Next meeting:
Thursday, June 11, 6:00-8:30pm

Remember...
THE LEARNING CENTER HAS MOVED TO 777 N RAINBOW, SUITE 150

May 9, 2009:
For those who have been asking me, I just discovered what Spiceworks uses for the issue database,
and it’s a SQL variant called SQLite! I was looking at making a new report, and when I did that, I
noticed a section that said, “Advanced:              o Build this report using SQL”.  So I checked the
box, and new sections appeared for “SQL report options” and “SQL to generate report”.  This got
me wondering on the schema, or at least how I could know what to grab from where.  Low and behold,
when I followed this new fangled link labeled, “see the help page”, I found a section that included this
key information – “Spiceworks uses SQLite as a database. You can explore the database with one of
the many free tools available. (SQLite Browser or SQLite Manager - Firefox add-on). Please be sure to
backup your database before using these tools.” Hope that answers some questions from folks on
Spiceworks.

-- Patrick

March 25, 2009:
Been working hard to bring in some new sponsors.
ComputerMemoryOutlet.Com asked to sponsor us and has decent pricing on upgrades!
Microsoft has selected S3OLV as 1 of only 50 sites to host the new THRIVE initiative! More to come!

March 2009:
Wow! Stacia knows her ins and outs of SSRS 2008!
And a great assist from Adam on Query Optimization!

February 2009:
A really great meeting and an in-depth look at SQL Reporting Services by Stacia Misner.

Thank you Stacia, you rock!

January 13, 2009:

I was surfing around while eating lunch and came across something interesting - thought I'd pass it
along to my fellow S3OLV members! Some may recall that a few months ago Charley did a
presentation on SQL Injection (or maybe it was a visiting lecturer - I can't recall now).
[How quickly they forget, it was me - Charley] I am always amazed that even though SQL Injection
has been around for quite some time, and is fairly easy to avoid with good coding, it continually
shows up on lists of "common mistakes". In this case I found an article at CNET –
“Top 25 'most dangerous' coding errors revealed” – and thought I’d look at it. It talks about a pretty
good article at the Sans Institute Website. To sum it up in a sentence, a bunch of pretty qualified
people got together, made a list of coding no-no’s, and then put it together in a report entitled
“2009 CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors”. To finally get to what I thought was
interesting, the top three dangerous errors were:

1. Improper Input Validation
2. Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output
3. Failure to Preserve SQL Query Structure (aka 'SQL Injection')

What amazes me about it, I suppose, is that all three of those are solved by simple “best practices”
when it comes to writing code. Anyhow, the report looks pretty good - it not only lists the problems,
but it gives ways of preventing it and really gives a good breakdown of what the problem is and why
it’s bad.

-- Patrick

January 2008:
Wow, new meeting space rocks!
And we broke our record, 30 people!!! Wohoo!

Thanks everyone for your patience the last couple of months.

December 2008:
No meeting this month.

November 13, 2008:
Bummer, school forgot we were coming!
It was a really great meet and greet though.
Think we'll incorporate that into our meetings!
We worked out the problem and they promise to be open for us next time.

October 24, 2008:
The great folks at SSWug asked me to remind you about the Virtual Conference next month.
Check your evite for $10 off the first conference, or $20 off the second or more!
There are a total of 4 conferences running concurrently: SQL 2008, SharePoint, BI, & Dot Net.
Email me at admin@s3olv.com if you need more information, the evite, or discount code.
 

September 19, 2008:
We must be getting a bit more popular!
SSWUG.Com contacted me today, and asked if we'd like to partner!
 

I love these guys, and I've been following Stephen Wynkoop for years.
Not only does SSWug have nearly as many SS’s as SSSolv,
but this guy really rocks on everything SQL. His SQL VidCasts are second to none.
Anyhow, here's the deal, there's us discounted access to their website,
discounts for their vConferences in November, and giveaways for our group.

They've only requested that we only release discount info by email to members, and not post,
So make sure you're signed up for this board, info to go out with this month's evite.
We'll be giving away passes at the next monthly meeting!

The Virtual conference is November 5, 6, & 7. Each conference only runs $100, no travel, no per
Diem, and you can watch from you desk. Best yet, you can come back any time, and watch again
and again from your desk any time you like. I'm not sure of the details of our discount, but heck, at
$100 it's still a deal.

 
More information on the virtual conference:

mms://bcast.sswug.org/sswugtv/bits-vconf-ad.wmv

And, links for all the SSWUG virtual conferences are:

1.       Business Intelligence - https://www.vconferenceonline.com/Business-Intelligence/

2.       SQL Server – https://www.vconferenceonline.com/sswug/SQLF/

3.       Share Point - https://www.vconferenceonline.com/SharePoint/

4.       .NET Developers - https://www.vconferenceonline.com/dotnet/

5.        

 
September 12, 2008:
If you haven't already done so, and you are able to attend, Tuesday September 23rd is the next
Microsoft In-Person event. There are sessions for all sorts - two in the morning and two in the
afternoon. You should be able to register beforehand by going to the Microsoft Website and
selecting one or more sessions to register for. By the way, in case any of you who have attended
these in the past didn't realize it, Las Vegas has dropped in the number of events, and from what I've
been told it is in part due to a lack of attendance. I think we have already dropped from four a year
down to two - let's try and get plenty of people there so Vegas doesn't drop any lower.
-- Patrick

August 14, 2008:
More documents were added for tonight's meeting. Everything you wanted to know about filtered
indexes is available under the Resources Tab. Thanks Patrick! Also note that we now have a SQL
PASS Las Vegas Chapter linkedin.com group. Go here to join!
-- Will

August 11, 2008:
The Learning Center updated their current specials.

July 18, 2008:
Ya know, occasionally I need someone new to come along and kick me in my pants to get me
thinking again. I'd like to take a moment to thank Patrick Toussaint for stepping up to take care of
some of day to day maintenance of this website. After looking at my really poor user documentation,
Patrick suggested using a Document Management module to handle uploading the meeting
files...der...it's only been 3 freak'n years I've been doing this. Why didn't I think of that? Anyhow,
Patrick, great idea. I've added the Resources Tab. Files will be sorted by Year/Month/Presentation
Number. I posted all 3 files from last month's presentations. I'm going to look at the virtual presenter
disks and see if I can find the slide deck and samples.

July 18th, 2008:
 
We have a new sponsor willing to work with us! TrainingSpot.com and LearnVisualStudio.Net
have agreed to work with us and provide us with some GREAT prizes and benefits to all of our
members. Better yet, we'll be giving away free training vouchers at the next few meetings!
Thank you VERY much Yen from TrainingSpot.com and LearnVisualStudio.Net!

July 17th, 2007:
Gotta tell you about my experience so far with Confio.
Jeff at Confio gave me an unlimited processor license to try out.
I put it on 2 of my heaviest servers.
In the words of Dean, what's this SQL missing???
 
Yup, I've got the dreaded missing where clause Access SQL running on my production Server.
Accounting for about 5 hours of user wait time in this block.
I can't wait to see what this uncovers next...

July 15th, 2007:
The Learning Center updated their current specials.
 

July 10th, 2007:
 
 
A great presentation by Confio software.
Thank you guys.
Free pizza and schmooze.
A great presentation.
And a free download of their Ignite software online!

And here's another great deal!
Download and install Ignite and Confio will send you a $5 Starbuck's card for free!
Just visit this link:
http://confio.com/English/Forms/Download_Trial_Software.php
Man, these guys are right on with the freebies!!!

Thanks once again, Jeff and Dean!!!

If you have any questions, contact Jeff:
Jeff Somers| jeffsomers@confio.com
303.385.2333| 303.548.5716 mobile
CONFIO SOFTWARE | Ignite IT Performance™
www.confio.com

June 24, 2007:
Learning Center updated their current specials.

 
The Learning Center of Las Vegas
is home to The SQL Server Society of Las Vegas
The Learning Center of Las Vegas
2975 South Rainbow Blvd, Suite D1
Las Vegas, NV 89146
http://tlcLasVegas.Com
tlc@tlclasvegas.com
702-320-8885

June 12, 2008:
Our first meeting in a while.
Sorry about that, but we did find a new home at The Learning Center.
We filled the first room they gave us!
Looking forward to a bigger room next time.
Thanks guys for giving us a new home.

 
sponsored the June meeting.
We really like Idera's tools;
they’ve got a great FREE beta running on their Admin Toolset.
We demo'd the toolset at our meeting,
along with their free SqlCheck product.
Thanks guys! More information at http://idera.com.
Our rep is Eleanor.Young@idera.com.