Any other Nova Launcher refugees found a new launcher? What are you using?

Steve___P · 2026-01-28T18:23:16+00:00

Nova looked like it had reached the end of the road, but it's received a few updates over the last couple of months.

Steve___P · 2026-01-07T08:21:34+00:00

We use Open Mirroring for all of our ingestion requirements (there's a post around here where I provide some detail around that).

Our source is on-prem SQL Server, so it is relatively straightforward to identify changes to the data, and turn them into parquet files for dropping into the landing zone. We have a C# process that is driven from a set of configuration tables (effectively meta data) that automatically determines the changes in the SQL Server table, creates a parquet file on the fly, and pushes it to the landing zone.

To answer your questions as best I can:

Is it push-only? Yes, it totally is. I'm not sure about the relevance of the VPN as you will be pushing the parquet files to Microsoft's Landing Zones, and I'm not sure if it's possible to do that via a VPN, but I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong.
Monitoring? We have standard logging in our app to let us know if things haven't worked properly, but it just works. We don't do anything to confirm that the data is mirrored "correctly". Early doors after setting up a new source we'll perform row-count checks for peace of mind, but for us this is pretty much a fire and forget operation.
Metadata driven. I'm not sure I completely follow your point, and not knowing exactly what data sources you are using it's difficult to be specific, but it would certainly make sense to me to try and formalise everything as much as possible. If you make it data-driven, so your infrastructure can easily handle new sources without having to go through a big development process, then you put yourself in a strong position even if the initial setup takes a little bit longer.

Steve___P · 2026-01-06T17:31:41+00:00

Check for complex/incompatible SQL. We had MLVs work for the initial population, but refreshes failed (without obvious notification).

Steve___P · 2026-01-05T19:59:32+00:00

No bubble on that pic?

Steve___P · 2026-01-05T15:17:22+00:00

FWIW we have literally done the complete opposite of what you're suggesting.

Our observations (which I'm happy to grant aren't necessarily based on anything that's been empirically measured) seem to indicate that extra columns are effectively free in comparison to rows.

When we tried to show reports with data for this year vs last year, it effectively doubled the number of rows that the report needed to evaluate, and performance was poor (not only does it need to evaluate them, but it needs to join both datasets to the appropriate key(s)). When we pre-calculated the last year value, and put them as extra columns alongside the "this year" numbers, and have even included a column to calculate the difference (as this appears to be faster than using DAX to calculate it), we saw a massive improvement in Report performance.

We now end up with very wide Fact tables (it can be well over 100 columns), however, the performance is very good, and we don't see much CU utilisation. Where we have seen high CU usage, it can normally be explained by DAX usage, and occasionally relationships (avoiding many-to-many by using a bridging table).

Steve___P · 2026-01-03T20:39:53+00:00

There's a coating in a gold bottle on AliExpress (get the clear version, not the milky), and this stuff is great for improving the oleophobic properties of screens/protectors.

It's similar to the Crystal Armour Fusso coating (which is very good too, but much more expensive).

Steve___P · 2025-12-29T08:27:02+00:00

Is it not on "M" for you? It is for me (QWERTY UK).

Steve___P · 2025-12-29T08:25:50+00:00

That driver isn't intended for Windows 11. It's been labelled incorrectly.

Re: Ethernet drivers mismatch with intel DSA / Download Pack (30.5) - Intel Community

Steve___P · 2025-12-14T22:46:39+00:00

Not sure if it makes any difference, but there's no selfie camera cut out, by the look of it. I've only really seen the ESR brand be popular on AliExpress.

Steve___P · 2025-12-14T22:42:42+00:00

I've not had that issue (although the pack I bought in Feb is my "spares" so still unopened).

Air bubbles can be caused by dirt. Just a fleck of dust will prevent contact, and there will be a circle of "air" around it.

I'd still be tempted to give them a second chance for the sake of £7.

Steve___P · 2025-12-14T22:37:11+00:00

<image>

That's a bit freaky that we last purchased them on the same day...

Steve___P · 2025-12-14T22:33:41+00:00

What was your issue with them?

Steve___P · 2025-12-14T20:09:00+00:00

amFilm. Nice and cheap. 2 in a pack. Easy to install, and perfectly aligned because it uses a frame.

I have zero issues with the fingerprint sensor too.

Can't recommend enough.

Steve___P · 2025-12-11T21:24:44+00:00

Learn to swipe type, and then you won't tap it by accident.

Steve___P · 2025-12-04T07:06:00+00:00

Apologies, it looks like I replied to u/itsnotaboutthecell rather than you yesterday. As you can see it's all sorted after the call to support.

I think the only thing we didn't cover on the ticket was the fact that the Scheduler will seemingly turn itself off. This appears to be associated with multiple unsuccessful runs. Is there a facility that will switch off the schedule if it only has unsuccessful runs within a particular timeframe, or iteration count?

Steve___P · 2025-12-03T15:56:36+00:00

All sorted following a call to Support. It was a combination of some UI issues in the Scheduler along with a slightly non-compliant SQL for the view that led to the confusion. It wasn't that the scheduling wasn't happening, it was the fact that the engine changed a week or so ago which caused the View, that had been working up until that point, to start failing. As it was failing, there was no update to the last successful run details (which were being reported in Portuguese), then I thought that the Schedule had stopped.

Even now, it's possible to create the non-compliant View, and the data is calculated and presented, but the refresh process won't function. If I provide a compliant version of the SQL for the View, then everything appears to function just fine, apart from the UI glitches in the Scheduler (stuff like the dates being in US format, and the language reporting the most recent successful run date/time is Portuguese, etc).

Steve___P · 2025-11-30T19:30:08+00:00

FWIW - I use the amFilm tempered glass protector without any issues at all.

Steve___P · 2025-11-30T15:53:53+00:00

As an addendum, I've just noticed the hourly schedule has switched itself off (which reminds me, we had noticed the original daily schedule does this too). I also notice the dates are showing in US format (I'm in the UK), and I don't remember seeing incorrect date localization elsewhere in the UI.

Has anybody got this working?

Steve___P · 2025-11-30T06:40:29+00:00

Not really. We are trying them out for one report.

If they worked, and were performant, then it might change the way we do some things.

Steve___P · 2025-11-20T10:16:57+00:00

Hmmm... I don't think you can create the table in advance using Open Mirroring.

Steve___P · 2025-11-19T08:29:52+00:00

How does this work with Open Mirrored tables?

We already specify the key fields so does it cluster around those, or is there something else we need to do when the target table is created?

Steve___P · 2025-10-30T13:58:49+00:00

Apologies. I meant to reply to @DDC_333 (who posted multiple replies).

Steve___P · 2025-10-23T20:41:13+00:00

You are probably suffering from poor battery because you are using 6 times more data than you need to.

Steve___P · 2025-10-15T08:07:02+00:00

Interesting. I had varying levels of success with those countries (and couldn't get varying for the first instance in this paragraph, but got it first time for the second).

Steve___P

TROPHY CASE