How to Read Google Play eBooks on Kobo eReader

Since I get frequent discounts on eBooks through the Google Play Books store (details about how to do that here), I'm in the habit of buying my books there. My eReader however is a Kobo, which is set up to buy from the Indigo store. Here's how I load my books from the Google Play Books store onto my Kobo eReader.

1. Buy your eBook in the Google Play Books store.
2. Click the ellipsis next to the book title in your library and click 'Download EPUB'.
3. Download and install Adobe Digital Editions. This is free software that will let you load your EPUB file onto your Kobo eReader.
4. Open Adobe Digital Editions and go to 'File', 'Add to Library'. Select the EPUB file that you downloaded in the previous step.
5. Plug your Kobo eReader into your computer and wait for it to appear in Adobe Digital Editions. You should see it in the list on the left-hand side of the screen.
6. Click and drag the eBook from your library to your Kobo eReader.

That's it! 

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SQL Server: Sorting by Column Numbers

If you've come across this post then you are likely aware that in SQL Server you can use the ORDER BY clause to sort by specific columns by name, but did you know that you can also do it by number? It's a quick and dirty way to sort without having to spell out each column name.

Here's an example of how you could sort by the LAST_NAME column:

   SELECT USER_ID,

          FIRST_NAME,

          LAST_NAME

     FROM MY_TABLE

 ORDER BY LAST_NAME

Or, you can accomplish this same thing by using '3' in the ORDER BY clause. This tells SQL Server that you want to sort by the third column (which is LAST_NAME):

   SELECT USER_ID,

          FIRST_NAME,

          LAST_NAME

     FROM MY_TABLE

 ORDER BY 3

As with everything in tech you'll find varying opinions on whether or not this is a good thing to do. I would say that it's worth using if you're just writing a quick ad-hoc query. It can save time. On the other hand, if this is something you plan on saving or reusing, I would advise entering the column name instead. This way you know it will keep sorting the way you intended even if you add other columns later on that end up changing the position of the column by which you wanted to sort.

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Power BI: Subreports

Great news for Microsoft Power BI users: they've just released an update that allows for the creation of subreports! This lets you to embed one report inside of another, something that can get fancy if you start passing parameters from the main report to the subreport.

In order to use this new functionality you will need to download the latest version of Power BI Report Builder.

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