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Database Weekly
The Complete Weekly Roundup of SQL Server News by SQLServerCentral.com
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Editorial
 

The Long Weekend

In the US, this is the Independence Day weekend. I had a few spare vacation days, so I tacked one on, making this a four day weekend. My plans are simple. Prep for my family coming over on the 5th for a celebration of the 4th (Ha!). Work on my query tuning book (gotta make progress every day, or these things come and get you). Probably play a little radio. Get work done around the house. Play some more radio. Do other work around the house.

And yet, I live by the military maxim, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

The enemy in my case is sloth. Oh, I'll have the best intentions over the next few days. Yeah, I should fire up FT8 and try to make that contact with Alaska (I'm so close to Worked All 50 States on FT8). But, hey, look, the hammock is empty. I've worked on the book, 'cause, sloth or not, I want to get that done. Maybe I'll start a project... maybe.

Look, I know some of you have a bottomless well of ambition and drive. However, others of us simply do not. We're going to try. Yes, it's probably not enough. Maybe though, that's all you can ask of us. We're trying.

Hope your plans survive better than mine are likely to.

Grant Fritchey

Join the debate, and respond to the editorial on the forums

 
The Weekly News
All the headlines and interesting SQL Server information that we've collected over the past week, and sometimes even a few repeats if we think they fit.
AI/Machine Learning/Cognitive Services

Ethics, Productivity, Age and AI:How do these correlate with Developers’ Stances Towards AI at work, 2024

From Curious..about data

AI is deemed to be the new superpower. Adoption of...

Creators Will Soon Be Able to Demand Payment for AI Training Use

From Past News - RSS Feeds

Under Creative Commons, a CC signal can indicate t...

Data engineer: The quiet hero behind every AI success

From AllAnalytics

Think of data engineering as plumbing for the digi...

Squirrels vs. AI in This DIY Backyard Build

From Past News - RSS Feeds

Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing the world —  it’s soaking squirrels, too. Washington Post journalist Jeremy B. Merrill created an AI-powered contraption called the Squirrel Soaker 9000. The DIY...

Half a million Spotify users are unknowingly grooving to an AI-generated band

From Ars Technica

A supposed band called The Velvet Sundown has released two albums of AI slop this month.

5 Most Useful AI Tools You’ve Never Heard Of

From Past News - RSS Feeds

These AI tools are hidden gems. You might be surprised that one of the AI tools is from Google – and, no, it isn’t Gemini. The post 5 Most Useful...

People are using AI to ‘sit’ with them while they trip on psychedelics

From Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories

Peter sat alone in his bedroom as the first waves of euphoria coursed through his body like an electrical current. He was in darkness, save for the soft blue...

Cloudflare will now, by default, block AI bots from crawling its clients’ websites

From Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories

The internet infrastructure company Cloudflare announced today that it will now default to blocking AI bots from visiting websites it hosts. Cloudflare will also give clients the ability to...

Administration of SQL Server

Initial tests on the Microsoft Learn Docs MCP Server

From Kevin Chant

Reading Time: 3 minutesIn this post I want to sh...

Error/Fix: Cannot Insert Duplicate Key for UPSERT Code in SQLServer

From Ajay Dwivedi's SQL Server Blog

Error/Fix: Cannot Insert Duplicate Key for UPSERT ...

Build a Snapshot Backup Catalog in Pure Storage with SQL Server 2025’s Native REST API

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

I’m really excited to share some new functionali...

Quick Wins with GenAI

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

The more I look to GenAI to save me minutes, short periods of time, the better it works. Here’s an example of something I do regularly where AI helps.... The...

Why Not Just Use VARCHAR(MAX)?

From SQL Undercover

A while ago I was looking into some odd errors that were cropping up in an application, when I spotted that all the columns in a table were defined...

Get StackOverflow2013 Database for PostgreSQL & SQLServer

From Ajay Dwivedi's SQL Server Blog

Download StackOverflow2013 database for PostgreSQL & SQLServer to compare performance. We can figure out which if faster between PostgreSQL & SQLServer. The post Get StackOverflow2013 Database for PostgreSQL & SQLServer...

Columnstore Index Improvements in SQL Server 2025 

From Simple Talk

Learn about the improvements to columnstore indexes in SQL Server 2025, including detailed demonstrations for each of these new changes.… The post Columnstore Index Improvements in SQL Server 2025  appeared...

Salesforce CDC Data Integration

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

(2025-June-30) Working with different abbreviations or acronyms can speed up communication, but at the same time, it can exclude those who are not familiar with them. Sometimes this exclusion happens... The...

How To Call APIs From SQL Server

From Jeff Taylor

Calling an API has been in Azure SQL since 2022, but it was only recently added to SQL Server 2025 Preview. This new feature...

Hidden Risks in SQL Agent Job Logging: How Retry Settings Can Compromise Your Logs

From Eitan Blumin

In many SQL Server environments, DBAs configure SQL Agent jobs with retry attempts (which is a smart move to handle… Read More »Hidden Risks in SQL Agent Job Logging: How...

Career, Employment, and Certifications

How a New CIO Can Fix the Mess Left by Their Predecessor

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Welcome aboard! You might notice, your predecessor...

The Book of Redgate: Motivation

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

Another of our values is this: Motivation isn’t ...

Why ITAM Is Failing: Cloud Complexity Is Outpacing Traditional IT Asset Management

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

The 2025 State of ITAM report reveals some major struggles for IT teams and provides suggestions on how to overcome them.

How to Create a Standout Software Development Portfolio: Five Key Steps

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Follow this step-by-step guide to create a portfolio of your coding projects that demonstrates your skills and helps you stand out in a competitive job market.

Shadow IT Isn't Your Enemy — It's Your Secret Weapon

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

CIOs are no longer the gatekeepers of tech. The gate itself has collapsed. Here's what you can do now.

Who’s Hiring in the Microsoft Database Community? July 2025 Edition

From Brent Ozar Unlimited

Is your company hiring for a database position as of July 2025? Do you wanna work with the kinds of people who read this blog? Let’s make a love...

Cloud - AWS

New Amazon EC2 C8gn instances powered by AWS Graviton4 offering up to 600Gbps network bandwidth

From AWS News Blog

Amazon EC2 announces general availability of C8gn network optimized instances powered by AWS Graviton4 processors, offering up to 600Gbps network bandwidth for demanding network-intensive workloads with 30% higher compute...

AWS Weekly Roundup: Project Rainier, Amazon CloudWatch investigations, AWS MCP servers, and more (June 30, 2025)

From AWS News Blog

Every time I visit Seattle, the first thing that greets me at the airport is Mount Rainier. Did you know that the most innovative project at Amazon Web Services...

Build the highest resilience apps with multi-Region strong consistency in Amazon DynamoDB global tables

From AWS News Blog

Amazon DynamoDB now offers multi-Region strong consistency capability for global tables, providing the highest level of application resilience and enabling your applications to be always available.

Community Interests

A Six Week Break

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

Today is my last day of work for six weeks. I star...

Conferences, Classes, Events, and Webinars

Speaking at the 2025 PASS Data Community Summit

From SQLServerCentral Blogs

I will be back in Seattle this year attending the ...

EightKB 2025 – Schedule and Registration

From DBA From The Cold

Hello Hello, We. Are. Back! The schedule for EightKB 2025 Edition has been announced! We’re kicking off at 1pm UTC on August 21st…here’s the schedule: – N.B. – If...

SQLBits 2025: The year you couldn’t escape AI

From Purple Frog Systems

As an AI engineer immersed in the ever-evolving world of data and machine learning, conferences offer more than just networking opportunities; they’re essential refuelling stations for inspiration, learning and...

Data Mining / Data Analysis

Building a Windows Storage Dashboard, Part 3: Incorporating Historical Data

From IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

The final part of this three-part series on buildi...

Unlocking Infor CloudSuite data: Making the most of it with Stream Pipelines

From Simple Talk

In my experiences building end-to-end analytics solutions, I often need to connect to a variety of different systems to bring data in. Most of the time, this process is...

Data Storytelling and Visualisation

Add Positive/Negative Color Error Bars Using Visual Calcs!

From Havens Consulting

Video by: Reid HavensTake your Power BI visuals to the next level by applying dynamic positive/negative color formatting to your first-to-last comparison line! This tutorial expands on the previous...

Data Warehousing

Warehouse Usage by the Hour: Because Idle Resources Still Cost Money

From Sherpa of Data

In our last few posts, we’ve looked at how to: Today, we’re diving into a different, but equally powerful question: When are my Snowflake warehouses actually running? This can...

DevOps and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

Why Database Deployments Sometimes Go Bad

From Product learning – Redgate Software

Phil Factor shares some of the common ways databas...

Internet of Things

10th annual IoT Slam: A glimpse into a more connected future

From AllAnalytics

SAS world headquarters felt charged with momentum as Jason Mann, VP of IoT, welcomed a room full of curious minds to the 10th annual IoT Slam Live. “We are in the...

MDX/DAX

Choosing between DISTINCT and VALUES in DAX

From Sqlbi

When should you use DISTINCT over VALUES in DAX? Here is how to write resilient measures that survive bad data and model changes. When you begin modelling in DAX,...

Choosing between DISTINCT and VALUES in DAX

From Sqlbi

When should you use DISTINCT over VALUES in DAX? Here is how to write resilient measures that survive bad data and model changes.

PostgreSQL

semab tariq: Choosing the Right Barman Backup Type and Mode for Your PostgreSQL Highly Available Cluster

From Planet Postgres

When running a PostgreSQL database in a High Avail...

Andreas Scherbaum: Performance Test for Percona Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

From Planet Postgres

This blog posting compares the performance of the pg_tde by Percona extension for PostgreSQL with the performance of an unmodified PostgreSQL. The pg_tde by Percona extension provides encryption for...

Tomas Vondra: How often is the query plan optimal?

From Planet Postgres

The basic promise of a query optimizer is that it picks the “optimal” query plan. But there’s a catch - the plan selection relies on cost estimates, calculated from...

Jan Wieremjewicz: The PG_TDE Extension Is Now Ready for Production

From Planet Postgres

Lately, it feels like every time I go to a technical conference, someone is talking about how great PostgreSQL is. I’d think it’s just me noticing, but the rankings...

Andreas 'ads' Scherbaum: Samed YILDIRIM

From Planet Postgres

PostgreSQL Person of the Week Interview with Samed YILDIRIM: I’m originally from Turkey. The last city I lived in Turkey was Istanbul. I am now living in Riga, Latvia...

Esther Minano: Behind the scenes: Speeding up pgstream snapshots for PostgreSQL

From Planet Postgres

How targeted improvements helped us speed up bulk data loads and complex schemas.

Umair Shahid: From 99.9% to 99.99%: Building PostgreSQL Resilience into Your Product Architecture

From Planet Postgres

Most teams building production applications understand that “uptime” matters. I am writing this blog to demonstrate how much difference an extra 0.09% makes. ...

Ilya Kosmodemiansky: Operating PostgreSQL as a Data Source for Analytics Pipelines – Recap from the Stuttgart Meetup

From Planet Postgres

PostgreSQL user groups are a fantastic way to build new connections and engage with the local community. Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Stuttgart meetup,...

PowerPivot/PowerQuery/PowerBI

Data Validation In Power BI Copilot AI Instructions

From Chris Webb's BI Blog

Here’s yet another post in my series on things I think you should be doing in Power BI Copilot AI Instructions. Today: validating values that users enter as filters...

Security News and Issues

US critical infrastructure exposed as feds warn of possible attacks from Iran

From Ars Technica

Agencies warn that some US targets may be needless...

4 lessons from former fraudsters

From AllAnalytics

Fraud and financial scams are on the rise. Accordi...

Microsoft changes Windows in attempt to prevent next CrowdStrike-style catastrophe

From Ars Technica

AV vendors have worried that this could advantage ...

Android phones could soon warn you of “Stingrays” snooping on your communications

From Ars Technica

But it requires specific hardware support that is ...

7 Popular WordPress Backup Plugins to Keep Your Site Safe

From https://chrisadkin.io

Looking for backup solutions for WordPress websites? Here are seven popular options (that are all compatible with WordPress.com).

Drug cartel hacked FBI official’s phone to track and kill informants, report says

From Ars Technica

Official was connected to FBI probe of cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Iranian Blackout Affected Misinformation Campaigns

From Schneier on Security

Dozens of accounts on X that promoted Scottish independence went dark during an internet blackout in Iran. Well, that’s one way to identify fake accounts and misinformation campaigns.

Tech News

Stung by customer losses, Comcast says all its new plans have unlimited data

From Ars Technica

No data caps: "Four simple national Internet tiers...

A neural brain implant provides near instantaneous speech

From Ars Technica

Focusing on sound production instead of word choic...

The second launch of New Glenn will aim for Mars

From Ars Technica

The payload likely to spark the most interest is the Blue Moon MK1 lander.

Trump’s tariff threat pushes Canada to scrap digital services tax

From Ars Technica

US tech companies escape Canada digital services tax due to Trump tariffs.

A mammoth tusk boomerang from Poland is 40,000 years old

From Ars Technica

The boomerang is a one-of-a-kind find from the last place archaeologists expected.

Driving drug and device safety through public-private partnerships

From AllAnalytics

What if the data behind your next prescription could help save lives – not just yours, but millions more? Behind the scenes, researchers are turning everyday health records into...

The Lighter Side

After 27 years, engineer discovers how to display secret photo in Power Mac ROM

From Ars Technica

Developer solves mystery of hidden JPEG from the b...

CodeSOD: A Highly Paid Field

From Daily WTF

In ancient times, Rob's employer didn't have its own computer; it rented time on a mid-range computer and ran all its jobs using batch processing in COBOL. And in...

CodeSOD: It's Not Wrong to Say We're Equal

From Daily WTF

Aaron was debugging some C# code, and while this wasn't the source of the bug, it annoyed him enough to send it to us. protected override int DoCompare(Item item1, Item...

Tuesday Telescope: A howling wolf in the night sky

From Ars Technica

"Ever since I saw it for the first time, it's been high on my list."

flyway

Making AI scalable with database change management and Redgate Flyway

From Blog – Redgate Software

With the rise of AI and machine learning comes data. Lots of it. For organizations today, AI is radically changing the way data is accessed, maintained and operationalized. For...

 
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