Alas, the Lord has heard my whining and granted a reprieve. We did not go climbing last night. Instead my dear wife and I sat on the couch from 6 to 10 and watched my new movie, ROTK. (Yaaay!)

Need I bother with a review? Well, of course! It RAWKED!! There were a couple of scenes in the extended edition that left me confused. It has been about three years since I finished the book and my memory is fading, but I’m pretty sure they changed some things. I’ll be taking some free time (Good Lord willing) over the next couple of days to reread a few passages of the book.

The acting in this last chapter of the LOTR trilogy was really moving. As doom closes in and all seems lost, we get to see the tender, emotional side of all the key characters and they all do a grand job. Sean Astin, as Samwise Gamgee, has already proven himself in the previous movies. More than any other character, I believe he deserved an Oscar.

The one that really struck me was Billy Boyd, playing Peregrin Took. His character is the child of the fellowship and always the one getting in to trouble. Up to this point in the story, he’s been almost entirely carefree. But in this last edition, he really goes deep with the character and does it with excellent results.

Many of the actors had to do scenes in which they had to tell the story without words. There are many long close-ups that serve only to express the emotion of the moment. Any actor can tell you that is the hardest kind of scene. And they all pulled it off wonderfully.

And so, I risk setting a dangerous precedent, but I feel it’s only just. For my very first movie review, I award the LOTR trilogy a perfect score of 5 grins.

Now look what you’ve done. You’ve gone and made me start thinking about movie reviews. I’m going to have to create a whole new post category and post reviews of all the movies I’ve seen in the last few months. Shame on you. Now go to your room.

Well, it looks like the time has come for our Ultima Online shard, Montis Draconis. My old buddy Phlegyas (not his real name) who started and hosts the server has finally had enough with all the ex-OSI players whining about how things “should” work. So we’re making a break.

There’s no time table yet, but this will be a dramatic change for the players on our server. I won’t give away all the gory details, in case any of my readers play on MD (or would like to *hint hint*), but I can say that I’m looking for good custom UO maps. Yep, the world is gonna be changin’.

I’m also working on a new look for the site. All I’ve got so far is this banner that we’ll use on the top shard lists to advertise MD. Dai-San (not his real name) is also a GM on the server and will be working on many many custom scripts. Basically we’ve got a lot of work to do before this big event takes place, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Have you ever heard a joke or story that implied that Macintosh users were stupid? They’re not, but sometimes they make it hard to know that for sure.

Here is an actual Support Article on Apple’s web site.

How to pick up and carry your iMac G5

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Don’t know how to pick up and carry your iMac G5? It’s easy.

Before moving your computer, make sure all cables and cords are disconnected.

Pick up the iMac G5 by grasping both sides of the computer. Carry it to wherever you wish.

Ohhh! And here I was trying to pick it up with my teeth.

Check out this awesome Flash presentation for HPs new line of iPAQ hand helds. Double wow.

On a side note, I really dig Regine Hohnsbein’s accent. Kind of like Ahhnold, but sexier… Hmm. That sound really weird after I said it.

http://h41111.www4.hp.com/gomobile/uk/en/learning_centre/videos/ipaq_flash.html

(Link via Airbag.)

As if apocalyptic “prophets” didn’t have enough to talk about these days, the US Food and Drug Administration today approved implantable computer chips for use on human patients.

According to the article, government workers in Mexico have been living with these chips for quite some time, using the small radio transmitters as access keys to secure government buildings. (Huh?! The Mexican government is using more advanced technology than the US government? Get out of town!)

A good friend of mine passed along an editorial from the Star-Telegram. The premise is that, for this year’s election, political lines can be drawn on which movie reflects your beliefs, Fahrenheit 9/11 or The Lord of the Rings.

The full article is on the web, but requires you to register. Sorry, but it is free.

It got me thinking about my own views, as a “Bush/Tolkien” voter. Tollers was a terrible writer who worked most of his life on the true masterpiece that is LOTR. He was inspired by his experiences as a soldier in WWI and a father and community leader during WWII. It’s fairly easy to see the Nazi war machine between the lines, though he flatly denied a direct link. But, in view of our current struggle, LOTR seems to be very prophetic. The links between the fantastic world of Middle Earth and the reality of our Earth are hard to ignore.

We have Sauruman the White, who became drunk with power and built a proud and mighty army only to be crushed by the powers of good and left powerless and bitter, all bark and no bite. Did you happen to see Saddam’s court appearance? Talk about bitter and powerless.

The Ents are the main component in the battle against Sauruman, the “boots on the ground” if you will. Ents are slow and methodical, but have tremendous power. They did their best not to get involved in the war, but when their own land and people were attacked by the forces of Isengard, their wrath exploded against their enemy. The battle itself was short and very one-sided.

Sauruman’s realm of Isengard is torn apart during the battle. The remnants are left to be rebuilt by the Ents. These lumbering giants occupy the land to return its former beauty. They are the perfect candidates for reconstruction since their work ethic and stubborn resolve will keep them at the job until it’s finished. If you will recall, the Kerry camp has used the word “stubborn” quite a bit lately.

We mustn’t forget, though, that Sauruman was not enemy number one. No, he was just a tool being used by the real foe, Sauron. Funny thing about Sauron, he’s not so much a person as a force. He has no physical body. Instead he is embodied by his evil emissaries. We hear so much about the hunt for Osama, but experts say that capturing Osama will not be the end of Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has no single body that can be killed, no head that can be removed.

Instead, the militant Islamic movement has thousands, maybe millions, of tireless terrorists. They toil away, living in the most rudimentary conditions, training with antiquated equipment and make shift weapons. And most importantly, they have no respect for life, not even their own. They would gladly throw their body at the enemy, even if they accomplish nothing more than building a ramp of death up the side of the walls of freedom. This picture is not as evident in the movie, but in the book, at the battle of Helms Deep, there was a real concern that the dead orcs would pile up high enough that the survivors could clamber up the pile of corpses and over the wall.

If nothing else, this is a thought provoking analysis that some high schooler can steal from my blog to use in a term paper.

Update:
See!! Check out this “expose” video. (Link via Apropos of Something)

Dave Berry made a short but meaningful post to his blog about installing SP2. The comments on that post are even funnier. Check it out.

(Thanks to Randy for the link.)

Tammy and I made a trip to Amarillo this weekend to attend my grandma’s 80th birthday. It was a great time to catch up with the fam and eat lots and lots of food. Of course, the question was posed several times, “So what are you up to?” So, of course, I talked about getting back into biking and climbing, working with the kids at church, and working on my personal web site and blog.

Blog… this was met each time with a confused look and “What’s a blog?” Hmm. How do you explain without sounding like you have no life? It’s a diary on the internet. Yyyeah. That sounds like something a real loser would do. It’s a journal, where I can talk about my personal and professional life, politics, religion, or whatever, and anyone can come read it and post comments. Well, that sounds a little better, but not much. Who would want to come and read that on a regular basis.

Next, I would try to explain that there are many blogs that I read every day from people in my industry or related fields; web design, web programming, graphic design, etc. It’s a great way to stay on the bleeding edge of technology and design trends. But invariably, I would get off on a tangent about the fun stuff, like Rob Cockerham’s “How much is inside”, or Steve’s “Steve, don’t eat it!”

I guess what it comes down to is this: Yes, I have a diary on the web, and yes, I am a serious geek. Loser? No. Not a loser. Just misunderstood by the main stream. (Okay, that does sound like something a loser would say. I give up.)

My favorite web cartoon, PvP, was nearly ruined when the author’s PC was striken with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Scott Kurtz writes:

So, despite my actively avoiding it, my Windows auto-update installed service pack 2 on my computer this morning. Then it didn’t want to reboot because of the stupid security center not being able to confirm the status of my anti-virus software.

I’m still afraid to reboot a second time, but I guess I have to try. I’ll go ahead and try now. If you don’t hear back from me in a couple of days, please send a certified microsfot technician to my house.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you! If it’s not too late, reset your Windows Automatic Update to warn you about updates BEFORE it downloads them!

Apparently, last weeks stint in Microsoft Certification Training (aka Billsoft Brainwashing) didn’t stick with me. I learned enough to feel confident breaking new stuff at work, but not enough to change my opinion on Big Brother Bill. (Have I mentioned how much I hate trying to make all the cool web design stuff work in IE? I’m not bitter, but… well, okay, I’m bitter.)

Windows XP has been out long enough now that I feel fairly comfortable with it. It’s really not a “bad” operating system. If you must use Windows, this is a pretty good version.

Unfortunately, XP has also been out long enough that MS is ready to screw it all up. Thus Service Pack 2 (SP2) is all geared up. Very soon, your friendly neighborhood Windows Automatic Update will quietly deliver all sorts of “new features” courtesy of XPSP2.

Now, to be totally honest, most of the features of XPSP2 sound alright. But there are just a few troublesome “helpful features” (aka “You’re too stupid to be trusted, so we’ll quietly add features that take away your ability configure your own computer.”).

SP2 was originally written to force Automatic Update. That is to say, you would no longer have the option to pick and choose what Windows Updates you installed. Instead, when MS posted an update, your machine would go get it and install it without asking your permission. Sadly (snicker snicker, nudge nudge), some countries have passed laws preventing this behavior. If Microsoft (or anyone else) wants to install code on you’re machine, they MUST give you the option to “opt-out”. Thus, this feature had to be removed (whew). Instead, Microsoft.com‘s home page is splashed with trendy looking banners imploring you to “Get ready by turning on Automatic Update today!”.

SP2 introduces an OS firewall. For my layman readers, that means that Windows itself will block certain types of connections to or from your computer. That’s fairly harmless if you’re just an EISU (E-mail, Internet, Solitaire User; someone who only uses their computer for simple tasks). But if you use your PC to, say, share music files or run a web or game server, this firewall could be a real headache. And, it does nothing to prevent things like spyware, that use the internet (port 80) to do their dirty work.

Also, since the pop-up blocker industry has become such a huge threat to Microsoft’s revenue, (please read that as dripping with sarcasm), MS has decided to add this “helpful feature” to IE. Gee thanks. You know those widely accepted, standardized functions like javascript’s window.open()? Well, you can forget those, cuz they’re (insert scary “ooh ooh” sound) DANGEROUS. Never mind the fact that most high end web applications, such as on-line banking and cool sites that help you find a doctor who takes your insurance, use pop-up windows. Those web applications will break when XP starts blocking those pop-up windows.

SP2 is bad enough that IBM has issued a stern warning to employees, “Don’t install SP2 on your work PC!” IBM, as you can imagine, has all sorts of really cool web applications for internal use. And if folks who use those applications install SP2, those cool web applications will break, bringing IBM’s internal workings to a crawl. All this time IBM has been one of MS’s biggest fans. Now they’re peeing in each other’s soup. It’s kinda fun to watch.

What could be worse than Microsoft introducing code that tears up the internal network of its biggest ally? How about introducing code that breaks its OWN software. Yep. Microsoft announced that SP2 will break Microsoft CRM, a customer support system that my own company has been wrestling with for months. We’ve just about got CRM working with our network and ready to roll out and now, SP2 will break it anyway. Nice.

So, what’s the bottom line? What should I do when Automatic Update chimes and tells me that SP2 is here and all I have to do is click one little button to receive this manna from Redmond? Personally, I’m going to wait. I can install the service pack whenever I want. I prefer to watch everyone else wail and gnash their teeth first. Then, when someone comes along and posts all their hard earned work-arounds, I’ll “patch-up” and take advantage of someone else’s sweat and tears to fix my SP2.

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.