2025-12-29
12 reads
Editorials
Happy Holidays, Let's Do Nerdy Stuff
I'm actually writing this on my day off. I took a bunch of vacation around the holidays because I could, and because I don't take enough the rest of the year. Anyway, I'm just going to share how I've been spending my time (not counting time with the family, which I am certainly doing). I […]
2025-12-27
36 reads
The Tally Table
The tally table is a valuable tool for a SQL Server developer, but how many of you understand how to create and use one?
2025-12-26 (first published: 2015-08-13)
751 reads
The DBA's Twelve Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas my new DBA sent to me A table with a primary key On the second day of Christmas my new DBA sent to me Two Foreign Keys, and A table with a primary key On the third day of Christmas my new DBA sent to me Three stored procs […]
2025-12-24 (first published: 2019-12-24)
321 reads
What's Your Area of Expertise?
We might be smart in one area, but not others. That's worth remembering.
2025-12-22 (first published: 2016-06-16)
185 reads
The Microsoft SQL Year in Review
Microsoft gives a year in review from the SQL Server and Azure SQL teams. Steve sees a lot of accomplishments from this past year.
2025-12-20
66 reads
Your Value from a Conference
Today Steve asks what value you get from attending conferences or other events.
2025-12-19
36 reads
The Challenge of AI
Steve sees a lot of challenges ahead for AI, especially in the area of labor and employment.
2025-12-17
74 reads
Growing Artificial Intelligence
This week Steve Jones discusses artificial intelligence and one of the building blocks that will be needed: data.
2025-12-15 (first published: 2016-07-04)
187 reads
The AI Bubble and the Weak Foundation Beam
The problem that I continue to struggle with the AI Bubble is not innovation, but who has leverage. The AI industry has quietly constructed a capital stack with too many mutual dependencies and too few independent cash flows. When AI profitability hiccups, the financial impact does not land in one place. It cascades across the entire championship and everyone loses and not all players are equally positioned to survive it. This is the AI Bubble in a foundational nutshell.
2025-12-13
691 reads
Blogs
The Book of Redgate: Spread across the world
By Steve Jones
This was Redgate in 2010, spread across the globe. First the EU/US Here’s Asia...
Merry Christmas
By John
Today is Christmas and while I do not expect anybody to actual be reading...
Self-Hosting a Photo Server the Whole Family Can Use
By Bert Wagner
Until recently, my family's 90,000+ photos have been hidden away in the depths of...
Forums
SQL Server 2025 Backup Compression Algorithm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server 2025 Backup Compression...
The Large Encoded Value
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Large Encoded Value
The Side Job
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Side Job
Question of the Day
The Large Encoded Value
I want to use the new BASE64_ENCODE() function in SQL Server 2025, but return a string that isn't large type. What is the longest varbinary string I can pass in and still get a varchar(8000) returned?
See possible answers