Ergh. There are times when I really don't understand anyone who doesn't work in the software design industry. Actually, that's most of the time.

Recently there's been a movement in the political circles to try and hold developers responsible for the code they write. This is due to the number of bugs and security holes found in many pieces of commercial software. This is just plain stupid, on a number of levels. One of the bigger ones is that developers rarely have a say in the code they write. Want to know who usually controls how a commercial application is developed? The marketing people and managment. The marketing people are the ones responsible for thinking up all the new features, mostly just so they can say "Hey look, our software is the only one that does XYZ". This is where things like feature creep ( way too many features, such as image editing in a word processor ) and the like come from. Managment are the ones that say "This program was due to be shipped a week ago, so I'm going to ignore everything you're saying about it not being ready, and ship it now". This is where buggy and insecure programs come from.

The problem is that now people are trying to hold developers responsible for something they're not really responsible for. So if this kind of thing becomes law, then we're going to have E&O ( error and ommision ) insurance. Basically, malpractice insuarnce for programmers. This is where things are going to go completly loopy. What will happen then is that prices for commercial software will become very large, to cover the costs of E&O insurance. Why? Same reason that prices for the services you get from doctors and engineers are so costly; because you have to be certified to get accepted. Ergh. This whole is much better explained in this thread on Slashdot, so I'm going to stop ranting about it now.

In other news, I just got back from watching Doom. Yes, the movie Doom, based on the video game that started it all. Despite my reservations about the movie, I truly enjoyed it. I think the world of Hollywood is finally starting to realize that games aren't just another cash cow. They have to be made well, or people won't go to see them. I think the success of some video-game-turned movies is really due to the work of the director.

One of the reservations I had about Doom was a change to the storyline. In the game, the premise is thus: the United Areospace Corporation (UAC) setup a research facility on Mars to conduct highly secrect ( and highly controversial ) experiments. One of those experiments was teleportation. In the game, they found they had opened a portal to Hell. At first, they were able to do some research in Hell, untill the locals took notice, and invaded the research facility. This is where you come in. You play the part of a Marine sent to Mars simply to help out. You quickly find out that the demons have started to take over, and it's up to you to send them all packing. The fuller version of the storyline can be found at Wikipedia.

Before I continue: ##SPOILER WARNING!##

Ok, in the movie, things have been changed a little. This time, it's not a portal to Hell, it's genetic enginering. Over the course of the movie, we find out that there was once an ancient civilisation on Mars. For some reason, they built a gateway ( kinda like the teleporter from Galaxy Quest ) to Earth. We find this portal, and subsiquently set up a archological dig on Mars. Over time, a number of skeletons are recovered. During the movie, we find out that the Martians were into genetic engenering. They had managed to figure out a way to give themselves an extra chromosone ( humans only have 23 ) to make themselves super smart, super strong, etc, etc. But that's when things started to go wrong. Towards the end of the movie, we learn that apparently, some people are pre-wired towards good or evil based on their genes. For the most part, adding the extra chromosone worked as planned. But for some people who had that special 'evil' gene, it turned them into monsters. Hence the original evacuation from Mars to Earth. So, in the movie, we get to Mars, find the extra chromosone, and start experimenting with it, eventually turning a multiple-murder convict into a homicidal mutant. This is when all hell breaks loose. Cue fight for survival, showdown between good and evil, etc.

Despite my initial thoughts on the subject of the plot being changed from the one found in the games, I found that I liked what they did with it. They managed to give it some credibility, although I think the whole genetic engenering thing is just an attempt to try and say "look what happens when you mess with this stuff!". Personally, I think the movie would have been a lot better and more enjoyable had it been about the whole portal-to-Hell-brings-bad-things.

Asides from that, I went into the theater with a fairly open mind about the movie. I was curious to see what they did with the whole first person view thing. I was half expecting them to over-use it, and so I kept wondering when it would pop up. I was plesantly suprised when they only used it for about ten minutes or so towards the end of the movie. It turned out it was fairly effective. I also liked how they managed to work in some of the more familiar enimies from Doom 3, despite the fact that they're not from Hell. One difference between the movie and the original games ( or between Doom 3 and the original games ) is that it is more of a slasher/horror/survival movie than a sci-fi/action-adventure movie. Which I think really works, despite how much some people bitch and moan about it. Yes, the video game was really repetitive, thanks to poor level design. The game was quite the opposite.

Interesting side note: when I went up to buy my ticket, a kid from the high school I volunteer at came up to me and asked if I could buy him and his three friends tickets to see Doom. Now, in most cases, I probably wouldn't have. But I know that these teens have probably experience everything this movie has to offer. It had gore ( some pretty graphic stuff, too ), violence ( duh ) and some pretty graphic swearing. By graphic swearing I mean much use of the F word. But I know that these guys had all experienced all this and more. I know that a lot of you are shaking your heads, saying that I'm corrupting the youth of tommorow. But here's the thing: I'm not. Now for my arguments about why I'm not. See, I'm with the people that have this notion that for the most part, it's kind of pointless to try and shield children from all those bad influences. In todays world, it's hard ( if not nearly impossible ) to go a day without hearing various "vulgar" words. And the thing about words is that once you hear them, you can't un-hear them, despite how much you'd like your children to be able to.

So you know what the best thing to do is? Take your kids, and teach them, yes, there are bad words in pretty much every language on the planet. But there are times to use them, and there are times when they are wholey inapropriate. Those times are completly up to the parent, so those times can varry. But if you're going to try and blame me for exposing four high school kids to some gratuitous violence and some use of the F word, then you should really open your eyes to the world you ( or rather, your kids ) live in. Music, tv, movies, and tons of other sources throw sexuality and various other bad things at us on a daily basis. Any kid with half a brain can figure out what they're really saying when they beep out the swear words on tv movies. You think your child shouldn't swear? Tell that to them. Stop buying them video games, music, and movies filled with those words. You want your little daughter to stop dressing like that? Talk to her about it, and sit down and take a look at what they wear on channels like MTV.

Just don't try to blame other people for your bad parenting. Kind of like the whole video game thing. If you don't want your kid playing violent video games, stop buying them.

Anyways. That's enough of my ranting.

I'm helping out at the Archbishop Carney Garage Sale tommorow. So if you're looking for good deals, come on down sometime around three or four in the afternoon. I'm not really sure when we're closing down for the day, but it's open Saturday and Sunday. I'm only helping out on Saturday, though, so if you want a good deal from me, Saturday is your day. I'll be in the computer section, hoarding all the really good stuff for myself, if you want to find me.

Oh, and one truly final note before I head off to bed. If you use computers for just about anything, or wish you could learn a few new things, but have never picked up a computer book because they're stupidly expensive, well, I've got news for you. Half price computer books, right next to Silvercity Coquitlam, is having a going-out-of-business sale. Right now, any book over $10 is...... $10. I've bought about 16 books in the past two weeks. Just today, I got a $92 game scripting book for... $10. That store has become my candy shop. So if you need computer books for any reason ( from learing a few new windows tricks, to tricking out your Linux install, to beefing up on your C++/Java/Perl/PHP/Flash ), now is the time to get them. When I was in there today, one guy had a pile of about 12 books that he was carting around the store. There are still a few gems left, but probably not for too much longer.

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