SQLAndy » Tools

Product Review: Fences

Andy — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:37:00 +0000

Fences is a free utility for the Windows desktop that lets you drag shortcuts into boxes you define (fences) and keep things organized. Kinda like folders, but transparent on the desktop. Here’s a picture of the tool when you right click on the desktop and select Fences:

Right now I’ve got three fences defined; Test, Blog, Desktop. You can define as many as you want, name them as you think makes sense. Here are some options:

Now to this point you might be saying cool, or maybe ‘so what’. It’s just a container and if you don’t drop stuff on the desktop, maybe it’s not interesting. But if you do, here’s the feature that will sell you:

That’s right, you can double click the desktop to hide/show all the icons/shortcuts, and configure exceptions. That is NOT dumb if you do a lot of presentations and don’t want show everyone your working stuff, or take the chance they see something with a confidential name.

Easy download, easy install, zero problems. Good video on their site will give give you a better feel for it.Give it a try, definitely recommended

Announcing Quantum Compare v1.01

Andy — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 05:23:00 +0000

I bet most of you use some type of diff/comparison tool at work. Probably one for the file system and another for SQL objects. I won’t call any out, but it’s a fairly competitive market and all do at least a passable job of doing the compare. I was doing a compare a few months ago and it just seemed like it was taking longer than it should. Started to look at a different product, but thought – hey, I need a new project, why not this one?

Started off looking at it from a data perspective, thinking that most developers will be code centric and probably won’t let SQL do what SQL does well. Thought on it some…where can I find the extra performance I need for really big databases? Maybe go direct to the drive, bypass the OS?

What brought it together was some reading I was doing about space and physics, a recommendation on my book list. Quantum physics is hard. But, it also postulates some really interesting behaviors that have been worked into computing already. Why not look at that?

Turns out no one had thought to apply it to what is a fairly simple problem. QC (“quac”) will compare any two databases or file systems in less than .01 seconds and visually show you the difference in a UI much like other (less fast) products on the market. We’ve tested against multi TB systems, systems with 100K plus objects, the compare is not quite instantaneous, but it will seem pretty close.

It’s still in beta, but you can give it a try now (www.quantumcompare.com), and I think you’ll find that from now on you’ll smile every time you do a compare. Feedback always appreciated!

Windows Themes (We need a PASS Theme!)

Andy — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:56:00 +0000

I imagine most of us change our wallpaper on the desktop from time to time. Frivolous but fun, a simple way to personalize what is otherwise a not very exciting tool most of the time. Windows 7 does a nice job of taking that further with some really good themes – you can get a bunch of free ones at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/personalize?T1=themes.

That got me thinking, why don’t we have one for PASS? For Summit presenters? For SQLSaturday presenters?

I’m graphically challenged so it’s not something I can do. Someone want to take a shot at it?

Windows 7 Presentation Mode

Andy — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:45:00 +0000

Recently I was just killing a few minutes and was looking for some tips for Windows 7. I get along fine in Windows, but sometimes I wonder if I’m doing things the same way I did in Windows 95! I found this list by Tim Sneath and found something I’d missed – presentation mode!

The secret? Windows-X

Win-X brings up the mobility center:

To configure, click the little projector icon and you’ll see this:

Do the little bit of configuration it offers, and then you can toggle it on/off easily. I wish they had gone a step or two further:

Option to hide all the objects on the desktop or switch to an alternate desktop
Adjust the power settings to make sure the machine doesn’t go into power save while you’re talking
Hide or disable instant messages and other notifications (I don’t think these count as “system” notifications that it suppresses

Still, it’s useful, and makes me wonder why I haven’t looked for something like this before now.