There are several events running world-wide at the moment, but you can get the labs for learning without attending by going here: http://www.virtualizationevents.com/

I'm always very careful to not touch a DateTime variable in any way other than with Framework code. The moment you convert it to a string, things get complicated very quickly and it gets progressively worse as the string representation gets manipulated and heaven forbid, changed.

So today I learned something new: there is a standard ODBC string format (link is to a local installation of SQL Books Online) for dates that SQL will always parse correctly, not by luck! It looks like this for a date:

{ d '2007-01-31' }

And this for a full DateTime:

{ ts '2007-01-31 23:45:45.1234' }

Writing a SQL statement that will always work is easy with that in hand (please rather use Parameterized Queries if at all possible!), as below:

SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE SomeDate > { d '2007-01-31' }

This has been the longest continuous effort for me to simply go from A to B. Thankfully the luggage arrived with me and though the hotel's shuttle didn't have me on their list, at least they were still there when I got out.

Three hours of good sleep later, we're now ready for the week! And a Good Sleep it was: slept through a missed call and two alarms :)

Last time I passed through JNB (Johannesburg) to LUN (Lusaka), I had to first go through passport control, get my luggage and then check in all over again. Not to mention that they couldn't issue my ticket and I had to buy another and have the travel agent sort it all out afterwards. This time I got my connecting flight with SAA. They have an international transfer desk, only they don't issue tickets at said desk. I should add they were also unwilling to issue me a ticket at Heathrow (already paid! on my itinerary already! what's the problem? mumble...). So now I'm standing here waiting for a runner to come back from a ticket desk somewhere in the building... At least I have like three hours. Soon, oh so very soon I'll be in another departure lounge with hope rekindled: is there a shower?

As if my travel today isn't a rough enough trip: BAA has managed to run LHR to not only fail at handling baggage (I'm at a five-count for left-behind luggage), but having five hours during which to take a shower, there is none available. From one terminal to another, from "out of order" to "closed" to "maintenance" to "troubled passenger locked himself in the shower", to "Lounge Closes at 14:00", to... Seriously? Heathrow. The Heathrow. Four Terminals. Number Five on its way. And in the space of five hours, they can't find, fix or otherwise organise a shower for a passenger.

So after a four hour flight from Turkey this morning, I now get to board for a 10(?) hour flight from LHR to Johannesburg. My poor fellow passengers sitting around me. The poor passengers on the flight from JNB to LUN (Lusaka) tomorrow late morning!

Check this out: if you have dual monitors, ALT-ENTER your VM. Like before, yes? NOT: use an application on the other monitor: the VM doesn't minimize like before. This is now my favorite feature in VPC. May even make me use Virtual Server a little less frequently :)

Yes it allows you to create and delete subscriptions, but knowing the subscription ID would be really handy. So you dive into the database and... well, no. Here's an easier way: EventSubscriptionTool

A student recently mentioned this: TFS Bug Snapper - it doesn't work for me with my custom process template (or perhaps another issue I haven't discovered yet), but if you're having pain with it, you can always fall back on the (same link) Clipboard Image Monitor: press PrintScreen, Add Bug, Upload, browse to temp folder: your image will be there as a file already.

Now here's a lot I didn't know about hard disk failures!

For a translation (the above is a tough read), take a look at StorageMojo.

Testing Windows Live Writer Beta. And this is very much an offline test since just after I installed it and launched it, I was no longer able to log in to Live.com. Sorry guys!

Update: download link