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Wednesday, June 11, 2008 #

I got out to watch the new Indy film at the cinema over the weekend. What was it like?

 

It was so predictable - you just knew what was going to happen next. You had seen it all before [when is he going to learn that when you have got the treasure and emerge from whatever cave/hole in which you found it, the bad guys will be waiting for you?] The characters were paper thin and the plot was almost non-existant. The fridge - the less said about that the better.

 

Was it any good? It was brilliant.

 

It was like being 10 again - just let yourself go and enjoy it - it is a real Indy film, not some modern remake of what has always been a bit corny and far-fetched.

 

The decision not to use too much CGI and instead concentraste on set-based effects really paid off - it looked like a film made 10-15 years ago and that just added to the warm feel that it gave you.

 

I  can't remember when I last had so much fun watching such a rubbish film. I want to see it again :-)

 

BTW - spot the references to previous films throughout - recognise the hanger? See what was in the box? Why is the boy named Mutt? Where have you seen Marion before? Sankara Stones. And about 100 other things.

 

posted @ 11:59 AM | Feedback (0)

The first release candidate for SQL 2008 can be downloaded here.

 

Some of the nice new features you can use are [taken from this website]:

  1. Backup compression (25-35% at least) - huge cost savings and hey it's native! (note SQL 2005 encryption is not supported by product support but
  2. Transparent Encryption - transparently encrypt the data without the application needing to be aware or know about it.
  3. Database Mirroring Enhancements - compressed logs, more automatic fail over options
  4. Policy Based Administration - manage policies across databases and even across instances and servers
  5. Cluster enhancements - easier to configure and more scenarios that it supports including many in WS08 that provide more intelligence for failover
  6. Resource Governor - limit wild database resources or control one database resources from another!
  7. Easier to deploy - Easier to install, easier to configure, on and on
  8. Reporting Services in SharePoint Mode (report builder rocks!) - easy reporting solutions built to leverage SharePoint mode with more flexibility and with ease.
  9. Data compression - smaller databases with the same amount of data (compression will vary, but watch the overhead on enterprise environments or heavy used environments)
  10. Powershell integration - super extensible and super scriptable

 

More in-depth details can be found here.

 

posted @ 11:47 AM | Feedback (0)