MarsEdit 3 is out; the headline feature is the WYSIWYG mode, but for me, the headline features are syntax-highlighting, support for WordPress Pages, and integration with Lightroom's library. Sadly, it's 10.6 only, and my knackered MBP is 10.5… but it's an upgrade I'll be making asap.

Blimey, ReBirth, entirely ported to iPhone and on the App Store. Looks finickity, but it was loads of fun, and for $7… I might end up with that.

"Fortunately, for the first time in my life, I know the way forward. The way forward lies in my having the courage that I did not know I had a decade ago to bid farewell to those tragically comforting habits. I need to walk on hot coals and sleep on a bed of nails. I need to chew on broken glass. I need to drink paint. This post has gotten long enough and I am still afraid to come to the point, but what I really need more than anything is to write these words;<br />
<br />
I gave notice of my resignation to Ubisoft on Monday, April 26th, 2010."

Engine Yard have a new blog about Rails, consisting of screencasts and tutorials, and it looks good. One to subscribe to.

"In this piece, each of the departments involved in making a videogame are examined and accused of one particular vice. In making these assessments, the assumption behind each is that the purpose of the videogames industry is to make games that players want to play, and not to make the games that developers want to play." It is good, and I'm looking forward to the second part.

"…as developers, we need to deal more honestly with the disparity between our reach and our grasp – which is to say, what we tell ourselves our games are about, versus what they are actually about. History will see this decade as the period when games struggled with their destiny in this way." 2K Marin's JP LeBreton with a smart, insightful take on the road ahead for games design, and the many positive steps being taken along it (and: a decent commentary on the "shooting people" issue).

"With limited influence, unlimited hands in the pie, a low barrier to critique, and the perception of triviality, frontend engineers are the janitors of software development. Rather than cleaning up trash, the boulder they toil beneath is skew: the distance between team member's conceptions of a project." This really feels very familiar: it's the most under-appreciated art in the stack of software development, and the one that takes the brunt of the crap.

"Best of all, for impatient gamers the developer plans to conceal load screens with a mini-game where players can connect a USB keyboard and write an undergraduate thesis on the illustrations of Gustave Dore." Seriously, this already sounds much better than the Redwood Shores version…

Farbs quit 2K Australia. This is his resignation note. It's fun, and not in any way mean.

"Today I gave a two week's notice of my intent to resign. The letter was written in frosting on a full sheet size cake. The cake was delicious and it was well received."

"I would be very interested in seeing a BSD game that introduced some moral ambiguity, or unexpected and painful consequences. I'd love to see a game where you start off with balls in full swing, then slowly start to realize that–mother*ucker–you're on the wrong side." Bill Harris gave up on Killzone 2. I'm mainly linking to this just because of the coinage of "BSD" as a genre, which is perfect.

"Sometimes, it’s worth joining the dots between a few things you find." If in doubt, make a story out of nice things you saw. In this case: a quick exploration of the fantastical in design. With lots of pictures!

Probably the most comprehensive page on Pob I've found, with, most importantly, pictures of Rod Campbell both drawing mechanisms and opening boxes. Which is the bit I always want to refer to, but never can find pics of. Until now!

"The web is about sharing … and people will share with the tools they’re given. If username and password are front and centre, then they’re the tools people will use. There’s so much usability dogma about reducing the sign-up process and throwing people into use that important details – such as explaining what all the cogs and levers do – are forgotten, or assumed as knowledge." This is excellent, and all true, and I do not know how to solve this. But Chris' comments – that this is not stupid, this is how people are – are all spot on.