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Sorry to hear that, Michael. Hope things start to go on the up and up.
regards,
Paul Watson
South Africa
Colib and WebTwoZero.
K(arl) wrote:
oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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Paul Watson wrote:
Sorry to hear that, Michael. Hope things start to go on the up and up.
Thanks mate.
I've used up a lot of luck in the last ten years. I think the universe is just balancing the score. My confidence has taken quiet a few knocks over the last 18 months. It does get harder to get back up everytime I get knocked down. Deep down I'm still a fighter. I just need something to reawaken the fire.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Channel 9[^] has posted a very interesting video[^] about the technology used at Overlake Hospital[^]. It's a little more talking heads than showing the tech, but it is well worth a watch.
Back in the late 80's - early 90's, I used to write software for the running of 'old folks homes'. Back then the technology wasn't really ready to help make the nurses and care assistants life easier. And we got a lot of resentment from them when we did phone and on-site tech support. Maybe I should investigate that market again.
I currently provide software for a medical call-centre and some of the insights from the Channel 9 video are things that I've come across. Fixed field data-entry forms can be restrictive and so my apps tend to have to have a lot of "Further Information" fields. This is great for the people entering data onto the system but makes writing analysis reports in Crystal Reports a real pain.
Everytime I see a tablet PC in use, I wish I had one. I think they'd make my "analyst" life easier. At the moment, I have to either write meeting notes on paper or haul my laptop about and sometimes both. Having a tablet PC would allow me to write-up the notes directly into an electronic form, record the meeting in audio form and have the tablet handle the transcription. One day, I'll hopefully have the funds to afford to buy one.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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The first screenshot of the new look hotmail has been posted on the hotmail blog.
See it here[^]
The image is a little small but it looks good so far. I think maybe gmail is finally going to get some real competition again.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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Radio 4 are re-running the wonderful comedy 'About a Dog' - which funnily enough is about a dog. Told from the point of view of the dog, it features some wonderful moments of insight into relationships between dogs and their owners and relationships between people.
Even though it was scripted by Graeme Garden, it is based on an original idea by Debbie Barham. Sadly Debbie died in April 2003 from a condition related to her anorexia. A real shame because she produced some great comedy writing in her short life. There is a wonderful obituary by Clive Anderson here[^]
Listen to 'About a Dog' here[^] - it'll be available until Wednesday.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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I'm currently listening to the 'Revenge of the Sith' soundtrack whilst I work. I still think it is one of the best pieces of music that John Williams has ever composed (and given his track record, that is saying something)
Very dark and moody, but with some lovely bright points in that just make you want to type faster. Probably the best coding music I have on my PC. (Which is currently totalling 4.73gb of hard-disk space, some MSN purchased music, lots of CD rips (both music and audio-plays) and erm... a couple of copies of some of the comedy shows off BBC Radios 4 and 7.
Of course listening to the soundtrack again, makes me wish I'd managed to get to see the film for a second time. Still, the DVD is released November 1st[^], which scarily is now under 3 months away.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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He's fat, he's round, he bounces on the ground, Shane Warne, Shane Warne
Do you know how much I hate this guy 
After all these years he's still England's chief tormentor.
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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That is how long my profile says I've been a registered member of Code Project. Seems a lot longer. I think actually that I've been here longer, first as an unregistered user and after that under the Michael Butler username. Somehow I could never relog on as that user, so I created the new one.
Recently the shine has started to come off CodeProject, especially the quality of conversation in the Lounge and some of the post-voting has started to annoy me.
There also seems to be a lack of articles that really interest me. More my problem than CP's. My real enjoyment comes from the business analysis and design side of this game now, rather than the coding and implementation. Hence my efforts to build some app generation tools (as mumbled about on my Software Development Blog)
If I ever get my writing together, I'll try and give something back to the community. I still struggle to get my ideas across in a written form and most of my ideas are probably a little too off the beaten track to be of much use.
Perhaps I should take a break from the site for a bit (absence making the heart grow fonder etc...) - but then I'd have to do some real-work during the day 
Michael
CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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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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