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Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (Denali) Resources

Microsoft released SQL Server 2012 Release Candidate - RC0 (Formerly code-named Denali). This version includes advanced business intelligence features.

SQL Server 2012 Resources
New Tech Spotlight10

Is Firefox Dying?

Saturday February 11, 2012

Photo © Tim PerdueThe use of Firefox continues to fall. In fact, of the big three browsers, the percent of browser market share for Firefox has declined 20% between January 2011 and January 2012. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is right behind Firefox. The use of IE dropped by 18.5% between January 2011 and January 2012.

There continues to be a major shift toward Google Chrome. During the same period, Google's market share has increased by 81% in the past year. They ended the year with the browser market share of 28%.

  • Chrome has 28% of the browser market, up from 15% a year ago
  • Firefox has 25% of the browser market, down from 31% a year ago
  • Internet Explorer has 37% of the browser market, down from 46% a year ago

This information was provided by StatCounter.

Photo © Tim Perdue

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ZoomIt - Annotation & Screen Zoom For Technical Presentations

Saturday January 28, 2012

ZoomIt is one of my favorite utilities. It was created by Mark Russinovich, a fellow at Microsoft (@markrussinovich on Twitter). Version 4.2 was released in May 2011 and runs on all version of Windows. Sorry Mac users.

ZoomIt runs in the system tray and is activated by hotkeys, most of which are custmizable. If you are someone who demos software, this is a must-have tool. It is a simple executable and there is even an online version if you don't want to download anything. ZoomIt is available from Windows Sysinternals.

Coolest Features of ZoomIt

  1. Zoom in on a part of your screen and easily move to the area you are trying to show. The screen freezes until you hit escape.
  2. Enter annotation mode without zooming.
  3. Annotate on the screen with your mouse or pen input. You choose the color and thickness which can be changed on the fly.
  4. Draw an arrow to call out a spot on your screen.
  5. Draw a box around a part of your screen.
  6. Draw an ellipse on your screen.
  7. Copy the annotated screen or sketch pad.

Download ZoomIt 4.2 from TechNet Sysinternals. If you haven't used it before, ZoomIt will become one of your go to utilities.

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Gartner's Top Predictions for IT Orgs

Saturday January 14, 2012

Gartner released their top predictions for IT organizations last month. If you haven't seen it, there are a few interesting items. Loss of control, which will cause a degree of stress for your security guy, is the theme of the article.

Consumerization of IT will keep moving control from IT to users. From iPads to Android devices, there has been a rapid shift in the mind-set of CIOs who have started saying yes to bring your own devices.

Here are a couple of the most interesting predictions:

  • By 2016, half of your email users will drop their desktop client in favor of browser apps, tablets and mobile email clients.
  • By 2015, there will be 4 times as many mobile application development projects than PC projects.
  • By next year, the investment bubble will bust for consumer social networks.

Read the entire article Gartner Reveals Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users for 2012 and Beyond.

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Zeitgeist 2011: Visualizations...Just Because

Monday December 26, 2011

Photo © GoogleGoogle released Zeitgeist 2011 with no less than 3 Apple references in the top 10 fastest-rising searches for 2011. More on this in a second.

The visualizations used in the Google Zeitgeist 2011 are wild! If you have a minute, play around with the integractive HTML5 display and let me know if you figure it out. It is really cool but I can't tell what it is trying to show me.

The top 10 fastest-rising global queries capture the spirit of 2011 (Zeitgeist). Thanks Google...but here is an alternative visualization for the top searches of 2011, a list.

Top 10 Fastest-Rising Global Searches for 2011

  1. Rebecca Black
  2. Google Plus
  3. Ryan Dunn
  4. Casey Anthony
  5. Battlefield 3
  6. iPhone 5
  7. Adele
  8. 東京 電力 (Tokyo Electric Power)
  9. Steve Jobs
  10. iPad 2

History: Number 1 Search Query 2002 - 2011

Photo © Google

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