Websites which have address forms for UK residences, whether for buying new products, paying bills or registering interest, I have a simple request: do not presume your database knows my address better than me.

For the benefit of non-UK readers, let me explain. The UK has a system originally designed for mail delivery called the Postcode, which is similar to the US zip code system. Unlike zip codes, it’s far more granular, generally resolving to a handful of addresses. In fact, most of the time, if you have a post code and house number, you can uniquely identify a particular delivery address. That’s all that is needed: a G1 4BQ and a 35.

In 7 characters, most people can be readily identified. That’s the power of postcodes.

A lot of UK websites take this as an absolute fact with no room for error. They take the data from the Post Office, see that it works for them, and forget about it. You either fit the pattern, or your house doesn’t exist. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

One big problem is that large parts of the UK have some form of communal housing: tenement blocks, modern apartment blocks, high-rises etc. This is where things break down. As well as having a house number (the 35 above), they will also have a flat number like 3/2 (floor 3, flat 2), 4D (floor 4, flat D) or any other variation on the above. This is where things get very hairy:

• Most post-code lookup systems will offer you a list of possible matches, which often miss some of the variations. That’s incomplete reference data.
• Most post-code lookup systems are never given updated data (compile once and you’re done). That’s poor data management.
• Most post-code lookup systems don’t allow for changes to addresses. That’s, again, poor data management.
• Most systems don’t allow for even more complex forms, where a flat has a house number (35, two part flat number (3/2), and a block number (D); the combinations of these can come in endless forms (D3/2, 35 Example St vs. Flat 2, Floor 3, Block D, 35 Example St).

Most systems will fall flat in the face of any of these. While fixing these problems directly is hard (to near enough impossible), there’s a very simple solution originally posited by Postel:

Be conservative in what you do; be liberal in what you accept from others

Yes, it’s the simple: just accept whatever your users, the people who live at the address, put into your form. They know the correct answer far better than you ever will, so believe them when they put something in. If you want to help them by offering a post-code lookup, that’s fine, encouraged even; but don’t insist that they use it. That just hurts the usability of your system.

5 more films for the fight…

Gone Baby Gone is the long delayed directorial debut of Ben Affleck (delayed due to the theme of child kidnapping being a little too close to the bone over the last year), and as debuts go it’s not bad. The mainstay of the plot is reasonable enough: kid gets kidnapped, private investigators who know the locals get involved, there’s more than meets the eye. The performances are for the most part decent, with one outstanding performance put in by Ed Harris; one scene in particular, we see some absolute brilliance in his act. All that said, the film is too clever for its own good. There are too many attempts at pulling the wool over the audiences eyes or twisting a little bit too much for comfort. A shame, because the film is solid, if nothing outstanding.

With the bar set to ridiculously low by Ang Lee’s Hulk, the franchise reboot starring Ed Norton doesn’t really have to work all that hard to improve. The Incredible Hulk is, then, a pleasant surprise, in that it manages to get a lot of things right for the genre. It doesn’t waste time on back story, origins or explaining relationships that are apparent by the interactions, accepting that people know everything they need to know about the Hulk mythos already. It gets moving, keeps a steady enough pace, holds interest, and then plummets with the action sequences towards the end. Sorry, but two CGI monsters who are not grounded in any approachable form of physics break any suspension of disbelief. It had been beating expectations until the final scenes, so to see a mindless fight that turns around for no good reason is a real waste.

Imagine, for a second, taking an entire season of Prison Break and cramming it into 100 minutes; no wasting time on pointless threads that spur things on, no wasted attempts and feeling cheated by do-overs, just the escape: welcome to The Escapist. Although it falls into a Brit crime caper directorial style at times, it manages to show a surprisingly amount of depth and care. The editing is also inspired. While often cutting early parts of a story (chronologically speaking) in amongst the ending is often just an awkward gimmick, cutting the escape and it’s problems in amongst the planning scenes is surprisingly effective. In places that would otherwise be dead weight, tension is kept high. The “But”? The very final moments of the film pull back a needless reveal that cheapens the whole. Without it, it’d be a strong film.

The second of the Narnia films is, unexpectedly, worse than the first entry. Prince Caspian is relatively rich source material (caveats about CS Lewis’ various leanings aside), so it’s disappointing to see such uninspired cinema. We have a largely fluffer plot, terrible performances (some of the kids have gotten worse), dreadful accents, poor CGI battles and an afterthought love interest. If it wasn’t for the cute mice, there’d be next to nothing good to say here. Not worth seeing.

Finally, Wanted is the Hollywood debut of Timur Bekmambetov, previously of Night Watch/Day Watch fame. Based, barely, on a graphic novel of the same name, Wanted is about a fraternity of assassins who follow the path set out by the seemingly random machinations of fate and them bringing someone into the fold who begins to disrupt their way of life. There’s plenty you could do with that as source material but sadly Timur has opted to make yet another piss-poor CGI heavy action yawnfest. The inconsistencies in this film make it painful to watch, the accents are atrocious (I’ve seen James McAvoy act elsewhere, what happened here?), and the whole thing turgid. There’s nothing worthwhile to recommend this film. It fails as an action film, as a story, and on every other level a film can. Awful.

So, despite a regrettable finale, The Escapist is this months winner!

Another month, another 4 films…

Iron Man is the first film in Marvel’s attempt to reboot their film universe, after some fairly awful entries. The failings of this film are the same for most Hollywood action films: they’re made for what is expected to be the lowest common denominator (that great, traditional cinema has a more universal appeal is a debate for another post, but think of something like Goodfellas). The plot is fairly moronic, being nothing more than an attempt to tell the origin story quickly and get onto a series of CGI action sequences and cameos (for other Marvel characters). Big, loud, and fast. As the genre goes, it’s not a terrible entry: Robert Downey Jr. is an inspired choice, even if Tony Stark has gone from obsessive alcoholic genius, the prototypical flawed hero, to brash-but-brilliant, crowd-pleasing asshole. Where it lacks good storytelling, it makes some inroads with the action. Watchable.

The quiet, British indie film, Cashback, has a decent premise: an art student obsesses over the female form (while working in a supermarket), often stopping time to fully indulge his compulsion. It’s left purposefully opaque as to the extent and reality of this talent, flipping back and forth between assuming it’s real or just his imagination. That’s fine though: the frozen time scenes are merely a mechanism for exploring the character, and on that level the film is a success. Cashback suffers from being stretched too thin (perhaps as a result of being an expanded version of a short film) as some of the other characters and the plot lines are shoe-horned in or lack depth, notably his best friend. Still, it’s a decent enough film when it focusses on it’s stronger parts.

Here’s a concept: a horror film where it is abundantly clear that the nemesis, whether ghost, monster or zombie, has the main characters in a place where it can’t be stopped, hurt or, for the most part, seen. Outpost is that movie. You may think that this would make for quite a dramatic, fraught, survival piece but the opposite is true: it lacks tension or scares, and sadly lacks a coherent plot. For some reason, the Nazi ghosts are murdering a group of soldiers who stumble upon an abandoned bunker, making for some of the most conveniently capricious baddies you’re likely to see. They can kill everyone at any time, but stick with one at a time kills until the plot calls for more. There are some decent elements (the creepy pale man) but they’re never utilised as fully as they could be. Relatively weak.

Finally, the much awaited Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull shows that even the relatively sacred Indiana Jones franchise is capable of producing an absolute stinker. There is little to like about this film. The story is nonsensical, fan-pleasing hookum in the worst sense. It reads like fan fiction. You expect the author’s favourite band to turn up and high-five Shia LaBeouf (who is awful in this), it’s honestly that bad. The fun, family adventures (occult themes not withstanding) have been replaced by farce. The impeccably solid stunt-work has been replaced by piss weak CGI and ludicrous ideas. The evil ants climb up each other like a cartoon? Shia LeBeouf becomes Tarzan? That accent was supposed to be acting? Tragically bad, and not so tragic that it’s funny either.

The winner for May 2008 is Cashback. It wouldn’t have won in many other months, but it’s core is a good enough film to warrant a watch.

I know, I know, it’s late again. It’s been a fair while since I’ve seen these but let’s crack on anyway.

Funny Games is shot for shot remake of a German film of the same name (by the same director), about the commercialisation and desensitisation of violence in the media. Told through the eyes of a family who are held against their will, it takes us on a fairly dark journey, using some impressively lengthy shots to force us to keep watching. The direction and camera work is pretty flawless throughout, as is the dialogue; perfunctory and sharp. The film is an unerringly focussed on it’s core questions of “Have you seen enough yet?” and “Is this still entertaining?” It succeeds masterfully. Highly recommended.

Rod Hilton has done another excellent job of parodying 21, but I’ll say a little more. What we have here is a good idea, done in the worst possible way. We have a film that is dumbed down as far as it will go: MTV style jump-cuts, paper thin characters, plot holes, awful dialogue, the works. It’s been designed as a music video and, for a film about card counting, that’s not good. Even if you want an easy film, I’d say there’s better fare on offer elsewhere. Avoid!

In Bruges is a bit of an odd mix: ostensibly a comedy, but with a thoroughly dark vein running through it. After a kill gone wrong, two hit men are ordered to hide out in Bruges where they begin to face up to what they’ve done. Had the film continued with that, it could’ve been very good. Sadly, it loses itself exploring the quirky characters they meet and the childish jokes that Colin Farrell’s character passes off as banter. That’s not to say it’s entirely merit less: there are some laughs in here. In a quiet period, it might be worth a look.

As is my obligatory remark for this kind of film, I love zombie films. Spanish horror, Rec, is exactly that. Initially the single point of view handycam style gives it a Blair Witch feel (not a good thing), it quickly settles in. About a siege in an apartment block and the panic that surrounds the resident’s attempts to escape, we see old conceits work remarkably well. The story is nothing more than ordinary (well doled out), but the visual impact is impressive. Horrific in places, reasonably tense, but let down by a weak end sequence. A shame that the last scene lets it slip. Still worth a view.

Finally, Persepolis is an animated film from Iran (redubbed by an impressive American voice cast) following the fall of civil rights in Iran, and the eventual persecution of non-conformists. Told through the eyes of a young girl growing up and eventually viewing her heritage from afar, Persepolis is simultaneously wryly bleak and dimly amusing. The story is a worthwhile one, but often the pacing feels too slow and the feel too quiet. You sympathise with the main character’s plight, but can’t warm to her as a person. Not a terrible failing, but one that makes the film drag more than it could.

The winner for April is Funny Games, a dark vision and a pointed question combined into an excellent piece of cinema.

Over the last week, I’ve very slowly been migrating Solitude (and all other parts of the near enough non-existant VKPS empire) to a new home over at Dreamhost. If you’ve seen anything go wrong, that’s probably why. Comments had been disabled briefly to allow for the move, but should be working now. If you see anything wrong, I’d appreciate if you’d let me know.

Why did I move hosts? My old hosts were great (in that they were very cheap and reasonably reliable) but they weren’t keeping their featureset up to date any more. PHP 4 just doesn’t cut it, and recently I was getting database outages twice a week. That was enough for me to seek out a new host.

By all accounts, except for a few well publicised outages, Dreamhost offer a great package. For £60 a year I got 500Gb of space, 5Tb of bandwidth, subversion, and shell access. Compared to my old package, that is ridiculous.

As I say, any problems with any page, please contact me.