Take some time to visit the dark, cluttered passageways of my mind.

• 2Jun 08

  Some Favourite Fiction

  I've lost track of how many books I've read over the years. I even had a fairly decent collection at one time (numbering over 3000 books), but I had to get rid of a large portion of those to make room for my kids.

  Anyway, here is a small snapshot of some of my favourites over the years...

  Stephen Donaldson:
  
  The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant...
  
  Lord Foul's Bane
  The Illearth War
  The Power That Preserves
  The Wounded Land
  The One Tree
  White Gold Wielder
  
  
  John Wyndham:
  
  Day Of The Triffids
  The Kraken Wakes
  The Chrysalids
  The Midwich Cuckoos
  
  
  Herbert George Wells:
  
  The War Of The Worlds
  The Invisible Man
  The Time Machine
  The Island Of Dr. Moreau
  The Food Of The Gods
  
  
  Basil Copper:
  
  The Great White Space
  Into The Silence
  
  
  Edgar Rice Burroughs:
  
  Thuvia, Maid Of Mars
  The Chessmen Of Mars
  Tarzan Of The Apes
  
  
  Alan Dean Foster:
  
  Into The Out Of
  Spellsinger
  To The Vanishing Point
  
  The Icerigger trilogy:
  
  Icerigger
  Mission To Moulokin
  The Deluge Drivers
  
  
  David Gemmell:
  
  Waylander
  Legend
  Morningstar
  Knights Of Dark Renown
  
  
  Robert E. Howard:
  
  The Conan stories
  The Gods Of Bal-Sagoth (collection of short stories)
  Solomon Kane
  
  
  Katherine Kurtz:
  
  Deryni Rising
  Deryni Checkmate
  High Deryni
  The Bishop's Heir
  The King's
  The Quest For Saint Camber
  
  
  Barbra Hambly:
  
  The Darwath Trilogy:
  
  1: The Time Of The Dark
  2: The Walls Of Air
  3: The Armies Of Daylight
  
  
  Ian Fleming:
  
  Dr. No
  Goldfinger
  You Only Live Twice
  From Russia With Love
  Live And Let Die
  Thunderball
  On Her Majesty's Secret Service
  
  
  James Herbert:
  
  The Rats
  Lair
  The Fog
  The Dark
  
  
  Raymond E. Feist:
  
  Magician
  Silverthorn
  A Darkness At Sethanon
  
  
  Dean R. Koontz:
  
  Strangers
  Cold Fire
  Lightning
  The Bad Place
  Darkness Comes
  Phantoms
  
  
  Jules Verne:
  
  Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
  20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
  Mysterious Island
  
  
  Alexander Dumas:
  
  The Three Musketeers
  Ten Years Later
  Twenty Years Later
  The Man In The Iron Mask
  The Count Of Monte Cristo

  
  Douglas Adams:
  
  The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy
  Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
  
  
  Clifford D. Simak:
  
  All Flesh Is Grass
  The Visitors
  They Walked Like Men
  
  
  Dennis Wheatley:
  
  The Devil Rides Out
  Uncharted Seas
  
  
  Larry Niven:
  
  The Mote In God's Eye
  Dream Park

  
  H. Beam Piper:
  
  Little Fuzzy
  Fuzzy Sapiens
  Fuzzies and other people

  
  Charles Dickens:
  
  The Old Curiosity Shop
  Oliver Twist
  Great Expectations
  A Christmas Carol

  
  Robert Louis Stevenson:

  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  Treasure Island

  
  Isaac Asimov:

  I, Robot
  The Bicentennial Man

  
  J.R.R. Tolkien:

  The Hobbit
  The Lord Of The Rings (complete)

  
  Clive Barker:

  Books Of Blood series
  Weaveworld

  
  Robert Jordan:

  Eye Of The World
  The Great Hunt
  The Dragon Reborn

  The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
  The Cthulhu stories of H.P. Lovecraft

  The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
  Involution Ocean by Bruce Sterling
  Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
  The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
  The Warlock In Spite Of Himself by Christopher Stasheff
  Massacre River (and other 'Fargo' novels) by John Benteen
  The Ipcress File by Len Deighton
  Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  Dracula by Bram Stoker
  The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
  The Moon Pool by Abraham Merritt
  Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
  The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
  Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained by John Milton
  Duncton Wood by William Horwood
  

  It's not an exhaustive list by any means, and there are many, many omissions, but I'd recommend any of these as a 'good read'.

  • Posted Jun 2, 2008 12:30 pm GMT
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• 30May 08

  Favourite movies by genre

  Here are some of my favourite movies of all time, listed by genre.

  Favourite Sci-Fi movies
  
  1. Blade Runner (Director's Cut) ( 1982 )
  2. Forbidden Planet ( 1956 )
  3. The Day The Earth Stood Still ( 1951 )
  4. The Terminator ( 1984 )
  5. War Of The Worlds ( 1953 )
  6. The Time Machine ( 1960 )
  7. The Abyss (Special Edition) ( 1989 )
  8. The Day The Earth Caught Fire ( 1961 )
  9. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind ( 1977 )
  10. Soylent Green ( 1973)
  
  
  Favourite Fantasy movies
  
  1. LOTR: Fellowship Of The Ring ( 2001 )
  2. LOTR: The Two Towers ( 2002 )
  3. LOTR: Return Of The King ( 2003 )
  4. Sleepy Hollow ( 1999 )
  5. The 13th Warrior ( 1999 )
  6. Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish) ( 2006 )
  7. Jason And The Argonauts ( 1963 )
  8. Le Pacte Des Loups (aka Brotherhood Of The Wolf) (French) ( 1999 )
  9. 7th Voyage of Sinbad ( 1958 )
  10. Conan The Barbarian ( 1982 )
  
  
  Favourite Period movies
  
  1. Braveheart ( 1995 )
  2. The Three Musketeers ( 1973 )
  3. Scaramouche ( 1952 )
  4. The Horseman On The Roof (French) ( 1995 )
  5. Ben Hur ( 1959 )
  6. Master and Commander: Far Side Of The World ( 2002 )
  7. Name Of The Rose ( 1986 )
  8. Le Bossu (aka On Guard) (French) ( 1997 )
  9. Seven Samurai (Japanese) ( 1956 )
  10. The First Great Train Robbery ( 1978 )
  
  
  Favourite 'Westerns'
  
  1. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly ( 1966 )
  2. Once Upon A Time In The West ( 1969 )
  3. The Outlaw Josey Wales ( 1976 )
  4. Rio Bravo/El Dorado (basically the same)
  5. A Fistful Of Dollars ( 1964 )
  6. Unforgiven ( 1992 )
  7. Hidalgo ( 2004 )
  8. How The West Was Won ( 1962 )
  9. Heaven's Gate (uncut) ( 1980 )
  10. The Magnificent Seven ( 1960 )
  
  
  Favourite Horror movies
  
  1. The Changeling ( 1980 )
  2. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers ( 1956 )
  3. The Devil Rides Out ( 1968 )
  4. Halloween ( 1978 )
  5. The Frighteners ( 1996 )
  6. The Haunting ( 1963 )
  7. Legend Of Hell House ( 1973 )
  8. The Shining ( 1980 )
  9. Dracula: Prince Of Darkness ( 1966 )
  10. Lifeforce ( 1985 )
  
  
  Favourite 'Monster' movies
  
  1. Aliens ( 1986 )
  2. Jaws ( 1975 )
  3. An American Werewolf In London ( 1981 )
  4. Predator ( 1987 )
  5. John Carpenter's The Thing ( 1982 )
  6. Tremors ( 1990 )
  7. King Kong ( 1933 )
  8. Them! ( 1954 )
  9. Jurassic Park ( 1993 )
  10. The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms* ( 1953 )
  
  * I'm a sucker for Harryhausen movies.
  
  
  Favourite War movies
  
  1. Where Eagles Dare ( 1968 )
  2. Saving Private Ryan ( 1998 )
  3. Apocalypse Now ( 1979 )
  4. Kelly's Heroes ( 1970 )
  5. Battle Of The Bulge ( 1965 )
  6. A Bridge Too Far ( 1977 )
  7. The Longest Day ( 1970 )
  8. The Deer Hunter ( 1978 )
  9. Cross Of Iron ( 1977 )
  10. Taegukgi (aka Brotherhood) (Korea) ( 2004 )
  
  Favourite Action movies
  
  1. The Spy Who Loved Me ( 1977 ) (+ all James Bond)
  2. The Bourne Identity ( 2002 )
  3. Raiders Of The Lost Ark ( 1981 )
  4. Lethal Weapon 2 ( 1989 )
  5. Die Hard ( 1988 )
  6. Ronin ( 1998 )
  7. The Replacement Killers ( 1998 )
  8. Enter The Dragon ( 1973 )
  9. District B13 (French) ( 2004 )
  10. Eraser ( 1996 )
  
  
  Favourite Thrillers
  
  1. The Ipcress File ( 1965 )
  2. The French Connection ( 1971 )
  3. North By Northwest ( 1959 )
  4. Cop ( 1988 )
  5. Marathon Man ( 1976 )
  6. Rear Window ( 1954 )
  7. The Conversation ( 1974 )
  8. Magnum Force ( 1973 )
  9. Leon (aka The Professional) ( 1994 )
  10. Strange Days ( 1995 )
  11. Children Of Men ( 2007 )
  12. Kiss Me Deadly ( 1955 )
  
  
  Favourite Light Entertainment
  
  1. A Shot In The Dark ( 1964 )
  2. Return Of The Pink Panther ( 1975 )
  3. It's A Wonderful Life ( 1946 )
  4. The Italian Job ( 1969 )
  5. The Big Lebowski ( 1998 )
  6. Little Shop Of Horrors ( 1986 )
  7. The Court Jester ( 1956 )
  8. Repo Man ( 1984 )
  9. Way Out West (or any Laurel & Hardy movie)
  10. Anything with Will Hay
  
  
  Favourite Animated/CGI movies
  
  1. The Incredibles ( 2004 )
  2. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs ( 1937 )
  3. Lady And The Tramp ( 1955 )
  4. Fantasia ( 1940 )
  5. Renaissance ( 2006 )
  6. Tron ( 1982 )
  7. Shrek ( 1999 )
  8. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within ( 2001 )
  9. Akira ( 1990 )
  10. Titan A.E. ( 2000 )

  • Posted May 30, 2008 6:47 pm GMT
  • Category: Movies
  • 11 Comments
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• 29May 08

  No more SecuROM or StarForce for me.

  Many people already know my stance on restrictive DRM, and copy protection systems such as SecuROM and StarForce. Considering some of the difficulties I have had with SecuROM and StarForce in the past, I finally decided to remove games using that software from my game collection. It's taken me three days to check the majority of games in my collection, and separate those I deem problematic from those I deem acceptable.
  
  Quite a number of titles are now languishing in a crate shoved in a cupboard, never to see the light of day again. It saddens me that I had to do it, but I can no longer support games, developers or publishers using this kind of malware. Most people know about the issues regarding StarForce, but I've also had difficulties with SecuROM. I atrribute two DVD drive failures and interruption of data backups using Nero to interference from both SecuROM and StarForce. I now face the prospect of reformatting my hard drive and installing the OS and all my applications from scratch, just to ensure all traces of these copy protection systems are removed.
  
  After reading about it from all around the net, I checked my system registry and found null entries, and went into my user settings to find a hidden directory buried there with files named using illegal characters making them impossible to simply delete, and requiring a third party application to remove them. SecuROM is not uninstalled when a game is uninstalled - it remains on your PC to potentially interfere with CD/DVD burning software and drives. It is also rumoured to interfere with certain kinds of virtual drive, some SCSI devices and potentially some RAID setups.
  
  I find this practice unacceptable, and in my view SecuROM is more like a virus due to the way it installs without your knowledge and buries itself deep in your system, resisting attempts to remove it. I have two firewalls (hardware and software), two anti-virus applications and a spyware/adware removal tool on my system because I do not wanted it infected by malicious software. Now I realise I have unwittingly been installing such malicious software along with the games I purchased, and it sickens me. Of course, it was my own fault for not educating myself more thoroughly about these things in the past, but foolishly I placed my trust in the developers and wanted to support them to combat piracy.
  
  Needless to say, I will be a lot more vigilant and wary in the future. Even some game demos now come with SecuROM attached, so I will have to avoid those as well. Basically I will have to wait until others post about the copy protections used on certain games before making future purchasing decisions, because I will not risk compromising the integrity of my PC again.
  
  This is the list of games I have put aside:
  
  StarForce protected games
  
  Brothers In Arms: Earned In Blood
  Codename: Panzers: Phase One
  Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars
  Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
  Rainbow Six: Lockdown
  Sniper Elite
  Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
  
  SecuROM protected games
  
  Aliens v Predator 2
  Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura
  Armed and Dangerous
  Arx Fatalis
  Bioshock
  Boiling Point: Road To Hell
  Call Of Juarez
  Chrome
  Chronicles Of Riddick
  Company Of Heroes (Gold)
  Contract J.A.C.K.
  Crysis
  Dark Messiah Of Might & Magic
  Deus Ex: Invisible War
  Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Shivering Isles
  Empire Earth
  F.E.A.R.
  Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
  Gunman Chronicles
  Half-Life: Blue Shift
  Hidden & Dangerous 2
  Hitman: Blood Money (Triple Pack)
  Jedi Academy
  Judge Dredd vs Death
  Knights Of The Old Republic
  Knights Of The Old Republic II
  Lego Star Wars
  Lego Star Wars 2
  Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter
  Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne
  Men Of Valor
  Neverwinter Nights
  Neverwinter Nights 2
  Neverwinter Nights: Hordes Of The Underdark
  Neverwinter Nights: Shadows Of Undrentide
  No One Lives Forever 2
  Prey
  Project Snowblind
  Rogue Trooper
  S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl
  Severance: Blade Of Darkness
  Spellforce: Order Of Dawn
  Star Wars: Battlefront
  Star Wars: Republic Commando
  SWAT 4
  SWAT 4: Stetchkov Candidate
  The Thing
  Thief: Deadly Shadows
  Tribes: Vengeance
  Tron 2.0
  Unreal 2: The Awakening
  Unreal Tournament 2003
  Unreal Tournament 2004
  Vietcong
  Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos
  Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War (Gold - includes both expansions)
  
  I am still debating whether games protected by SafeDisc are worth the risk. All I have been able to learn about SafeDisc is the name of one file associated with it that seems to be problematic (secdrv.sys) which is found in the system directory. Renaming the file or deleting it removes the risk (although that also removes the ability to play games using it).
  
  Anyway, some of those games listed above number among my favourite titles, and many may ask why I would deny myself the enjoyment of playing them. The answer is simply that I cannot risk these copy protection systems interfering further with my PC, and that takes precedence over all other considerations. It does not matter how sugar-coated the pill, it is still a bitter pill to swallow.
  
  Similarly, I will purchase no other titles using these copy protection systems in future, and especially will not purchase games that come with activation limits and other restrictive DRM measures. It is simply not worth the risk.
  
  If anyone has any other information about SafeDisc, be sure to let me know.
  • Posted May 29, 2008 12:29 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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