This time, I briefly look at how to use methods available to C# 3.0 that are equivalent to Filter, Map and Reduce.

After a long break, it's time to return to my informal series of articles on functional programming concepts using only C# 2.0. This time, I'm looking at the idea of higher-order functions and how to implement Map, Filter and Reduce.

This week at Tech Ed, Microsoft announced that the official name of Visual Studio Code Name "Orcas" would be Visual Studio 2008. It seems clear to me from the current beta release that a 2007 ship date is probably within reach. Is the 2008 moniker simply for insurance?

I'm getting this post up just in time to have at least one entry for the month of May. Work has simply been a whirlwind and my blogging duties have been put on hold until post-Tech Ed. I have several articles in a nearly-finished state that I hope to complete in June so stay tuned...

If you're like me, you struggle daily with running iTunes on Windows Vista. OK, most of you probably aren't like me. You are likely far wiser and realized long ago that this is a fruitless exercise. Being stubborn, I dutifully load up each morning iTunes and check to see if Apple has finally released the update that they've been sitting on for so long. Today, after months of frustration, I wasn't disappointed.

Apple released iTunes 7.2 without much fanfare. This update includes important compatibility fixes for Windows Vista (most notably the painting of the main window is faster) and Apple's new iTunes Plus format for higher-quality, DRM-free music and video. This is very exciting stuff but the feature that I find even most interesting was added a bit more quietly: iTunes U.

iTunes U provides access within iTunes to recorded lectures from several major universities (e.g. MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc.). Some universities have more offerings than others, but there are plenty of computer science and mathematics lectures available for the nerdiest among us. Need a refresher on algorithms? Try MIT's Introduction to Algorithms course. Looking for more general lectures on programming? Download UC Berkeley's Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.

Of course, the best feature of iTunes U is that it's free!

Truthfully, the content that iTunes U offers is not new. MIT, for example, has offered course downloads for several years. However, making the resources available from iTunes greatly extends their reach and gives me one more way to put my iPod to good use.

I've decided to take the plunge and install Visual Studio Code Name "Orcas" Beta 1 on my development machine. For several months, I have been dutifully installing the latest CTPs into virtual machines to toy with and test CodeRush and Refactor! on. However, with the beta release, I'm living a bit closer to the edge. I have spotted and reported a couple of very minor bugs, but hey, this is beta software, right? Regardless of these minor blips, my experience has been nothing short of pure enjoyment. I'm not saying that everyone should install it right now, but for me, it's been fantastic.

This article delves into a certain peculiarity of the .NET garbage collector. Along the way, it explores IL, optimized JIT-compiled code and even the underlying CLR structures.

Those of you that know me will remember that I carry a full-sized keyboard in my laptop bag. I find it much easier to code and demo if I use the same keyboard all the time. So, I carry it with me. My keyboard is like a constant companion that goes wherever I go, and my recent trip to DevConnections in Orlando was no different. The birds were singing. The sun was shining. My keyboard was firmly secured under the flap of my bag... or so I thought. As I approached the Orlando hotel, I had no idea that my close friend's lifetime was near its end. There was nothing that would have alerted me to this fact. Suddenly, my trusted comrade slipped from the bag and shattered on the hard cement. And when I say "shattered", I don't mean that a few keys popped off. I mean that keyboard blood and guts were strewn everywhere. As I surveyed the gory scene, I realized that repairing my keyboard was out of the question. The ground was littered with twisted plastic shrapnel and warped springs. It had become my own proverbial "Humpty Dumpty". There was no way this egg was going back together again.

Believe it or not, this tragedy absolutely paralyzed me. Because I spend all of my time with the same keyboard, I am a complete novice (i.e. a "newbie") at using my laptop's built-in keyboard. With only the keyboard on my laptop, I was reluctant to do demos during the conference. I would sit in front of my laptop blushing and stammering into the keyboard like a seventh grade boy asking his first girl to a dance. I had to face the facts: I couldn't avoid replacing my dear friend. Only one questioned remained. Should I purchase the same model or go for an upgrade?

I spent some time looking online and finally settled on the Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard. It's newer, sleeker and sexier than my old buddy, but it also has a very attractive feature: holes that I can use to tie it to my laptop bag. There are lots of other great features like the LCD screen and the extra 18 user-programmable buttons, but the holes were the selling point for me. No longer will I put my closest friends at risk.

Helpful holes allow me to use straps. YAARRR!!! (pirate-speak)

Securely attached to my Tom Bihn Super Ego.

This thing's not going anywhere!

This experience has served to cement a universal truth in my mind. It is the sort of axiom that I wouldn't mind having engraved on my tombstone at the end of my days. The idea is basically this: no matter how sophisticated humanity's achievements in technology, no matter how rich our medical advancements, gravity wins. Gravity always wins.

Words to live by.

Today I'm 32 years old.

To many of you, that might not seem very old. In fact, some of you might already calling me names like "young punk" or "whipper-snapper". To those people I say, "Get some teeth old man!"

Seriously, it's not that I feel particularly old, but this is the first year I'll actively exaggerate my age. If someone asks how old I am, I'll quickly answer that I'm 25. "25", of course, is a short way of saying that I'm 2^5 years old. I'm comfortable with that because it's not really a lie. It's not even stretching the truth. I'm being vague, flippant and maybe a bit of a smart ass, but I'm OK with that.

After this year, I'm going to start rendering my age in hexadecimal. Next year I'll be 21.