

Delete all data from a database

I had a requirement today to delete all data from a sqlser ver database. This database has about 350 tables with a lot constraints. I manually started identifying the order of deletion absed on the constraints and realsied that this can't be done in a day. So I hit the good old google for help.

Here I found a very detailed explanation of how to easily achieve this by Susan Sales Harkins. Read More

Tips for resizing an image in photoshop

I was having a problem resizing an image yesterday. When I did a search, I found this great article that retains the quality of the image. Read More

Converting DTS to SSIS in SQL SERVER 2005

The easiest way to convert your SLQ SERVER 2000 DTS packages to SSIS is to use a tool called 'DTS xChange' that is available for download here

Here is link to the webcast by Brian Knight of Pragmatic works explaining in detail as to how to proceed with the DTS xChange tool.

One of the functions of a DBA is to keep an eye on free space within the database and database files. The auto grow feature is great as a last resort, but proactively managing the database files is a better approach.

Also, this information can be used to shrink data files as needed if there is a lot of free space in the files. In this tip from MSSQLTIPS they take a look at a few ways to find the current free space within a database, so you can better manage your database files.... Read More

Project Gemini

Project Gemini is a powerful data analysis tool. Here is the link for the sneak preview of Project Gemini.

Building a dashboard using SSRS

Here is a tip from MSSQLTips I found useful on how to create a dashboard using Sql Server Reporting Services.

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Introduction to AJAX

This is an excerpt of Chapter 1 from the book, ASP.NET 3.5 AJAX Unleashed, authored by Rob Foster.

Here is the link that was posted on codeguru