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• Book &ldquo;Team Foundation Server 2012 Starter&rdquo; published

  - by terje

  During the summer and fall this year, me and my colleague Jakob Ehn has worked together on a book project that has now finally hit the stores! The title of the book is Team Foundation Server 2012 Starter and is published by Packt Publishing. Get it from http://www.packtpub.com/team-foundation-server-2012-starter/book or from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1849688389                     The book is part of a concept that Packt have with starter-books, intended for people new to Team Foundation Server 2012 and who want a quick guideline to get it up and working.  It covers the fundamentals, from installing and configuring it, and how to use it with source control, work items and builds. It is done as a step-by-step guide, but also includes best practices advice in the different areas. It covers the use of both the on-premises and the TFS Services version. It also has a list of links and references in the end to the most relevant Visual Studio 2012 ALM sites. Our good friend and fellow ALM MVP Mathias Olausson have done the review of the book, thanks again Mathias! We hope the book fills the gap between the different online guide sites and the more advanced books that are out. Book Description Your quick start guide to TFS 2012, top features, and best practices with hands on examples Overview Install TFS 2012 from scratch Get up and running with your first project Streamline release cycles for maximum productivity In Detail Team Foundation Server 2012 is Microsoft's leading ALM tool, integrating source control, work item and process handling, build automation, and testing. This practical "Team Foundation Server 2012 Starter Guide" will provide you with clear step-by-step exercises covering all major aspects of the product. This is essential reading for anyone wishing to set up, organize, and use TFS server. This hands-on guide looks at the top features in Team Foundation Server 2012, starting with a quick installation guide and then moving into using it for your software development projects. Manage your team projects with Team Explorer, one of the many new features for 2012. Covering all the main features in source control to help you work more efficiently, including tools for branching and merging, we will delve into the Agile Planning Tools for planning your product and sprint backlogs. Learn to set up build automation, allowing your team to become faster, more streamlined, and ultimately more productive with this "Team Foundation Server 2012 Starter Guide". What you will learn from this book Install TFS 2012 on premise Access TFS Services in the cloud Quickly get started with a new project with product backlogs, source control, and build automation Work efficiently with source control using the top features Understand how the tools for branching and merging in TFS 2012 help you isolate work and teams Learn about the existing process templates, such as Visual Studio Scrum 2.0 Manage your product and sprint backlogs using the Agile planning tools Approach This Starter guide is a short, sharp introduction to Team Foundation Server 2012, covering everything you need to get up and running. Who this book is written for If you are a developer, project lead, tester, or IT administrator working with Team Foundation Server 2012 this guide will get you up to speed quickly and with minimal effort.

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• The Art of Agile Development de J.Shore et S.Warden, critique par Pierre Chauvin

  Bonjour, Je viens de terminer la lecture de "The Art of Agile Development" de James Shore, Shane Warden, publié chey O'Reilly, dont vous trouverez ma critique ici. [IMG]http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0596527675.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG] Mes impressions sont plutôt bonnes. Et vous, que pensez-vous de ce livre ? vous a t-il aidé à guider vos projets sur des préceptes agiles ?, promouvoir XP ou Scrum dans vos équipes ?...

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• SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to Basics of a Query Hint

  - by pinaldave

  This blog post is inspired from SQL Architecture Basics Joes 2 Pros: Core Architecture concepts – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 3. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction to Basics of a Query Hint – A Primer. In the article we discussed various basics terminology of the query hints. The article further covers following important concepts of query hints. Expecting Seek and getting a Scan Creating an index for improved optimization Implementing the query hint Above three are the most important concepts related to query hint and SQL Server.  There are many more things one has to learn but without beginners fundamentals one can’t learn the advanced  concepts. Let us have small quiz and check how many of you get the fundamentals right. Quiz 1) You have the following query: DECLARE @UlaChoice TinyInt SET @Type = 1 SELECT * FROM LegalActivity WHERE UlaChoice = @UlaChoice You have a nonclustered index named IX_Legal_Ula on the UlaChoice field. The Primary key is on the ID field and called PK_Legal_ID 99% of the time the value of the @UlaChoice is set to ‘YP101′. What query will achieve the best optimization for this query? SELECT * FROM LegalActivity WHERE UlaChoice = @UlaChoice WITH(INDEX(X_Legal_Ula)) SELECT * FROM LegalActivity WHERE UlaChoice = @UlaChoice WITH(INDEX(PK_Legal_ID)) SELECT * FROM LegalActivity WHERE UlaChoice = @UlaChoice OPTION (Optimize FOR(@UlaChoice = ‘YP101′)) 2) You have the following query: SELECT * FROM CurrentProducts WHERE ShortName = ‘Yoga Trip’ You have a nonclustered index on the ShortName field and the query runs an efficient index seek. You change your query to use a variable for ShortName and now you are using a slow index scan. What query hint can you use to get the same execution time as before? WITH LOCK FAST OPTIMIZE FOR MAXDOP READONLY Now make sure that you write down all the answers on the piece of paper. Watch following video and read earlier article over here. If you want to change the answer you still have chance. Solution 1) 3 2) 4 Now compare let us check the answers and compare your answers to following answers. I am very confident you will get them correct. Available at USA: Amazon India: Flipkart | IndiaPlaza Volume: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Please leave your feedback in the comment area for the quiz and video. Did you know all the answers of the quiz? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Joes 2 Pros, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• View Docs and PDFs Directly in Google Chrome

  - by Matthew Guay

  Would you like to view documents, presentations, and PDFs directly in Google Chrome?  Here’s a handy extension that makes Google Docs your default online viewer so don’t have to download the file first. Getting Started By default, when you come across a PDF or other common document file online in Google Chrome, you’ll have to download the file and open it in a separate application. It’d be much easier to simply view online documents directly in Chrome.  To do this, head over to the Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer page on the Chrome Extensions site (link below), and click Install to add it to your browser. Click Install to confirm that you want to install this extension. Extensions don’t run by default in Incognito mode, so if you’d like to always view documents directly in Chrome, open the Extensions page and check Allow this extension to run in incognito. Now, when you click a link for a document online, such as a .docx file from Word, it will open in the Google Docs viewer. These documents usually render in their original full-quality.  You can zoom in and out to see exactly what you want, or search within the document.  Or, if it doesn’t look correct, you can click the Download link in the top left to save the original document to your computer and open it in Office.   Even complex PDF render very nicely.  Do note that Docs will keep downloading the document as you’re reading it, so if you jump to the middle of a document it may look blurry at first but will quickly clear up. You can even view famous presentations online without opening them in PowerPoint.  Note that this will only display the slides themselves, but if you’re looking for information you likely don’t need the slideshow effects anyway.   Adobe Reader Conflicts If you already have Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader installed on your computer, PDF files may open with the Adobe plugin.  If you’d prefer to read your PDFs with the Docs PDF Viewer, then you need to disable the Adobe plugin.  Enter the following in your Address Bar to open your Chrome Plugins page: chrome://plugins/ and then click Disable underneath the Adobe Acrobat plugin. Now your PDFs will always open with the Docs viewer instead. Performance Who hasn’t been frustrated by clicking a link to a PDF file, only to have your browser pause for several minutes while Adobe Reader struggles to download and display the file?  Google Chrome’s default behavior of simply downloading the files and letting you open them is hardly more helpful.  This extension takes away both of these problems, since it renders the documents on Google’s servers.  Most documents opened fairly quickly in our tests, and we were able to read large PDFs only seconds after clicking their link.  Also, the Google Docs viewer rendered the documents much better than the HTML version in Google’s cache. Google Docs did seem to have problem on some files, and we saw error messages on several documents we tried to open.  If you encounter this, click the Download link in the top left corner to download the file and view it from your desktop instead. Conclusion Google Docs has improved over the years, and now it offers fairly good rendering even on more complex documents.  This extension can make your browsing easier, and help documents and PDFs feel more like part of the Internet.  And, since the documents are rendered on Google’s servers, it’s often faster to preview large files than to download them to your computer. Link Download the Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer extension from Google Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Integrate Google Docs with Outlook the Easy WayGoogle Image Search Quick FixView the Time & Date in Chrome When Hiding Your TaskbarView Maps and Get Directions in Google ChromeHow To Export Documents from Google Docs to Your Computer TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Snagit 10 How to Forecast Weather, without Gadgets Outlook Tools, one stop tweaking for any Outlook version Zoofs, find the most popular tweeted YouTube videos Video preview of new Windows Live Essentials 21 Cursor Packs for XP, Vista & 7 Map the Stars with Stellarium

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• Crime Fighting goes Galactic with CSI: Gallifrey [Video]

  - by Asian Angel

  What do you get when your favorite crime-fighting organization meets Doctor Who? CSI: Gallifrey! CSI: Gallifrey (with one-liner) [via Geeks are Sexy] How to Make the Kindle Fire Silk Browser *Actually* Fast! Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Tablet: the How-To Geek Review HTG Explains: How Hackers Take Over Web Sites with SQL Injection / DDoS

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• Réseaux multiplexés pour systèmes embarqués de Dominique Paret, critique par Nicolas Vallée

  Voici la critique de la seconde édition du livre Réseaux multiplexés pour systèmes embarqués [IMG]http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/2100052675.08.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG] Citation: Cet ouvrage décrit les différents types de réseaux multiplexés, aujourd'hui présents dans de multiples domaines industriels (commande de machine-outils, de ligne de production, automobile, avionique, etc.). Il se compose de deux parties : La premi...

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• SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to SQL Error Actions

  - by pinaldave

  This blog post is inspired from SQL Programming Joes 2 Pros: Programming and Development for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 4. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction to SQL Error Actions – A Primer. In the article we discussed various basics terminology of the error handling. The article further covers following important concepts of error handling. Introduction to SQL Error Actions Statement Termination Scope Abortion Batch Termination Above three are the most important concepts related to error handling and SQL Server.  There are many more things one has to learn but without beginners fundamentals one can’t learn the advanced concepts. Let us have small quiz and check how many of you get the fundamentals right. Quiz 1.) Which SQL Server error action happens for errors with a severity of 11-16 when you set the XACT_ABORT setting to ON? You will get Statement Termination. You will get Scope Abortion. You will get Batch Abortion. You will get Connection Termination. SQL Server will pick the error action. 2.) Which SQL Server error action happens for errors with a severity of 11-16 when you set the XACT_ABORT setting to OFF? You will get Statement Termination You will get Scope Abortion You will get Batch Abortion You will get Connection Termination SQL Server will pick the error action Now make sure that you write down all the answers on the piece of paper. Watch following video and read earlier article over here. If you want to change the answer you still have chance. Solution 1) 3 2) 5 Now compare let us check the answers and compare your answers to following answers. I am very confident you will get them correct. Available at USA: Amazon India: Flipkart | IndiaPlaza Volume: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Please leave your feedback in the comment area for the quiz and video. Did you know all the answers of the quiz? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Joes 2 Pros, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• How Back to the Future Should have Ended (In a Galaxy Far Far Away) [Video]

  - by Asian Angel

  Everyone is familiar with Doc Brown’s statement that they would not need roads where they were going. If only he had known just how true the ‘no roads’ part was going to be! Alternate Ending – Back to the Future [via Geeks are Sexy] HTG Explains: When Do You Need to Update Your Drivers? How to Make the Kindle Fire Silk Browser *Actually* Fast! Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Tablet: the How-To Geek Review

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• Windows Server 2008 administration et exploitation, de Philippe Freddi, critique par Benjamin Poinsot

  Bonjour, j'ai lu pour vous l'ouvrage Windows Server 2008 - Administration et exploitation de Philippe FREDDI. [IMG]http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/2746059371.08.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG] Citation: Ce livre sur Windows Server 2008 s´adresse à un public d´informaticiens désireux de monter en compétences sur l'administration quotidienne de ce système d'exploitation. Chaque chapitre débute par une introduction sur le sujet puis propose une approche pas à pas pour sa maîtrise. Dès le début du livre l´auteur invit...

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• [Livre]:Chaînes d'exploits: Scénarios de hacking avancé et prévention, de A.Whitaker, K.Evans, J.Vot

  Bonjour La rédaction de DVP a lu pour vous l'ouvrage suivant: Chaînes d'exploits: Scénarios de hacking avancé et prévention de Andrew Whitaker, Keatron Evans, Jack Voth paru aux Editions PEARSON [IMG]http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/274402371X.08.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG] Citation: Un pirate informatique s'appuie rarement sur une unique attaque, mais utilise plutôt des chaînes d'exploits, qui impliquent plusie...

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• Programmation Flex 4. Application internet riches avec Flash ActionScript 3, Spark, MXML et Flash Builder, critique par Jean-Marie Macé

  Programmation Flex 4 Application internet riches avec Flash ActionScript 3, Spark, MXML et Flash Builder [IMG]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416Ww2G29qL.jpg[/IMG] Eyrolles vous propose un ouvrage écrit par Aurélien Vannieuwenhuyze en collaboration avec Fabien Nicollet sur le framework Flex dans sa version 4. Je vous propose donc ma critique de ce livre : ICI, C'est pour moi le meilleur ouvrage français sur le sujet. Et vous, avez-vous feuilleté-lu cet ouvrage ? Qu'en avez-vous pensé ?...

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• Dans le Cloud computing, un tutoriel pour débutant, traduit par Nicolas vieux et Vincent Viale

  Qu'est-ce que le Cloud computing ? Le Cloud computing est devenu le nouveau mot à la mode tirée en grande partie par le marketing et les offres de services de grands groupes comme Google, IBM et Amazon. Cloud computing est la prochaine étape dans l'évolution d'Internet. Cloud computing fournit le moyen par lequel tout - de la puissance de calcul de l'infrastructure informatique, des applications, des processus d'affaires pour une autoentreprise - peut être livré comme un service où et quand vous en avez besoin.

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• Data Quality Services Performance Best Practices Guide

  This guide details high-level performance numbers expected and a set of best practices on getting optimal performance when using Data Quality Services (DQS) in SQL Server 2012 with Cumulative Update 1. Schedule Azure backupsRed Gate’s Cloud Services makes it simple to create and schedule backups of your SQL Azure databases to Azure blob storage or Amazon S3. Try it for free today.

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• Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010 – book coming in September

  - by Marco Russo (SQLBI)

  As you might already know, I and Alberto Ferrari are writing a book about PowerPivot 2010 for Excel. The official title is Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2010: Give Your Data Meaning and you can already order it on Amazon ! However, it will be published in September 2010, and it is reasonable considered we are still in writing mode… Well, before buying it, consider that we are writing the book for the “real user” of PowerPivot, who doesn’t have a knowledge of MDX, multidimensional databases, ETL,...(read more)

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• SQL Contests – Solution – Identify the Database Celebrity

  - by Pinal Dave

  Last week we were running contest Identify the Database Celebrity and we had received a fantastic response to the contest. Thank you to the kind folks at NuoDB as they had offered two USD 100 Amazon Gift Cards to the winners of the contest. We had also additional contest that users have to download and install NuoDB and identified the sample database. You can read about the contest over here. Here is the answer to the questions which we had asked earlier in the contest. Part 1: Identify Database Celebrity Personality 1 – Edgar Frank “Ted” Codd (August 19, 1923 – April 18, 2003) was an English computer scientist who, while working for IBM, invented the relational model for database management, the theoretical basis for relational databases. He made other valuable contributions to computer science, but the relational model, a very influential general theory of data management, remains his most mentioned achievement. (Wki) Personality 2 – James Nicholas “Jim” Gray (born January 12, 1944; lost at sea January 28, 2007; declared deceased May 16, 2012) was an American computer scientist who received the Turing Award in 1998 “for seminal contributions to database and transaction processing research and technical leadership in system implementation.” (Wiki) Personality 3 – Jim Starkey (born January 6, 1949 in Illinois) is a database architect responsible for developing InterBase, the first relational database to support multi-versioning, the blob column type, type event alerts, arrays and triggers. Starkey is the founder of several companies, including the web application development and database tool company Netfrastructure and NuoDB. (Wiki) Part 2: Identify NuoDB Samples Database Names In this part of the contest one has to Download NuoDB and install the sample database Hockey. Hockey is sample database and contains few tables. Users have to install sample database and inform the name of the sample databases. Here is the valid answer. HOCKEY PLAYERS SCORING TEAM Once again, it was indeed fun to run this contest. I have received great feedback about it and lots of people wants me to run similar contest in future. I promise to run similar interesting contests in the near future. Winners Within next two days, we will let winners send emails. Winners will have to confirm their email address and NuoDB team will send them directly Amazon Cards. Once again it was indeed fun to run this contest. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL

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• Python 3.1 books still directly applicable to learning Python 2.7?

  - by jaysun

  I need to learn Python (v2.7) for my job, and looking for the best intro book for professional programmers. I found (via amazon) that "The Quick Python Book" is the best, but it's for Python 3.1 I know there's a lot of similarities in 2.7 and 3.1, and somewhere read that you can mostly use 3.1 syntax in 2.7 as a good "future practice". Can someone with experience please verify that a book for learning Python3 would still be directly applicable for 2.7? Thank you very much. edit: "The Quick Python Book" is for 3.1

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• Developing Essbase Applications de Cameron Lackpour, critique par Sébastien Roux

  Bonjour La rédaction de DVP a lu pour vous l'ouvrage suivant: Developing Essbase Applications - Advanced Techniques for Finance and IT Professionals de Dave Anderson, Joe Aultman, John Booth, Gary Crisci, Natalie Delemar, Dave Farnsworth, Michael Nader, Dan Pressman, Rob Salzmann, Tim Tow, Jake Turrell et Angela Wilcox, sous la direction de Cameron Lackpour paru aux Editions Auerbach Publications [IMG]http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1466553308.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG] L'avez-vous lu ? Comptez-vous le lire bientô...

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• Head to the Cloud for Storage with Linux and DRDB

  Have your storage needs gone beyond a few lines of rsync scripting? With a combination of Amazon's cloud services, DRDB and Linux you can craft a resilient storage solution.

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• Any store/website selling Ubuntu-branded merchandise within United States?

  - by MIH1406

  I checked two websites about Ubuntu-branded merchandise but they charge too much for the products and for the shipping. I think because they are not within United States and the shipping is classified as International shipping. Any idea about stores or websites that are local to United States? I tried amazon but I could not find the same items. These what I had already checked: http://shop.canonical.com/ http://www.unixstickers.com/

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• Azure Marketplace

  - by kaleidoscope

  Microsoft Pinpoint is the place to market your software applications and professional services to the customers who need them most. Pinpoint helps you: •Showcase and sell your innovations •Attract and engage customers •Get customer insights and lead notifications PinPoint.com will host business applications developed by Microsoft partners.  This positions Azure as competitor to cloud platform marketplaces like Salesforce.com and Amazon.com.   Lokesh, M

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• SQL SERVER – Quiz and Video – Introduction to Discovering XML Data Type Methods

  - by pinaldave

  This blog post is inspired from SQL Interoperability Joes 2 Pros: A Guide to Integrating SQL Server with XML, C#, and PowerShell – SQL Exam Prep Series 70-433 – Volume 5. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] | [Kindle] | [IndiaPlaza] This is follow up blog post of my earlier blog post on the same subject - SQL SERVER – Introduction to Discovering XML Data Type Methods – A Primer. In the article we discussed various basics terminology of the XML. The article further covers following important concepts of XML. What are XML Data Type Methods The query() Method The value() Method The exist() Method The modify() Method Above five are the most important concepts related to XML and SQL Server. There are many more things one has to learn but without beginners fundamentals one can’t learn the advanced  concepts. Let us have small quiz and check how many of you get the fundamentals right. Quiz 1.) Which method returns an XML fragment from the source XML? query( ) value( ) exist( ) modify( ) All of them Only query( ) and value( ) 2.) Which XML data type method returns a “1” if found and “0” if the specified XPath is not found in the source XML? query( ) value( ) exist( ) modify( ) All of them Only query( ) and value( ) 3.) Which XML data type method allows you to pick the data type of the value that is returned from the source XML? query( ) value( ) exist( ) modify( ) All of them Only query( ) and value( ) 4.) Which method will not work with a SQL SELECT statement? query( ) value( ) exist( ) modify( ) All of them Only query( ) and value( ) Now make sure that you write down all the answers on the piece of paper. Watch following video and read earlier article over here. If you want to change the answer you still have chance. Solution 1) 1 2) 3 3) 2 4) 4 Now compare let us check the answers and compare your answers to following answers. I am very confident you will get them correct. Available at USA: Amazon India: Flipkart | IndiaPlaza Volume: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Please leave your feedback in the comment area for the quiz and video. Did you know all the answers of the quiz? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Joes 2 Pros, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• Friday Fun: 3 Slices

  - by Asian Angel

  Your weekend is almost here, so why not get an early start on the fun with a quick bit of gaming goodness? In this week’s game your powers of division will be put to the test as you seek to clear each level of red box material using a limited number of slices. How to Make the Kindle Fire Silk Browser *Actually* Fast! Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Tablet: the How-To Geek Review HTG Explains: How Hackers Take Over Web Sites with SQL Injection / DDoS

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• From the Tips Box: iPad Interface Emulation for Windows, Easy Access iPhone Flashlight, and Kindle Collection Management

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Once a week we round up some of the great reader tips to share. Today we’re looking at an iPad interface emulator for Windows, a fast-access flashlight app for the iPhone, and a Windows-based way to organize Kindle collections. Use Amazon’s Barcode Scanner to Easily Buy Anything from Your Phone How To Migrate Windows 7 to a Solid State Drive Follow How-To Geek on Google+

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• CRM vs VRM

  - by David Dorf

  In a previous post, I discussed the potential power of combining social, interest, and location graphs in order to personalize marketing and shopping experiences for consumers.  Marketing companies have been trying to collect detailed information for that very purpose, a large majority of which comes from tracking people on the internet.  But their approaches stem from the one-way nature of traditional advertising.  With TV, radio, and magazines there is no opportunity to truly connect to customers, which has trained marketing companies to [covertly] collect data and segment customers into easily identifiable groups.  To a large extent, we think of this as CRM. But what if we turned this viewpoint upside-down to accommodate for the two-way nature of social media?  The notion of marketing as conversations was the basis for the Cluetrain, an early attempt at drawing attention to the fact that customers are actually unique humans.  A more practical implementation is Project VRM, which is a reverse CRM of sorts.  Instead of vendors managing their relationships with customers, customers manage their relationships with vendors. Your shopping experience is not really controlled by you; rather, its controlled by the retailer and advertisers.  And unfortunately, they typically don't give you a say in the matter.  Yes, they might tailor the content for "female age 25-35 interested in shoes" but that's not really the essence of you, is it?  A better approach is to the let consumers volunteer information about themselves.  And why wouldn't they if it means a better, more relevant shopping experience?  I'd gladly list out my likes and dislikes in exchange for getting rid of all those annoying cookies on my harddrive. I really like this diagram from Beyond SocialCRM as it captures the differences between CRM and VRM. The closest thing to VRM I can find is Buyosphere, a start-up that allows consumers to track their shopping history across many vendors, then share it appropriately.  Also, Amazon does a pretty good job allowing its customers to edit their profile, which includes everything you've ever purchased from Amazon.  You can mark items as gifts, or explicitly exclude them from their recommendation engine.  This is a win-win for both the consumer and retailer. So here is my plea to retailers: Instead of trying to infer my interests from snapshots of my day, please just ask me.  We'll both have a better experience in the long-run.

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• Network Your Computers & Devices: Step by Step

  - by The Geek

  If you’re looking for a great book to help you learn more about Windows home networking, there’s a new book on the market by our good friend Ciprian, and published by none other than Microsoft Press. Note: our friend Ciprian has been a guest contributor here on How-To Geek in the past, and he’s not only a geek that knows what he’s talking about, he’s also one of the more honest and decent people I’ve worked with. In his spare time, he runs the 7 Tutorials web site. The Book One of the great things about this book is that you aren’t limited to just Windows networking—it also explains how to connect Windows 7, XP, Vista, Mac OS X, and even Linux on the same network and share folders and devices between them. Everything in the book is written in a typical How-To Geek step-by-step format, with plenty of screenshots and pictures to help you through the process. Book Outline If you’re going to be spending some money on the book, you probably want to know what it’s all about, and since the Amazon page doesn’t give, well, much information at all, here’s the entire outline for you: Setting Up a Router and Devices Setting User Account on All Computers Setting Up Your Libraries on All Windows 7 Computers Creating the Network Customizing Network Sharing Settings in Windows 7 Creating the Homegroup and Joining Windows 7 Computers Sharing Libraries and Folders Sharing and Working with Devices Streaming Media Over the Network and the Internet Sharing Between Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 Computers Sharing Between Mac OS X and Windows 7 Computers Sharing Between Ubuntu Linux and Windows 7 Computers Keeping the Network Secure Setting Up Parental Controls Troubleshooting Network and Internet Problems It’s a great book, with loads of information, and compared to most tech books isn’t very expensive—only $19.79 for the paperback and $9.99 for the Kindle version. Well worth it, and hey, it’s an official Microsoft Press book—written by a How-To Geek guest author. Network Your Computers & Devices Step by Step [Amazon] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows 7 or Vista How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC 2011 International Space Station Calendar Available for Download (Free) Ultimate Elimination – Lego Black Ops [Video] BotSync Enables Secure FTP File Synchronization on Android Devices Enjoy Beautiful City Views with the Cityscape Theme for Windows 7 Luigi Installs Any OS on Google’s Cr-48 Notebook DIY iPad Stylus Offers Pen-Based Interaction on the Cheap

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