It appears that Microsoft is releasing the only existent developer tools for their new (Vista-implemented) Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and accordingly the programming tools such as Visual C++ in their updated version - 2008 - in roughly 6 months.

From a news website (click), I picked up that this piece of software is launching on Feb. 27, 2008. However, the actual software will be available to purchase a few weeks (leaving out "months" because it doesn't seem likely) earlier, as clarified by Scott.
To think about it, Vista is in stores since November 2006, and you are not yet able to develop applications using the new power of Microsoft's .NET Framework 3.0.

I myself, being a C++ programmer, am not too fond on using that Framework. In the past, it's been a prime example of slow and uncoordinated programming that acts more like a parasite. Microsoft said all this would change, especially the execution speed, with version 3 of that Framework. They grounded that on the fact that it's directly implemented in Vista, instead of being an additional software package. While this does make sense, I cannot imagine many programmers wanting to use this little helper when developing.

Below is a screenshot from a beta of the mentioned software, Visual Studio 2008.


[bigger view]

What I got pissed about the past few days was a transaction from a well known online marketplace.

I ordered the product, but heck I changed my mind and cancelled that order. No problem here is there.
Now, it happens to be one of those systems that automatically takes the payment off your bank account. Also common [for me].

The shit started when the re-seller had to transfer my money back to my account. Because that would not be automatically possible. Not only did he need my bank account data e-Mailed to him, but also it took FUCKING TWO WEEKS to get my money back.

Can you imagine that? When I order shit, I pay it via my online banking in MINUTES. Now this lazy ass takes two full weeks to do it. And you cannot blame it on the built in transaction delay either. He's from the same country as I am, and he should - nowadays - be able to perform fricking online banking.

I really can't understand such laziness. If you want to sell shit online, then make sure you have capabilities to access your bank account via the same networking wonder called teh internets.

What a waste.

Oh, and I like intarweb cats.

No SDTV version available sadly, so you're gonna have to click the link.

Watch

Damnit, this stuff is pretty. That's coming from someone who dislikes Final Fantasy games. Folklore really looks interesting to me for a change.

Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a total stinker.

I once was a bit bored a day, and my 360 decided to be a fucking pain in the ass, too - by locking up while playing some R6 Vegas [online] a few times. So, having the previous experiences with [computer] hardware, I had the astonishing idea to get rid of my consoles warranty once and for all.

Everything done at your own risk! No guarantees given. Enough of the legal bullshit. This stuff can help your box. ;)

Here's the plan:

#1 Get rid of 360 warranty sticker.

#2 Put sticker on female's ass (preferably, but any other ass is fine I guess).

#3 Get a hold of VGA chip/memory cooling heatsinks, and if you want to take it one step further get some Talismoon Whisper Fans.


#4 Open up your Xbox360 following the tutorial of choice (use Google you lazy fuck).

#5 Drink your milk:


Right...continued.

#6 The actual mod starts now. Put your 360 in front of you like this:


#7 I'll transfer that to this sketch now, as I didn't think of taking pictures back then. Pretty much self explanatory I guess.


#8 Now the magic begins. We place our VGA chip/memory heatsinks first on the visible chips in that sketch, and then we stick them to our GPU heatsink sideways increasing its surface - which will (if physics apply) result in better cooling thanks to more place for the head to spread.


#9 If you got some heatsinks left, or bought too many for whatever reason, you can further increase the cooling performance by stacking shit - literally. Place one heatsink on top of each other but be careful as there still has to go a disc-drive on top!


#10 Now exchange the old, loud-as-hell original fans with the flashy (thanks to LED's) new Talismoon fans, following the packaged instructions.

#10 Re-assemble box.

My result: No lock up since then ever again. Tested playing Vegas, The Darkness, and Overlord straight 12(!!) hours.

Yours may differ, let's hope for the best.

Furthermore, I can only recommend doing the additional rear fan replacement. You can get these pretty cheap, I got mine for around 20 bucks on eBay.

According to gamepro.com that is.

They raise some valid points indeed, while I cannot agree with all of them. After all, software sells the hardware. And where the 360 is, there is software. PS3? Not so much. Wii? Neither.

One should not blame this on the company or brands though. Sheer fanboyism is not the solution. The Wii and PS3 are practically "new" on the market, thus they can't help the lack of software. The further delay of MGS4 certainly doesn't help that for example. Given the +1 year advantage of the Xbox360 platform, it has a respectable amount of exclusives (both 1st and 3rd party) coming this year, and at this time I certainly wouldn't call it in trouble.

In fact, I would rather call the PS3, which is losing exclusives left and right, and the Wii, which has exploited the mainstream but is disappointing the hardcore, in trouble. While it's really too early to call darkness out on either.

Well well, look at the beauty down there. I believe the quality of the textures, animation and models is out of question. To me, [thought I'd never say this] this almost looked like real life footage. Almost.



What's left to find out though, whether it's actual ingame rendering, realtime cinematics, or pre-rendered bullshit. I pick the one in the middle.

Now if only I gave two craps about UFC, I'd sign up for this game.