What's New for Visual Basic in Visual Studio 2012

VB.NET FROM MICROSOFT: ANOTHER FIRST

In the mid 1950s and early 1960s, the three major programming languages for computers were COBOL, Fortran and Basic. Of these three, Basic, a group of general-purpose, high-level programming languages and an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, was developed in 1964 in the USA. Visual Basic (VB) 1.0 was introduced as a misnomer more than two decades ago, in early 1991, as a drag and drop design for creating a user interface (UI) by one Alan Cooper. Interestingly, VB did not include a programming language. Microsoft, the budding IT colossus of that era, immediately noted its potential when used with its then operative Windows 3.0, and hooked up with Cooper to create a programming language using the extant Basic language so that VB could be brought back into the mainstream and released as such in May 1991.

Facing teething troubles, Visual Basic 1.0 was released as a "Disk Operating System” (DOS) in September 1992 as VB 2.0, a user-friendly programming development with a notable increase in speed. Each passing year saw an upgrade, with VB 6.0 released in 1998 exclusively for 32-bit versions of Windows, with the ability to create web-based applications. VB 6.0 was dropped by Microsoft in 2008 as a prelude to Microsoft’s new application, VB.NET.

According to Microsoft, its .NET Framework was designed to run primarily on Microsoft Windows. Using VB, it consists of two parts, a class library and the Common Language Runtime (CLR) application. Amongst its many properties, this framework provides ‘language interoperability,’ technical jargon that means that each language can use code written in other languages across several programming languages. What is unique to CLR is that its programs can be run in a software environment, as against a hardware environment, an application that facilitates provision of services such as security and memory management.

Image courtesy http://symbiosysnews.blogspot.in

Integral to Microsoft's .NET platform, VB.Net compiles and runs using the .NET Framework. Microsoft reveals that its new features include inheritance, method overloading, structured exception handling, and more. These capabilities make it easier than ever to create .NET applications, including Windows applications, web services, and web applications. VB.NET is an object-oriented computer programming language, evolving from the classic VB implemented on the .NET Framework. Microsoft provides two main editions of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs- yet another advanced software application) for developing in its commercial software Visual Basic: Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 and freeware Visual Basic Express Edition 2012. VB.NET features characteristics like scrolling, forms inheritance, inheritance-based polymorphism, the set up to build secure assemblies, and a host of other cyber applications.

 

COBOL, FORTRAN & BASIC: THE BEGINNING

VB.NET FROM MICROSOFT: ANOTHER FIRST

In the mid 1950s and early 1960s, the three major programming languages for computers were COBOL, Fortran and Basic. Of these three, Basic, a group of general-purpose, high-level programming languages and an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, was developed in 1964 in the USA. Visual Basic (VB) 1.0 was introduced as a misnomer more than two decades ago, in early 1991, as a drag and drop design for creating a user interface (UI) by one Alan Cooper. Interestingly, VB did not include a programming language. Microsoft, the budding IT colossus of that era, immediately noted its potential when used with its then operative Windows 3.0, and hooked up with Cooper to create a programming language using the extant Basic language so that VB could be brought back into the mainstream and released as such in May 1991.

Facing teething troubles, Visual Basic 1.0 was released as a "Disk Operating System” (DOS) in September 1992 as VB 2.0, a user-friendly programming development with a notable increase in speed. Each passing year saw an upgrade, with VB 6.0 released in 1998 exclusively for 32-bit versions of Windows, with the ability to create web-based applications. VB 6.0 was dropped by Microsoft in 2008 as a prelude to Microsoft’s new application, VB.NET.

According to Microsoft, its .NET Framework was designed to run primarily on Microsoft Windows. Using VB, it consists of two parts, a class library and the Common Language Runtime (CLR) application. Amongst its many properties, this framework provides ‘language interoperability,’ technical jargon that means that each language can use code written in other languages across several programming languages. What is unique to CLR is that its programs can be run in a software environment, as against a hardware environment, an application that facilitates provision of services such as security and memory management.

Integral to Microsoft's .NET platform, VB.Net compiles and runs using the .NET Framework. Microsoft reveals that its new features include inheritance, method overloading, structured exception handling, and more. These capabilities make it easier than ever to create .NET applications, including Windows applications, web services, and web applications. VB.NET is an object-oriented computer programming language, evolving from the classic VB implemented on the .NET Framework. Microsoft provides two main editions of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs- yet another advanced software application) for developing in its commercial software Visual Basic: Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 and freeware Visual Basic Express Edition 2012. VB.NET features characteristics like scrolling, forms inheritance, inheritance-based polymorphism, the set up to build secure assemblies, and a host of other cyber applications.

IT Managed Services

HOW NOT TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE: SOUND VICARIOUS ADVICE

Press releases present facts, meant for journalists to publish them . Brands, businesses and other organisations get an opportunity to reach their targeted audience through media. They tell the world about your event, anything from an arts product launch to a new appointment or award.

The press release is losing importance with the new social media and the digital revolution transforming media as last known, yet they can be very effective at securing positive media coverage and are a great way to boost your profile and attract new customers or audience members.
Press releases can be written by yourself, someone within your company or an external supplier such as a PR agency or freelancer, and there are many common mistakes people make when drafting one. Here are some and how you can stop making them.

The title isn't good enough

The title of your press release is the first thing a journalist will see, so make sure it's concise, enticing and gives a good overview of your story. Make your title something that will encourage the journalist to keep reading. Avoid lengthy, detailed titles that go on and on and on... Keep it punchy. If you must use puns, make sure they are witty and avoid using clichés at all times.

It's in first person

If you read any news story online or in your local newspaper, you'll notice everything is written in the third person – unless we're talking about quotes from actual people, of course. There should never be any "We did this" or "I think that" written in the body of a good press release – you have to imagine that someone else is telling your story at all times. A good tip is to pick up any newspaper and see how stories are written; you'll notice everything that third person voice , as though the journalist is telling the reader about someone or something else.

There isn't enough info

Don't make the assumption that a journalist will know everything about you, so make sure you include all the facts. Try to add a summary in your first paragraph, including where your arts organisation is based, the company name and the angle of the story. You wouldn't believe the amount of times I've had to look up where a company is based on Google, just so I can add it to their story on Creative Boom. Some journalists won't be as patient, so make sure you add all the information.

Punctuation is poor

If you're going to write a press release it's essential you use proper punctuation throughout. Journalists are time and resource poor these days, so make their job as easy and as hassle-free as possible by providing 'ready to publish' copy. That way they don't have to waste too much time double checking everything you've written. Supply first-class copy; it will also gain you a solid reputation as someone who is reliable and provides quality press releases at all times – someone they'll want to publish stories for again in the future.

Its plagiarised

Copy written specifically for your own arts website or company newsletter will not work for a press release – it's likely to be written in the first person, be too self-promotional and won't have a journalist in mind. Don't be lazy by providing something that you've already used internally. Start from scratch and write your news story specifically for the newspaper, e-zine or magazine you'll be targeting. Aim to mimic their own style of writing.

It's insipid and dispassionate

Once you've established an angle for your story, you should always provide one or two quotes from yourself or a spokesperson involved in the performance, project or event. But whatever you do, don't let these quotes go to waste. They are the only thing journalists can't change, so make the most of them by throwing in some strong key messages. Sure, the journalist might not use them, but don't repeat what has already been said elsewhere in the press release – use quotes as an opportunity to really sell yourself and your company. Keep them positive, upbeat and to the point.

There are too many CAPS

Something that really bugs journalists is the use of CAPS to emphasise certain names or words throughout a press release. For example, "CREATIVE BOOM is an online magazine for the creative industries" – it looks odd, a little sneaky and means the journalist has to go back through the entire release and change everything to lowercase. Avoid CAPS because you don't need to highlight your company's name; it will be obvious.

It's too short

Short isn't always sweet. Although you never want to waffle when drafting a press release, don't make the mistake of not providing enough content. More than anything, a journalist will want to get all the facts so make sure you include as much information as possible. You can still be concise and stay on track but don't forget to include every little detail. If in doubt, consider the golden rule of Who, What, Where, When Why and How – ask yourself if you've answered all these questions before sending the release.

It's too long

<![endif]-->“Quidquid praecipies, esto brevis."  
The reader is interested in facts relevant to him or his business and not about your grandmother's bedtime stories. Stick to the point and add only tidbits that would interest the reader in general-like "share value  rose 3.5 percent after the release..."

It's too promotional

When you've completed your press release, sit back and read it through. Does it scream "Please buy tickets to our show!?" or have you given a nice rounded overview of what the production or performance is? Though press releases are promotional, they are not advertisements – they are a presentation of facts, so keep it factual and be objective.

There's too much hype

Copy that is littered with exclamation marks and wild claims about your exhibition, event or service screams spam and will only end up in a journalists spam folder. Avoid verbiage because it will only read like an advertisement and that's something you'll want to avoid.

SUMMARY

Those are just a few of the common mistakes people make when writing a press release. If you've got any of your own top tips, stories or ideas then please share them by commenting below. Positive inputs can help many other professionals to improve.

CREDIT:
This article was first printed by guardian.co.uk on February 16, 2012. 

CAT III LANDING ON A MIRAGE 2000-PART III

CAT III ILS ON THE MIRAGE 2000

   DO READ PARTS 1 & 2 BEFORE READING THIS

My story is about the Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft and flying in the early 1990s. My soft-spoken Base Commander was a man from the old school who would not look outside the Rule Book. I was the Air Force Examiner on the Mirage 2000 aircraft and had devised holding patterns, one-in-ten approaches, ILS stacks, etc., things never heard by fighter pilots before. The book said I could fly in RVR of 1000 metres. One day, it so happened that my Base Commander's boss at Command HQ, the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO), an Air Marshal, had come down to visit the base and see how we conducted bad weather operations.  

It was drizzling that morning and the weatherman said that we could soon expect zero/zero conditions. The Base Commander shrugged his shoulders and looked rather apologetically at the SASO. SASO looked at me and said, " Air Force Examiner.. ........ ....Chicken?" I replied in a twang with a hint of an accusation, "It's your published order, sir. Override it and we could go." "Done," he said. 

For those who don't know, the Mirage 2000 is the easiest aircraft in the world to fly, but bloody demanding to operate in war, given its multiple capabilities. The Indian Air Force took cognisance of this fact and split the force into squadrons with specific roles. The best aid available on board was the autopilot which could do anything, well, almost. In fact, the very same autopilot is fitted on the Airbus 319 / 320s. I had devised and tested an autolanding system, which I practised in a two-seater by night from the rear seat. Landings from the rear seat at night were not easy-you needed practice to get the hang of it. This was a drawback in the aircraft, in that the rear cockpit had a camera screen that repeated what the front-seat pilot could see through the Head Up Display (HUD) in the front cockpit by filming the HUD. The display was far too bright to see anything at all and had to be switched off. You had to approach the runway by looking through the side panels and aligning yourself with the edge of the runway in the fore and aft plane and the Green on Amber on the AVASI in the vertical plane. When about 50 feet above the ground, you could see the runway lights coming under you, so getting back to the centre line was easy. I would intentionally fly head-down approaches at night, asking the front-seat pilot to take over controls if my approach seemed hairy.

The Mirage 2000 is a tailless delta-wing aircraft and faced a problem common to all delta-wing aircraft; the nose of the aircraft had to be raised fairly high to generate the lift required to come in to land at reasonably low speeds. In fact, the Concorde also had this problem, solved ingeniously by deliberately drooping the nose so that the pilot could see what was ahead. In the Mirage 2000, you had to raise your seat fully and change the display on the HUD to what is called the approach mode, which had a landing-oriented but totally different set of symbols on display. Landing after these two actions then became as easy as in the daytime. Rain was a problem, because, even in a drizzle, forward visibility reduced to zero! The Inertial Nav System generated a synthetic runway to project on the Head Up Display, but this was never to be used as the INS drifted with time. Today, with GPS and TACAN integration with the continuously refreshed Ring Laser INS, there is no problem in using the synthetic runway.

I got the SASO kitted up and into the rear seat quickly enough. As we taxied out, the fog came in and visibility reduced to 30 metres. I handed over controls to the SASO and asked him to taxi out. He coped well because the taxi-tracks were 30 metres wide and he could see the centreline and the grass beyond the taxi-track edges. As we moved further away, visibility dropped to 10 metres and I had to take over controls again. ATC piped in with a warning that RVR was 20 metres and dropping. Without informing the SASO, I switched the ILS on and used the localiser to get onto the runway centreline. I asked the SASO if he would like to take off. He declined, saying, "I can't see anything." I insisted he take off, saying that the aircraft was on the centreline and would stay there for the 450 metres required for take off. In any case, I was there to assist or take over if anything went awry. He agreed and the take off was uneventful. 

We climbed out of all clouding by 9,000 feet. SASO started to throw the aircraft around, enjoying himself. Later, I took him down to 1,000 feet above ground level in a flattish and safe sector and, whilst still in cloud, showed him the ground mapping and safety modes of the multimode radar. I showed him how to distinguish roads from rail tracks, how to assess heights of hill features, what rivers and bridges looked like, etc. He was more than impressed with the quality of the display and what all could be achieved. Soon it was time to get back. I took over controls and said, "See for yourself how this aircraft autolands, sir." 

I got in touch with our local radar and informed him we were doing an auto-ILS and requested back up. I started to slow the aircraft down from 450 to 200 knots, punched the required buttons, raised my seat, selected auto-ILS and changed the HUD to landing mode. I then showed SASO my hands and said, "I won't touch controls unless required."The aircraft auto navigated to the holding point and as my speed dropped below 225 knots, the "lower undercarriage" command prompted me to lower the landing gear. The aircraft had climbed to the stack safety height of 2,600 feet above sea level by then and entered the holding pattern at 200 knots. Since we were the only aircraft in the air, we exited the stack on our first turnaround.

I informed ground radar of our exit and as we approached the ILS LOC beam, the aircraft turned and captured the localiser. As mandated, I called out LOC capture. I then reduced power to hit approach angle of attack(ά) of 13° and maintained it. Soon we were on glide path and the aircraft commenced descent. Radar called out,"You're on glide path and centreline. RVR is now zero in light drizzle. Wind is calm. Recheck wheels down and locked. Acknowledge." The Mirage 2000 has a beep signal that is transmitted on three frequencies at one time, when a button is pressed, but only if the wheels were down and locked. This signal confirms to the ground controllers that the wheels are actually down and locked. Radar, in turn, acknowledged the signal and we were now on ATC frequency on our second radio set. All this while we were in cloud. ATC called us and said that all runway lights and the AVASI (Visual Slope Indicator) were on. We would never see them.

I had selected Radioaltimeter visual warning to 20 feet. As the aircraft silently descended through clouds, radar kept telling us, "On glide, on centreline." My hands were visible to SASO, who said,"Can't see a sausage outside." "Look at the Head Down Display, sir," I added. It showed our glideslope. At 350 feet on radalt, I disconnected ILS glideslope, its minima being 300 feet-not even a Cat I ILS. I kept the last used glidepath on the autopilot and retained auto-centreline control. We were aligned perfectly down the centreline. At 100 feet, radar said, "Approaching our minima, on advisory if requested." I responded, "Yes, please."

He continued,"On centreline, crossing threshold, height should be 30 feet." It was. As the radalt warning came at 20 feet, I throttled back to idle and allowed the aircraft to sink, allowing the ά to increase to 14°. Close to the ground, at 15 feet and less, the air compressed under the large delta wings of the Mirage 2000 tends to cushion its landing. Radar said, "Approaching touchdown." As we touched down smoothly, the autopilot disconnected by default. I just stayed on the ILS line and asked SASO,"Shall we do another one, sir?" He declined. I gently brought the aircraft to a halt and asked for the follow-me jeep. My engine noise and flashing lights were picked up by the follow-me jeep, and I put my 2000-watt landing lights on. This was reflected by the orange stripes of the jeep and we followed him all the way home at a sedate 10 kph. On the long stretch back, SASO waxed eloquent, totally impressed with the aircraft (and the Indian Air Force Examiner?) 

Today's Mirage 2000 has been upgraded radically so that the synthetic runway genuinely shows where the actual runway is. Auto-throttle has not been added.