SQL Server – How to reset an IDENTITY value

This is something that I am frequently being asked about, so I decided to post the simple solution.

For SQL Server table columns that have the IDENTITY property enabled, their respected values are being auto-incremented according to the IDENTITY’s incremental value.

The seed value is the value that is used for the very first row inserted into the table.
Therefore, if at some point all table records are cleared, there might be the need to reset the seed value back to zero or some other value.

Here is how we can reset the IDENTITY value with a simple SQL statement:

DBCC CHECKIDENT ('table-name', RESEED, new-value)

It has to be mentioned that the next value that will be inserted on the table would be the value of ‘new-value’ + 1. So for example if the new-value is 0, the next row value will be 1.

Verbatim 500GB – Portable Hard Drive – Executive Arctic White

I needed some extra storage space, so I decided to purchase an external hard drive.
However I wanted to avoid all extra power cables, and a bulky device which is hard to carry around.
Regular external hard drives are mostly built to be placed on a desk next to your laptop.

Therefore I preferred the portable hard drive solution. Portable hard drives are powered via the USB cable/connection, and they are designed to be easily carried around (small size, low weight).

The product that I finally went for was a Verbatim 500GB, the Executive Arctic White edition.

Here is a quick list of the specifications:

Dimensions: 135mm x 85mm x 25mm
Weight: 163g
Interface: USB 2.0
Operating System: Win/Mac

It is advertised to have a 25% improved data transfer rate.
I guess I will have to test that under large file copy operations.

It also comes with a two-year guarantee, hope I won’t need it.

Here are some unboxing photos:

Fall in love with … Google!

Well, not exactly with Google, but with the aid of Google!

Here is a Google “search story”, watch it and you ‘ll understand what I am talking about:

You can find more stories on the Search Stories YouTube channel.

via the Official Google Blog

Google Image Swirl – now in Labs

Google Image Swirl is an experimental interface from Google for searching images.

Image Swirl expands on technologies like “Find Similar Images” and “Picasa Face Recognition” to group similar images together and build hierarchies out of these groups.

The interface is showing similar images together in groups/clusters, and you can easily navigate and explore other relevant groups.

You can try Image Swirl now at http://image-swirl.googlelabs.com/.

Official Announcement

Google Earth 2.0 for iPhone

Google has finally updated the Google Earth iPhone app.
Google Earth 2.0 comes with some new features and overall greater performance.

New features:

• Login to Google Maps, and view your own created maps, or custom maps shared by others.
• Browse photos, Wikipedia articles, business information etc. more easily.
• Added new languages, now supporting a total of 31 languages.

Update/Download Google Earth 2.0 through the App Store on your iPhone to start enjoying the new features.

Official announcement and more details

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta / AIR 2.0 beta for Mac/Win/Linux

Adobe has released the beta versions of the upcoming Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2.0 software.

Flash Player 10.1

Developers can test their content to ensure new features function as expected, existing content plays back correctly, and there are no compatibility issues. Consumers can try the beta release of Flash Player 10.1 to preview hardware acceleration of video on supported Windows PCs and x86-based netbooks.

Download (Mac/Win/Linux)
What’s New

AIR 2.0

Adobe AIR 2 is in the early stages of development which means it contains bugs, and not all features are fully implemented. This software is for evaluation use only, and should not be used for any mission-critical work.

Download (Mac/Win/Linux)
What’s New

BlackRa1n / BlackSn0w – Jailbreak and Unlock iPhone 3G/3GS – Firmware 3.1.2

If you really have to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 3G/3Gs and understand the potential risks then:

Head to http://www.blackra1n.com/, download the appropriate file for Mac or Windows, and follow the neat iClarified tutorials:

How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G, 3GS Using BlackSn0w [Mac]
How to Jailbreak and Unlock Your iPhone 3G, 3GS Using BlackSn0w [Windows]

The tutorials are based on the latest iPhone firmware (3.1.2) and baseband (05.11.07).

For support and news look at Geohot’s blog.

Five Years of Firefox – the Video

Google Storage is now cheaper

A couple of days ago Google has announced cheaper prices for extra storage.
Storage space is being used in Picasa Web Albums, Gmail and Google Docs.

Here is the summary of the new prices:

This is even cheaper than the Amazon’s S3 service, which is currently at $0.150 per GB per month. 20GB would cost $3 per month, or $36 per year (without calculating the data transfer costs).

We might be getting closer to the release of the rumored Google Drive.

Click here to purchase more Google storage space

Safari 4.0.4

This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to performance, stability, and security including:

• Improved JavaScript performance
• Improved Full History Search performance for users with a large number of history items
• Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins, the search field and Yahoo! Mail

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

Download