Another lighthearted comedy in the Catch Me If You Can vein. Spielberg seems to be able to knock these out effortlessly - it’s awesome. He’s got so much stuff lined up you have to wonder if he ever sleeps. Indiana Jones 4, a
Add comment April 23rd, 2004
The Manchurian Candidate? Hell yeah! Johnathan Demme? This could be very very good. Just the thing a paranoid twitchy world needs. <evil grin>
Add comment April 22nd, 2004
Apropos this article on the MySQL conference in Orlando - I remember when MySQL didn’t do outer-joins. I had to do the joins in code instead… And this was on the beta HTTP servlet host… vivid had run out of money early in 97, and while we were waiting for the clients and the money to come back everyone had free time. I spent a month or so teaching myself Java and checking out this alternative to mSQL that was a lot faster.
MySQL had a huge advantage in that it supported more SQL than mSQL did, and it had an ODBC driver. The ODBC driver was key, because that meant that the accounting staff could use Excel to pull data from it. We were all filling out timesheets in Excel, and the consolidation was all done by hand. It took ages to do, and everyone hated it. The month of enforced idleness gave me time to develop a timesheet registration and reporting system using the newfangled Java servlet system Sun was beta-testing.
The Java code I wrote was pretty horrible and procedural (Perl CGI’s being the language of choice for server development) but it got the job done. The system remembered your projects and stages, so it was easy to enter more hours without having to re-select a bunch of drop-downs every time. The system also placed a new dilbert strip at the top every day, so people were favorably disposed towards the system. After a couple of weeks of testing it on my own I showed it to the managers, who liked it (it had reports they needed), and the admin staff liked it (since they didn’t have to do all that manual Excel consolidation any more). The system went live shortly afterwards, and except for a few server reboots and buggy reports, it worked like a charm.
The buggy reports were a result of the lack of MySQL outer joins. The outer-joins were coming in the next release, but it was still alpha, and stayed well away from it. As a result I had logic like this all over the place in the reporting methods (forgive the bogus Java, the actual code is on a disk somewhere in the attic):
rs = cmd.execute("select * from person where project_id = 2");
while( ! rs.eof() )
{
rs2 = cmd.execute("select * from hours where person_id=" + rs.field("person_id").value );
sum = 0;
while( ! rs2.eof() )
{
sum += rs2.field("numHours")
}
response.output(sum);
total += sum;
}
response.output(total);
Nowadays the code would be done in one straightforward SQL statement, and the results would probably be dumped into Excel via a web service instead of an ODBC driver…
Ah - progress! I’m lovin’ it. (Wish I could be in Orlando for the MySQL conference)
April 14th, 2004
Vigna Pedale, Castel del Monte, Torrevento, Rosso Vendemmia 2000. Robust and hefty enough to go with a steak dinner, but not so bitter it can’t be drunk on its own after the steak is all gone and half the bottle remains… It was Yummy - have to get some more from Vinmonopoly - the governmental vitners.
Add comment April 14th, 2004
Easter is Crime and Murder season in Norway. This year I polished off two Steven Saylor “Mysteries of Ancient Rome”. He writes real page-turners, although the later books in the series suffer from overly focusing on the detective Gordianus, and less on the crimes he is supposed to be investigating.
The “Arms of Nemesis” is the second book in the series and is a taut thriller. Gordianus has three days to solve a murder, or a hundred slaves will die. Spartacus roams the countryside, so the fear of revolting slaves makes everyone suspect the slaves of the murder. Lots of interesting research (some dumped straight into the book direct from the research notes thanks to the expository philosopher character who happens to be staying at the villa where the action takes place). And anyway, isn’t the research is part of the pleasure of reading this series. A bit of a deus-ex-machina ending, and Gordianus continues his habit of picking up slave children.
“Mists of Prophecy” is the last book in the series (I’ve been reading these out of order, as I find them) and Saylor has tried a few different narrative tricks here (flashbacks and re-telling the same events from different viewpoints) that he hasn’t used before. The story of a Cassandra who dies in his arms, murdered by one of the most powerful women in Rome — the background is as interesting as always, but the pressure and urgency is lacking in this book.
Hopefully Gordianus and Saylor will travel back to Alexandria to tell some stories set in the ancient egyptian city.
My cousin has lent me “The Murder Room” by PD James, and I’m working my way through it. I wish she wrote less - the detailed descriptions of everything are a bit too much for me. Maybe I’ll get used to it.
Add comment April 12th, 2004
My mouth loves me - boiled red potatoes, beef filet, grilled shrooms and onions, pepper sauce, Castel del Monte (Torrevento) (Rosso Vendemmia 2000)(recommended - robust, but not overwhelming or too complex) - about as good a follow up as I could manage to the slow roasted lamb my mom prepared yesterday (isn’t it strange how ancient traditions live on - jewish passover becomes protestant leg-of-lamb easter dinner becomes easter lamb on sale).
But the bizarre juxtaposition: switching between TCM’s Bataan (a 1943 propaganda war movie) and CNN’s Bush speech where he was lamenting the loss of life in Iraq. Quite the war-and-peace message. Spot the difference.
April 12th, 2004
Very strange dreams. Giant radioactive ants (or was it termites?) invade New York. I think the virus has stopped fucking around with the sinuses and bronchial tubes, and gone straight for the brain.
Tomorrow is the start of Easter holidays in Norway - everything is shut until Tuesday, with a small vacation break on saturday morning so people can re-stock their larders. Christianity may be losing adherents in Norway, but the days off we get are still important to Norwegians, religious or not. Many people spend them performing near-pagan sun worship, either on a snowy mountaintop, or on a sunny beach nearer the tropics.
Add comment April 7th, 2004
Saw Zatoichi with Erik and Beate last night after the birthday party. If you liked Kill Bill, you should get a kick out of it. I first heard of the character Zatoichi through
Usagi Yojimbo comic strip, where Zato-ino (the blind swords-pig) shows up several times.
It’s a violent, stylish movie, with awesome percussive soundtrack. Interestingly the director chose to use CGI for a lot of the blood and dismemberment because he felt it looked less real than the stage blood they had first tried. The CGI blood was entertaining, while the stage blood was nauseating. I’ve heard it described as an arthouse-action movie. Its tap-dancing, stylized genre plot, and lack of explosions certainly make it a different experience. The sword-fighting in Zatoichi is very fast and lethal - thumbs, hands, arms go flying - and rarely is there time for a parry and counter, which was a little sad. Still, there are some surprises in there. In the very beginning a bandit draws his sword, nicking the arm of the bandit standing next to him. All that steel flying round, accidents had to happen, right?
Add comment April 4th, 2004
Mikkel turned three years old and had a birthday party yesterday. He was an attentive and careful host, making sure everyone got hot-dogs and cake. Lots of fun. My brother Erik brought Jenga - something which turns out to be an ideal gift to a three-year old. You can build stuff (tall towers) and tear them down. In fact, this is the point of Jenga. A bunch of three year olds stare in rapt attention as the grown-ups try to out-do each other in Jenga. Most excellent fun! Afterwards the blocks are suitable for loading into tonka trucks so they can be driven around the living room and dumped into the corner…
I also got to comiserate with my parents about this cold/sinus virus that’s knocked the whole family out this past week. The virus should be done soon, but man - sinus headaches and forced lethargy suck.
Add comment April 4th, 2004
The “cold” I’ve had since sunday evening seems to be losing its grip, although that could just be wishful thinking and the sugar rush I’m on right now (Camilla just came by with Easter egg presents for everyone at work). I sniffle and cough a bit, but it’s not enough to really call a full blown “cold”. I mostly feel tired and sleepy and my head is working at 50% capacity.
Still, got eight pages of tech.spec written today, so it’s not a complete loss.
April 1st, 2004
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