It’s official: We’re in a recession. (At least according to the panel of economists that’s responsible for determining the dates of business cycles, as reported by www.msnbc.msn.com.) So what does that mean to you and me? If you’ve lost your job, it probably means a lot. If your job still seems pretty secure, it might not mean that much. And it apparently didn’t mean that much to millions of shoppers because even the warnings of recession last week weren’t enough to slow down United States consumers, who spent a record amount on "Black Friday."

As you probably know, I’m not an economist or a business analyst. I’ve never taken any courses in economics or business. At the University of California, Berkeley, where I got my computer science degree, business students had to take computer science courses, but computer science students didn’t have to take business courses. However, I’m a consumer and a money-earner, so I do care about the economy. And it’s nice when my personal income is at least as much as my outgo.

I’m wondering how much I should worry about the news of the recession. I know people who have lost their jobs recently, but I also know people who just found jobs. And I know people who lost jobs last year, and the year before that. So which job losses can I attribute to this recession? And again, should I worry?

What are your plans for the SQL Server Kilimanjaro release?

Go to the SQL Server Magazine home page (www.sqlmag.com) and submit your vote for:

• We can’t wait to implement it in our organization
• We like to keep current and will adopt it soon after it's out
• We're just not ready for another release of SQL Server
• We’ll probably get there, but it's not part of our current plans
• I’ve never even heard of Kilimanjaro

SQL Server 2008 Change Data Capture
The new, asynchronous CDC feature built into the SQL Server 2008 relational database engine replaces the need to create custom CDC solutions and provides better performance.
www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/100515/sql_server_100515.html


Don't Let Poison Messages Kill Processing in SQL Server 2005's Service Broker
Here's a solution you can use when you need to disable XML validation yet have Service Broker continue processing when it encounters a poison message.
www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/100521/sql_server_100521.html

SQL Server 2005 SP2 received its certification at the Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 4+, which evaluates the quality and strength of the vendor’s evidence to support its security claims.
www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/100951/100951.html

Microsoft and ISC have announced that MapDotNet, a .NET GIS platform that enables spatial data visualization and analysis, “will play an important role for government customers that adopt Microsoft Single View Platform.” Microsoft Single View Platform is a data visualization product that lets government agencies view a single, geographic representation of important data in real-time or near real-time. According to the Single View Platform website, “You can deploy Microsoft SVP easily across multiple roles and user interfaces to support faster and better-informed decision-making with timely and effective coordination among all stakeholders.”

Earlier this week, Panorama Software announced the release of SharedViews, which is part of the latest version of the NovaView business intelligence (BI) suite, NovaView 5.5. SharedViews lets you share and collaborate on NovaView reports through Google Apps. “The goal is to enable collaboration with people inside and outside the firewall around live BI reports, as well as provide a much cleaner, safer user interface for users to use BI,” says Oudi Antebi, the vice president of marketing and strategy at Panorama. Once a NovaView report has been made available via Google Apps, you can access both the report and the underlying data using SharedViews.

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A Must-See Web Seminar for Executives and Management! Web Seminar on Your Schedule...On-Demand!
Email and collaboration support can be very difficult. From the initial configuration for a new employee to the ongoing need for changes and additions, it can be a very taxing function for IT. In this one-hour web seminar, you'll learn how specific challenges with email and collaboration can be automated to free up important IT resources and let you focus on more challenging and productive work.
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Storage Consolidation for SharePoint, Exchange, and More
Live Web Seminar: December 16, 2008 (12 PM Eastern). The storage requirements of essential applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint, and file systems place a costly and complex burden on IT administrators trying to maintain high availability to applications without exceeding their budget. Don't miss this opportunity to question experts about the qualities of an efficient storage strategy that will save you time and cut the cost of storage management. Attend this free web seminar to learn how a SAN can meet the storage requirements of your vital Microsoft applications.
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Featured White Paper

Ease SharePoint Migration and Ongoing Site Maintenance
Many organizations have deployed enterprise content management and collaboration solutions on Microsoft’s SharePoint products and technologies in recent years. Unfortunately, the migration path provided by Microsoft does not always address the needs of those organizations. This white paper by independent SharePoint expert Michael Noel explains the various migration options you have.
Read this white paper


Announcements

Last Chance to Register for the PowerShell eLearning Series!
Join MVP Paul Robichaux on December 11, 2008, at 11:00 AM EDT as he equips you with PowerShell basics in 3 introductory lessons--all on your own computer! For only $99, you'll learn how to

• enter and run commands with and without aliases and experiment safely with the -whatif switch
• string together information to format and export it in a variety of ways
• mix and match variables and command output


Seats are limited to allow for lots of live Q&A at the end. Hurry; registration closes soon!
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