Events

Day 3 of the Blogging A-to-Z challenge brings us to the heart of .NET: the Common Language Runtime (CLR). Microsoft defines the CLR as the run-time environment which "runs the code and provides services that make the development process easier." That isn't the most helpful definition, so let me try to elaborate. As I described Sunday and yesterday, the .NET compiler takes your source code from C# or whatever other language you use and compiles it down to one or more managed modules containing...

Yesterday, the Nielsen Norman Group released groundbreaking research on user interface design for dogs: There are several key usability guidelines that help dogs to have the most usable experience on modern websites and apps, particularly on mobile, tablet, and other touch-based interfaces: Consistency is critical. While consistency in any user experience is important, with dogs, it’s even more so. Experienced dog trainers will tell you that, for dogs to learn proper behavior, consistency in enforcing...

For day 2 of the Blogging A-to-Z challenge, I'm going to talk about the first computer language I learned, which is still alive and kicking in the .NET universe decades after it first appeared on a MS-DOS 1.0 system disk: BASIC. BASIC stands for "Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code." The original specification came from John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz at Dartmouth College in 1964. Today it's one of the core .NET languages included with Visual Studio as "VB.NET" (for "Visual BASIC," Microsoft's...

Welcome to the Daily Parker's 2018 Blogging A-to-Z challenge! We're starting today with a fundamental concept in Microsoft .NET software development: the Assembly. Microsoft defines the assembly as "a .dll or .exe file that can contain a collection of APIs that can be called by apps or other assemblies." In other words, an assembly is the basic unit of delivering .NET software to the rest of the world. An assembly "fully describe[s] and contain[s] .NET programs." When you compile .NET source code, the...

Here's the semi-annual Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.) Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight 2017 31 Dec 4:30pm sunset 07:19 16:30 9:11 2018 3 Jan Latest sunrise until Oct 29th 07:19 16:33 9:13 27 Jan 5pm sunset 07:08 17:00 9:51 4 Feb 7am sunrise 07:00 17:10 10:09 20 Feb 5:30pm sunset 06:40 17:30 10:50 27 Feb 6:30am sunrise 06:29 17:38 11:07 10 Mar Earliest sunrise until Apr 15th Earliest sunset until Oct 27th 06:11...

Here's the semi-annual Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.) Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight 2017 3 Jul 8:30pm sunset 05:21 20:30 15:09 16 Jul 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:24 14:55 9 Aug 8pm sunset 05:53 19:59 14:06 16 Aug 6am sunrise 06:00 19:50 13:49 29 Aug 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:29 13:15 14 Sep 6:30am sunrise 06:30 19:02 12:31 15 Sep 7pm sunset 06:31 19:00 12:28 22 Sep Equinox, 15:02 CDT 06:39 18:48 12:09 25 Sep 12-hour...

I thought y'all would like this, which I originally posted on 4th May 2017. Photo #1, 4th May 2007: Photo #2, 4th May 2017: Parker turns 11 on June 16th.

Here's the semi-annual Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.) Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight 2017 3 Jan Latest sunrise until Oct 28th 07:19 16:33 9:13 27 Jan 5pm sunset 07:08 17:00 9:52 4 Feb 7am sunrise 07:00 17:10 10:10 19 Feb 5:30pm sunset 06:39 17:30 10:48 26 Feb 6:30am sunrise 06:30 17:38 11:07 11 Mar Earliest sunrise until Apr 16th Earliest sunset until Oct 26th 06:09 17:54 11:44 12 Mar Daylight saving time...

Here's the semi-annual Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.) Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight 2016 3 Jul 8:30pm sunset 05:21 20:30 15:09 16 Jul 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:24 14:54 8 Aug 8pm sunset 05:52 20:00 14:08 16 Aug 6am sunrise 06:00 19:50 13:50 29 Aug 7:30pm sunset 06:14 19:29 13:14 14 Sep 6:30am sunrise 06:30 19:03 12:32 15 Sep 7pm sunset 06:32 19:00 12:28 22 Sep Equinox, 9:21 CDT 06:39 18:48 12:08 25 Sep 12-hour...

I'm David Braverman, this is my blog, and Parker is my 10-year-old mutt. I last updated this About... page in April 2016, and a couple have things have changed (not least of which, all the internal links changed when the blog moved to BlogEngine 3 last October). So here's the update. The Daily Parker is about: Parker, my dog, whom I adopted on 1 September 2006. Politics. I'm a moderate-lefty by international standards, which makes me a radical left-winger in today's United States. The weather. I've...