1,5 GB worth of zeros. These are the contents of new DLC for Mass Effect 2 released today by Bioware. I don’t know why and how they have released very anticipated DLC without double-checking download, but they did.

0

That many words I want to tell them. They don’t deserve more (until they fix it, when they will get all praise for oh-so-magnificent DLC).

So, here they are:

I’m going to sleep now. Maybe they will fix it overnight.

I thought that era of ugly windows apps is over. But, apparently, it’s not.

Today, I stumped over a small piece of software that sets welcome message for windows. And I wouldn’t even bother writing about it here, but one thing made me to. Its ugliness.

Here, is what the program looks like

Oh my God.

Really, is it all necessary? This program is ugly as hell – too much graphics, ugly buttons, custom fonts and colors. Why? Is it really hard do make something pretty? Simple? Windows-like? Because, really posting “Compatible with Windows” logo (I don’t think this little piece of software got through Microsoft logo process) and putting Windows login background behind does not give this program very professional feeling.

Really, it would be better if program looked something like this:

I’m not saying that my mockup fully complies with Microsoft UX Guidelines, but it is simple, and integrates with OS better. And designing it took 5 minutes.

It is not that hard, designing good looking apps. And Microsoft UI Guide makes it even easier. So, next time you design an app, instead of making terrible abomination, just read that guide and KISS. Or someone will man the virtual harpoons.

PS. I have no personal feelings for author of Windows Logon Notifier, I just stumbled upon his app and it was a brilliant example of what I hate in many, many windows apps. So, if you would like to set windows login message, use his app, as I won’t create mine.

Whole process took 27 hours, and when it was finally finished I’ve started the game.

And, as soon as I finished creating character, game crashed.

And that was it. I got rid of BG2 in less than 27 seconds.

After that, I installed HoMM3 in less than 27 minutes. I think, I’ll settle on Heroes for now.

Android = Java (I don’t take into account NDK). And not desktop/enterprise-like Java with good and intuitive debugging. It’s some weird Java-like virtual machine, with literally, no in-ide debugging support.

Here’s why – debugging is hell. I’ve spend 3 hours searching for one bug in UI, that appeared only in system log – not in debugger – because app just kept FCing before debugger could do anything.

And that’s the problem. Most of FC causing bugs only appear in system log, and stupid debugger wont show them. I don’t know if it is NetBeans fault, or generic one (I have not tried Eclipse yet), but, for Gods sake, just make an option to make application spit all crash info on screen (just like .NET CF applications do).

And no, “adb log” is not an answer. Until it is pinned to IDE and shows just which line bug occurred, and all associated values.

And this was a mistake.

I know C# quite well, and I can easily created apps in Windows Forms or WPF, so I (foolishly) assumed that creating app using GTK would be very similar. Oh, I was sooooo wrong.

GTK sucks. Creating custom widgets, transparent backgrounds, moving widgets around, and getting their position – everything is hard in GTK. I ended up making custom fields in my widgets just to store position and size information, and I wasted 3 hours finding that there is a simple switch that tells EventBox not to create background window. Everything is so unintuitive.

But, maybe that is just because I’m new to GTK… Maybe. But it shouldn’t be. Even Spring, AWT in Java, and QT work more like WinForms than GTK. So, maybe it’s just GTK’s fault?

As it turns out, “piles” is pseudo-medical term for hemorrhoids, and of course everyone is making fun of me, which is just great. Really I don’t care about it, and I’m not gonna change name of the software, maybe, but only maybe, i just add “(pl. form of pile)” after the name. There is also problem with site name, people reading Dragon Shorn (which is underlined in my text editor, like, lets say, an error), instead of Dragon’s Horn, but hey, maybe it because I’m not native speaker.

Also, there are a lot haters, saying “I don’t need it”, “There is something in Windows called recent files” and so on. So what. You don’t like it, don’t use it. It’s simple. Don’t whine, don’t go rampage. I use it, and I like it. If you like it, tell me, if you have some feature ideas, tell me, and if you don’t like it – just stay quiet. Please?

So, to wrap thing up. No, I wont change name, and yes, hater gonna hate.

I’ve also finished was Bionic Commando. I bought it for half of the price, and even though the game was not very well received, I’ve enjoyed it very very much (maybe because I’ve also recently played Bionic Commando on NES).

Currently I’m playing Cryostasis and NecroVisioN (I’ve also bought Wolfenstein, but my father is occupying the DVD). From what I’ve already played (about an hour of each game), I must say, that both Cryostasis and NecroVisioN are quite good. Cryostasis has its "atmosphere" – it really cold and quite scary (and it’s the first game that doesn’t want to run maxed out on my PC). NecroVisioN is also quite good – it feels like my old favorite Painkiller (and I think it’s developed on the same – modified – engine).

I think that it’s all for now. I’m going back to play games.

Yesterday, while lurking on Lifehacker, i bumped into interesting post – post about my extension for Google Chrome. And I was like “Wow, impossible”.

I must say, that being featured (not exactly “featured” featured but just appearing) on site like Lifehacker is very rewarding for developer like me – especially when people just bump into and use my software.

Oh, and I’ll have to update Iconized Bookmarks Popup (I really hate myself for inventing such a long name for this little piece of software), since there are some feature requests…

I had to write some reports for labs, review things I’ve missed and just get back into business. I think I’ve finally done so last Friday, and next weeks should be better.

Also, since these problems, I haven’t even been able to play Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, and finish updates for my software. But, as I said – I should be able to do this in near future.

I think that it’s all for now.

But, here it is. I am making even more changes to the main Dragonshorn Studios. Currently, I’ve moved some files to Deposit Files to save bandwidth, and I’m playing with Google AdSense a little (i don’t know if I’ll use it though).

As for things not related to the site itself – I’m making some changes to Wrzuta Media Downloader, and I’ve returned to some old piece of software my father asked me to write for him.

This is all for today, I think. And not only because it’s 2 Minutes to Midnight.