The Bit Bucket

AI development is another really timely subject. I recently read Hands-On AI Development with Python: Build and Deploy Real-World AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and NLP Applications as a review copy I received from my friends at PackT.

Author

Vivian Aranha is described as an AI educator, technology leader, and founder of School of AI. He was worked with Fortune 500 organizations including The Washington Post, Delta Air Lines, and IBM. He currently teaches globally through School of AI, Udemy, Skool, and Maven.

2026-10-07

Retrieval-Augmented Generation, or RAG, is a technique where a large language model is given external context before it generates an answer. In Fabric, Eventhouse can play a central role in supporting real-time RAG solutions.

Because Eventhouse stores both structured and unstructured streaming data, it can serve as a continuously updated source of facts and events. Using built-in vectorization capabilities, recent data can be converted into embeddings and stored for semantic search.

2026-10-06

More SQL and AI love !

We’ve been working on this for a while. PostgreSQL is a great vector database that can support your AI-based applications. And HorizonDB is an awesome managed version of PostgreSQL. Better yet, we’ve just completed a course that can show you how to use it. It’s low-cost ($195 USD) and offers our lifetime access.

Check it out and enrol now here: Using AI Features in HorizonDB

Course Summary

Do you want to start working with AI-related features in Azure HorizonDB? Or are you going to be asked about using databases this way? Either way, you need to be prepared!

2026-10-05

The Model Context Protocol, or MCP, provides a standard way for AI agents to interact with real-world systems and data sources.

RTI can expose real-time data and events through MCP-compatible endpoints.

When integrated with Fabric Real-Time Intelligence, MCP-based agents can consume real-time signals directly from Eventstreams, Eventhouses, or Activator outputs.

For example, an agent could subscribe to anomaly detection events and automatically create an incident ticket, adjust system parameters, or notify a human operator.

2026-10-04

More SQL and AI love !

We’ve been working on this for a while. PostgreSQL is a great vector database that can support your AI-based applications. And we’ve just completed a course that can show you how to use it. It’s low-cost ($195 USD) and offers our lifetime access.

Check it out and enrol now here: Using AI Features in PostgreSQL

Course Summary

Do you want to start working with AI-related features in PostgreSQL? Or are you going to be asked about using databases this way? Either way, you need to be prepared!

2026-10-03

As with any preview feature, there are some practical considerations.

The first is that this is still evolving. Not every scenario or data type is supported yet. Expect some limits on dataset size, refresh frequency, and concurrent analyses.

You must enable the Python plugin in the Eventhouse. This is what provides the model runtime, and enabling it isn’t instant. If you attempt analysis before it’s ready, the system will return an error.

2026-10-02

I’ve done a lot of Microsoft exams over the years, mostly SQL Server ones but plenty of others too. And one thing that I really don’t like is when the questions are:

• Purely academic (ie: would never happen)
• Memory-based (ie: who cares what a particular limit is for a particular SKU today?)
• Clearly not written by someone who actually uses the product

Today, I want to mention an item in the last category.

2026-10-01

Let’s look at where this feature fits in practice.

The first major category is IoT telemetry - monitoring physical equipment. Think of a manufacturing plant where each machine sends readings for vibration, current draw, and temperature. Sudden spikes or drifts in these metrics may indicate wear, imbalance, or failure. The anomaly detector can continuously flag these irregularities before they cause downtime.

Another use case is application or system performance. If you’re monitoring throughput, error rates, or latency across multiple services, anomalies may indicate deployment issues, scaling problems, or outages. Because detection runs continuously and in near real time, operations teams can be notified within seconds.

2026-09-30

One question that I’m asked all the time when consulting is whether reducing the size of database tables will make queries run faster or not.

The underlying question is typically about whether the client should implement some sort of archiving strategy, to reduce the amount of data in a table by moving older data off into another table.

My answer is that it might help, but if it does, you probably have another issue that would be a better one to solve instead.

2026-09-29

The AI Anomaly Detector in Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence uses a combination of time-series analysis and machine learning models. You don’t need to choose the model manually-Fabric evaluates the data and automatically selects the most appropriate approach.

Behind the scenes, it can use classical models like seasonal decomposition or ARIMA for steady, predictable series, or neural network–based models for more complex and irregular data. It also supports hybrid methods that adapt to both short-term trends and cope with long-term seasonality.

2026-09-28