Halo 3 Annihilates All

The following quote is taken from Halo 3 : Biggest Day in U.S. Entertainment History.

Microsoft today announced that Halo® 3 has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360™ title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like Spider-Man 3 and novels such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Impressive for a video game. I picked up my copy at the company store on opening day at 9am. Halo 3 is a decent game for some mindless shoot-em-up fun, and the campaign is decent, though nothing spectacular. Overall, I think it's a worthwhile purchase for anyone who wants varied online gaming of the FPS sort.

TechShop

This deserves a mention: check out TechShop, a fully equipped shop were you can go and use equipment in the same way you might use fitness equipment at your local gym. Very nifty idea. I'd love to see one of these pop up near me.

Xbox 360 Elite

Finally picked up an Xbox 360. I have to say, the 360 is hands down the best Microsoft product I've ever used. It's such a tightly integrated experience. Consoles have come a long way, and I'm impressed. Xbox Live and the ability to easily find friends, see what they are playing, and hop into matches is great.

Here's a photo of the 360 Elite:



Here's the Xbox dash running in HD through an HDMI cable on my 42" 1080p LCD (click photo for larger image):

The only con for me is the fan noise, but it's only noticeable with the volume down.

Must Play Games for the Next Year

Saw some demos for these games in this year's Penny Arcade Expo, and I'm taking note. Here's what I'm looking forward to:

• Assassin's Creed - Xbox 360
• Far Cry 2 - PC

Here's a list of some games that are already released and might be worth checking out:

• BioShock - Xbox 360
• Guild Wars - PC

Longhorn Beta 3 Available for Download

The beta for the next Windows Server release, codenamed Longhorn, is now available for download. Link to the Longhorn Beta 3 Download.

This is what I've been slaving over for the past four months. I'm not kidding when I say this is a product made of hard work and long hours, and this is only the beta. Now begins the long road to RC1 and RTM.

Office Prank

Henry and his coworkers take the credit for this one. They did this to their lead's office before he came back from vacation.










As part of the prank, they pretended to double him up with a new hire. You can see her desk in the last picture. The boa and pink purse were suppose to be her items. The tin foiling was a misdirection and because of it he actually believed he was doubled up. Best part? His reaction was caught on a hidden web cam.

My Office Mini-Fridge

What else would I have in my mini-fridge?

Snow

Took this photo back on January 11. Click it for the higher res version.