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ROTFLMAO
Oh man, that Wreakon guy is a hoot. He is awfully sensitive about the whole thing.
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
The Code Project
Pope Pius II said
"The only prescription is more cowbell. "
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"You'd hate my code-reviews then"
that line was great!
Pandoras Gift #44: Hope. The one that keeps you on suffering.
aber.. "Wie gesagt, der Scheiss is' Therapie"
boost your code || Fold With Us! || sighist | doxygen
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Return of the Sith trailer (QuickTime required)[^]
Wow. My excitement levels for this movie have just been raised a couple of notches. Palpatine sounds like an evil Obi-Wan when he's talking to Anakin. Very nice parallel with the original movie.
Whilst I never judge a movie by its trailer, it feels like the battles in this movie will have a little more emotional content unlike the very bland fights in 'Attack of the Clones'
I'm looking forward to this in a big way.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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I really hope so too though after what Lucas says here I am back to worrying again.
Emotion, romance is fine, you know I like that stuff but comparing it to Titanic? 
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
The Code Project
Pope Pius II said
"The only prescription is more cowbell. "
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Paul Watson wrote:
Emotion, romance is fine, you know I like that stuff but comparing it to Titanic?
Well he was in-front of an audience of cinema owners, he has to try and sell it to them somehow. After all, they are all on the look-out for the next Titanic.
Of course, it will be like Titanic in the fact that everybody knows what happens at the end of the movie 'The boat sinks' vs 'Rise of the Empire etc'
I think it will be a tearjerker - at least for me. I know I'll blub sometime during watching the movie, probably at the end as the credits rise. Star Wars has been with me nearly all my life, and the end of the saga is bound to have an effect on me. Heck, I cry when Spock dies at the end of 'Wrath of Khan' and my love of the classic Star Trek series hasn't been with me for as long.
Plus there will be more personal emotions coming to play, I'll have seen all six movies with my Dad. He took me to the original trilogy and I've taken him to the prequel trilogies. This will probably be the last movie we see together, given that he's not into going to see movies. The Star Wars movies have always been the story of a Father and Son, and so there is a little symetry between the movies and real-life. If my father hadn't taken me to see the original Star Wars, I think my life would have turned out rather differently. Through Star Wars, my love for all things space came... through my love for all things space came my love of computers and look where that has led me.
So I'm in for an emotional time, and I'm going to enjoy every moment.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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And so the magic of Star Wars that its critics simply don't get. 
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
The Code Project
Pope Pius II said
"The only prescription is more cowbell. "
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Bought a couple of new games recently and thought I'd share my thoughts,
Republic Commando[^] - Linear, keep shooting at droids until they finally die, very repetitive and not very satisfying. Freezes at some most annoying spots. Far too short. The game opens well on Genosis during 'Attack of the Clones' but quickly peters out into a very boring game. It shows its console origins. I'll stick with the Dark Forces series of games.
A better game is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords[^]
A very playable RPG set even further back than "A long time ago", in a galaxy far, far away. Playing a former Jedi who has lost his/her connection with the force - set against a backdrop of galactic war (Hey this is Star Wars, when isn't there a war going on). Took me about 24hrs of play to finish it. Some neat puzzles and interesting conversations with non-player-characters as you try to figure out what happened to your player and to find out what happened to the characters from the original game. Some nice set piece battles and great force powers to use in said battles. Choices made in the game determine whether you'll end up playing as Jedi or Sith but the endings are both still very similar. Let down by a very disappointing ending which doesn't answer a lot of the questions posed in the game. Some of the fights get repetitive, especially against wild-life. A few annoying bugs that can prevent further progress in the game, but as long as you save regularly then they won't get in the way too much. Much better than Republic Commando and a worthwhile purchase for RPG fans who have a hankering for toting a lightsaber.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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I've just finished reading The Kenneth Williams Diaries[^], a collation of the desktop diary entries of one of Britain's funniest character actors.
It has been a fascinating read, detailing his life from 1942 through to his death in 1988. Shockingly honest, especially his thoughts on himself and the people he'd worked with. The Carry On[^] team regulars take a tongue lashing as do the films themselves but the diaries also show the love and respect he had for people like Joe Orton[^], Kenneth Horne[^], Maggie Smith[^], Gordon Jackson[^] and Barbara Windsor[^]
The book is a little harrowing in places, especially his suicidal thoughts about his failing health and general unhappiness with his life. The last entry in particluar is heartbreaking, especially as it hints at what is about to happen.
Obviously Williams was a troubled man, but it comes across as the kind of guy whose stories you could listen to for hours. His struggles with his sexuality during less enlightened times give an insight into how different society is today when it comes to be more accepting of homosexuality. One thing that shines through the writing is his love for his mother, the one constant throughout his life.
A very good book, especially for those of us who are fascinated by the human condition but it also serves as an illustration about what makes a good diary. Something a lot of online bloggers could learn a lot from.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Oooh dear, I think Disney might have just hit rock bottom. They've been falling for awhile now but this is just trying too hard.
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
The Code Project
Pope Pius II said
"The only prescription is more cowbell. "
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Hi Michael. Thought you might like to know the first episode of Battlestar Galactica is available here. It's totally legal, though you need RealPlayer (though you can use RealPlayer Alternative).
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
The Code Project
Pope Pius II said
"The only prescription is more cowbell. "
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Paul Watson wrote:
Hi Michael. Thought you might like to know the first episode of Battlestar Galactica is available here. It's totally legal, though you need RealPlayer (though you can use RealPlayer Alternative).
That's pretty sweet. Thanks for the link. I haven't seen that episode since it was first shown last year. Plays pretty well too. Must have a decent server on the end or nobody else knows about it yet.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Damn damn damn. I just watched the whole thing and I have to say I am impressed. I really want to see the next episode. Isn't being shown down here though, argh.
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
The Code Project
Pope Pius II said
"The only prescription is more cowbell. "
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Whilst searching for something completely unrelated, I happened upon Emma Kennedy's blog/diary[^]
Emma is one of my favourite comedy performers/writers. I loved her in The Smoking Room[^], not to mention her wonderful work on some of my favourite radio shows (The Now Show, News Quiz and Think the Unthinkable)
Another one to add to the ever growing RSS feed of "famous' people.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Having finally got broadband, I've been able to catch up with some of the streaming movies that my 64k line couldn't cope with.
Recommended viewing for those with a decent internet connection
Pink 5[^] - Ever wonder how the Rebel Alliance would have fared if a Valley Girl was at the controls of an X-wing fighter during the daring raid on the Death Star?
and the funnier sequel
Pink 5 strikes back[^]
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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Whilst these forums on CP provide a good blogging resource and even though my 2004 attempt at blogging at mpbutler.net[^] didn't meet much success. I have created a new blog for 2005 over on Wdevs.com[^]
I like the work that Anders and team are doing over there and in an ideal world, I'd like to see a CP/WDevs partnership as they both seem to compliment each other.
I'm not abandonding my CP blog though, I'll use it for things I don't want the search engines to find and for my thoughts which don't fall into the software world.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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Paul Watson wrote:
Wow, I did not even know of your mpbutler.net blog. When did you announce it?
I didn't really. There are a few links on the MyXaml forum and in the Wiki, I also use it for urls when posting on other peoples blogs. It was a half-hearted thing that never really took off.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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You won't be missed.
2004 has been a bad year for me, both personally and professionally. I've worked hard and not got a lot to show for it. Of course, recent news events puts a lot of things in perspective but from my own point of view - I've had a bad year.
Still 2005, holds a lot of promise. I've got a few interesting work-related items lined up and my personal defeats have only left me stronger and wiser.
Plus 2005 is the year of Star Wars:Episode III and a new series of Doctor Who. Two of my childhood companions who still leave me with a warm, fuzzy feel inside.
So, goodbye 2004 and hello 2005.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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Paul Watson wrote:
All the best for 2005, Butler.
And you too Paul.
Looks like your cricket boys have got lucky with the weather 
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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Bugger, I hate rain intefering in a game even to the enemies detriment. I like to win or lose on merit, not luck or weather. Brilliant come-back of Englands after that horrendous first innings.
So down to the match here in Cape Town. I'll be shouting from the grass on Sunday 
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
The Code Project
South-East Asia Disaster: How you can help
Pope Pius II said
"The only prescription is more cowbell. "
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Channel 9 videos[^], my new addiction.
Since I got my 2mb DSL line last week, I've spent a lot of my free time watching the Channel 9 videos. There are some cool things shown and discussed, plus I enjoy the peek behind the scenes at Microsoft.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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I've spent the last few days struggling to get Crystal Reports to give me the report layout that a client has requested. What a nightmare. For once, Crystal isn't totally to blame. The data structure of the Symposium Phone System (Sybase) database is ill-suited to my clients demands. I think I've persuaded my client to reduce his requirements until I work out a plan to extract the data into SQL Server and transform it into a more suitable format.
I then get back to my email (I'm on-site and don't have full pop3 access) and find a message from one of my other clients telling me that they want to discuss their reporting requirements too. Argh!
Hopefully next year, I'll get back to writing real code because all this reporting is starting to suck the life out of me.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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It has been a tough couple of weeks recently. Doing a very boring reporting contract has pretty much sucked all the life out of me.
However, this small teaser[^] for the new series of Doctor Who has given me a warm feeling inside.
There is very little content in the trailer but just hearing the words "I'm the Doctor by the way" followed by "Run for your life" , brings back so many enjoyable childhood memories.
The Doctor was always one of my biggest role models and along with the Star Wars movies was a constant companion through my childhood years. Good to see it coming back and I hope it can inspire a new generation of children just like the original series did for me.
Michael
CP Blog [^]
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