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.

 

THE TRUTH ABOUT CHOLESTEROL

Cholesterol Myths that May Surprise You

By Lisa Collier Cool

Life insurance companies know a surprising secret about cholesterol that most doctors never tell patients: When it comes to rating your risk for a fatal heart attack, the least important cholesterol number is your level of LDL (bad) cholesterol. In fact, life insurance actuaries don’t even look at LDL levels, because large studies show it’s the worst predictor of heart attack risk.Instead, life insurance companies use a simple math formula to rate your heart attack risk: They divide your total cholesterol by the level of HDL (good) cholesterol.“If the ratio is below three, and there’s no inflammation in your arteries, you’re practically bulletproof against heart attacks and strokes, even if your LDL is high,” reports Amy Doneen, MSN, ARNP, medical director of the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center in Spokane, Washington.Here’s a look at eight common cholesterol myths.

• Myth: Cholesterol is inherently evil.

Fact: You couldn’t survive without cholesterol, since this waxy substance produced by the liver plays many essential roles in our body, from waterproofing cell membranes to helping produce vitamin D, bile acids that help you digest fat, and sex hormones, including testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone.Cholesterol is ferried through your body by molecular “submarines” called lipoproteins, such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

Cholesterol: The Good, The Bad, The Essential

• Myth: Low cholesterol is always a sign of good health.

Fact: Although low levels of LDL cholesterol are usually healthy, a new study reports that people who develop cancer typically have lower LDL in the years prior to diagnosis than those who don’t get cancer. Researchers compared 201 cancer patients to 402 control patients without cancer, matched by such factors as age, gender, smoking, blood pressure, diabetes, and body mass index. None of the patients had taken statins. Thirteen earlier randomized clinical trials of statin therapy also found a link between low LDL and cancer, causing medical debate about whether statins raise risk. The new study suggests that an unknown biological mechanism—rather than cholesterol-lowering medication—may be the culprit. 

• Myth: High LDL means you could be headed for a heart attack.

Fact: Nearly 75 percent of people hospitalized for a heart attack have LDL (bad) cholesterol levels that fall within current recommended targets, and close to half have “optimal” levels, according to a national study of about 136,000 people. The researchers also reported that levels of protective HDL (good) cholesterol have dropped in heart attack patients over the last several years, probably due to the rise in obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance. Only 2 percent of the patients studied had ideal levels of both LDL and HDL.

• Myth: All LDL particles are equally dangerous.

Fact: The size of the particles matters, says Doneen. “Think of beach balls and bullets. Some LDL particles are small and dense, making it easier for them to penetrate the arterial lining and form plaque, while others are big and fluffy, so they tend to bounce off the artery walls.”People who mostly have small, dense LDL cholesterol are up to three times more likely to have heart attacks than those with big, fluffy particles.

Find Foods that Lower Cholesterol but Keep Flavor

• Myth: Americans have the world’s highest cholesterol levels.

Fact: Contrary to the stereotype that most of us are just a few big Macs away from a heart attack, US men rank 83^rd in the world in average total cholesterol and US women 81^st, according to the World Health Organization. For both sexes, the average is 197 mg/dL, slightly below the borderline high range (200 to 239 mg/dL). In Colombia, men average a whopping 244 mg/dL—a level that doubles heart-disease risk—while Israeli, Libyan, Norwegian, and Uruguayan women are in a four-way tie for the highest average with 232. 

• Myth: Triglycerides trigger heart disease.

Fact: “Triglycerides, a type of blood fat, don’t invade the artery wall and form plaque,” explains Doneen. “However, high triglycerides mark another huge problem: insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition that is the root cause of 70 percent of heart attacks.” High triglycerides are also one of the warning signs of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of abnormalities that multiply risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. To be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, you must have three or more of these disorders: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a large waist, high triglycerides, and low HDL.

• Myth: Eggs clogs up arteries.

Fact: It’s true that eggs are high in dietary cholesterol, with upwards of 200 mg, mainly in the yolk. Research shows, however, that eating three or more eggs a day boosts blood concentrations of both good and bad cholesterol.  The LDL particles tend to be the light, fluffy ones that are least likely to enter the arterial wall, while the increased HDL helps keep the arteries clean, suggesting that most people’s bodies handle cholesterol from eggs in a way that’s unlikely to harm the heart. The researchers say that their findings add to growing evidence that eggs are not “a dietary evil.”

Read Our Guide to Cholesterol-Free Foods

• Myth: There are no visible symptoms of high cholesterol.

Fact: Some people with high cholesterol develop yellowish-red bumps called xanthomas that can occur on the eyelids, joints, hands, or other parts of the body. People with diabetes or an inherited condition called familial hypercholesterolemia are more likely to have xanthomas. The best way to tell if your cholesterol is too high is to have it checked every three years, starting at age 20, or more often, if advised by your healthcare provider.

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By Lisa Collier Cool

DE MORTUIS NIHIL NISI BONUM

A QUICK LOOK AT MAUSOLEUMS

There is a prevailing belief that one can gauge how civilized a culture is by the way its dead are treated. The Latin phrase de mortuis nihil nisi bonum (“Of the dead, nothing unless good”), exemplifies this belief, to the extent that children are taught or told in hushed whispers, “Never speak ill of the dead.” One way of expressing respect for the dead is by constructing a mausoleum for the deceased. A mausoleum is a free-standing individual monument constructed entirely to enclose the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons, normally located in a cemetery, a churchyard or on private land. In the United States, the term may be used for a burial vault below a larger facility, such as a church. Mausoleum construction is nothing new-the pyramids in Egypt stand proud testimony to this statement.

Mausoleums may be made of any type of stone, like granite, basalt, sandstone, bricks, marble, etc. Of these types of stones, marble mausoleums are the most elegant and expensive. The Mausoleum of Gaius Cestius in Rome is over 2000 years old, built mainly of marble that was stolen over the centuries. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the world was also built using engraved and filigreed marble for its external panels. The most famous marble mausoleum extant is the historic Taj Mahal in India. Marble is also used today to build mausoleums for the rich and famous, leading to Ambrose Bierce’s quip circa 1900: ‘Mausoleum, the final and funniest folly of the rich’.

            Mausoleums can be of many types. A Sarcophagus is a large tomb that looks like it actually contains a body;however, most of the time the body is actually buried under it. A Vestibule looks like small house with a door that opens to a vestibule that has crypts on one or both sides. A Tumulus looks like a large mound that is built into a hill. Baroque style mausoleums have a flowing design with lots of decoration. Classical style mausoleums contain columns and look similar to structures built by the ancient Greeks. Gothic style mausoleums have lots of towers and pointed arches. Egyptian style mausoleums are shaped like pyramids, or mausoleums that contain sphinxes, a symbol of a circle with vulture wings, or twin cobras. There are other mausoleum styles as well, like the Modern style, Open Air and privately designed miscellanea.

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MEDIA: DE FACTO ALLIES TO TERRORISM

ABSTRACT

Some eminent writers and scholars argue that too often the media helps promote terrorists' agenda. Others, however, disagree. I tend to go with the former, and in this short Paper, will show how terrorism can be seen from at least two perspectives, those of the victim and the perpetrator. Using three examples, I will prove that the media would not mind terrorist acts coming up on their own on the agenda, however distasteful and disagreeable they may seem, as much as the terrorists want the media, as it suits the interests of both these parties.  

 THE STORY

The horrific events of 9/11 brought terrorism centre stage. Terrorism had existed well before that date, but remained largely underplayed, till Uncle Sam got bearded in his own den. Without attempting to add to the plethora of definitions of terrorism, let me just say that there is a fundamental difference in the way it is seen, related purely to perspective. The victim and the perpetrator portray an incident affecting them quite differently.

             For example, US media might say, “Terrorists detonated a bomb near the camp of the U.S. peacekeeping forces, causing numerous U.S. military casualties.” Arab media would report it as: “Freedom fighters detonated a bomb near the base of the crusaders. The tremendous blast killed and severely injured many infidels.”(n.p.)

              A free press is a mandate in a democracy. If the content available was not salutary, the media would still report it. Terrorism uses this mandate to further its own aim by spreading fear. A terrorist organization actually needs the media to spread information about localized attacks as widely as possible. In the cause of reporting, or at times, hogging the limelight, the media does exactly what the terrorist wants. Paradoxically, terrorism has become a boon for the media, because such attacks make television ratings surge. “Terrorist acts are well calculated, always played to an audience and specific tactics employed to maximize impact” (Bozarth, 2005).

            There are people who feel that the media brings the world up to date and educates people about the ills of terrorism and how it is crucial to lend a hand against this ugly monster. I do not agree and believe that the media is only interested in its ratings, ‘damn the consequences’ (n.p.).  I will use three examples to support my argument.

             Since 1960, advancement in technology had affected the media greatly, giving it a face and voice, not just events reported on black and white paper. The nature of terrorism reporting had also evolved simultaneously. While aimed to promote terror in a larger target audience, terrorism often aims to recruit more supporters. The media is the conduit to both these aims. Terrorism ‘relies almost exclusively on psychological “warfare” for its intended impact. Victims of an attack are the signal that is amplified and broadcast, terrorizing the target audience into capitulating to the terrorists demands’ (Bozarth, 2005). “Terrorists are not interested in three, or thirty – or even three thousand - deaths. They allow the imagination of the target population to do their work for them. In fact, the desired panic could be produced by the continuous broadcast of threats and declarations – by radio and TV interviews, videos and all the familiar methods of psychological warfare” (Ganor 2002).

             Terrorists have “four media-dependent objectives when they strike or threaten to commit violence. The first is: Gain attention, intimidate, create fear. The second is: Recognition of the organization’s motives. Why they are carrying out attacks? The third is: Gain the respect and sympathy of those in whose name they claim to attack. The last is: Gain a quasi-legitimate status and media treatment at par with legitimate political actors” (Nacos 2007, 20). Many cases confirm that ‘getting attention through the media is important terrorist strategy. The 7 July 2005 London bombings on the transit system in London is one example, with the G-8 summit on in Scotland. The terrorists pushed the G-8 leaders off the front pages’ (Ibid, 20-21).

             The Palestinian terrorist organization Black September attack on Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympic Games 1972, when people around the world were watching the Games and large numbers of newspaper and broadcast journalists had gathered, is another example. A  hostage situation and a rescue attempt ensued, closely covered by all media, and watched by approximately 800 million people throughout the world. The terrorists “monopolized the attention of a global television audience. (Ibid, 179). “Black September undoubtedly chose Munich at the time of the Olympics because the technology, equipment, and personnel were in place to guarantee a television drama that had never before been witnessed in the global arena.” (Nacos 2002, 177).

             The images of attacks like 9/11, can inspire awe. For instance, “after 9/11, Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden have become more popular in the Muslim community” (Gunaratna, 2006). “Simply by showing that he and his kind could land a devastating blow against the US on home ground, bin Laden conditioned a large number of young Muslim men – mainly in the Muslim diaspora in western Europe – for recruitment into his cause without ever meeting them.” (Nacos 2007, 22).

             The Internet can be and has been used terrorists for cyber-terrorism, coordination of plans, communication with cells, or propaganda and information. That they can now manage their own media is not the only advantage they have in using the Internet. “There are other advantages in using the Net. The audience is enormous; it is easy to access and stay anonymous, it is incredibly fast and inexpensive, and it offers a multimedia environment, which means that text, graphics, video, songs, books, and presentations can all be combined. In addition, regular media now often report on or even copy Internet content, which means that both old and new media can be influenced by using the Internet alone” (Weimann 2004, 3).

      Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

            

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