Monthly Archives: October 2008

SQL Server 2005: Backup, Restore, and Orphaned Users

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Backing up a SQL Server database and restoring it to another server is a common operation done for reporting, testing, or development. When restoring on a different machine, a common problem is the login principals don’t actually correlate to the restored database users. This is because they are linked by an SID. This SID isn’t the user name, its some hash value, probably a GUID. The problem is fully described in this article.

Fixing the problem is really simple. Just run the following SQL and substitute and with the appropriate values. I added these lines to all my Powershell scripts that are used to restore a database and it works like a charm.

USE <database_name>;
GO
sp_change_users_login @Action='update_one', @UserNamePattern='<database_user>',  @LoginName='<login_name>';
GO

Amazon Unbox + XBox = Joy; Goodbye Ubuntu

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Yesterday I found this gem of an article on Amazon’s website. I wish I had known about it sooner.

I got home, and immediately tried it out. After about 1 minute, I was watching an on-demand video on my TV, through my XBox. Before, I thought I had to go through a VGA cable directly from my laptop, which is a pain. This is much better.

The quality isn’t HD; it looks to be about DVD quality. Even still, I think it is enough for me to cancel my satellite subscription and be completely on-demand. I only watch 2 TV shows, and the rest just waste my time. If only Discovery and History channels streamed over the internet, I wouldn’t miss satellite at all.

Also, I think this is the catalyst to get me to ditch my Ubuntu desktop for a Windows machine. Being able to easily have on-demand video is a perk like none other. At long last, I have given up what I so fell in love with a few years ago. I am sure this isn’t are last meeting, goodbye Ubuntu.

Microsoft got something right, the Arc Mouse

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Update: Scroll wheel broken in 3 weeks time.

Today, on an impulse, I bought the Arc mouse. I needed a cordless mouse for my notebook, since unwinding my current mouse cord was losing nerd points for me. After walking through Best Buy, I saw the Arc. A beautiful, simplistic mouse that was the size of a regular mouse, yet small enough to be a notebook mouse at the same time.

It doesn’t have bells and whistles, but it works. It is exactly what I was looking for.

Like any new mouse, it took some time getting used to. It is very sensitive and can be frustrating for the first few minutes.