Developing For .NET

Just a weekly update…

When I bought this machine, I picked up a new wireless mouse and keyboard. About a week ago, I noticed that my mouse had a flashing red light on it. I had never seen it before, and I quickly realized that this is a battery low indicator light. I had mixed feelings about this. First, I appreciate the notice, because there is nothing more frustrating than being deep in the zone and the mouse or keyboard runs out of power. But when I got to thinking about it, I thought that in a way it is foolish. Just when the power is getting low, you add an additional energy draw by powering a flashing light! I even went around the office showing everyone and commenting about how dumb it was. I likened it to the bank drawing an overdraft charge when you bounce a check. Hello! The problem is there is no money in there in the first place! <sheesh>

Well, today it finally died… right in the middle of a great coding session. Naturally, I was annoyed, both at the interruption and (sheepishly) at the realization that I should have obeyed the warning and replaced the stinking batteries. But I did learn two things: first, the light flashed for over a week before the batteries finally died, and second I learned that the mouse will function on a single battery (which I discovered when I was replacing the batteries). Interesting.

On the Mentor side (to make the title work), I will be giving my “.NET 3.5 Language Enhancements” presentation tomorrow morning at the Richmond Code Camp. Unfortunately I’ll be driving in and immediately driving out and will miss some of the presentations I would like to see. If you see me there, mention the blog and say hello.