AndyLeonard.blog()

I haven’t fallen off the planet, I am still alive and kicking!

I’ve been on the road the past couple weeks – first in Kansas City, MO and this week in Bellevue, WA. I got to meet a bunch of cool people at the classes in Kansas City and Bellevue, and at the Kansas City SQL Server Users Group.

I’ve been working on this, which will be available soon (more later).

Christy and I have been diligently working on our house in Farmville, VA. It goes on the market next week with any luck.

Between the writing and the house, May’s been a busy month. June promises to be the same, but eventually things will settle down to “normal”. Immediate plans include two more installments in my ETL Instrumentation series (especially since I’m getting email about people implementing it!).

I met someone here in Bellevue who reads my blog: Vern Rabe. Vern’s teaching the Microsoft Official Curriculum SSIS class down the hall and has some cool SQL Server information on his website.

 :{> Andy

I will be presenting Change Data Capture, Incremental ETL, and SSIS 2008 to Philadelphia Code Camp 2008.2 Saturday, 17 May 2008!

The good folks in Philadelphia always do a great job with Code Camps and the attendance numbers are growing to reflect that! They’re sold out again. Great job!

:{> Andy

I will be presenting Change Data Capture, Incremental ETL, and SSIS 2008 to Philadelphia Code Camp 2008.2 Saturday, 17 May 2008!

The good folks in Philadelphia always do a great job with Code Camps and the attendance numbers are growing to reflect that! They’re sold out again. Great job!

:{> Andy

I’ll be in Kansas City next week doing some SSIS training. I don’t think I’ve ever been to KC so I’m looking forward to the trip!

When I found out I would be in town, I dutifully contacted the Kansas City SQL Server Users Group to see if they were having a meeting. When traveling I like to check out Users Groups to see what other folks are doing and also to learn something!

The Kansas City folks decided to hold a meeting since I was available and willing to speak, so I’ll be talking about Change Data Capture, Incremental Loads, and SSIS 2008 Tuesday, 20 May 2008. I’m looking forward to meeting as many people from the area as possible!

 :{> Andy

I’ll be in Kansas City next week doing some SSIS training. I don’t think I’ve ever been to KC so I’m looking forward to the trip!

When I found out I would be in town, I dutifully contacted the Kansas City SQL Server Users Group to see if they were having a meeting. When traveling I like to check out Users Groups to see what other folks are doing and also to learn something!

The Kansas City folks decided to hold a meeting since I was available and willing to speak, so I’ll be talking about Change Data Capture, Incremental Loads, and SSIS 2008 Tuesday, 20 May 2008. I’m looking forward to meeting as many people from the area as possible!

 :{> Andy

ScottGu has a great post about enhancements in Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1, released today in Beta.

Of particular interest to database developers: SQL Server 2008 support, a built-in Entity Data Modeler, and REST support!

:{> Andy

I am disappointed in Cisco.

I have Vista Ultimate x64 installed on my snappy new Red laptop but I cannot install Cisco VPN Client software on it because Cisco VPN Client does not run on Vista 64-bit platforms.

Digging around for a work-around, I came across a couple interesting comments. One comment, from someone who claims to be with Cisco VPN Client Support, states:

“…as mentioned many times on this thread, NO x86-64 support for Windows. Cisco IPSec client will NOT be ported to support 64bit version of Windows now or in the future. If you require 64bit support on Windows please look at migrating to AnyConnect.“

Does Cisco think 64-bit OS’s are a passing fad? Are they holding out for the 128-bit operating systems before bothering to release an upgrade? What’s the logic behind such a move? There has to be some logical explanation…

Release Notes for AnyConnect version 2.2 indicate something new (hardware?) is required to work with 64-bit Vista, but it’s entirely possible I’m misreading the notes. I do not know what an Adaptive Security Appliance is.

Other applications install and run in 32-bit mode. Is there some reason – security-related or other – that the Cisco VPN client cannot run in this mode?

I’m forced to create a virtual PC with a 32-bit OS installed just so I can communicate with clients remotely. It is, as I wrote earlier, disappointing.

:{> Andy

I am disappointed in Cisco.

I have Vista Ultimate x64 installed on my snappy new Red laptop but I cannot install Cisco VPN Client software on it because Cisco VPN Client does not run on Vista 64-bit platforms.

Digging around for a work-around, I came across a couple interesting comments. One comment, from someone who claims to be with Cisco VPN Client Support, states:

“…as mentioned many times on this thread, NO x86-64 support for Windows. Cisco IPSec client will NOT be ported to support 64bit version of Windows now or in the future. If you require 64bit support on Windows please look at migrating to AnyConnect.“

Does Cisco think 64-bit OS’s are a passing fad? Are they holding out for the 128-bit operating systems before bothering to release an upgrade? What’s the logic behind such a move? There has to be some logical explanation…

Release Notes for AnyConnect version 2.2 indicate something new (hardware?) is required to work with 64-bit Vista, but it’s entirely possible I’m misreading the notes. I do not know what an Adaptive Security Appliance is.

Other applications install and run in 32-bit mode. Is there some reason – security-related or other – that the Cisco VPN client cannot run in this mode?

I’m forced to create a virtual PC with a 32-bit OS installed just so I can communicate with clients remotely. It is, as I wrote earlier, disappointing.

:{> Andy

Kevin Hazzard did an outstanding job presenting to the Richmond SQL Server Users Group this evening on LINQ To SQL!

I really like the ORM / code generation aspects of this new feature of the .Net Framework 3.5. Seeing it in action made me yearn (a little) for my application developer days.

Kevin’s VPC crashed a couple hours before his presentation so he recreated the presentation and three demos in 1.5 hours before the meeting – and they were not simple demos, especially the last one.

It’s always cool to watch technology in the hands of a master.

:{> Andy

Kevin Hazzard did an outstanding job presenting to the Richmond SQL Server Users Group this evening on LINQ To SQL!

I really like the ORM / code generation aspects of this new feature of the .Net Framework 3.5. Seeing it in action made me yearn (a little) for my application developer days.

Kevin’s VPC crashed a couple hours before his presentation so he recreated the presentation and three demos in 1.5 hours before the meeting – and they were not simple demos, especially the last one.

It’s always cool to watch technology in the hands of a master.

:{> Andy