It turns out that ASP.NET might not suck after all. Atlas for ASP.NET is a toolkit for doing AJAXy stuff.

Well in fact it is quite a bit more than that. It has many features of the Google Web Toolkit (except in ASP.NET instead of Java) including serializing server side objects for use client side use. Interesting it also has a lot in common with Backbase. It allows you to embed some nifty XML to define a user interface which is then interpreted by the Javascript to render real (X)HTML.

The final irony is that it’s pretty much free. Since it’s .NET, to really use it you need Visual Studio, but the Atlas part itself is free and should be perfectly usable with the Express version of the Visual Studio projects.

Considering the attention that Digital Rights Management is getting these days I found it funny that DRM is actually present within EVE Online.

To build things in EVE you use blueprints. There are originals which can make any number of items and copies which are licensed and only make a certain amount. Certain blueprints are very rare and this way the players controlling them can keep them rare.

Apparently Craig Charles was filmed smocking crack in a taxi. The most annoying aspect is the tabloids used headlines referring to him as a Coronation Street star.

Surely some clever Red Dwarf pun wouldn’t have been that difficult to come up with.

Since I joined the EVE Online affiliate scheme I figured I’d create one of my mini-themes for EVE. It has to be my favourite so far :D

The important part of the theme is the flash banner (it only appears on the actual post pages). Clicking this takes you to a free 14 day trial so you can try EVE out. Warning, it can become addictive very quickly!

EVE, EVE Online, MMORPG

Whether Windows Media Center can create video DVDs (that is DVDs that will play in a normal DVD player and not just a computer (or certain “posh” ones)) is a little hit and miss, mainly because of the complicated OEM nature of MCE. If you buy a media center PC from a shop you’re probably okay. If you buy the OEM version of MCE and install it yourself you’re probably out of luck. You see, MCE can’t do it by itself, it requires an extra piece of software called “Sonic” something. If you buy the normal OEM version of MCE you don’t get it - you have to buy the three pack which contains an “extras” disk. If you do buy the Sonic software separately (available from Sonic.com) it does work fine - albeit apparently not from the MCE interface. There is the distinct possibility I did something wrong so I’ll keep fiddling with it.

Well the comments by people having problems with TalkTalk are still trickling in and I’ve still yet to experience any of them. Although it does seem the biggest problem is customer service which I haven’t had reason to encounter yet.

I recently asked a football loving friend what would happen if the teams were tied at the end of the group stages. I mean completely tied (i.e. if there were no goals for instance). He didn’t know. Well unfrtounately the answer is that acomittee draws lots to decide who goes through.

Well in an interesting twist if England beat Sweden 2-0 and Trinidad & Tobago beat Paraguay 1-0, then lots will be drawn to decide which of Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago go though. Group B after such a result would be:

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
England	9	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5
Sweden	4	3	1	1	1	1	2	-1
Trinidad and Tobago	4	3	1	1	1	1	2	-1
Paraguay	0	3	0	0	3	0	3	-3

If each of the teams in those matches scores the same number of goals in excess of those numbers the same result occurs (e.g. England 4-2 Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago 3-2 Paraguay.

After finding a permanent blood donation place near where I work, Julia and I finally got round to giving blood again on Tuesday. And unless you have a very good reason not to, you should too.

There’s more info in my previous post about donating blood.

I knew it would happen eventually. Once I got an income it was only going to be a matter of time before I found a massively multiplayer online game to play.

EVE Online is such a game. It’s in space, has a single persistent universe (i.e. all players are in the same world - no sharding), has a completely player run economy, has the record for most number of simultaneous players (over 25,000) and is tremendously fun. And now I have an income, the monthly fee of 14.99€ is looking very affordable.

And now could be the best time to join. The a big update is coming over the next year (starting at the end of the month and ending in 2007) called “Kali”. The big part (which won’t be added until towards the end of the updating) is factional warfare. As with most of these games you choose a race for your character to be in. Generally the race itself doesn’t make that much of a difference. There are role-playing elements that are different (different style of missions (think quests) for example) but other than your base attributes it’s not a big factor. If the factional warfare system is done well that could all change.

Anyway, go play now.

EVE, online games, MMORPG, MMOPG

Since I got MCE working I’ve been watching TV on a one day delay - that way I don’t have to actually remember when things are on. One such show was ECW One Night Stand, which has definitely been the best “WWE” pay-per-view* in a long time. And 90% of the reason was the fans who just never shut up. The funniest example was the Cena/RVD match. After a whole match of the fans tearing Cena apart, he manages a good move that I haven’t seen him do before. The crowds response? “You still suck”.

For a complete review check out Online Onslaught.