Wow, what a great find. This is an awesome MSDN blog on SQL Queries and related subjects.

Great site for learning more about queries, indexes, and a lot of very informative topics.

There are some articles that are over my head… but for the most part, very informative.

Site: http://blogs.msdn.com/queryoptteam/default.aspx
RSS Feed: http://blogs.msdn.com/queryoptteam/rss.xml
Atom Feed: http://blogs.msdn.com/queryoptteam/atom.xml

Check out Family Force 5, and over on MySpace…

Can’t go wrong with bandmembers named: SOUL GLOW ACTIVATOR, CROUTON, PHATTY, NADADDY, and CHAP STIQUE.

Debut Album: “Business Up Front / Party in the Back”
Checkum out… Good Ole Southern Boys from Atlanta… 
Putting the “General Lee” in the Kountry Gentleman video… AWESOME!!!

Get to know them in this interview
Kountry Gentleman Video
Love Addict Video
Family Force 5 DESTROY Craig Ferguson’s set

Several concert clips and misc interviews…

Ever need to know the path to the flash file storage on a Pocket PC/ Windows CE device.

FindFirstFlashCard API is the trick.
Quote from MSDN
“The FindFirstFlashCard function returns the handle to the first mountable file system, such as a flash card.”

This prevents the need to check for/ assume paths such as “\SDMMC Disk” on Intermec 700 Devices… or “\Storage Card” for others…

Here’s is the link that brought it to my attention. (Windows Mobile Blog)
Mel Sampat did a very nice job discussing the need NOT to hard code any paths.

And the MSDN Article discussing FindFirstFlashCard.

Ok… I may do several of these as they come to my mind…

I wanted to discuss some things that make a developer a better and more productive developer. These are things that Developers and Managers can both do.

Item 1:
Multiple Monitors! This is a must for any serious developer. This allows for a SQL query screen and C# coding screen all at the same time. If you are searching for a code sample for or troubleshooting a bug in your code (of course I don’t have any… I am talking about any other developer… Ha…), search window with code example on one screen with your code on the other is a HUGE time saver.

Item 2:
19″ LCD monitors. Size and “ease on the eyes” are very important.

Item 3:
Have a Blog. This is a way to encourage yourself for growing and contributing to the developer community. Make the commitment to post at least once a week on something you learned. If nothing else… you can refer back to it the next time you encounter the issue (we have issues… not problems).

Item 4:
Read Blogs. Great way to learn! Find other people that share your jobs/ tasks and see what they are doing.

Item 5:
Knowledge share day: We started doing this several months ago. We skip them from month to month because of deadlines, but we try to have an entire day set aside to share information between developers. Kinda works like this… Morning… Take the time to research something you have wanted to learn or experiment with. Order in Lunch (Management… Developers LOVE THIS!!! Hint Hint…). Afternoon, meet and discuss topics you have learned, experienced, etc… This is a great thing; a day to learn and get your mind off deadlines and projects.

Item 6:
Find the nearest .NET Users group and join… and get active. We have a fairly new group here in Florence, SC (Pee Dee area of South Carolina). We meet monthly on the second Tuesday of the month. Please take a look and signup for the reminders so we can keep you informed of events and giveaways. http://www.pdanug.net

Ok… enough for now… I think this is officially my longest blog post…

http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/

Here are two I created…

Thanks Michael Earls for the link.

Ok… I want to clear this up…

When SQL does a cross join between two tables, it simply creates every possible combination of records between the two tables.

The only real world example of why one would do this is: To create test data.

Example:
I ran two SELECT queries on a database and here are the results.

SELECT * FROM Table1
Execution time: 0:00
Records Returned: 4254>

SELECT * FROM Table2
Execution time: 0:00
Records Returned: 4708>

Then I ran a cross join between the two tables.

SELECT * FROM Table1
CROSS JOIN Table2
Execution time: 26:38
Records Returned: 20,027,832>

This fish has teeth like a human! Be sure and watch the video…

http://www.local6.com/news/9542967/detail.html

Hum… Wonder if it is eatable???

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

Microsoft said there also going to release Virtual PC 2007 (for Vista) in 2007 for FREE too!!!

Every developer needs this… Great for testing installs… or that Beta software…

Thanks Page.

I will be speaking to the Pee Dee Area .NET User Group tonight about T-SQL coding practices and a few performance ”food for thoughts”.

All are invited… And bring your questions… (as long as they are not too hard)

Ohhhh… We are giving away a copy of Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition; IF we have 30 people in attendance.

Tentative schedule:

6:00 PM – 6:15 PM Socializing / Dinner
6:15 PM – 6:30 PM Introduction, Sponsor Time
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Presentation
7:30 PM – 8:00 PM Drawing and Wrap Up

For directions, visit the PDANUG website