Well, I received my Amazon UK order of Visual QuickPro Guide's PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites. Costed me £9.49. I haven't studied web language (HTML 4.0) for a long time - in fact since 1999 (when I self learn). My HTML needs brushing up and hopefully studying PHP would give my brain a kick. Flicking through the book it looks easy. We are due to receive an Apache server soon so hopefully my network project would be up and running in a few weeks.
Saturday, October 9, 2004
Movie reviews (contain spoilers)
Since my last pointless film review, I have watched three new films in the cinema. Since I am lazy to write my through thoughts on each of them, I will just post my (long) summaries here:
Layer Cake:
Based on the book of the same name, this is a classic British gangster movie. The plot revolves around a nameless character (XXXX) who is a drug dealer making and selling Ecstasy pills. While hating the lime light, he is also gathering enough cash for an early retirement out of the drug World.
However complication arises when a bunch of clueless pikeys robs a million Ecstasy pills of a Dutch drug lord and XXXX was asked by his boss, Jimmy Price to buy the pills of the tossers and to find a girl. Shits happen and soon some Serbian assassin is on his tail and he found out that his boss wants to fuck him up.
An excellent British movie that is made to look as realistic as possible. While other gangster movie such as Guy Ritchie's Snatch and Lock, Stock... as well as the incredible stupid 51st State (aka Formula 51) are entertaining, they are far from realistic. These films glorify gangsters but Layer Cake does not. In fact Layer Cake just proves how dangerous the drug World is and totally not glamorous. There are some silly moments and the ending is a slight disappointing. Minus one point for not showing enough of the hot and sexy Sienna Miller (as Tammy) and playing 80s British music in the first one hour.
A 8/10 - even though it is the directional debut of Matthew Vaughn.
Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow:
Well, the CGI is NOT as good as The Lord of the Rings, but then again, Sky Captain was shot entirely in blue screen. Gwyneth Paltrow is as annoying as ever. Why can't someone tell her she can't act? Jude Law's acting was al right. It was Angelina Jolie's rather brief appearance that, in my opinion saved the movie. Overall an al right movie but very annoying in many parts. The acting is bad as a whole but what can you expect when all the actors see are blue in colour.
5.5/10
Bride & Prejudice
This summary is a little long because I just watched the movie today and its still fresh in my head.
Inspired by the Jane Austen's novel Pride & Prejudice, this film follows an Indian family in typical Bollywood style. Directed by Gurinder Chandha, the director of Bend it like Beckham, it was shot in India, Los Angeles, London and Ealing.
Straight to the point then. It was disappointing. It was tedious. The director tried to make a musical, Indian, English and American movie all into one - which is plain wrong. I understand why the production team wanted to shoot part of the movie in London because its a British movie - but it was so unnecessary and does not contribute to the development of the movie at all!
The humour is thin and the development of characters is short. The lyrics of the musics are cheesy does the voices does not sound like the actors and actresses voice. I have enjoyed alot of Bollywood film in the past and this ranks among the worst in terms of dancing and music.
The character of Mr Darcy is played by the bland and boring Martin Handerson (the guy in Britney Spear's Toxic video).
I guess the only thing redeeming about this movie is the sexy Aishwarya Rai who plays Lalita, a character loosely based on Elizabeth Bennet.
I also can't help but wish that Gurinder Chadha would start casting western women as the leading role falling for the Indian guy. For the pass few films, we have seen Indian female lead roles falling for handsome white men ignoring the Indian male (often portrayed in a negative role). It is not a major issue and one that I do not really care about. But I do wish for a change.
5.5/10
Layer Cake:
Based on the book of the same name, this is a classic British gangster movie. The plot revolves around a nameless character (XXXX) who is a drug dealer making and selling Ecstasy pills. While hating the lime light, he is also gathering enough cash for an early retirement out of the drug World.
However complication arises when a bunch of clueless pikeys robs a million Ecstasy pills of a Dutch drug lord and XXXX was asked by his boss, Jimmy Price to buy the pills of the tossers and to find a girl. Shits happen and soon some Serbian assassin is on his tail and he found out that his boss wants to fuck him up.
An excellent British movie that is made to look as realistic as possible. While other gangster movie such as Guy Ritchie's Snatch and Lock, Stock... as well as the incredible stupid 51st State (aka Formula 51) are entertaining, they are far from realistic. These films glorify gangsters but Layer Cake does not. In fact Layer Cake just proves how dangerous the drug World is and totally not glamorous. There are some silly moments and the ending is a slight disappointing. Minus one point for not showing enough of the hot and sexy Sienna Miller (as Tammy) and playing 80s British music in the first one hour.
A 8/10 - even though it is the directional debut of Matthew Vaughn.
Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow:
Well, the CGI is NOT as good as The Lord of the Rings, but then again, Sky Captain was shot entirely in blue screen. Gwyneth Paltrow is as annoying as ever. Why can't someone tell her she can't act? Jude Law's acting was al right. It was Angelina Jolie's rather brief appearance that, in my opinion saved the movie. Overall an al right movie but very annoying in many parts. The acting is bad as a whole but what can you expect when all the actors see are blue in colour.
5.5/10
Bride & Prejudice
This summary is a little long because I just watched the movie today and its still fresh in my head.
Inspired by the Jane Austen's novel Pride & Prejudice, this film follows an Indian family in typical Bollywood style. Directed by Gurinder Chandha, the director of Bend it like Beckham, it was shot in India, Los Angeles, London and Ealing.
Straight to the point then. It was disappointing. It was tedious. The director tried to make a musical, Indian, English and American movie all into one - which is plain wrong. I understand why the production team wanted to shoot part of the movie in London because its a British movie - but it was so unnecessary and does not contribute to the development of the movie at all!
The humour is thin and the development of characters is short. The lyrics of the musics are cheesy does the voices does not sound like the actors and actresses voice. I have enjoyed alot of Bollywood film in the past and this ranks among the worst in terms of dancing and music.
The character of Mr Darcy is played by the bland and boring Martin Handerson (the guy in Britney Spear's Toxic video).
I guess the only thing redeeming about this movie is the sexy Aishwarya Rai who plays Lalita, a character loosely based on Elizabeth Bennet.
I also can't help but wish that Gurinder Chadha would start casting western women as the leading role falling for the Indian guy. For the pass few films, we have seen Indian female lead roles falling for handsome white men ignoring the Indian male (often portrayed in a negative role). It is not a major issue and one that I do not really care about. But I do wish for a change.
5.5/10
Labels:
Reviews
Current playlist
Picked this up today, a nice collection of Hed Kandi's summer mixes compiled and mixed by Mark Doyle. So far quite satisfied with it but not as good as other Hed Kandi's releases. Some of the tracks are old skool house. I am not a fan of old skool house anthems (early 90s) therefore there are some dissapointment in my part. But on a whole a fine release.
Hed Kandi's The Mix : Summer 2004 3CDs compilation
CD1 (The Disco Heaven Mix)
01. Eric Kupper Presents K-Scope feat. Bonnie Bailey: Firefly
02. Funkstar Deluxe feat. The Crickets: When I Think Of You (Extended Version)
03. Bob Sinclar: I Feel For You (I Feel4 Disco Mix)
04. Praise Cats feat. Andrea Love: Sing (Club Mix)
05. Danny Howells & Dick Trevor feat. Erire: Dusk Till Dawn (Shapeshifters 12Inch Mix)
06. Steven Tibet feat. Manuela: We Are Family (Andrea T. Mendoza vs. Steven Tibet Original Mix)
07. The Brand New Heavies: Boogie (Eric Kupper Mix)
08. Solu Music feat. Kimblee: Fade (Eric Kupper Remix)
09. Soul System feat. Jungle Brothers: Feels So Good (Vocal Mix)
10. T-Jam: Shame, Shame, Shame (Luis Radio Main Vocal RMX)
11. Peyton: A Higher Place (Eric Kupper´s Gospel Degree Vocal Mix)
12. StoneBridge: Put ´Em High (Dancing Divaz Remix)
13. Marly: You Never Know (LMC Dub)
14. Max Sedgley: Happy (Fat Boy Slim Mix)
CD2 (The Twisted Disco Mix)
01. Cicada: Cut Right Through (12 Inch Mix)
02. Deepest Blue: Is It A Sin (Cicada´s Stadium Remix)
03. Solasso feat. Kate Smith: Whatever (Keep Me Guessing)
04. Bonnie Bailey: Sweet Serendipity (Eric Kupper Extended Remix)
05. Flower Power: Flower Power (Original Mix)
06. Morillo feat. Audio Bullys: Break Down The Doors (DM Stereo Dub Mix)
07. Kujay Da Da: Everything (Big Room Mix)
08. Ferry Corsten: Rock Your Body Rock (Extended Mix)
09. Freestylers: Push Up (DJ Bomba & J Paolo Remix)
10. Armand Van Helden feat. Spalding Rockwell: Hear My Name (Original 12 Inch Mix)
11. Junior Jack: Stupidisco (Extended Original Version)
12. Seamus Haji: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Vocal Mix)
13. Therese: Time (StoneBridge Mix)
CD3 (The Back To Love Mix)
01. T-Empo: Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (Original T-Empo Mix)
02. Aftershock: Slave To The Vibe (12 Inch Club Mix)
03. Ann Consuelo: See The Day (StoneBridge Mix)
04. Raze: Break 4 Luv
05. Ce Ce Peniston: Finally (12 Inch Choice Mix)
06. Robin S: Show Me Love (StoneBridge Club Mix)
07. Mass Order: Lift Every Voice (Take Me Away) (Bumped Up Mix)
08. Inner City: Pennies From Heaven (Kevin´s Tunnel Mix)
09. Pulse: The Lover That You Are
10. Patti Day: Right Before My Eyes (House Vocal Mix)
11. Alison Limerick: Where Love Lives (Come On In) (12 Inch Classic Mix)
12. Rhythm Is Rhythm: Strings Of Life (Piano Mix)
13. Joe Smooth: Promised Land (Original Mix)
Hed Kandi's The Mix : Summer 2004 3CDs compilation
CD1 (The Disco Heaven Mix)
01. Eric Kupper Presents K-Scope feat. Bonnie Bailey: Firefly
02. Funkstar Deluxe feat. The Crickets: When I Think Of You (Extended Version)
03. Bob Sinclar: I Feel For You (I Feel4 Disco Mix)
04. Praise Cats feat. Andrea Love: Sing (Club Mix)
05. Danny Howells & Dick Trevor feat. Erire: Dusk Till Dawn (Shapeshifters 12Inch Mix)
06. Steven Tibet feat. Manuela: We Are Family (Andrea T. Mendoza vs. Steven Tibet Original Mix)
07. The Brand New Heavies: Boogie (Eric Kupper Mix)
08. Solu Music feat. Kimblee: Fade (Eric Kupper Remix)
09. Soul System feat. Jungle Brothers: Feels So Good (Vocal Mix)
10. T-Jam: Shame, Shame, Shame (Luis Radio Main Vocal RMX)
11. Peyton: A Higher Place (Eric Kupper´s Gospel Degree Vocal Mix)
12. StoneBridge: Put ´Em High (Dancing Divaz Remix)
13. Marly: You Never Know (LMC Dub)
14. Max Sedgley: Happy (Fat Boy Slim Mix)
CD2 (The Twisted Disco Mix)
01. Cicada: Cut Right Through (12 Inch Mix)
02. Deepest Blue: Is It A Sin (Cicada´s Stadium Remix)
03. Solasso feat. Kate Smith: Whatever (Keep Me Guessing)
04. Bonnie Bailey: Sweet Serendipity (Eric Kupper Extended Remix)
05. Flower Power: Flower Power (Original Mix)
06. Morillo feat. Audio Bullys: Break Down The Doors (DM Stereo Dub Mix)
07. Kujay Da Da: Everything (Big Room Mix)
08. Ferry Corsten: Rock Your Body Rock (Extended Mix)
09. Freestylers: Push Up (DJ Bomba & J Paolo Remix)
10. Armand Van Helden feat. Spalding Rockwell: Hear My Name (Original 12 Inch Mix)
11. Junior Jack: Stupidisco (Extended Original Version)
12. Seamus Haji: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Vocal Mix)
13. Therese: Time (StoneBridge Mix)
CD3 (The Back To Love Mix)
01. T-Empo: Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (Original T-Empo Mix)
02. Aftershock: Slave To The Vibe (12 Inch Club Mix)
03. Ann Consuelo: See The Day (StoneBridge Mix)
04. Raze: Break 4 Luv
05. Ce Ce Peniston: Finally (12 Inch Choice Mix)
06. Robin S: Show Me Love (StoneBridge Club Mix)
07. Mass Order: Lift Every Voice (Take Me Away) (Bumped Up Mix)
08. Inner City: Pennies From Heaven (Kevin´s Tunnel Mix)
09. Pulse: The Lover That You Are
10. Patti Day: Right Before My Eyes (House Vocal Mix)
11. Alison Limerick: Where Love Lives (Come On In) (12 Inch Classic Mix)
12. Rhythm Is Rhythm: Strings Of Life (Piano Mix)
13. Joe Smooth: Promised Land (Original Mix)
Thursday, October 7, 2004
Killer flu recreated in lab
Well, look here who has a Weapons of Mass Destruction. A US based university. They have probably created a biological weapon that could kill millions of people. This is research you say? Well Iraq could also have used a similar excuse to continue their WMD programme (if they had any!).
Source: BBC News
Source: BBC News
BargainPDA : First Thoughts on Tungsten T5
BargainPDA has some original pictures of their palmOne Tungsten T5 review unit. Looks nice. I love the idea of returning to the Palm m5xx form factor but I sure wish palmOne had thought of another design rather than reusing a design that was first released on a budget model (Tungsten E).
I also wish they kept the slider but hei, if people (based on palmOne's market research) do not want a slider then fine by me.
While the 416Mhz Intel X-Scale PXA27x processor sounds slow when compared to some of the beast founs on Pocket PCs I think it does not matter. This Palm runs on PalmOS 5.4 which is pretty fast. Even my Hewlett-Packard iPAQ h4150 with its 400Mhz processor feels slow when compared to my similarly spec'ed T3 so while Pocket PC needs all the clock speed it can get, I doubt any (current) Palms would need one over 500Mhz.
And finally the death of Palm's Universal Connector! Hurrah! While I wish palmOne remove the serial connector all together it seems many people still wish for one. So a new serial connector. Personally I don't care as I try not to invest in serial connector accessories for my PDAs and mobile phones.
One thing I will miss (if I get this) is the spring loaded stylus that first came with the Palm Tungsten T. It was a classic and in my opinion the best stylus ever created. However the stylus here is the same size as those on the m5xx and V series and I have a Cross Micro stylus that can fit in this!!!
There are roughly 215Mb of space accessable to users. 55Mb of which acts as normal RAM. palmOne has stated that the RAM would not lose its content when power is cut even for months. Could the T5 be running magnetic RAM? Who knows? PDA manufacturers are always reluctant to publish detailed specifications on their products.
Personally I think palmOne has a winner here. It will debut at the same price as the T3 a year ago and will have some improvements - namely the bigger battery, newer OS, faster processor and bigger RAM/ROM space. The bigger space might temp someone who wanted a mp3 player (out of the box) and a PDA.
To me WiFi is useless and pointless in this day and age where people are always connected through their mobile phone. Not to mention WiFi has yet to mature enough to handle seamless re-connection. I hate it when walking around London and have to connect to a different Access Point every other minute. And what free WiFi? There are almost no free WiFi access in London.
But if you really need WiFi, you can always buy an add-on SDIO WiFi card that palmOne is also selling.
I also wish they kept the slider but hei, if people (based on palmOne's market research) do not want a slider then fine by me.
While the 416Mhz Intel X-Scale PXA27x processor sounds slow when compared to some of the beast founs on Pocket PCs I think it does not matter. This Palm runs on PalmOS 5.4 which is pretty fast. Even my Hewlett-Packard iPAQ h4150 with its 400Mhz processor feels slow when compared to my similarly spec'ed T3 so while Pocket PC needs all the clock speed it can get, I doubt any (current) Palms would need one over 500Mhz.
And finally the death of Palm's Universal Connector! Hurrah! While I wish palmOne remove the serial connector all together it seems many people still wish for one. So a new serial connector. Personally I don't care as I try not to invest in serial connector accessories for my PDAs and mobile phones.
One thing I will miss (if I get this) is the spring loaded stylus that first came with the Palm Tungsten T. It was a classic and in my opinion the best stylus ever created. However the stylus here is the same size as those on the m5xx and V series and I have a Cross Micro stylus that can fit in this!!!
There are roughly 215Mb of space accessable to users. 55Mb of which acts as normal RAM. palmOne has stated that the RAM would not lose its content when power is cut even for months. Could the T5 be running magnetic RAM? Who knows? PDA manufacturers are always reluctant to publish detailed specifications on their products.
Personally I think palmOne has a winner here. It will debut at the same price as the T3 a year ago and will have some improvements - namely the bigger battery, newer OS, faster processor and bigger RAM/ROM space. The bigger space might temp someone who wanted a mp3 player (out of the box) and a PDA.
To me WiFi is useless and pointless in this day and age where people are always connected through their mobile phone. Not to mention WiFi has yet to mature enough to handle seamless re-connection. I hate it when walking around London and have to connect to a different Access Point every other minute. And what free WiFi? There are almost no free WiFi access in London.
But if you really need WiFi, you can always buy an add-on SDIO WiFi card that palmOne is also selling.
Labels:
PalmOS
What WMD?
Iraq has no WMD! That is a fact. Despite the politicians who authorised the illegal war, trying to spin their way out of a report, Iraq has NO WMD when the illegal invasion began. None. Zip. In fact the report states that Iraq's nuclear programme decayed since 1991!
Now all we have is thousands of dead innocent Iraqis men, women and children for a war that should not have begun in the first place and a nice oil reserve from a puppet government.
Now all we have is thousands of dead innocent Iraqis men, women and children for a war that should not have begun in the first place and a nice oil reserve from a puppet government.
Monday, October 4, 2004
PS2
Just bought a used PlayStation 2. First game I bought with it? Metal Gear Solid 2. Fantastic game and equally as good as Metal Gear Solid (which I played on both PC and PSone). Looking forward to other purchases.
Labels:
PS2,
Video Games
Friday, October 1, 2004
Silverstone axed!
The British Grand Prix in Silverstone has been axed as Bernie Ecclestone slames the organisers one more time. Can I say - about bloody time! Now please bring the Grand Prix to London! We know it can happen, despite some misgivings. So a message to the Federation Internationale De L'Automobile, make it happen! We know Bernie is keen on it.
Formula One cars in London during this summer
Formula One cars in London during this summer
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