A New Word: Dolorblindness

dolorblindness – n. the frustration that you’ll never be able to understand another person’s pain, only ever searching their face for some faint evocation of it, then rifling through...

Advice I Like: Ranch Rules

Leave a gate behind you the way you first found it. – from Excellent Advice for Living This is a ranch rule. Leave something as you found it. If...

How Database Professionals Sent a Million Emails a Day from SQL Server

This is part of a look back at the history of SQL Server Central as a part of our 25-year celebration in Feb 2026. "They want how much?" That was a question I got from Andy one afternoon as we discussed how we were going to manage the growth of SQL Server Central. I had […]

The String Distance I

When SQL Server Central Went Down

Today Steve reminisces on the early days of SQL Server Central.

Tame Those Strings Part 6 - Bending Results

Continuing with Steve Jones series on string manipulation, this article looks at an interesting facet of the SELECT operator.

Tame Those Strings Part 8 - Quoting

Continuing Steve Jones' series on string manipulation in T-SQL, this article examines how quotations are handled in T-SQL.

Tame Those Strings Part 9 - Dynamic SQL

Steve Jones continues his series on string manipulation. This articles examines the issues of quotes when implementing dynamic SQL.

Creating JSON I

Expensive CPUs

Adding non-core database features to a system can expand its capabilities, but it can also be an expensive use of your hardware and software licenses.