With all the options we have for viewing query plans I still prefer the graphical view. Combined with tooltips and the occasional journey to the properties dialog it solves the problems I work on. The only downside is that the plan view tends to be verbose and the zoom options just don't work well. Resize to much smaller than the default and you can barely read them, leaving the 'fly over' mode (using the "+" button in the bottom right corner) to navigate the plan looking for whatever is to be found. It's not unworkable, but it does get in the way of a holistic view of what happens when. In other words, we have to divert a portion of our attention from understanding the problem to just using the tools.
Given todays prices there is a simple alternative, just upgrade your primary monitor to 24". No, that won't handle every plan, but it make most of them a lot easier to work with. At probably $400 it's not cheap, but doable. I've seen 22" wide screens recently for under $200.
I do tuning with two monitors, writing/examing queries on the left, Profiler on the right. Alt-Tabbing around is another distraction when I'm problem solving. Using Profiler let's me see easily the exact cost as well as the history of what I've tried/changed so far. I mention that because while using monitors of two different sizes is better than using two monitors, it's also a little visually distracting. The best case is having monitors that are exactly the same.
So there you go fellow DBA's, a starting point for the budget request for next year. Justifying tools is never easy compared to 'solutions', but monitors is an easier sell than some. Struggling to get the monitors approved? Suggest that perhaps your boss, or the CFO/CEO give dual 24" monitors a try to see if there any benefit. Shortly after that monitor sales will go up, everyone in sales will have two monitors, and if you're really lucky, you'll get them too!
Ran across IronKey Personal in PC Magazine and thought some of you might be interested. It has built in encryption, the option to use Firefox via it's own secure (and anonymous) servers, and even someone enters the wrong password ten times in a row it fries the electronics - adios data! Follow the link for more details, but I think it's ideal for things like your list of passwords that you want to keep with you even if travelling without a laptop.
Just took a look at the World Wild Telescope and it looks interesting, perhaps just as importantly looks cool! Don't know enough to know if there are practical applications (I suspect there will be), but I think it's going to prove to be a great educational tool. Microsoft Research seems to find interesting stuff to work on, like the High Capacity Color Barcode or if you want something you can try, take a look at Split Screen (featured in Technet Magazine recently).
One entirely unpaid/unsolicited post for the people at MS Research. I need my own R&D department!
If you've read my blog much you'll know that I'm deeply involved in trying to figure out how to build a formula for SQLSaturday that others can reuse easily, and I like to watch how things are done - particularly events - to look for ways to do things better.
At the recent MS Launch event in Orlando I ran across two minor items that I wanted to write down before I lost them! The first was the nice cardboard raffle box that PASS sent for us to use. Shawn Weisfeld of ONETUG had just purchased small cardboard boxes and cut holes in them for the most recent Orlando Code Camp, but for a couple bucks each these look nicer and have a front panel that will take a 8-1/2x11 sheet. Makes it easy for us to print up sponsor sheets with their name, logo, and raffle item and just stick on, no fuss. You can see an example at http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=3644. I ordered 25 and hope that we get a couple uses out of each one, we'll see.
The second item (at the same launch) was watching a union electrician running extension cords to each sponsor table and then tape down the cords with glossy black & yellow safety tape. I've been keeping a bag of duct tape in our event box for just that purpose, but this tape looks like it's actually made for that and it is visible, so I'm going to order a couple rolls. Cheaper than a lawsuit. I know it would be better to not have extension cords, but many of the venues we use just aren't configured with floor mounted outlets.Here's an example of the tape: http://www.uline.com/ProductDetail.asp?model=S-2184.
In both cases I didn't come up with any revolutionary idea, just saw the chance for what I hope is a minor improvement. It's been my experience if you build the habit of looking you tend to find more of these than you might expect, and even a few of these can make a huge difference to your business/employer. What are you working on right now and how can you improve it by one percent?
Ran across this from Mosso, a spin off from Rackspace. Pricing looks very attractive, and there are some interesting twists. One is that you can run PHP/ASP.Net on the same server, no problem. You can get SQL Server for another $5 a month (hosting starts at $100 and includes a lot of stuff), the only downside I saw was that they don't support SQL Agent - making it a solution that doesn't work easily for me (and because I suspect it's hard to virtualize the agent). They've online chat if you've got questions, and noticed that they support reselling as well - wouldn't take many clients to pay the $100 a month!
If you look at my blog roll Jeff Dunntemann is one of the ones recommend. Nothing about SQL Server there, but he is a technology guy and a thinking one at that. I catch up on reading his stuff from time to time and just yesterday read The Friction is in th Discovery. Short story is he heard a piece of music on The Weather Channel (I know, doesn't sound that impressive) and his efforts to figure out the musician behind it. If you like music follow the link, you might discover something new. But there is a real point here that businesses (and blogs) need to find more ways to help people discover them.
Our main business (End to End Training) is reasonably discoverable - people search for training, see us at community events (www.sqlsaturday.com, www.orlandocodecamp.com), and we're generally visible around the profession. Is that enough? Never enough visibility for a business! But what about something a lot more niche like my blog? What's the demographic for this blog? Aside from being listed in search engines and listing my blog URL in my online signatures, how do I help people discover me? Note that I have no intent to make this a commercial blog, any ads you might see are from SQLServerCentral.com - but that doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy the dialog that develops as the audience expands.
Go listen to the music, technology can wait 5 minutes.
Spotted this on the Webware feed, Earth Class Mail is a service that opens and scans your regular mail so you can read it as email! Interesting idea, plus they could make some extra recycling all that paper. Seems like the next logical if evil step would be for mail advertisers to just provide the content to them in digital format, eliminating the paper and corresponding disincentive to go crazy with mail ads. Mild cynicism aside, it's interesting.
Webware is fun to watch, lots of new ideas show up there.
