Paul Nielsen

The Primary Cause of Failed IT Projects

Paul Nielsen — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:57:00 GMT

During my career I’ve been a part of dozens of projects. Some I was on from the start, most I came in to help bail out. Some went smooth and were a pleasure to build and maintain and some projects failed (failed being broadly defined as projects that...(read more)

Fresh Voices

Paul Nielsen — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:00:00 GMT

The PASS Summit 2010 Call for Speakers is closed. When the call went out I offered to review abstracts for anyone interested, which gave me a view into the content of the next PASS, albeit a filtered view, but what I did see was encouraging. In all I...(read more)

PASS Call for Speakers

Paul Nielsen — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:10:00 GMT

It's that time again - the PASS Summit 2010 (Seattle Nov 8-11) Call for Speakers is now open and accepting abstracts until June 5 th . personally, I'm on a pattern that on odd years I present what I'm excited about, and on even years I try try to proesent...(read more)

I'm a happy camper

Paul Nielsen — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:00:00 GMT

I’m satisfied with SQL Server 2008. It meets my needs and I can build whatever I want in the database. There’s no feature that it lacks that blocking my development. SQL Server 2008 is what I see when I close my eyes and dream. Maybe I’m just pleased...(read more)

My first SQL Saturday

Paul Nielsen — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:23:00 GMT

I’m leaving soon for an exciting journey with a thrilling destination – my first SQL Saturday. So I decided to do it right and I’m taking the Amtrak Acela Express from Boston to New York. I love New York! If you’re headed to SQL Saturday #39, and you...(read more)

Hugh Bin-Haad's SQL Rumours

Paul Nielsen — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:11:00 GMT

Insider rumours and gossip from the murky world of the Database Industry, and from the colourful characters that inhabit it http://www.simple-talk.com/sql/editors-corner/insider-insights/...(read more)

AutoAudit 1.10c

Paul Nielsen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:16:00 GMT

AutoAudit is a free SQL Server (2005, 2008) Code-Gen utility that creates Audit Trail Triggers with: · Created, Modified, and RowVersion (incrementing INT) columns to table · Creates View to reconstruct deleted rows · Creates UDF to reconstruct Row History...(read more)

There once was in Dublin a query

Paul Nielsen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:00:00 GMT

For 6 months I’ve have been planning a secret trip to London in May as a surprise for my wife (of Irish heritage and accent) (I love how she says, "Aye laddie, kiss me I'm Irish." but that's for another blog.) The plan was to spend a week in London and...(read more)

Twitter will migrate from MySQL to Cassandra DB

Paul Nielsen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:48:00 GMT

Since most of us are active on Twitter, I figured this would be of interest: http://www.dataprix.com/en/blogs/carlos/twitter-will-migrate-mysql-cassandra-db...(read more)

Extensive library of Excel functions for SQL Server

Paul Nielsen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:27:00 GMT

When SQL Server 2000 introduced user-defined functions I predicted that a few companies would release sets of cool financial/mathematical/statistical functions. It didn’t happen. When SQL Server 2005 introduced the CLR, I again predicted that a few companies...(read more)

tempdb in RAM

Paul Nielsen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:55:00 GMT

I’m watching the FedEx page as my shiny new Dell E4300 travels across country – and bummed that I won’t have it in time for the MVP Summit. The first thing I’m going to do is install a Crucial 256Gb SSD drive. I‘ve heard good things about SSD drives,...(read more)

MVP Book - Many Thanks!

Paul Nielsen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:24:00 GMT

On behalf of the 53 MVPs who collaberated on the SQL Server MVP Deep Dives book , I’m pleased to say thank you to the many who have purchased the book. Together we have raised $12,400 for www.warchild.org . If you haven’t yet purchased the book, you should:...(read more)

Rocky Mountain Tech Trifecta v2.0 - Denver Feb 27 – Call for SQL Speakers

Paul Nielsen — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:54:00 GMT

Regional conferences are becoming increasingly popular as their quality improves. In Colorado, we began organizing the Colorado PASS Camp in 2005. In 2008, the Denver code camps and PASS Camp merged under the leadership of MVP Julie Yack to become the...(read more)

Prepping for SQL PASS

Paul Nielsen — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:53:00 GMT

PASS is just just a couple weeks away. If you’re speaking at PASS and feeling a bit nervous, I’d like to help. I’m no Jerry Seinfeld, but I have fun speaking in public and I'd like to see you have fun up front too. If you’d like some free coaching, ping...(read more)

Smart Database Design Seminar - Tucson - Oct 26-28

Paul Nielsen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:33:00 GMT

As I turn my focus toward my SaaS CRM startup, I’m doing less training these days, but Steve WynKoop asked me to present my Smart Database Design Seminar in Tucson – Oct 26-28. I was in Tucson a couple weeks ago for the SSWUG Virtual Conference and trust...(read more)