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I couldn’t resist the DaVinci Code madness. I admit.

I even enjoyed the book by Dan Brown (before all this media bubble burst, when the book was little more than a ‘promising novel’). Crucify me (religious pun intended). It was well written for a mystery-action fiction book, it kept a quick pace and it was based on an interesting subject. Mind you, I don’t say that it was better than other books based on a similar subject (Foucault’s Pendulum, anyone?). It was just more ‘chewable’, easier to grasp and ..well, more fun.

The movie though…Hm. To be absolutely frank with myself, it disappointed me. I even yawned at some parts. Maybe slept a bit in others.

For someone that had read and moderately enjoyed the book, the movie is no big deal, really. Casting was ok, yep (Jean Reno! Yay!). Performance was.. hm, somewhat mediocre (Tautou excluded, I have a soft spot for her). The plot suffered a bit, and the worst thing is, I don’t know why.

All the thinking and the ideas that led to the discovery of the (spoiler)coughHolyGrailcough(spoiler) that were so well described in the book… puff! Now they’re gone. Robert Langdon just sees a series of roaming translucent planets in the air and exclaims : ‘Apple!’ Pfft.

I don’t say it’s a bad movie, for someone that hasn’t read the book or doesn’t really know what’s the fuss about. It may be fascinating. But not for someone that’d read and liked the book. No siree.

davinci code, dan brown

Off to Athens for a flash trip, to attend the wedding ceremony of a close relative.

I’ll see you all back on Monday.

Cheers, and have a perfect weekend!

As Maria noted in my previous entry, maybe, well, maybe, I should give Internet Explorer a shot with this incredible e-mail I got from Hotmail the other day.

And the industrious and completely anti-IE me, just fired up IEtab and gave it a try.

Guess what, lads and ladies! Check out the Shiny Orange Button now:

The Shiny Orange Button, reloaded

I managed to sign up, and see their shiny new beta for myself. Two things:

1. I’m not impressed. At least not that impressed, in comparison with the new Yahoo!, both in matters of ease of use and display. I don’t care if it’s a beta.
2. Why their e-mail won’t work under Firefox? That’s like 90’s Browser Wars, all over again.

Apparently, Hotmail and Microsoft found hilarious the fact that they shut off their shiny new beta almost 10% of Internet users. I can’t find words to describe my bitterness over this thing. Way to go, Microsoft, you lost another accessibility point.

Well done, guys. Well done. *claps*

microsoft, hotmail, windows live beta

Sometime in the recent past, I recall myself registering to Windows Live Mail beta. Don’t ask me why. It was …impulsive.

To be frank, it was one of those “do-and-forget” situations. I’ve participated in hundreds of those. I register for betas and receive newsletters with product updates and web applications progress reports, and I always find myself wondering : when did I spend my time on that? I’m not looking down to anyone, mind you, but I guess I’m all too absent minded.

Windows Live Mail beta was one of those occasions. Thus, you imagine my fascination when I opened my cluttered Hotmail inbox one day to be greeted as “one of Hotmail VIPs”. Eh?

Apparently, I’m a Hotmail VIP member now. The joy!

OK, I merrily thought, let’s give a try to this bad guy. After registering for the new Yahoo e-mail service a few days ago, I even thought “Hey, I know! I’ll make a mini-review of both and I’ll blog it!” - btw, here’s a great way to convert your Yahoo! e-mail from Lifehacker.

My thinking-acting progress:

1. Shiny Orange Button, hm, bleh.
2. The little bugger is not even properly aligned. Pfft.
3. Let’s click it. *hover* Hey, why doesn’t my cursor change to hand? I hate this thing! Oh well..I’ll click it either way.
4. *click* *click* No click. Not clickable? Weird. Let’s scan the e-mail for a similar link.
5. (some minutes later, after scanning the e-mail, clicking on all relevant links, searching around their site et cetera) That’s it, I quit. And on top of that, I’m SO blogging it.

The Shiny Orange Button

Apparently, Hotmail does not know how to manage their e-mails. That so figures.

Maybe it’s just a well concealed spam? I don’t know. Maybe I’m too naive a user? Maybe.

hotmail, windows live mail

Well, apparently, Web Standards are working like a charm in order to build you a sexy profile.

I made a brief research on that, with seven names that came directly to my mind while thinking “Web Standards”. Check these hotties out, in no particular order:

If you don’t know them, from left to right : Andy Budd, Cameron Moll, Simon Collison, Molly E. Holzschlag, Jeffrey Zeldman, Dave Shea, Dan Cederholm.

Standards make you hot as an oven-hot bun, don’t they?

P.S.1. Apparently, this is a fun topic. I’m neither related nor affiliated to any of the above persons. However, I respect their work immensely.
P.S.2. No girlfriends/wives, boyfriends/husbands were harmed during the making of this post. I hope noone is offended.
P.S.3. Feel free to nag me to add yourself.

andy budd, cameron moll, simon collison, molly holzschlag, jeffrey zeldman, dave shea, dan cederholm