I work with a lot of SQL Server databases that are poorly normalized. One of my pet dislikes is the column to rule them all.
Here are simple tests:
Here are some examples:
2026-07-27
After Activator detects that a condition or pattern has been met, the next step is to trigger an action.
Actions are what turn analytics into operational responses — they ensure that insight leads directly to something happening.
Actions can be either internal or external:
Internal actions occur within Fabric — for example, updating a dataset, refreshing a Power BI report, or writing a new event back into an Eventstream.
2026-07-26
Intrusions into computer systems are happening all the time now. We need to address this issue as an industry, but it’s important to understand that the way we design databases plays a big role in the impacts that occur during intrusions.
If you don’t accept that you could have an intrusion, you are living in La La Land. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_prone_personality )
A bug in any one of the frameworks that you use, the code that you write, the protocols that you use, the operating system or hosting services that you use can potentially expose you to an intrusion.
2026-07-25
In many real-time systems, a single event on its own doesn’t tell the full story. Pattern detection allows you to identify sequences or combinations of events that together indicate something meaningful.
For example, a single failed login attempt is rarely an issue, but multiple failed logins within five minutes could suggest a security concern. Similarly, a single temperature reading above normal might not matter, but a rising trend over time could signal equipment failure.
2026-07-24
I had the pleasure of recording a new PG Down Under podcast today. It was great to have Charles Feddersen from Microsoft back on the show.
Charles is the Partner Director of Product Management, Postgres & MySQL on Azure at Microsoft.
He leads the product management teams for the Postgres and MySQL managed services on Azure including Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Database for MySQL, and Azure HorizonDB, which is why I wanted to talk to him today.
2026-07-23
In Activator, rules are the core element that make automation possible. A rule defines the condition you want the system to look for in your data — the point at which something should happen.
Rules can be simple or complex.
A simple example might be: temperature > 90°C or error rate exceeds 5%. These are fixed thresholds — clear, measurable values that indicate when a limit has been crossed.
2026-07-22
I recently received a review copy of Python Data Analysis: Master Python Analytics with Machine Learning, Deep Learning, GenAI, LLMs, and Data Engineering by Avinash Navlani and Cornellius Yudha Wijaya from my friends at PackT. This is the fourth edition of this book.
Avinash Navlani is a senior data scientist, researcher, and educator with a PhD in data science and many years in both the industry and in academia.
Cornellius Yudha Wijaya is a data science manager leading AI initiatives and driving the development of practical data and AI solutions.
2026-07-21
Before you start creating rules in Activator, it’s important to understand how the system models data conceptually — using Objects and Signals.
An Object in Activator represents a real-world entity that you want to monitor — for example, a sensor, a customer account, a store, or a device.
Each Object has one or more Signals, which are the measurable data points associated with it. For example, a device object might have signals like temperature, battery level, and status.
2026-07-20
If I want accounting advice, it’s unlikely that I’d ask my dentist for that advice.
Many years ago, I created applications for food wholesalers. When the owners of these businesses decided to get a new or better computing system, invariably they’d speak to their accountants. I understand the reasons why that might seem logical to them at first, but what I saw when these clients did this, is that they invariably ended up with the wrong systems.
2026-07-19
Fabric Activator is the part of Microsoft Fabric that connects real-time insights with automated actions — it’s what makes analytics operational.
At its core, Activator is a no-code service that continuously monitors incoming data from Eventstreams or from KQL queries running on KQL Databases.
It looks for specific conditions that you define — things like a metric crossing a threshold, an anomaly appearing in a time series, or a custom pattern detected across multiple events.
2026-07-18
