XMHell... Aha! A pun!

i decided that i recently wanted to have a nice,simple, readable data format for my projects to make inputting data simple and as generic as possible. I thought it would be quite nice, just for kicks you understand, to write an XML parser, of sorts, to contain the input data.

It worked out quite nicely. I fear i have somewhat raped the language but i use only a very limited subset of the syntax, and a few homebrew things, but the documents look nice at least. Another advantage is that one ends up with a very useful tree in memory once you have loaded up the xml file. I have made it so you can access your data through a kind of dot (".") operator. For example, we may have a piece of pseudo-xml that looks like this:

[cookies]
[chocolate yumminess=1/]
[ginger yumminess=2/]
...
[/cookies]

And then you can access the data just through a cookies.chocolate syntax.

So that is nice. I have rather lost my train of thought though. Bye!

Update At Last

Ok so i didn't write anything on here for a while, largely due to a) total lack of inspiration and b) a decided lack of motivation at work. Slightly dangerous for me to write, perhaps, especially if someone from work happens to read this.

Anyway it has all be resolved in one way or another. I am at a slightly loose end at work now, and decided that today would be a good time to install some new development tools and some developer kits for Xbox 360 and the like.

Cue copious "I'm sorry, software X cannot be installed due to spurious reason X, please fix it and start again". The thing that really got to me was that the software i was installing knew exactly what the problem was... so why couldn't it fix it itself? That and Microsoft's seemingly bottomless desire to have a different installer for every revision of their software, so that you are perpetually confused as to which one is correct. Bonkers.

However, i am happy sitting about, safe in the knowledge that my computer is doing something vaguely worthwhile and not requiring my intervention. And then i feel comforted by the fact that it's ok for me to cancel the install process half way through to play Battlefield 2 at lunch time, as no-one is particularly concerned by my productivity at the moment.

Yes, i am in limbo. But it is a happy void filled with cups of tea, reading interesting articles and deleting spam mail with such titles as "The safe way to drown your girlfriend in semen!". Quite apart from the fact that i cannot think of a safe way to drown anyone, i am not sure why this is supposed to be an attractive proposition at all. Even if it will make my "ejaculation remind me of a bubbling fountain".

Warp Coil Overload

Or something, i don't really watch Star Trek.

Anyway i haven't updated this in a while, but i think i have genuine medical reasons! I think. CRT monitors emit copious amounts of potentially harmful electromagnetic radiation, from which the user is shielded to the front by the design of the monitors. However, there is no shielding to the back and sides.

And i am sitting about a foot away from the back Rohan's 21" Iiyama CRT. No wonder i have felt lacklustre and unmotivated! (Well, it's part way to an explanation). We are packed so tight in here that not only have i been constantly irradiated for the last few weeks but the air around my desk has been noticeably warmer than elsewhere in the office. Either that or my noodle is being slowly stir fried.

I have a two part solution:
1) Install a fan. This I have done and it is keeping me cool but is only a temporary solution as my brain is still being melted
2) Move me or Rohan. This is a better solution but also sad as Roh and i get on well. But Hallelujah Salvation and Glory it shall come to pass, as Roh has graciously agreed to move once another artist leaves, which works well for him as he is at quite a crappy desk and moving would bring him closer to the other artists.

So, the moral is: CRTs MELT YOUR BRAIN.

This isn't science fiction people, it's Science Fact.