The Best Articles and Tutorials About Cloud Analytics, BI and Management
Paul Hansen is an experienced Analytics Engineer and Senior BI Developer, skilled in data architecture, ETL processes, and data visualization. He has a strong background in SQL, Python, and cloud platforms like AWS and Azure. Paul has led teams to create integrated data solutions, leveraging tools such as dbt, SSIS, and Power BI. His recent roles have ranged from Senior BI Developer to BI Team Lead, demonstrating his ability to manage complex projects and deliver insightful business intelligence solutions. Paul values a collaborative work environment that fosters innovation and professional growth.
Please access his resume here:
Paul Hansen – Business Intelligence Professional 2023
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulhansenza/
Contact Me
Business Intelligence and Analytics Blog
This is a very late addition to the series of posts I wrote back in 2024 and which started here on Power BI memory errors. It’s about a very rare error that is hard to deal with and often temporary but since people do run into it from time to time I decided to write […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/05/10/power-bi-semantic-model-memory-errors-part-5-the-maximum-allowable-memory-allocation-error/. The author is Chris WebbAuthor: Kay Unkroth – Principal Program Manager This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Execute-DAX-Queries-REST-API-Preview/ba-p/5177697. The author is kayuRead More
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Execute-DAX-Queries-REST-API-Preview/ba-p/5177697. The author is kayuAuthor: Kay Unkroth – Principal Program Manager This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Semantic-model-settings-pane-Preview/ba-p/5177694. The author is kayuRead More
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Semantic-model-settings-pane-Preview/ba-p/5177694. The author is kayuDid you know that you can configure your Power BI semantic model so that it automatically binds to a data source connection when you publish? To illustrate how to do this, I created an Import mode Power BI semantic model in Power BI Desktop connected to the Products table in the ContosoSales sample database in […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/05/03/connecting-power-bi-semantic-models-to-data-sources-automatically-with-binding-hints/. The author is Chris WebbPower BI’s latest update introduces an enhancement to how users interact with reports with the general availability of modern visual tooltips. All Power BI reports—from Power BI Desktop to Power BI reports in the web, in the mobile app, in Teams, and embedded in any website—now use the updated visual tooltips, making report interactions easier […]
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Modern-Visual-Tooltips-in-Power-BI-Generally-Available/ba-p/5173946. The author is jacindaengGetting your data job done just got easier with composite semantic models, mixing Direct Lake tables with import tables, now available in public preview. Direct Lake on OneLake table storage mode already could mix tables from other Fabric data sources, such as lakehouses, warehouses, SQL databases in Fabric, and mirrored databases. And with this update, […]
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Deep-dive-into-composite-semantic-models-with-Direct-Lake-and/ba-p/5173943. The author is DataZoeBack in December the FabricAI.Prompt() M function was released in Fabric Dataflows Gen2. Most of the people writing about it at that time, as in this great post by my colleague Sandeep Pawar, focused on calling this function for each row in a table – something that the UI in the editor makes easy. However […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/04/26/generating-sample-data-in-fabric-dataflows-with-fabricai-prompt/. The author is Chris WebbWelcome to the April Power BI update! Power BI’s April 2026 update is here, bringing continued improvements across Copilot and AI, reporting, visuals, and modeling. This release includes more flexibility when working with layouts and visuals, expanded Copilot experiences—especially on mobile—and several preview features that continue to enhance performance and authoring workflows. You’ll also find […]
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Power-BI-April-2026-Feature-Summary/ba-p/5173904. The author is kamurrayWelcome to the April Power BI update! Power BI’s April 2026 update is here, bringing continued improvements across Copilot and AI, reporting, visuals, and modeling. This release includes more flexibility when working with layouts and visuals, expanded Copilot experiences—especially on mobile—and several preview features that continue to enhance performance and authoring workflows. You’ll also find […]
This post first appeared at https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-april-2026-feature-summary/. The author isTranslytical task flows take interactive Power BI reports to the next level where users can update records, add annotations, and trigger actions in external systems—all without leaving the report. With translytical task flows, report consumers become active participants. Instead of viewing data and then switching to another application to take action, users can complete their […]
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Translytical-Task-Flows-Generally-Available/ba-p/5173907. The author is DataZoeTranslytical task flows take interactive Power BI reports to the next level where users can update records, add annotations, and trigger actions in external systems—all without leaving the report. With translytical task flows, report consumers become active participants. Instead of viewing data and then switching to another application to take action, users can complete their […]
This post first appeared at https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/translytical-task-flows-generally-available/. The author isSince March 2026, Power BI semantic models have started showing warnings in their Refresh History in the Service. This has scared a few people but in fact all that is happening is that errors which were there all along and which don’t prevent refreshes from completing are now being flagged. Documentation on this feature can […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/04/19/power-bi-semantic-model-refresh-warnings/. The author is Chris WebbI’ve been working with Microsoft BI tools for 28 years now and for all that time Microsoft has been consistent in its belief that semantic models are a good thing. Fashions have changed and at different times the wider BI industry has agreed and disagreed with this belief; right now, semantic models are cool again […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/04/12/power-bi-and-support-for-third-party-semantic-models/. The author is Chris WebbBack in September 2024 I wrote a blog post on how to create multiple copies of the same dimension in a Direct Lake semantic model without creating copies of the underlying Delta table. Not long after that I started getting comments that people who tried following my instructions were getting errors, and while some bugs […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/04/05/role-playing-dimensions-in-fabric-direct-lake-semantic-models-revisited/. The author is Chris WebbUpdated on 20 April 2026: Thanks so much for all the engagement on this topic since the original publishing of this blog post on 2 April 2026. We’ve seen several recurring questions, and we’d like to clarify our position on a few key points. Dataflow Gen1 remains supported, but it is in a legacy state and won’t receive future innovation. We understand many customers […]
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Dataflows-Thank-you-for-eight-years-of-Gen1-and-why-Gen2-is-the/ba-p/5173910. The author is millopisFor more than eight years, customers have relied on Power BI Dataflows (Gen1) as a core part of their analytics solutions. We’re grateful for the trust you placed in the Power Query experience to build reusable, low-code data preparation pipelines that power reports, semantic models, and downstream analytics. Now, we’re sharing an update on the […]
This post first appeared at https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/dataflows-thank-you-for-eight-years-of-gen1-and-why-gen2-is-the-future/. The author isIf you haven’t already, check out Arun Ulag’s hero blog “FabCon and SQLCon 2026: Unifying databases and Fabric on a single, complete platform” for a complete look at all of our FabCon and SQLCon announcements across both Fabric and our database offerings. The next evolution of in-report Copilot on the mobile app is now available […]
This post first appeared at https://community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-Updates-Blog/Chat-with-Copilot-inside-a-report-on-the-Power-BI-mobile-app/ba-p/5173913. The author is emininbergIf you haven’t already, check out Arun Ulag’s hero blog “FabCon and SQLCon 2026: Unifying databases and Fabric on a single, complete platform” for a complete look at all of our FabCon and SQLCon announcements across both Fabric and our database offerings. The next evolution of in-report Copilot on the mobile app is now available […]
This post first appeared at https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/chat-with-copilot-inside-a-report-on-the-power-bi-mobile-app-preview/. The author isSo many cool Fabric features get announced at Fabcon that it’s easy to miss some of them. The fact that you can now not only generate Excel files from Fabric Dataflows Gen2, but that you have so much control over the format that you can use this feature to build simple reports rather than plain […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/03/29/generating-excel-reports-with-fabric-dataflows-gen2/. The author is Chris WebbA few years ago I wrote this post on the subject of staging in Fabric Dataflows Gen2. In it I explained what staging is, how you can enable it for a query inside a Dataflow, and discussed the pros and cons of using it. However one thing I never got round to doing until this […]
This post first appeared at https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2026/03/22/query-folding-and-staging-in-fabric-dataflows-gen2/. The author is Chris Webb