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	<title>itbookworm.com</title>
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	<link>http://www.itbookworm.com</link>
	<description>Reliable IT Book Reviews</description>
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		<title>Reading: Microsoft SQL Server 2012 High-Performance T-SQL Using Window Functions by Itzik Ben-Gan</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/08/reading-microsoft-sql-server-2012-high-performance-t-sql-using-window-functions-by-itzik-ben-gan/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/08/reading-microsoft-sql-server-2012-high-performance-t-sql-using-window-functions-by-itzik-ben-gan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:32:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[5/5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Database Programming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft Press]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itzik Ben-Gan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=534</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Score: 5/5 Microsoft SQL Server 2012 High-Performance T-SQL Using Window Functions Author: Itzik Ben-Gan 244 pages Publisher: Microsoft Press, May 2012 Buy on Amazon: Paperback , Kindle ITBookworm Score: 5/5 Anyone who knows me knows the truth: I&#8217;m a Ben-Gan fan, and for good reason. Itzik has a consistently understandable and concise writing style. He simplifies complex concepts, which is exactly what you need when you&#8217;re approaching a new subject. His new book on Window Functions is no exception: it&#8217;s well written and very understandable, and comes stuffed with useable examples. It helps, too, that this book is on an extremely useful sector of SQL Server: T-SQL window functions.  I teach window functions at conferences and online, and I never fail to get really excited about that part of the talk. Window functions are extremely powerful elements of T-SQL that will solve coding problems for you immediately. I highly recommend that you get this book and read it slowly, stopping to play with the given examples and concepts. Oh, and take copious notes! Table of Contents Window Functions is a medium-sized technical book, with only five chapters. The first four chapters have 30-50 pages each, and the final &#8220;solutions&#8221; chapter has nearly [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Repost: &#8220;Problems with my new book&#8221; by Grant Fritchey</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/06/repost-problems-with-my-new-book-by-grant-fritchey/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/06/repost-problems-with-my-new-book-by-grant-fritchey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:36:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=526</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post is reblogged with permission from Grant Fritchey&#8217;s June 26 blog. Grant just published a brand-spanking-new book (that we&#8217;ve really been looking forward to), and he experienced some very unexpected and interesting problems with one distributor&#8230; First off, I apologize. As if writing a book wasn’t hard enough, now we get new problems because of on-demand printing. Here’s the story. Book. Nine months of writing. Excellent technical editing. Great copy editing. Book complete about six weeks ago. Yay! Now things get fun… Here’s how it works. Everyone these days uses digital copies of the book and prints on demand. So Apress is printing some copies of the book, but not all. They send a file out to places like Amazon. Amazon uses that file to print some copies of the book, as needed, on-demand. Everyone is, in theory, printing from the same digital file, creating exactly the same book. Or are they? What happens if, oh, let’s just say that a file was corrupted somehow prior to being sent to Amazon. Now Amazon starts printing copies of the newly released book. But, the files are messed up. People are getting books with completely hosed formatting. People, appropriately (however much [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Announcing SQL Server 2012 Query Performance Tuning by Grant Fritchey</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/06/announcing-sql-server-2012-query-performance-tuning-by-grant-fritchey/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/06/announcing-sql-server-2012-query-performance-tuning-by-grant-fritchey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:40:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Database Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unrated]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grant Fritchey]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=519</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Book announcement of SQL Server 2012 Query Performance Tuning.  Bottom line: Go get it! Author: Grant Fritchey (Twitter, blog) 532 pages Publisher: Apress (June 2012) Buy on Amazon: Paperback (Update: The Amazon printing errors have been fixed!*) ITBookworm Score: TBD You may remember author and MVP Grant Fritchey from such outstanding books as SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled (which we here at ITBookworm gave 5/5 stars), and MVP Deep Dives 2 (also 5/5 stars), among many others.  TODAY Grant announced that his new edition of Query Performance Tuning is available, and we&#8217;re pleased as punch! I&#8217;m going to run right out and get it.  And this, right here, is my guarantee that if YOU run right out and get it, you&#8217;ll also be pleased as punch. Grant is an excellent writer and this is a fantastic topic, so get reading! &#160; * A message from Grant: &#8220;If you have a bad copy of the book, please, immediately, get in touch with them at customersupport@apress.com. They know you’re coming. You’ll get a new, correctly printed, copy of the book. You’ll probably have to provide them with receipts or something. That part I don’t know.&#8221;]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Quick Review: Logitech Trackball</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/02/quick-review-logitech-trackball/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/02/quick-review-logitech-trackball/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:43:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[4.5/5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Devices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peripherals]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=508</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick Review: Logitech Wireless Trackball M570 Score (so far): 4.5/5 Trackball mice are out of favor with the majority of IT folk, which is a little ironic&#8230;considering they&#8217;re supposed to help ease the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, a very common IT handicap.  I personally found that after just a few minutes of using a trackball for the first time, I was completely used to it, and able to switch back and forth between that and a traditional mouse. (Think about this: Do you switch easily between a mouse and a trackpad? Same-same.)  I have also found that a trackball mouse really helps to prevent carpal flareup, while trackpads excacerbate them. Today I went to my local Best Buy to peruse their selection of trackball mice, and as expected, found (and bought) just one model: The Logitech Wireless Trackball M570, my purchase price $49.99.  I ran right home and plugged it in.  Here are a few observations from the first few minutes: Plug and play: I absolutely adore the modern-day usability standard: bring home a thingy, plug it into the computer, and it WORKS! I never get tired of things that just work. This trackball did just that. The look: [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Book Review: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals, by Kalen DeLaney et al</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/01/book-review-microsoft-sql-server-2008-internals-by-kalen-delaney-et-al/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2012/01/book-review-microsoft-sql-server-2008-internals-by-kalen-delaney-et-al/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:03:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>grrl_geek</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[4.5/5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Database]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft Press]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Adam Machanic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conor Cunningham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kalen Delaney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kimberly Tripp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Randal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=498</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This review is a reprint by permission from Jes Borland&#8217;s LessThanDot.com blog  Book Review: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals Score: 4.5/5 Author: Kalen Delaney, Paul Randal, Kimberly Tripp, Conor Cunningham, Adam Machanic Pages: 784 Publisher: Microsoft Press, March 2009 Buy on Amazon: paperback ITBookworm Score: 4.5/5 Remember this moment? I sure do. At SQL Saturday #67, Chicago 2011, I won the SQLskills swag bag. My second-favorite part of the package was the book, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals. It was written by Kalen Delaney (blog &#124; twitter), Paul Randal (blog &#124; twitter), Kimberly Tripp (blog &#124; twitter), Conor Cunningham (blog), Adam Machanic (blog &#124; twitter), and Ben Nevarez (blog &#124; twitter). (My favorite part was the SQLskills Sharpie pen!) This is The Book to read if you want to know the &#8220;how&#8221; of SQL Server. Rating: 4.5/5 The Bad I&#8217;m not a computer science major. I&#8217;m not a mathematics major. Some of the topics covered were in such depth that I was in over my head &#8211; for example, the tables chapter went into byte-swapping to read pages. I could follow along, but I won&#8217;t pretend that I understood all of it, that I really got [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ITBookworm Last Minute Gift Guide 2011!</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/itbookworm-last-minute-gift-guide-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/itbookworm-last-minute-gift-guide-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:55:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Product]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=465</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s 10 days till Christmas (or the otherly- or non-denominated holiday event of your choosing), and we still have a few online shopping days left. We figure you just might be needing some last minute gift ideas, so here&#8217;s a roundup of our favorite things this year! &#160; Bodum Travel Press (coffee/tea) Stars: 3/5 3/5 Current cost on Amazon: $16.92 About: I’ve decided this travel press will likely be just a press-away-from-home gadget. I’ll use it to make coffee and pour it into another cup at the office (or while I’m on the road) for actual drinking. So on that front, it’s good – much better than keeping a breakable glass. Bottom Line: In all, I’m still not unhappy with the $18 I spent (read: three or four cups at Starbuck’s). Buy it for: Anyone who&#8217;s into coffee. &#160; Cooking for Geeks (book) &#160; Stars: 5/5 Current cost on Amazon: $21.26 About: This is a slim, dense tome with a (for me) nostalgic blue-graph-paper-pattern edging, a conversational tone, and tons of illustrations and asides. Simply stated, I really wish I had the time to read and work through the whole thing, but it isn’t the kind of book that you [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>Quick Review: Energizer XP4001 Universal Rechargeable Power Pack</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/quick-review-energizer-xp4001-universal-rechargeable-power-pack/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/quick-review-energizer-xp4001-universal-rechargeable-power-pack/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[4.5/5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home and Individual]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Product]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=455</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since the dawn of personal electronic gadgetry, humankind has been annoyed by the energy needs of said gadgets. Batteries need replacing and devices power down, usually when you&#8217;re completely removed from places of replenishment. Grumble no more, fearless consumer! The modern age has provided us with many options for taking the power with us, and the Energizer XP4001 Universal Recharger is a shining example of that portable power! Overall rating: 4.5/5 1/2 This particular device was recommended to us earlier this year by fellow techie and frequent traveler Wes Brown (blog , Twitter). &#8216;Tis the season, so I ran right out on the interwebs and purchased one of these power packs (actually I prefer to think of it as my 1up) for me, the hubby, and the mom. It&#8217;s fairly straightforward: Charge the recharger, put it in the provided travel baggie, add the appropriate cords and tips (in my case, the iPad cord and the mini USB tip), and wait for the power to die in an inconvenient location. The .5 score deduction is just me bolting back my enthusiasm&#8230;we&#8217;ve only had these things for two days now. And you&#8217;ll notice on Amazon that the 29 reviews rate this device [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Quick Review: &#8220;Unstuck&#8221; iPad App</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/quick-review-unstuck-ipad-app/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/quick-review-unstuck-ipad-app/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:46:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[5/5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[App]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=441</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks to LifeHacker.com for the link to the free iPad app Unstuck (download from iTunes), an iPad app that helps you make decisions and get past &#8220;stuck&#8221; moments in life. Overall rating: 5/5 The app starts you off with a nice introductory cartoon, and then digs in to your stuckness. You answer questions and rank elements of your problem, and it comes back with an analysis of what&#8217;s going on with your stuck issue right now. For me, I chose to look at a big project I&#8217;m leading in the professional sphere, that I&#8217;ve been putting off for some time now. It&#8217;s a big project with some pretty vague parameters. Unstuck tells me that I&#8217;m acting like a lone leader, and it gives some examples &#8211; Educator John Andrew Rice, and movie character Danny Ocean, among others. This was particuarly helpful to me, as it gave me solid examples I could relate to (Danny wanted revenge against Benedict, but he couldn&#8217;t do it alone. So he gathered his criminal dream team&#8230;sounds like an excellent analogy for what I could do). Unstuck also gave me some quotes, a percentage of the Unstuck community that&#8217;s experiencing the same thing, tips (with tie-ins to pop [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Quick Review: Bodum Travel Press</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/quick-review-bodum-travel-press/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/12/quick-review-bodum-travel-press/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:38:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[3/5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home and Individual]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=434</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just had an extensive my-coffee-contraption-is-better-than-yours discussion with Adam Machanic and Brent Ozar on Twitter, which inspired me to go out and get….something. So I can make coffee at work. (Work coffee is decent, but not GOOD, doncha know.) Overall rating: 3/5     Likes: Comes with an extra lid Nice shape/size/rubberized grip Nice drinking lip and cover Dislikes: Plunger doesn’t go all the way to the bottom. Doesn’t really come close – there’s a good 1″ gap. Like any press, it’s kind of a pain to clean IF you don’t have a compost bin handy. (This isn’t a problem at home, but it will be at work. I’ll just take it home every day.) Occurred to me as I was making my first cup: The plunger and lid go together. Once you plunge the coffee grounds, you can’t very well remove the lid. This makes adding sugar and cinnamon (like I like) a little bit difficult, and stirring impossible. As a result of that last bullet point, I’ve decided this travel press will likely be just a press-away-from-home gadget. I’ll use it to make coffee and pour it into another cup at the office (or while I’m on the road) for actual drinking.   [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The 10 Minute Book Review: Cooking for Geeks</title>
		<link>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/11/the-10-minute-book-review-cooking-for-geeks/</link>
		<comments>http://www.itbookworm.com/index.php/2011/11/the-10-minute-book-review-cooking-for-geeks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:30:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[4.5/5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Non-tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[O'Reilly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeff Potter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.itbookworm.com/?p=424</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food &#8211; by Jeff Potter $22.77 on Amazon.com, $22.54 on BarnesAndNoble.com ($15.39 digital) Also available at Safari Books Online, with subscription Published August 2010 by O&#8217;Reilley Media, 412 pages Companion website: http://www.CookingForGeeks.com Twitter: @CookingForGeeks I like food. I&#8217;m a geek. This is SO the book for me. Alton Brown fans, take note. This is a slim, dense tome with a (for me) nostalgic blue-graph-paper-pattern edging, a conversational tone, and tons of illustrations and asides. Simply stated, I really wish I had the time to read and work through the whole thing, but it isn&#8217;t the kind of book that you have to. Flip to any given page, and it will grab your attention with&#8230;let&#8217;s see here&#8230;an aside on &#8220;Seeing Caramelization with Sugar Cookies&#8221; (p 211), or the opening sentence of Chapter 3: &#8220;You open your fridge and see pickles, strawberries, and tortillas. What do you do?&#8221; The companion website features cool videos like this: In short: Cool, fun, well-done book about cooking&#8230;for geeks! &#160;]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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