The rather belated end of week random links post. We’ll just call this a fortnightly special (with nothing special added) and leave it at that:

• PHP and REST – A good read for those planning on setting up the Atom API,
• Ze’s page – An interesting mix of random stuff. The games and toys are good; particularly “Simple Game”,
• Multiple IE instances – How to run multiple versions of IE. Very handy for web design,
• On Search: Internationalisation – Another part of the essential On Search series. This time dealing with the problems inherent in making search work in different languages,
• Bit Rot – Data always outlives hardware. So just what lengths will people go to to get information from old systems? Probably about this far,
• Misusing Irony – A personal pet hate: the misuse of the word “Ironic” (Via Derek),
• Advanced RPS – Want to get better at Rock, Papers, Scissors? The professional guide is available,
• IE 5.5 Band Pass and IE 5.0 Band Pass – After last months mid pass filter, Tantek brings two more filters to make applying styles to particular browsers easier. He never sleeps.

And that’s it for a few days.

It is always a bold move to remake a classic cult film. Some would say it is a pointless move; trying to beat something that is loved by a dedicated group of fans is certainly an unenviable task. It was with this in mind that I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

It is, in a word, laughable.

Maybe I’m overly desensitized to these things, but it wasn’t particularly scary or gruesome. It tried to be twisted, it tried to be sick, it failed on both accounts.

Not worth seeing. Find yourself a cheap copy of the original. It’s an order of magnitude better.

After failing to secure myself a seat for yesterdays opening screenings, I was forced to see the final part of the Matrix series today: The Matrix Revolutions.

With the lacklustre second installment still fresh in my mind, it was with slight trepidation that I went to see this part. I was surprised to find it was significantly better than part 2. Without wanting to spoil any of it, all the action that was missing from Reloaded had clearly been shunted into the series’ finale.

Good parts:

• Lawrence Fishburne has thankfully decided to start acting properly again, after the ham that was produced last time,
• Great action sequences,
• Some (minor) surprises,
• The sections in Zion.

Bad parts:

• A particular part near the end (saying any more would amount to a spoiler),
• The new characters being largely pointless, and many old characters being superflous,
• The ending – it was lacking, but probably how it had to be,
• The bits that weren’t explained or that just happened.

All in all, a good film. Not up to the first, but good nonetheless.

The new director’s Cut of Alien is as chilling as the original: full of bizarre organic architecture, aliens that just work, and the single greatest use of sound effects in cinematic history. The film is great. See it.

However, the particular showing I went to was not so great. About half an hour into it, the film stopped playing, the lights went up and the adverts they show during cinema dead time (usually slides) started showing. Many people were confused and annoyed. A few minutes later, it restarted; having totally killed the tension that had been building up.

Another half hour later, someone in the second row’s phone went off. He let it ring a good 6 times before answering it. By answering it, I don’t mean that he switched it off embarassedly. No, he had a bloody conversation. If he had gotten the beating that so many of his fellow audience members obviously wanted to give him for being a “twat”, he would have sorely deserved it.

I’m of the understanding that this happens on a semi-regular basis in cinemas in America, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone answer their phone here (and I go weekly – you might have noticed the reviews). Believe me, if it escalates, their will be violence.

I’m in awe at how simple and powerful Stuart Langridge‘s new script is: Sortable Tables is a javascript that does exactly what it says (an attribute I like in scripts), it sorts tables.

The code is clean, fast and, from what I’ve seen, widely compatible. Nicely done.