Dusty Reagan

In response to this ridiculous list in PC Magazine. Here is my take on The Seven Computing Wonders of the World.

#1. The Microprocessor - Because without the Microprocessor the rest of this list wouldn’t exist. Vacuum tubes and transistors will only get you so far.

#2. The Internet - Do you really need a reason as to why the Internet is a computing wonder? I mean, you’re reading this list aren’t you?

#3. The Personal Computer - Computers were original built for scientist and mathematicians. The Personal Computer brought immense computing power to everyone from small businesses to my 8 year old nephew.

#4. The Mobile Phone - The mobile phone gave us untethered connectivity. As long as you have your mobile phone nearby you’re never alone.

#5. Global Positioning Systems - Because GPS has given us real-time navigation. Flight systems, in car navigation, even cell phones can tell you exactly where you are and how to get to your destination.

#6. Object Oriented Programming - Because OOP has allowed programmers to build systems that would have otherwise been too complex to manage using older programming methodologies. (Think: Most of the modern software you use.)

#7. Clustered Computing - Because Cluster Computing makes massive number crunching cost effective and you can achieve performance that would be unachievable using one machine. (Think: Super Computers)

…
#563. Flat Panel Displays
…
#20,023. The iPhone
#20,122. The Nintendo Wii

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So yeah, you could use the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio UI to rename your table or column. But sometimes you need to do the rename in T-SQL. Here’s how.

How to rename a table:

EXEC sp_rename 'OldTableName', 'NewTableName'

How to rename a column:

EXEC sp_rename
    @objname = 'TableName.OldColumnName',
    @newname = 'NewColumnName',
    @objtype = 'COLUMN'

For a more detailed explanation of sp_rename check out this MSDN article: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188351.aspx.

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So this evening my $300 genuine copy of Windows Vista Business decided it was no longer genuine. But my favorite part is I have lots of work due in the next few days and I’m paid by the hour. That means I am now losing money and face! So needless to say I’m a little upset.

But hey, surely Microsoft has some mechanism to get me back in the game right? Not after 6:00pm! Nope. I have to write them a pleasant email and kick back and wait for a response in the next 24 hours. Of course this should be fine. It’s not like I shelled out $300 big ones for the privilege of running Windows Vista Business. And hey, who uses Vista Business for business right? And even if it was for business purposes, who works after 6pm? Yes, a 24 hour turnaround email is the PERFECT solution. *That’s sarcasm Microsoft!*

I must admit, I was able to “chat” with a Microsoft rep. He was a tremendous help providing me with a link to the webpage I initiated the “chat” from, that also contained the support email address. He also ensured me Microsoft would respond to my email within the next 24 hours and he informed me that the email support is absolutely FREE! Can you believe it!? Bless my lucky stars, it’s FREE! *That’s sarcasm again Microsoft!* Free… humph. Give me a break. I should be billing Microsoft my time spent dealing with WGA.

If it wasn’t for Visual Studio Microsoft would have one less developer. Hell, maybe I’ll migrate over to Mono and run Linux and OSX.

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Sometimes you need to use “If Then Else” logic on something really simple, but all those brackets and parentheses are ugly and confusing. So instead use some fancy shorthand!

In this example I want to display the top 5 items in my array, but if my array is less than 5 items long I want to show all of the items up to the length of my array. (Otherwise I’d get an “index out of bounds” error for trying to access array items that don’t exist.)

int showTopeEntries = 5;

showTopEntries = showTopEntries >= totalEntries ? totalEntries : showTopEntries;

This reads as: If 5 is greater than or equal to my array’s length, then use my array’s length, else use 5.

Your significant other is gonna’ be really impressed with this bit of code! Well, unless your significant other is also a programmer… then my sarcasm is lost. :/

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I’m in love with Data Robotics, Inc. no hassle data redundancy device, Drobo. I’ve been kicking around the idea of building my own RAID 5 network file server to store all of my music, videos, pics, and et cetera for a couple of years now. But that, of course, is no easy task, nor is it easy on the pocket book. And now here comes Drobo to my rescue!

You’ve got 7 minutes to spare right? Check out this YouTube video featuring Drobo.

So I’m dropping the “build my own RAID 5 network server” idea. Now I want to get a Drobo and new wireless Linksys router with USB storage support. Although, I’ve heard a rumor that Data Robotics, Inc. is planning on coming out with a new Drobo with built in network support later this fall or early next year. I’m not sure I can wait that long. This thing is just too cool.Oh, I heard about the Drobo and this YouTube video on TWiT. Great Podcast.

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