Tales From The Field Weekly Wrap Up for the Week of 06-05-2023 Live 360, the Missing Week, & the Pain in the Back

 Hello Dear Reader! Let's address the missing week.  Last week I was really behind due to the move.  We did not have a Monday video and despite my best efforts a blog did not get out.  It is in the draft's, partially written, and my goal is to try to publish it soon. However, other things are taking precedence.

For example, we moved A LOT of stuff. We had a full crew of able bodied kiddos, all recent High School graduates or current college students, and me.  I did my best to keep up with them.  But they are the heroes of the day.

26 foot truck started off empty at the old house and suddenly, and by suddenly I mean realizing that this new couch while cool was so heavy that it took 7 of us to lift it and get it on the truck and I-will-never-do-that-again had a realiztion that next time we would have movers or just sell the couch with the house because the idea of moving that thing can F@%& ALL THE WAY OFF.... Ahem..... as I was saying.... suddenly we were unpacking all of the large items at the new house. 

Thankfully the unpacking process went faster than the loading process, and by faster I mean we are also selling the bed's with the house; so that does it the house, the couch, and the beds, because we are not going up those stairs with everything again NO THAT IDEA CAN F...... Ahem....

Clearly the next move, movers will be employed.  Hopefully, that will not be for quite a bit of time.  There's still a lot of clean up to do.  There is a lot of things to do with the new house as well.  

Pictures to hang, er, re-hang in a more centered way that reflects less the mad-dash to occupy a house but rather the long term goal to live with artwork being less slightly off-kilter.

The next day we all appeared very sore and tired.  Everyone needed coffee before we could leave the house.  As a treat I took everyone to breakfast at the Walt Disney World's Steakhouse 71 inside of the Contemporary Resort. 

I booked this as a last minute thing.  I wanted to thank everyone for all the hard work.  You can see the amazing cast of family and friends as we awaited our table that morning.  The food was AMAZING.  Seriously, seriously, good.  Normally I take pictures.  That's my thing.  We were all so famished we ate with reckless abandon.  I had Walt's Prime Rib Hash with an over easy egg, we had an order of the Seasonal Pancakes for the table for all to split.  They were blueberry with lemon and they were divine. I had a bite of Sue's filet off the Steak and Eggs.  The whole family came away full, happy, and resolving to make it back to Steakhouse 71 for another breakfast and of course steaks!

When Sue and I took the truck back, we had a beautiful site in store.  It had rained on the way there and was starting to become intermittent.  As I hoped in her car to ride back home we looked up and saw a full end to end rainbow.  What a beautiful site, as we drove it actually became a double end to end rainbow and the end seemed to be at the area surrounding our new home.  Not a bad start.

That was last week. This weekend everything started out pretty good.  We were going to clean Saturday and then had plans for Sunday.  Late Saturday I did something wrong and the pain in my back started.  I was down for the majority of Saturday and Sunday as well.  Thankfully I had a muscle relaxer left over from a neck issue.  I remembered that and took it Sunday night before bed.  I'm doing much better today, but other than a really nice family dinner on Sunday.  Not a lot to write about.

This past week the Tales from the Field crew was busy cranking out videos for this week and next week, as well as coordinating some really cool content drops with the Microsoft Fabric PG for later this month.  

Alright, let's get over to that content!

WEDNESDAY 06-07-2023

On Wednesday we released Microsoft Fabric, VS Code, Notebooks, & Spark! Set it up, connect to a Workspace, EDIT, & Upload!! One of the big questions people have is how do I integrate my existing tools with Microsoft Fabric.

In this video I showed how to connect VS Code to your Microsoft Fabric workspace, how to download, modify, and upload a notebook.  If this interests you, I'd love to hear from you!

TUESDAY 06-06-2023

On Tuesday we had our Azure Data Community Round Table!  We started started talking about the weekend and how we wake up feeling sore for a variety of reasons and that Josh Luedeman (Twitter | @JoshLuedeman) has lost 40lbs!!!  WAY TO GO JOSH!!

As always the star of the show is the content:

Neeraj

• Introducing the end-to-end scenarios in Microsoft Fabric  by Ravs Kaur Twitter @Ravskkaur

Bradley

• Parameter Sensitive Plan Optimization, Why?  by Derek Wilson Twitter @thesqlsith

Andres

• Announcing our improved experiment tracking tools in Azure Machine Learning by Ami Patel  

Josh

• Azure SQL DB Private Link / Private Endpoint - Connectivity Troubleshooting  by Sergio Fonseca Twitter @FonsecaSergio  

Neeraj

• AI and Xmind : How to Create A Mind Map with ChatGPT - Xmind: The Most Popular Mind Mapping App on The Planet.  by Jay Twitter @xmind

Bradley

• What’s New in SSDT 17.6: Ledger, Performance, Copilot by Subhojit Basak Twitter @subho4594

Andres

• Understanding ChatGPT Plugins: Benefits, Risks, and Future Developments  by Mary Newhauser  

Josh

• What is Data Factory in Microsoft Fabric  by Reza Rad Twitter @rad_reza

Neeraj

• Thought Leadership: What It Is and How to Master It in 2023  by Margarita Loktionova Twitter @semrush

Bradley

• CREATE AND VERIFY MICROSOFT FABRIC CAPACITY  by Dharmendra Keshari Twitter @Sachit_Keshari

Andres

• Build Intelligent Applications using ChatGPT & Azure Cosmos DB  by Mark Brown Twitter @markjbrown

Josh

• Deploy and run a Azure OpenAI/ChatGPT application on AKS via Bicep  by Paolo Salvatori  

WRAP IT UP

Ok Dear Reader, we've got a video coming your way today.  Neeraj Jhaveri(@Twitter |@Neeraj_Jhaveri) is bringing you Microsoft Fabric Decision Trees, Deciding Which Service to USE!! today!

Tomorrow is our weekly Azue Data Community Round Table featuring content from the community!  If you want to add your content to the list we cover sound off in the comments below.

Wednesday we will have another MS Tech Bits and I hope we will see or interact with you sometime this week.

As always Dear Reader, Thank you for stopping by.

Thanks,

Brad

Tales From The Field Weekly Wrap Up for the Week of 05-01-2023 A new house, a reunion, & 15 Years of SQL Saturday Jacksonville

 Hello Dear Reader, what a week!  On Thursday my wife and I closed on a new house.  We are so incredibly excited!  We owned a house for a very short period of time.  When we bought the house we did not look at the school districts.  

When the kiddos came to live with us full time during the pandemic we quickly found out the schools were..... really bad.  Great neighborhood, beautiful house, bad schools.  So we quickly came to the conclusion that we would have to move.

We found and even better neighborhood, AMAZING schools, but the cost was the house.  We hadn't owned long enough to get much equity.  As a matter of fact we lost quite a bit of money.  We sold during the pandemic before the housing market went crazy.  We thought we would save for a year and then buy a new house in this great neighborhood.  What's the old phrase?  "Man plans, God laughs".  Yeah, the housing market went nuts.  One year turned to two, two years turned to three, and three looked like it would turn into four.  With three months left before our lease expired I did a lot of calculations and found we might be able to get a house. AND WE DID!!!

We had just started to really enjoy doing the small things that make a house yours.  The best part is we only one mile away from our old house, so we get to keep the same awesome schools, we stay in the same neighborhood, and I get to keep my same running & walking routes!

That would normally be enough news for a month, but you know me there is no rest.  After closing on the house I hit the road to the 15th Anniversary of SQL Saturday Jacksonville.

Josh Luedeman (Twitter | @JoshLuedeman), Neeraj Jhaveri (Twitter | @Neeraj_Jhaveri), Daniel Taylor (Twitter | @DBABulldog), Andres Padilla (Twitter | @nodestreamio), & myself all decided we should submit to the conference.  The really amazing part, as much time as we've spent with online we've never all gathered together before.  Josh, Neeraj, & I had met pre-covid during work trips, but Andres & Dan had joined our team during the pandemic.  Our good friend Bradley Schacht (Twitter | @BradleySchacht) from the Azure Synapse Product Group joined us!

We started out with a nice dinner on Thursday and the in person preparations began for our pre-con DBA 101: A Full Day of Fundamentals.  We had a great group of gentlemen that joined us for the day.  We covered a lot of basics about SQL Server and the Cloud, specifically Azure, but we made sure people understood how to translate that skill set. 

We did a lot of group exercises, starting with building on premise, hybrid, and cloud architectures. Then applying SLA's, RTO, RPO requirements so we could discuss how to configure backups, high availability, and then disaster recovery.

We reviewed basic security within SQL Server which translates to Azure SQL, as well as some basic Identity topics covering AD & AAD.  Great group of people and a great way to kick off Friday.

Friday night took us to the SQL Saturday Speaker dinner and then a group activity we had planned together watching the Guardians of the Galaxy 3.  No spoilers.  Great movie and a really nice send off to the trilogy.

After that we headed back to the hotel, hung out, had some nice conversations, and then went to sleep so we could start the big event, SQL Saturday.

All of us who have been in the community for a while have seen the ups and downs that happened during the pandemic.  We all had a lot to deal with in that time, and there were some devastating losses for me personally.  Maybe next year I will write about it, but there are some areas that are still to raw for me.  I'm sure there are for a lot of people.  I tried to remind myself during that time that in the middle of something you cannot see the end, nor can you see the recovery.  I held fast to the idea that they would occur.

In the SQL Community I have made so many close deeply personal friendships, that calling people "friends" hardly does justice to what I feel.  Of those people Karla & Rodney Landrum are up there at the top.  The last time I saw them they came to Orlando to visit.  Karla, Rodney, Sue, and myself went to Chef's in the Paris district of Epcot.  We also had them over to the house.  I cooked, Karla mixed the drinks (which I loved still to this day!) and we had a fantastic time.  That was 2019.  There is no way we could have known how long it would be until we saw each other again, what we would have encountered.  It was all I could do not to breakdown crying as I hugged Karla.

I didn't realize she would be there, and the joy I feel even know days removed is palpable. I'm so glad we are having in person events again.  I'm so glad I get to see my friends, donate my time, and teach people.  If you have a SQL Saturday happening near you, you've got to check them out, I cannot recommend getting involved enough.

Ok, over to the recap.

MONDAY 5-1-2023

On Monday Josh Luedeman published his first video, way to go JOSH!!  Josh's video Setup Windows with Chocolatey for Data Developers walked us through using the Chocolatey packages to install and configure post-Windows installation tasks easily!

He installed Git, WSL 2, Ubuntu, Spotify, Discord, PowerShell, Azure Data Studio, SQL Server Management Studio, and Signal!  If you find yourself setting up a new Windows computer, this is a fantastic shortcut to the installation process. 

WEDNESDAY 5-3-2023

On Wedneday we released my latest video on creating a Dynamic Pipeline in Azure Synapse & Data Factory!!  This is a process that I've walked many customers through over the years.  The key is we are trying to minimize the number of Source & Sink data sets created to import data in this video.

Dynamic Pipelines are incredibly powerful and can be used in many different ways. This was just one of them, but based on the reaction from you Dear Reader, we will be showing a few additional ways this can be used!

TUESDAY 5-2-2023

We kicked off the Azure Data Community Round Table this past week discussing the weather and how much we were all looking forward to getting together at SQL Saturday Jacksonville.

Of course as we all know the star of the show is the Community.  So without further ado here are the links in order of appearance on the show:

Neeraj

• The Plain-English Guide to Data Warehouses [+ Examples]  by Swetha Amaresan  Twitter @swethamaresan

Bradley

• How to create Linked server from SQL Server to Azure SQL Database by Madhumita Tripathy

Andres

• Opening the eyes of the machine: Computer vision with AutoML by Gavita Regunath & Dan Lantos Twitter @gavi_sr

Josh

• Optimizing Postgres for write heavy workloads ft. Checkpoint and WAL configs | Citus Con 2023   by Samar Sharma  Twitter @samay_sharma

Neeraj

• Capture Changed Data From your Cosmos DB analytical store (Preview)  by Mark Kromer Twitter @KromerBigData

Bradley

• SQL Server Row Count for all Tables in a Database by Dattatrey Sindol Twitter @dattatreysindol via @mssqltips

Andres

• Building a startup using Azure Computer Vision by Nikhil Sehgal Twitter @nikhilsehgal_ai

Josh

• Chocolate Install Git Config by Gary Ewan Park Twitter @gep13

Neeraj

• Best practices for Purview and a federated way of working   by Piethein Strengholt Twitter @phstrengholt

Bradley

• EightKB 2023 – Schedule and Registration by Andrew Pruski via SQL Server Central Twitter  @dbafromthecold via @SQLServerCentrl

Andres

• Bring all your workloads to the edge with AKS Edge Essentials by Jason Farmer Twitter @MG_cafe01

Josh

• Monitoring Deadlocks in Azure SQL Managed Instance by Bradley Ball Twitter @SQLBalls

WRAP IT UP

What an amazing week we had last week, and it's only going to get better!  This week we have Andres & Neeraj presenting Computer Vision with Azure ML Studio that will be live today at 1 PM EST.

I will have another video this Wednesday, and of course our Tales from the Field Azure Data Community Round table will be this Tuesday Live at 1 PM.

I'm sure we will figure out some adventure to have this weekend, alright Dear Reader.  Time for me to head out, as always Thank You Dear Reader for stopping by.

Thanks,

Brad

Tales From The Field Weekly Wrap Up for the Week of 02-06-2023

 Hello Dear Reader!  We had a great last week on Tales from the Field.  This weekend was also a really nice one.  On Saturday a group of friends gathered to share some friendship, conversation, and remember a dear friend that is no longer with us at one of my favorite places in Orlando, Lee & Rick's Oyster Bar.  

Lee & Rick's has been around since 1950 and it doesn't look like much has changed in that time.  That's just the way I like it.  My friends Juan, Dan Taylor (Twitter | @DBABulldog), Brad Schacht (Twitter | @BradleySchacht), and myself had a great time.

That wasn't the only thing going on this past weekend as it was also Super Bowl day.  That's sports ball  for the non-sports followers.  The one day of the year that even non-sports ball fans will at least watch the game to see some of the best commercials we will get all year.  Not to mention the halftime show is always amazing.  It did not disappoint!  The game was incredible, two amazing teams playing their hearts out.  Or as I would translate to my friend Buck Woody (Twitter | @BuckWoodyMSFT), one sports ball team sports balled better than the other sports ball team.  Which is fairly normal. 

On to the show!

Tuesday 2-7-2023

On Tuesday we had iAsia Brown (Twitter | @TechPicasso) Producer at X-Box Game Studios Publishing on the show!  Neeraj had won and was the host this week.  Our topic was Diversity and Inclusion.  iAsia is a brilliant, wonderful, amazing human being.  She is a Veteran of the US Airforce & the Marine Corps. and we THANK her for her service!  Our discussions were wide ranging, poignant, and incredibly valuable.

I understand that this topic could be a trigger to many people because of current events.  If that is the case please take the time to watch this show.  When we make things better for everyone we open them up to have an amazing experience.  Inclusivity opens new markets and individuals to capitalistic opportunities that they may not otherwise have access to.

If you feel I'm wrong, its not hard to find me and I am open to your feedback.

Wednesday 2-8-2023

On Wednesday we dropped our second February video for our MS Tech Bits!  Neeraj Jhaveri (Twitter | @nodestreamio) and Andres Padilla (Twitter | @neeraj_jhaveri) share with us the Tips & Tricks for Azure Data Lake Gen 1 to Gen 2 Migrations.

This topic is a big deal!  Andres worked with the PG to develop the program and work with some of our largest customers in the world to migrate off of ADLS Gen 1 to ADLS Gen 2.  He and Neeraj share their experience and many links that will help you through this journey.  Speaking of which, if this is a situations where you find yourself or your company finds itself, then you should DEFINITELY be working with our team Azure FastTrack CXP.  We are a complimentary Product Group in Azure Engineering that works directly with customers on their move or adoption to Azure.  Here's a link to a video on how you can engage with us!

Thursday 2-9-2023

On Thursday we had our Community Round Table featuring incredible content from you the community.

I could write more about what we did on the show but I'd rather share all the amazing content that we covered in the order of appearance:

Neeraj

• What is Diversity & Inclusion? - Global Diversity Practice by Global Diversity Practice Twitter @gdptweets

Bradley

• Microsoft’s commitment to the data community By Jeremy Kadlec Twitter @MSSQLTips  

Andres

• The elephant in the room: How to write PySpark Unit Tests by Prashanth Xavier

Josh

• Structured Streaming in Synapse Spark by Ryan J Adams Twitter @ryanjadams

Neeraj

• Bing With AI: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Why Search Is Changed Forever by Joanna Stern Twitter @JoannaStern

Bradley

• Resolving Azure Data Studio's Identity Crises by Frank Boucher & Erin Stellato Twitter @fboucheros @erinstellato

Andres

• Combining the power of Optimum, OpenVINO™, ONNX Runtime, and Azure by The AI Show Live (Cassie Breviu, Akhila Vidiyala, Devang Aggarwal)

Josh

• SQL Server on Linux Install - The Basics by Phil Ekins Twitter @SQLPhilUK

Neeraj

• Black History Month: Why we celebrate it in February : NPR by Scott Neuman Twitter @ScottNeumanNPR

Bradley

• Sessions and Speakers by Numbers (SQLBits 2023!)  By Rob Sewell Twitter @sqldbawithbeard 

Andres

• Creating Azure Monitor alerts for Cosmos (and other databases) queries by Andre Dewes 

Josh

• SQL Server Transactional Replication by Gareth Newman 

WRAP IT UP

We hope you will all join us this week, on Tuesday we have a BIG guest.  No spoilers on who won and will be the host, but the one and only Patrick LeBlanc (Twitter | @PatrickDBA) from Guy in a Cube on the program on Tuesday at 1 pm EST.  

I've known Patrick for well over a decade at this point in my life.  He's an incredibly man and I cannot wait for the conversation!

Don't forget we will have another MS Tech Bit this Wednesday and as always the Community Round table will be live on Thursday.

We hope to see you there.  And as always Dear Reader, Thank you for stopping by.

Thanks,

Brad