The Manual backup worked fine (thanks).  There isn't anything in the SQL Log but in the event Log I get:

"SQL Server Scheduled Job 'User DBs - Backup' (0xEC880ABCC4DD814DB9558DA78BCE8526) -...

Any quote from the NY Times must be treated with a skeptical eye, because what they print might be true.  In ANSI-SQL 'NY Times' = 'true' yeilds 'Unknown'.

Wayne, you defined the problem.  Better feedback from the test provider (MS) on strengths and/or weaknesses and not just a raw score would help.  Having extra "endorsements" would also the...

Let me see if I got this right.  Crystal Reports can't handle changes to your schema so it's time to make developers lives more dificult.  Let me suggest...

You hit the nail on the head and is what I've been evangelizing about for years. I also detest the aliasing format of SomeColumn As SomeOtherName and prefer the style...

Yo are correct -- it's a crutch.  There are many things Query Builder can't handle -- like tha case statement or return multiple results or receive xml for the import...

Liked/agreed with pretty much everything but the prefix v on the views.  I use the suffix "_v" and it gets the point acrosss without getting in the way. 

Same with stored...

Unions and programming don't mix.  With the plumber or electrician the pipes/wires have to be local to the plumber of electrician.  That isn't the case for our line of work.  I can...

We should agree on the basic fact that certification <> practical knowledge.  It's true that, for certification purposes, you have to poke into areas of SQL Server that you don't use very often. ...

You might try

select count(1) icnt, item, max(datecolumn) from Log group by item order by item

Are all users employees?  I see a lot of overlap in those tables in the displayed columns.  You could combine the tables into one table or, if all users are...

The thing I find missing from this discussion is how to handle object names. I've had great success using the format [object]_[action].

Object is the object which is being...