Laptop fixed, passed 70-448, SQL 2008 R2 and a new Lobster in the pot

Some good things have happened in the last 24 hours:

• The Dell technician fixed my laptop.
• LobsterPot Solutions welcomed its newest member – Roger Noble! It will be great to work with Roger again. Since leaving UniSA he's been specialising in SharePoint development, which will be a great asset for LobsterPot's Business Intelligence expertise.
• I attended the Adelaide SQL Server 2008 R2 launch event presented by Microsoft Australia's Alan Eldridge. A nice overview of new features in R2.

• Next Buck Woody gave a humorous and interesting talk on two new features in SQL 2008 R2 at the SQL User Group meeting:

• Utility Control Point – managing and monitor multiple instances of SQL Server 2008 R2

• Data-tier Applications (DAC) – deploying SQL applications. DAC is only for R2 and is distinct from the DataDude deployment technology that also shipped as part of VS2010, but the word on the street is to expect these two to converge in the future.

• Finally to finish off the day, I passed exam 70-448 - TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance. Yeehaa!

Data mining algorithms in SQL Server 2008

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services ships with 9 built-in algorithms that can be used in data mining solutions. Apparently these algorithms are unchanged in SQL Server 2008 R2.

• Microsoft Association Algorithm
• Microsoft Clustering Algorithm
• Microsoft Decision Trees Algorithm
• Microsoft Linear Regression Algorithm
• Microsoft Logistic Regression Algorithm
• Microsoft Naive Bayes Algorithm
• Microsoft Neural Network Algorithm
• Microsoft Sequence Clustering Algorithm
• Microsoft Time Series Algorithm

Here's my own summary of these algorithms, based on their descriptions and detail from the Data Mining Algorithms page in SQL 2008 Books Online.

Association

Useful for generating recommendations. The classic example is people who buy beer and shampoo.

Clustering

Group similar items together.

Decision Trees

Predicts both discrete and continuous attributes based on relationships. Example is figuring out the common characteristics of old customers that determine whether they are more likely to purchase again.

Linear Regression

Calculates a "line of best fit" for a series of data, and then allows prediction based on that line.

Logistic Regression

Variation of Neural Network, good for yes/no outcomes.

Naive Bayes

Classification algorithm using Bayes theorem. Good for quick results that may then be refined by other algorithms.

Neural Network

Analyse complex relationships with lots of inputs but few outputs.

Sequence Clustering

Finds most common sequences. Good for identifying popular web page site navigation trends on a website.

Time Series

Predict future values of continuous values over time. Forecast next year's sales.

Working with the cloud

So as mentioned yesterday, my laptop is sitting next to me, looking very shiny and pretty, but completely silent. I spoke to Dell support this morning and after managing to exhaust the call centre guy's script of variations on "Have you tried turning it off and on again?", he eventually logged a case for me, and I'm now waiting for a phone call from (presumably the local) support engineer.

One thing I'm not too worried about is the data sitting on the laptop. I know it's there – just a matter of getting a new BIOS (and/or possibly motherboard) and it will be fine. I also know I have a full backup on my Windows Home Server, which is reassuring.

One of the first things I did when I joined LobsterPot was to create a Live Mesh folder to store business-related documents. So that means I've still got access to those documents via the web or my other machine at home – handy as after experimenting with various online solutions, I ended up reverting to using an Excel spreadsheet to track my work hours too!

I've also recently been making use of some of the training content at Microsoft Learning. I download the content to the laptop and have been working my way through it on the bus to and from work (must be riveting for the lucky people who get to sit next to me!). There is an offline reader just for this purpose, though it does have its annoyances (eg. no keyboard shortcuts, doesn't allow text to be enlarged) but one nice thing is that it synchronises your progress. So I can still log into the Microsoft E-Learning site and am able to pick up where I left off, using the "online" mode instead.

Then there's email, IM etc, which all work fine from where ever you are. So, while having a dead laptop is a huge pain, it isn't the end of the world.

Good news.. I just had a call from Dell and they're coming out on Monday. Hope they can fix it quickly.