Could you code with one of these?

I just saw this product from a blog over at http://blogs.msdn.com and thought it was cool enough to share:

http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/en/hhkeyboard/hhkbpro/nokeytop.html

It’s a keyboard that doesn’t have any markings on the keys (no letters etc.)! I probably type about 95% of the time without looking at the keyboard because a couple of years back, I made myself break the habit of looking down…(and I did it by playing a little typing game SEGA made…yup, SEGA, called “Typing of the Dead” really great game to learn to type if you like video games). I’m actually a bit interested in getting one of these things…not because I’m the greatest typist, but that would be an excellent way to force yourself to type even faster…I wonder how much it costs though.

UPDATE: Um, ok. That keyboard is somewhere in the $150 – $300 range (it’s sold out right now so I can’t find an exact price, but the similar models fit in that range)! That’s a wee bit much…it’d rather run the key labels off an old keyboard I already own then unless that thing types for me. 🙂

C# Compiler Source Code

For those of you that might be interested in seeing what the insides of a compiler look like, you might want to check out Mike Stall’s blog. He wrote a C# compiler (which was written in C# too) a couple of years ago and wanted to release the source code. Now this isn’t the “real” C# compiler (csc.exe) source, but it’s a good start for those wanting to know more about compilers (particularly those that might have a compiler class in college). Anyway, his actual post with a link to the code is here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/jmstall/archive/2005/02/06/368192.aspx

UPDATE: It looks like the download link is finally working again on his site. So if you couldn’t get the code earlier, it’s up now.

Digitial Black Belt Security Series

Just wanted to tell those of you that might be interested in security (mainly writing secure code, but I believe it will branch into more broad subjects too), you might want to check out Joe Stagner’s Digital Black Belt WebCast series (it’s through MSDN WebCasts). The official series site is here:

http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/events/series/digitalblackbelt.mspx

If you are one of the first 300 to attend six of these webcasts, MS is giving away free Black Belts (like a real black belt type thing…think Karate but minus the sparring :))

I met Joe at an MSDN Event a while back and he’s a really nice guy and he’s reallllllly into security (and he is actually quite familiar with non-MS products…aka Linux….and other interesting things…so he really has a broad knowledge base to use in his talks if the people want to go that way). ANyway, there’s a webcast TODAY (Feb 4, 2005) that’s to kick things off and I’m going to try attending. Here’s the link to it if you’re interested:

MSDN Webcast: Digital Blackbelt Series: The Software Security Crisis: Selling Management on the Need to Invest in Secure Software Development (Level 100)
MSDN Webcast: Digital Blackbelt Series: The Software Security Crisis: Selling Management on the Need to Invest in Secure Software Development (Level 100)
Friday, February 4, 2005
11:00 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Pacific Time, United States and Canada (UTC-8)

Tune in for an introduction to the Digital Blackbelt Series. Learn about the evolving “Secure Culture” at Microsoft Corporation and how your company can save money by spending defensively.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032267274&Culture=en-US

BTW, there is also a webcast today that Bill Gates is supposed to be at talking about the Office system and how developers can be building on that…here’s the link:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032268546&Culture=en-US