Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
@arcticdba.se
Data Platform MVP, MCT, MCSE. Swedish Power BI UG leader. I make data matter, because only data that matters can inspire change. One third of #KneeDeepinTech
BLOG ALERT!
www.arcticdba.se/posts/speaki...
I'm going to the Budapest BI Forum, where I will deliver an awesome workshop together with Valerie Junk, and debut a new session!
#Speaking #Data #MicrosoftFabric #Community
www.arcticdba.se/posts/speaki...
I'm going to the Budapest BI Forum, where I will deliver an awesome workshop together with Valerie Junk, and debut a new session!
#Speaking #Data #MicrosoftFabric #Community
www.arcticdba.se
November 11, 2025 at 8:15 AM
BLOG ALERT!
www.arcticdba.se/posts/speaki...
I'm going to the Budapest BI Forum, where I will deliver an awesome workshop together with Valerie Junk, and debut a new session!
#Speaking #Data #MicrosoftFabric #Community
www.arcticdba.se/posts/speaki...
I'm going to the Budapest BI Forum, where I will deliver an awesome workshop together with Valerie Junk, and debut a new session!
#Speaking #Data #MicrosoftFabric #Community
BLOG ALERT!
www.arcticdba.se/posts/resurr...
With AI and social media amplifying misinformation, data literacy is critical. I'm revamping "The Untruthful Art" with new examples, and I'm creating "Invisible Insights." Read more!
#Speaking #Data #DataLiteracy #Community
www.arcticdba.se/posts/resurr...
With AI and social media amplifying misinformation, data literacy is critical. I'm revamping "The Untruthful Art" with new examples, and I'm creating "Invisible Insights." Read more!
#Speaking #Data #DataLiteracy #Community
www.arcticdba.se
November 4, 2025 at 8:15 AM
BLOG ALERT!
www.arcticdba.se/posts/resurr...
With AI and social media amplifying misinformation, data literacy is critical. I'm revamping "The Untruthful Art" with new examples, and I'm creating "Invisible Insights." Read more!
#Speaking #Data #DataLiteracy #Community
www.arcticdba.se/posts/resurr...
With AI and social media amplifying misinformation, data literacy is critical. I'm revamping "The Untruthful Art" with new examples, and I'm creating "Invisible Insights." Read more!
#Speaking #Data #DataLiteracy #Community
BLOG ALERT!
www.arcticdba.se/posts/settin...
How do YOU open your presentations?
#PresentationSkills #Speaking #Data #Community
www.arcticdba.se/posts/settin...
How do YOU open your presentations?
#PresentationSkills #Speaking #Data #Community
October 28, 2025 at 8:15 AM
BLOG ALERT!
www.arcticdba.se/posts/settin...
How do YOU open your presentations?
#PresentationSkills #Speaking #Data #Community
www.arcticdba.se/posts/settin...
How do YOU open your presentations?
#PresentationSkills #Speaking #Data #Community
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
Power BI, the low-code tool 🤡🫣🤭
We finally have 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (𝗨𝗗𝗙) in DAX!
Don't make mistakes; this is not a user data function in Fabric.
This is a new DAX feature, the most important one in the last five years.
Read/watch more:
https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/introducing-user-defined-functions-in-dax/
Don't make mistakes; this is not a user data function in Fabric.
This is a new DAX feature, the most important one in the last five years.
Read/watch more:
https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/introducing-user-defined-functions-in-dax/
September 16, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Power BI, the low-code tool 🤡🫣🤭
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
Glorious! @effinbirds.com on LinkedIn of all places. And it's perfect. The level of superficial bollucks interspaced with pure unadulterated "f'ck this shit" makes it much more bearable and entertaining. Highly recommended.
September 15, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Glorious! @effinbirds.com on LinkedIn of all places. And it's perfect. The level of superficial bollucks interspaced with pure unadulterated "f'ck this shit" makes it much more bearable and entertaining. Highly recommended.
Claude has now failed miserably for the last few hours to help me deal with what most likely is a fairly simple task in Azure Devops pipelines. The so-called "AI" is not coming for our jobs anytime soon.
September 2, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Claude has now failed miserably for the last few hours to help me deal with what most likely is a fairly simple task in Azure Devops pipelines. The so-called "AI" is not coming for our jobs anytime soon.
For anyone considering taking the trains in Sweden: don't. I've had the misfortune of having to endure multiple train rides this year, and all of them have been between 20 minutes and 2 hours late. Currently standing still somewhere on the track after another "electrical issue".
August 31, 2025 at 3:06 PM
For anyone considering taking the trains in Sweden: don't. I've had the misfortune of having to endure multiple train rides this year, and all of them have been between 20 minutes and 2 hours late. Currently standing still somewhere on the track after another "electrical issue".
An absolutely amazing piece of writing that summarizes my view on "AI" very well. I am not against machine learning - quite the opposite - but treat it like the tool it is and do not try to use it for everything under the sun, all while saying it will be the panacea for everything conceivable.
Newsletter: My 16,000 word opus - How To Argue With An AI Booster, a comprehensive guide to arguing with AI boosters, addressing both their bad faith debate style and their specific (and flimsy) arguments as to why generative AI is the future.
www.wheresyoured.at/how-to-argue...
www.wheresyoured.at/how-to-argue...
How To Argue With An AI Booster
Editor's Note: For those of you reading via email, I recommend opening this in a browser so you can use the Table of Contents. This is my longest newsletter - a 16,000-word-long opus - and if you like...
www.wheresyoured.at
August 26, 2025 at 5:53 AM
An absolutely amazing piece of writing that summarizes my view on "AI" very well. I am not against machine learning - quite the opposite - but treat it like the tool it is and do not try to use it for everything under the sun, all while saying it will be the panacea for everything conceivable.
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
Great talk about social engineering
Social Engineer: YOU are Easier to Hack than your Computer
YouTube video by Scammer Payback
youtu.be
August 20, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Great talk about social engineering
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
Many ask themselves, «Why would I use a semantic layer? How to build one?».
But a better question is: How many times have you implemented the same revenue calculation differently across your company's dashboards, reports, and apps? This is why semantic layers exist.
But a better question is: How many times have you implemented the same revenue calculation differently across your company's dashboards, reports, and apps? This is why semantic layers exist.
Why Semantic Layers Matter — and How to Build One with DuckDB - MotherDuck Blog
Learn what a semantic layer is, why it matters, and how to build a simple one with DuckDB and Ibis using just YAML and Python | Reading time: 21 min read
motherduck.com
August 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Many ask themselves, «Why would I use a semantic layer? How to build one?».
But a better question is: How many times have you implemented the same revenue calculation differently across your company's dashboards, reports, and apps? This is why semantic layers exist.
But a better question is: How many times have you implemented the same revenue calculation differently across your company's dashboards, reports, and apps? This is why semantic layers exist.
I have a love/hate relationship with Rode. Excellent hardware, absolutely dogshit software, and the only thing the "support" says is to send in the device - which, as you might expect, will do NOTHING for said useless and buggy software.
August 13, 2025 at 7:06 AM
I have a love/hate relationship with Rode. Excellent hardware, absolutely dogshit software, and the only thing the "support" says is to send in the device - which, as you might expect, will do NOTHING for said useless and buggy software.
This is the kind of advert that would get me to buy things.
Come join my #sqlserver execution plan precon at @datasatoslo.bsky.social on August 28.
Tickets are still available:
www.eventbrite.com/e/mastering-...
Tickets are still available:
www.eventbrite.com/e/mastering-...
SQL Server Execution Plan precon
YouTube video by Structured Concepts AB
youtu.be
August 12, 2025 at 5:38 PM
This is the kind of advert that would get me to buy things.
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
mssql-python vs pyodbc: Benchmarking SQL Server Performance - devblogs.microsoft.com/python/mssql...
A pretty big rewrite, actually
A pretty big rewrite, actually
mssql-python vs pyodbc: Benchmarking SQL Server Performance - Microsoft for Python Developers Blog
Learn how the python driver for SQL Server, mssql-python, outperforms pyodbc in terms of latency and throughput for developers.
devblogs.microsoft.com
August 12, 2025 at 4:49 PM
mssql-python vs pyodbc: Benchmarking SQL Server Performance - devblogs.microsoft.com/python/mssql...
A pretty big rewrite, actually
A pretty big rewrite, actually
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
Scrolling past the 75,676th consecutive AI related post on LinkedIn.
a man behind a couch with the words shut up written on the bottom
ALT: a man behind a couch with the words shut up written on the bottom
media.tenor.com
August 11, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Scrolling past the 75,676th consecutive AI related post on LinkedIn.
Godspeed, Captain James A. Lovell Jr. , USN
Thank you for your contributions.
Blue skies and tailwinds.
Thank you for your contributions.
Blue skies and tailwinds.
August 8, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Godspeed, Captain James A. Lovell Jr. , USN
Thank you for your contributions.
Blue skies and tailwinds.
Thank you for your contributions.
Blue skies and tailwinds.
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
I am just so tired of constant generative AI bullshit: the upstream exploitation, the flawed output, the downstream harms. All of it about money and power. Day in, day out. Maybe one good use case for every 10 bad ones.
(I’m on annual leave for three weeks from Friday; it cannot come fast enough.)
(I’m on annual leave for three weeks from Friday; it cannot come fast enough.)
August 6, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I am just so tired of constant generative AI bullshit: the upstream exploitation, the flawed output, the downstream harms. All of it about money and power. Day in, day out. Maybe one good use case for every 10 bad ones.
(I’m on annual leave for three weeks from Friday; it cannot come fast enough.)
(I’m on annual leave for three weeks from Friday; it cannot come fast enough.)
Absolutely fantastic tools - in fact, I can’t really see how anyone could run an event without them.
If you're organizing an event or a usergroup, here's your recurring reminder that I'm sharing some tools I made for myself:
* @callfordataspeakers.com to find speakers
* QR code scanning solution for your sponsors
* Session evaluation/feedback app
sqlsunday.com/organizer-to...
RTs appreciated ❤️
* @callfordataspeakers.com to find speakers
* QR code scanning solution for your sponsors
* Session evaluation/feedback app
sqlsunday.com/organizer-to...
RTs appreciated ❤️
Conference organizer tools – sqlsunday.com
sqlsunday.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Absolutely fantastic tools - in fact, I can’t really see how anyone could run an event without them.
Jiji was three weeks shy of nine years old - every one of those years was a struggle with her health. We never thought she would live as long as she did. Today it was time to let her go.
Today we buried our lovely black cat.
2/2
Today we buried our lovely black cat.
2/2
July 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Jiji was three weeks shy of nine years old - every one of those years was a struggle with her health. We never thought she would live as long as she did. Today it was time to let her go.
Today we buried our lovely black cat.
2/2
Today we buried our lovely black cat.
2/2
Empty rooms, empty spaces. No more cuddles, no more playing, no more stretching out in the sun. The silence is deafening.
But it also means no more pain, no more uncertainty, no more fear of what tomorrow might bring.
1/2
But it also means no more pain, no more uncertainty, no more fear of what tomorrow might bring.
1/2
July 22, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Empty rooms, empty spaces. No more cuddles, no more playing, no more stretching out in the sun. The silence is deafening.
But it also means no more pain, no more uncertainty, no more fear of what tomorrow might bring.
1/2
But it also means no more pain, no more uncertainty, no more fear of what tomorrow might bring.
1/2
Pastries were had, and a *lot* of work got done! I haven't been this excited for a workshop in years! You do NOT want to miss it, and as @valeriejunk.bsky.social said, there are still tickets available at datamindsconnect.be!
About last week! @arcticdba.se and I met in Sweden to prepare our full-day workshop for dataMinds Connect (October 6th in Mechelen, Belgium). I am not the biggest fan of remote work AND I love Swedish pastry... easy choice!
There are still tickets available! datamindsconnect.be
#dataMindsConnect
There are still tickets available! datamindsconnect.be
#dataMindsConnect
July 21, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Pastries were had, and a *lot* of work got done! I haven't been this excited for a workshop in years! You do NOT want to miss it, and as @valeriejunk.bsky.social said, there are still tickets available at datamindsconnect.be!
This is not to be missed. When Daniel speaks, the smart people listen.
And take copious notes.
And take copious notes.
I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that for this year's @datasatoslo.bsky.social, I will be running a whole pre-conference training day in Oslo to help you make your T-SQL queries faster.
When: August 29, 2025
Where: Dronning Eufemias gate, Oslo
Registration is open!
When: August 29, 2025
Where: Dronning Eufemias gate, Oslo
Registration is open!
Mastering the Execution Plan to Tune SQL Server/Azure SQL/SQL in Fabric
Learn how to performance tune your database,by indexing,understand execution plans and how to rewrite your indexes and queries for success
www.eventbrite.com
June 23, 2025 at 11:56 AM
This is not to be missed. When Daniel speaks, the smart people listen.
And take copious notes.
And take copious notes.
The end of an era. Seldom has a decision been so hard but at the same time so right. I love my co-hosts @bindertech.se and @heini.bsky.social and we've had so much fun together. Rest assured that fun will continue, just not in this format.
And yes, we still have a bunch of stickers... 😎
And yes, we still have a bunch of stickers... 😎
@bindertech.se said it best - "It's been a journey". We started 8.5 years ago, expecting just two weeks. We've gone far beyond that, but all good things must end. In this episode, we discuss why we're ending the podcast and what's next. Thanks for sticking with us!
buff.ly/BkCTlxP
#MVPBuzz
buff.ly/BkCTlxP
#MVPBuzz
June 17, 2025 at 6:18 AM
The end of an era. Seldom has a decision been so hard but at the same time so right. I love my co-hosts @bindertech.se and @heini.bsky.social and we've had so much fun together. Rest assured that fun will continue, just not in this format.
And yes, we still have a bunch of stickers... 😎
And yes, we still have a bunch of stickers... 😎
This was a very interesting way of looking at it. It makes a lot of sense, and I'm curious to see how this could be applied to the "AI" tooling currently messing up the data space.
Bit late to the party on this one, but I'm consistently impressed by @hazelweakly.me
Her post about building AI tools backward correctly captures everyones frustration with AI tooling, but also posits ways OUT of this mess.
Read it.
hazelweakly.me/blog/stop-bu...
Her post about building AI tools backward correctly captures everyones frustration with AI tooling, but also posits ways OUT of this mess.
Read it.
hazelweakly.me/blog/stop-bu...
Stop Building AI Tools Backwards | Hazel Weakly
I’ve been reading this week about how humans learn, and effective ways of transferring knowledge. In addition, I’ve also had AI in the back of my mind, and...
hazelweakly.me
June 16, 2025 at 9:16 AM
This was a very interesting way of looking at it. It makes a lot of sense, and I'm curious to see how this could be applied to the "AI" tooling currently messing up the data space.
Reposted by Alexander Arvidsson (he/him)
It’s good to see me, isn’t it? 💜✨
Yes, yes, the rumors are true — we are OFFICIALLY launching here on Bluesky!
In case you forgot, we’re a place to buy books online where every purchase supports local bookstores, not billionaires.
Thanks for being here 🙌🏽
Yes, yes, the rumors are true — we are OFFICIALLY launching here on Bluesky!
In case you forgot, we’re a place to buy books online where every purchase supports local bookstores, not billionaires.
Thanks for being here 🙌🏽
June 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM
It’s good to see me, isn’t it? 💜✨
Yes, yes, the rumors are true — we are OFFICIALLY launching here on Bluesky!
In case you forgot, we’re a place to buy books online where every purchase supports local bookstores, not billionaires.
Thanks for being here 🙌🏽
Yes, yes, the rumors are true — we are OFFICIALLY launching here on Bluesky!
In case you forgot, we’re a place to buy books online where every purchase supports local bookstores, not billionaires.
Thanks for being here 🙌🏽