…the harm was done: the topic became known as “computer science”—which, actually, is like referring to surgery as “knife science” — and it was firmly implanted in people’s minds that computing science is about machines and their peripheral equipment.

An excellent quote by Edsger Dijkstra. Most computing science is about design: spending a long time planning things, letting ideas grow, knowing where to cut out the unnecessary, seeing the woods for the trees, and trying to do all this an as elegant a manner as possible.

I had hoped to get an update to a piece of code out today, but I got side-tracked by Wart Hog, a flash game where you have to use grenades to fire a Wart Hog jeep (from Halo) into aliens.

Very puzzling, very fun, very bloody distracting.

Tonight, a nation, once great, was left shamed in public. The last shreds of decency and morality gone in a turbulent public vote. Surely, only chaos can now follow.

I am, of course, referring to the outcome of the Best British Sitcom Of All Time. The outstanding genius of Blackadder just came in second to the great, but miniscule by comparision, Only Fools And Horses. How will people be able to sleep tonight?

Oh well, at least The Vicar Of Dibley didn’t win. How that got into the top ten, never mind third place, is beyond me.

The difference between Western and Eastern samurai movies is exemplified best by Zatoichi. Written by, directed by, and starring cult hero Takeshi Kitano, the film continues the story of the legendary Japanese hero: a blind man, wandering the country, getting entangled in the fights of others.

It is the style in which the story is told that is most interesting. For instance, various scenes are scattered through the film which have absolutely no bearing on the plot. That just doesn’t happen in western films; every line of dialogue is usually spent building plot.

The sword fights are also very telling, generally consisting of a single well-placed blow per opponent, rather than the extended sword play found in western films. And it’s certainly an improvement, the action focussing the plot, rather than distracting from it.

Zatoichi is certainly a strange film, after having been force fed so many generic action films, but nothing short of excellent.

Despite early misgivings when hearing about a remake of Starsky And Hutch starring Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller, it was apparent that everything would be ok from the trailer. This has been confirmed now that the film is in cinemas.

While it is more parody than remake, it does the original series proud; staying loosely true to the two title characters.

Best moment is the scene with Will Ferrell. You will never think about dragons the same way again.

It won’t win any awards, but is an amusing diversion nonetheless.