I recently noticed that my local development copy of SQL Server Manager Studio (SSMS, v12.0.5659.1) would sometime run very slowly and other times seemed just fine. This was typically when writing code. For example, running a query or attempting to modify an existing stored procedure would take up to a minute or more to appear. I searched and found others with similar issues but none of the resolutions worked for me. Then by chance I noticed that my Visual Studio 2019 (v16.67.6) was actively running a local web application project. As soon as I stopped that, SSMS would immediately return … [Read more...]
How We Fixed Windows Update Error 80245006
December 9, 2017 by 4 Comments
We were seeing Windows Update error 80345006 on several Windows Server 2012 R2 servers and none of the fixes I found helped. ESET Server AV was on each of these servers but I had already temporarily disabled protection but with no effect. Later, we had decided to uninstall ESET AV just to see if that helped. But first we tried manually turning off options and the first one we tried resolved the problem! ESET >> Settings >> Advanced Settings >> WEB & EMAIL >> Disable Application protocol content filtering under PROTOCOL FILTERING This apparently disables all of Web Access … [Read more...]
How to Allow Users to Control Sort Order in SQL Server Results
September 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
It is basic knowledge that the ORDER BY clause will pretty much sort our data using available columns in a SQL Server table in ascending or descending order. But what if we want to allow a user of an application to resort items (rows) in a table in their own desired order where ascending or descending on existing columns would not work? For example, we might want to present a list of items and allow them to re-sort the items in any order they desire. How do we store and retrieve that data in a SQL Server table so that it displays in the order expected? This article will provide one … [Read more...]
Don will be Freezin for a Reason!
February 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Brrr...I am jumping into the icy waters of Lake Lanier Saturday, February 20th. No, I’m not crazy - I’m raising money for the Special Olympics of Georgia and I need your help! Each year the Johns Creek Police Department (JCPD) participates with groups all over the US in the Polar Plunge which is the largest fundraising effort for the Special Olympics. It is presented by the Law Enforcement Torch Run of Georgia. Since I volunteer with JCPD in the Citizen Auxiliary Police Services (CAPS), I am participating in the 2016 Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special … [Read more...]
User Defined ReOrdering in a SQL Server Table
January 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Suppose you want to allow your users to re-order a set of rows in a SQL Server table. Once the user has defined the new order, you need to save that order in SQL Server so that you can re-display the rows in the new order. But how can you accomplish this? You probably added a new column to the target table appropriately named sort. But how do you update this sort column so that it can reflect the new order? Let's assume we have 3 rows as follows and we have ORDER BY sort in query so that they display as... IDNameSort 1Red1 2Blue2 3Red3 and then our user re-orders the … [Read more...]
SQL Server – Age Calculations – Day vs Hour
November 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
If you need to calculate age in days using SQL Server Transact-SQL, you have lots of options. When your age should be displayed in elapsed "days" for example, you might think that using the DAY attribute in DATEDIFF() would be the way to go. But you may want to use HOUR rather than DAY if your calculations must be accurate. Why? Because with DATEDIFF() using DAY, calculations are based on midnight boundaries. This means that your number of days will change if you are before or after the midnight boundary. For example, your actual time-span may have only been a couple of hours … [Read more...]
Macbook Pro 2013 Crashes-Restarts Nightly
February 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
My new Macbook Pro 2013 is great and most of the time it performs flawlessly. However, it recently began crashing nightly while in sleep mode. Each morning I see the report that it crashed overnight and restarted. I am working now isolate the cause. The only changes after this started occuring have been upgrading from a single Dell 24 inch monitor to dual Dell 27 inch monitors plus the addition of an Anker 9-port USB hub. I also have VMWare Fusion 6.0 running a Windows 7 VM (my development environment) but it has crashed with the VM suspended so its looking more like the hub or … [Read more...]
Awesome Memorial Day Hike on Vickery Creek Trail with Liz
May 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Liz and I decided we would spend memorial day hiking a trail for fun and exercise. Rather than our typical jaunt up to the north Georgia mountains, we decided to try a smaller but beautiful trail only a few miles away in Roswell, GA. This was a fitting hike for Memorial Day as the trail and Vickery (Big) Creek are home to a spillway dam that was a valuable asset to the South during the Civil War, having powered the mill wheel that was built downstream at the now abandoned mill ruins.These mills were leading manufacturers of materials used for the Confederacy. The warm day provided … [Read more...]
A Custom Laptop Cooler for Docked Laptop
December 21, 2011 by 5 Comments
If you use a laptop very often then you are fully aware of how hot they can become on the bottom. As a result, the stores are full of devices popularly referred to as “Laptop Cooling Pads” or “Chill Mats”. They are USB powered fans in a portable mat that you place between you and your laptop or on a desktop. They protect your lap from the warm, bottom surface of a laptop and also keep the laptop cool which is important to prevent overheating. This becomes especially important when you are using one of the more high-end models with powerful CPUs and graphics capabilities. Just like their … [Read more...]
Tips on Downloading Perimeter Church Sermons as MP3
November 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Perimeter Church is a large Presbyterian PCA church in north Atlanta. They make their sermons available from their web site and via pod-casting using iTunes. The sermons are some of the best, scriptural based teachings you will find. Most are from lead teacher Randy Pope who founded the church over 25 years ago. This article explains how to access the online sermons both in streaming format from the church's site and via downloading MP3s directly to your computer using your browser, Outlook 2007 or any RSS reader. Podcasting means the you can listen to the sermons online using a computer or … [Read more...]
