Misc
How Did C# Get Its Name?
Oct 28th
It’s an interesting name to say the least. Why the “sharp” symbol? Sometimes newcomers get it incorrect at first (usually people BRAND NEW to programming) and call it “C POUND”. It Almost sounds like a hip-hop thing as the “pound” word has different context in that arena.
The knocking of fists as a form of greeting, departure or respect. – Urban Dictionary
But, alas, this is NOT what it means in terms of programming.
Here’s Where The Name Came From
In the October 3rd 2008 edition of the CIO article “The A-Z of Programming Languages: C#” Naomi Hamilton interviewed the men of men, the one and only, Anders Hejlsberg (lead architect of C# – and other languages Pre c#). In this article he described where the name came from. The C# language was originally called “Cool” but it was changed. Here’s the scoop:
[CIO] Why was the language originally named Cool, and what promoted the change to C#?
[AH] The code name was Cool, which stood for ‘C like Object Oriented Language’. We kind of liked that name: all of our files were called .cool and that was kind of cool! We looked seriously at keeping the name for the final product but it was just not feasible from a trademark perspective, as there were way too many cool things out there.
So the naming committee had to get to work and we sort of liked the notion of having an inherent reference to C in there, and a little word play on C++, as you can sort of view the sharp sign as four pluses, so it’s C++++. And the musical aspect was interesting too. So C# it was, and I’ve actually been really happy with that name. It’s served us well.
Make sense?
Google IG Home Page – RSS Feed Issues
Oct 15th
If you use Google IG like I do to read RSS feeds, note… there is one flaw with it and you may not be getting the latest content. I figured this out because it accidentally happened to me and to the guys at Foo Theory. I believe its used to happen to Peter Brombergs UnBlog as well. looks like its fixed now.
Basically what “I think” is happening is that when a feed publishes too many items, Google IG cannot handle it and it barfs somewhere. It will give you something to look at, but it stops at a certain point.
Lest say you have 500 posts on your blog. A “normal feed” is somewhere between 5 and 30 posts. Google IG handles this just fine. But, if you post all 500 posts into your feed, Google IG will not display it properly. It will load to a certain point (displaying posts from maybe 18 months ago in time) and display that, and that only. It seems as if there is some buffer that fills up and once that is full, game over – nothing else is shown.
Just an interesting tidbit… Make sure your feeds are only displaying 5-30 of your last posts.
Windows se7en?
Oct 14th
Microsoft announced their new version of Windows is going to be called “Windows 7″ here.
Hmmm… How creative. Perhaps I’m just used to real code names…. so… to make this “my own” I came up with a better one with the “7″. Here’s my rendition:
“Windows se7en, an operating system so gangster it’ll cut you if you slip, son.”
Ok, maybe that wouldn’t work, but hey, its funny.
Free Music
Oct 3rd
I’m not a big fan of stating political beliefs on technical blogs, but I am a gigantic fan of good music and musical talent. I know there are a lot of beliefs on “who” and “why” someone should be elected, and this is not a debate for this. This is a chance to download some good music. Forewarning though: If you’re into Obama then this may interest you. If not, it probably wont work for you. 
DJ Z-Trip has posted a free download which is about 54 minutes in length and its pretty good. Its in MP3 form, so download and listen away. I’m about 40 minutes into the mix and its had music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, up until now. From Rage to Public Enemy, its all in this mix. Definitely good stuff. I think that Z-Trips ability to manipulate many different pieces of music via mixers, turntables, samples, etc is absolutely amazing. He’s been doing this for years, but I just thought I’d post this now so everyone could enjoy a free listen.
You can download it here or click on the image above.
New Digs
Sep 24th
Jason Bock posted this awhile back – but I thought I’d post it for my subscribers. It’s been hectic with a new kiddo and all kinds of stuff going on so I’m just getting around to posting this now.
I have joined …
Background info: I recently moved to Minneapolis to explore other opportunities and to live in a city that I’ve adorned for years. Having moved up here is one the best things I’ve ever done. I absolutely love this place and the seasons. For some reason when I tell that to the locals they look at me like I have 3 heads. Oh well. Grass is always greener I guess. Some people hate the winters, some love them. I’m someone who loves snow. After being in Phoenix for nearly 10 years, snow and cold is a thing of beauty.
I was working for a few other shops/clients independently in MPLS wasn’t really working out that well so I looking around to see what the city had to offer. I didn’t have to look far to find a premier partner that I’ve been following for some time, Magenic. Some of you may know of the company, it houses quite a few MVP’s and genuinely brilliant people. They speak throughout the country at various events and I can honestly say that I’ve seen a few of their presentations and I was impressed. I’m very honored to be part of this team and I look forward to the interesting years ahead.
If you’d like to learn more about Magenic, click here.
Other Magenic Bloggers:
- Jason Bock [MVP]
- Chris G. Williams [MVP]
- Rockford Lhotka [MVP] (Author of CSLA.NET)
- Kristin Juhl
- Anthony Handley
- Aaron Erickson [MVP]
- The Magenic Blog Feed
I’m sure there are other blogger’s on our team, I just have not met them yet. So if you’re one of them, let me know and I’ll add you to the list.
