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There is a good interview with Joss Whendon (Buffy, Firefly) at the Infocus website[^]
I've always enjoyed his work from his early days on Rosanne. I watched a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Rosanne and Joss came across as a good, clever guy. I think he got fired on the documentary as Rosanne went through one of her infamous "mood swings"
Interesting to read his views on 'Revenge of the Jedi', 'Toy Story', 'Speed', 'Alien Ressurection" and 'Wonder Woman"
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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MSN Messenger team at the annual MS company picnic[^]
One thing I miss about not working full-time for a company, is that I don't get to do the company get-together thing anymore. Okay, companies I worked for never did it on this scale but it was always nice to hang out in a non-work environment for a few hours and get to know the non-work persona.
Of course, in some companies I've worked at, I'd rather have had my teeth pulled than socialize with my work collegues. (Of course a lot of that was down to my lack of social skills back then)
I guess one more check on the reasons to go find a proper job checklist. 
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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A great episode of 'The Now Show' on Radio 4 this week. Jokes about the terror attacks in London, Lord of the Rings and Bill Gates. Very funny and very insightful.
It'll be on Listen Again[^] until next Saturday. [Real Player Required]
Well worth a listen.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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As with Johnny Five[^], I work best when I'm given input and feedback.
However being my own boss, working on my own, I rarely get any constructive feedback. I have no manager above me and no team to work alongside. Everything I do is in a vacuum. My clients rarely give me any feedback too. They give me the initial problem to solve and let me get on with it. Even after the software is installed, I rarely get anything more than "Good Job". No, "can we just modify this bit here" or "this works okay but this would be better for us."
I've said for a long time that I miss working in a team. I'm not sure I could go back to working in a team though, not unless I was picking the members. I'm very unconventional when it comes to building software and I need to work with people who have pride in their work, who aren't just coding for a job but who are in it for creating software to help people do their own jobs easier, quicker and better.
I created my development blog[^] to try and get feedback on my ideas and techniques. It hasn't been very successful. I don't think I'm communicating my ideas very well, hence the need to start writing more on this blog to try and start getting words down on the page.
Being a good communicator is the number two skill that I look for in a developer. At the moment I'm failing my own job interview requirements. So I'd better get practising otherwise I'll have to fire myself.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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I think I need to learn some new meditation techniques for when I browse the internet. Over the last few days on various forums, I've just wanted to post SHUT THE F*** UP AND DO SOMETHING POSITIVE.
It's not just on CP, although the recent posts in the Lounge that should have been put into the Soapbox annoyed me no end. Very much like the real world, the CP community is starting to attract more anti-social behaviour. It's sad to see but I guess we've been lucky to have lasted so long without attracting the obvious trolls.
Perhaps I just need to take a break from discussion forums and concentrate on just reading the content without looking at what other people are saying.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Hmm. So Longhorn now has an official name. I just wish I knew what features the product would have. Scoble keeps saying that we've got to wait until the PDC before we'll know what the final version will contain. September seems so far off and I want a new toy to play with.
I don't like all this monolithic release schedule malarky. Can't the Windows and Office team take a leaf out of the MSN book and release software in a shorter time frame. I guess it is a problem with the structure of the software that prevents Avalon being released seperately from the other new components. It would be nice to have the new RSS api released now rather than waiting for IE7 to ship.
Surely the way forward is to release often, not in one big drop. It would be nice to see new Windows or Office features every year rather than every three years. It might lead to a fragmented install-base but if our software took advantage of the new feature, I'm sure a lot of our users could be persuaded to upgrade.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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It seems like such a long time since I did any serious writing. I used to aspire to be a scriptwriter before my lack of talent became obvious even to me.
Recently I was trying to write up a specification document and found myself struggling to get the words onto the page. My internal critic has been turned up a few notches which makes it harder for me to put pen to paper. I guess I need a few free-flow exercises to get me back in the habit. So forgive me if over the next few weeks, this blog becomes a dumping ground for bad writing. I need the practise.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Bring it on! 
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
PMW Photography
Gary Kirkham wrote:
The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the cliché...Star Trek had it in spades.
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perpetrated by the Keystone terrorists  
You'd think you could just say "Sorry you've got my name wrong", but because it had taken a while to twig and because he had been doing it for so long it would seem kind of rude to point it out personally. I had considered just carrying on answering to the name,
That is so English, got to love it
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
PMW Photography
Gary Kirkham wrote:
The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the cliché...Star Trek had it in spades.
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when you find out you've got 8gb worth of pre-compiled header files and you've only worked on one active C++ project in the last 6 months.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Just come across this surprising development Ben Burtt moves to Pixar[^]
Along with George Lucas and John Williams, Ben Burtt is the guy who gave the Star Wars movies a soul that other films can only dream of. Can you imagine Star Wars without Vader's Breathing, the sound of Tie Fighters screeching by or the distinctive hum of a lightsaber. Burtt is the best sound designer of the last 25 years. Lucasfilm's loss is Pixar's gain.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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A quick review. (I'll post a more detailed review later)
Wow. George Lucas hit this for six straight over the pavillion. A visual spectacular with an emotional core that left me choking back the tears. A tragedy of the highest-order. The way that Anakin fell to the dark-side was so wonderfully realised.
Excellent special effects by the boys at ILM, although the opening battle was a little confused (but then I guess that real war is like that too).
John Williams' score was perfect. Not a note out of place.
One of the greatest motion picture experiences of my life. Probably the best movie, I've seen at the cinema since 'The Empire Strikes Back'.
I must see this movie again at the cinema. It deserves it.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Just got off the phone to the cinema and have booked my tickets for Episode III. My Dad and me are going on Tuesday afternoon. I've booked tickets for the 'Directors Auditorium. Whilst more expensive than the standard screens there is less likely to be any dick-heads to spoil my enjoyment - which is good, because I'll liable to go all Anakin on their ass if they prevent me from enjoying myself.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Michael P Butler wrote:
for the 'Directors Auditorium
Is it technically better too?
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
PMW Photography
Gary Wheeler wrote:
It's people like you that keep me heading for my big debut on CNN...
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Paul Watson wrote:
Is it technically better too?
Not sure. Probably not. I'd hoped it would be Digital but isn't. It has only 61 seats, so it will probably be a smaller screen than usual too. I've never been in it before, but as I'm going late afternoon I wanted to avoid the teenagers and other pond-life.
Plus there is access to a bar, not that I'll be drinking.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Well the soundtrack collection is.
I know have the soundtracks for all 6 Star Wars movies. 'The Revenge of the Sith' soundtrack is wonderful, the best soundtrack since 'The Empire Strikes Back'. The opening track is up there with 'The Battle of Yavin' from Star Wars and 'The Battle of Hoth' from Empire. Another great soundtrack from the legend that is John Williams.
I've currently got the full 6 movie soundtracks as my WMP playlist (on shuffle). It has certainly helped improve my productivity. Mind you I always find classical music helps me to concentrate better.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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I've been having a few motivation issues with work recently. Just not really been in the mood for coding. Luckily the project I'm working on is a slow-boiler so I've been able to be a little slack.
I get a little too distracted in the mechanics of my LxFramework[^] rather than getting on and writing the code for the main application.
A couple more leads for new work have come in today, so that should hopefully help me pick-up the pace a bit. I need to get myself back into selling mode again. At least these new projects will be about selling them on a solution to a specific problem rather than the usual cold-call of trying to sell them the idea that software can make their companies more productive.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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