Hi Folks, I've decided to migrate my blog to SQLBlog.com. The new subscription feed is: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/greg_low/rss.aspx Regards, Greg

Some readers will know that I've been learning Mandarin lately. It's been really interesting. Most people assume I want to do it because my wife Mai is of Chinese Vietnamese heritage. No such luck as her family speak Tieu Chow, a dialect spoken mainly in part of Vietnam, part of Cambodia and part of Southern China. One in four children born in the world today speak Chinese. I've always heard it was really hard but have decided to tackle it anyway. I've enabled my Windows Vista system

SQL Server 2008 has now officially slipped to Q3 this year. Details are at: http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/archive/2008/01/25/microsoft-sql-server-2008-roadmap-clarification.aspx

SQL Down Under show 29 with SQL CAT team member Richard Tkachuk discussing the CAT team, working with Analysis Services and what's coming in 2008 for Analysis Services is now available for download from www.sqldownunder.com .

I've had a number of people ask me how you can tell if the backup compression in SQL Server 2008 really is effective. The easy answer is to try it and look at the results. To compress a backup, you need to choose the "Compress Backup" option at the bottom of the Options tab in SQL Server Management Studio. Once the backup is done, you can see how effective it was by executing: RESTORE HEADERONLY FROM DISK = 'PathToYourBackupHere' This command has been enhanced to have two columns

Over recent weeks, I've been involved in building some of the launch materials for the worldwide SQL Server launch events later this year. In the filestream section, I wanted to play a wmv file ie: a video. I thought "that can't be too hard". I was wrong on that. I've now spent a long time working out what's needed. In the end, it's trivial to do. You just have to know what to do. After much googling, all I found were people with lots of questions and few answers. Here's

SQL Down Under show 28 is now up on the www.sqldownunder.com download site. In this show, my guest Ed Lehman (the community lead for SQL Server at Microsoft) discusses the community around SQL Server, the MVP program, the Connect feedback site, the newsgroups, forums and CodePlex. Enjoy!

Regular readers will notice that I've stepped up the pace of podcasts lately. I'm intending to maintain a one-per-week pace now. Last week, I was pleased to have had old friend Chris Randall on the show. Recording today's show was another real treat. David Campbell agreed to be on the show. Dave is another of the people that I'd consider to be real legends in the SQL Server group, having come across to Microsoft (from DEC) back in 1994. He went on to be one of the key folk involved

Sharmilla Gosai and our friends at Microsoft Australia have announced SQL Server 2008 readiness events. These include jumpstart sessions specifically targets at administrators, developers and business intelligence professionals. These events offer up-to-date content at a low cost. The developer event runs for two days and is being offered in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. For administrators, there is a one day event. As well as Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, it will be running in Perth, Adelaide

Hi Folks, SQL Down Under show 26 with guest SQL Server MCT Chris Randall is available now from www.sqldownunder.com . In this show, Chris discusses the pros and cons of certification, its perceived value, the SQL Server certifications available and some tips and tricks for tackling the exams. Enjoy! Regards, Greg