Interface first...

An interesting tool for developers working on Service Oriented Architectures is Cape Clear's free SOA editor. One of the most important things for a SOA is an "interface-first" design, and this is a tool to help you get those interfaces right before you start developing your code.

It's really a WSDL and web service design tool, and so isn't everything you'd want for SOA work, but until Visual Studio .NET "Whideby" and the next generation of BEA's tools appear, it's a start...

What music means to me...

Quoting from Glenn MacDonald's wonderful The War Against Silence, and a review of Tori Amos' Tales Of A Librarian

"But that isn't what I'm thinking as I listen to these records of befores and afters. I'm not thinking about what's coming next, out of vaults or fingers. I'm remembering what it felt like to love these songs when I was fifteen and twenty-five, and I'm breathless at what they can still do to me. I'm in love with the persistence of rapture, and ready to love everything I've ever loved forever. These records aren't occasions for my faith or justifications for my hope, they're only small rewards for a few good days of dedication and belief. But if we cling to our prizes, some nights, we will call it comfort, and rest for new loves tomorrow."

Grand Panoramas

Two panoramic views of the Grand Canyon, taken on my helicopter trip there last week...

Click on the thumbnails to download the full size images.




The reality is so much better than the pictures!

Anime GIPpage

Introducing a new default icon, of Claus and Lavie, the two main characters from the wonderful "Last Exile" - possibly the best anime series currently available. Perhaps best thought of as a cross between Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky" and Christian Gossett's The Red Star, "Last Exile" mixes byzantine politics, dieselpunk and high adventure in beautiful images and a compelling storyline.


Highly recommended.

Next three Miyazaki DVDs announced...

...for release on the 31st of August in the US. They'll be "My Neighbor Totoro", "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind", and "Porco Rosso".

More details on Nausicaa.net

They've moved the Boat Race!

It's on Sunday at 6pm.

What is the world coming to?