December 26, 2005

I've Been Thwarted By J.K. Rowling!

[UPDATE: via a comment to Eve Maler's post (linked below) Paul Downey pointed at a Stephen Fry audio interview with J.K. Rowling. For those of you unaware (a number in which I count myself among) Stephen Fry is the voice behind the Harry Potter audio books. I have to admit that I'm not normally the type of person who is attracted to fantasy type novels such as what you find in Harry Potter. With that said I will admit that I have read several of the Harry Potter books and have found them absolutely fascinating! If I didn't already spend so much time reading tech titles (for recreational reading ome of Tom Robbins highly recommended titles > [my Amazon Associates link to Tom Robbins titles] is always nearby :) I find it suprising myself admitting to the fact that I would probably be reading a Harry Potter title [my Amazon Associates link to Harry Potter titles]. Not surprising, after listening to the first fifteen(15) minutes of the above linked interview I can now see why... J.K. Rowling is somebody in whom I can relate with as apparently, she's a real person just like you and me. Please don't take this to mean that I think other authors are not "real" (real in the sense of down-to-earth type folks.) I've just never listened to them speak in an interview type setting nor do I know how they would respond to Stephen Fry's conversational-styled interview questions (which is very engaging in and of itself!) I can tell you that if there answers are anything like J.K. Rowling, I could quite easily make the same statement about them too. Fascinating stuff!]

[Original Post]

Understanding XML: Harry Potter and the Legion of Code

She quoted J.K. Rowling's comments from a FAQ about how the members of the Order of the Phoenix (OoP - think about it) communicated with one another

In the above quote 'She' refers to Eve Maler and 'quoted' a recent piece she wrote comparing secured End-to-End messaging and various elements of the intricate details of Harry Potter and his magical world. A fantastic piece, but with Eve thats kind of expected (oh the pressure! ;) given the fact that she's, well, Eve (or Hermione depending on whether your confident you can call her this AND expect in some capacity to get away with it (that's a joke, BTW ;).) Kurt followed-up (linked above) her piece with what of course is another fantastic piece of his own. But, like Eve, with Kurt we can expect no less. NOTE: Did anybody else just come to the sudden realization that I either need to learn how to write, or find new friends if I expect to maintain any sort of level of self confidence? ;) I wouldn't worry though. Whether it's justified or not, I have plenty of self confidence to draw from, so I should make it through this episode OK, don't you worry about me.

You were worried, right? Right?! Heellllloooooo...

Well, while you collect you're thoughts (or excuses as the case may be ;) I'll get to the point.

(You're welcome. :)

Given my quite open love/hate relationship with OOP, or Object Oriented Programming (love/hate as in I Love to Hate OOP), do you realize what has just happened? Not only do I have to try and take on every OOPs generationed (or factory generated as the case may be ;) hacker and their various cult followings/factions, but now I have to take on Harry Potter?! As if my job of trying to save the world from the evil's of OOP wasn't hard enough (don't drink the Object-Oriented KoolAid! Kool-Aids not an 'Object' (how do you objectify Kool-Aid?), it's poison!!! (at least OO-KoolAid (said in my best Homer Simpson 'mmmm... Forbidden Doughnut' voice) is anyway ;) now I have to take on Harry Potter and every man, woman, and child who has been entranced by the magical spells of J.K. Rowling!!!

Thanks a lot J.K.! (if not obvious J.K. and I are tight -- but don't ask her that if you happen to know her, K, Cuz' more than likely she'll pretend she has no clue who you're talking about. She does that a lot, I've noticed. Quite the imagination that J.K. Always coming up with fun ways to 'pretend' she doesn't know me. ;)

Don't worry OOPs generation, Harry Potter or no Harry Potter, I'll save you!

(Yo, (if not obvious,)
        (I could really use some help here.)
        (anybody?)
        (Anybody?!)
        (Heellllloooooooo.....)
(Damn!))