The world that some of us revel in away from games is the same place where we do what people would call impossible. But what is it that we often say when faced with such pessimism? "Nothing is impossible with a Dremel, bub." Modders at mod enthusiast site mini-itx.com managed to fit a machine into a small deposit box using just that. And better yet, he used the deposit box that came with the Special Edition of Grand Theft Auto IV!

It looks like Microsoft's trying to increase the must-have factor for the pricey Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 suite, because the XNA Team has just come up with a VS 2008-only rendition of XNA Game Studio - upgraded to version 3.0 But there's a lot of catches, and they aren't pretty for the average, budget-conscious, and possibly still studying,  indie dev. Prepare to be blown away (the wrong way, probably) at the full story.

Beta 4 or 5A258f - call it as the coder inside you would, but Apple's fourth build for the iPhone SDK Beta rolled out today. It's reportedly coming out with a plethora of tools, samples, frameworks - some that were present in the previous builds. But most importantly, SDK Beta 4 updates the simulator formerly known as Aspen with Open GL ES support. Find out more on this update at the full story.

PlayStation Portable homebrew developer omerjks has just released a new built of Miro Lua, now on version 2.4. The new version has a number of bug fixes, changes, and tweaks. Changelog's in the full article so hop on there now.

Download: Miro Lua v2.4
Visit: QJ.Net's PSP Development Forum

Jiggy is more than just five letter word with a jelly groove to it. Apparently it's also the name of a new application authoring suite for the Apple iPhone, and it could make some serious waves in the Apple homebrew community. And maybe after that little dance party you're throwing to get the mood swinging, you can hop over to the full story for the lowdown on PsyKoh LLC's offering for the budding Apple homebrew developer.

Ant512 is back again, with the latest release of the Woopsi GUI developer's kit for the DS. This C++ coded kit based on the AmigaOS UI will give other DS coders a convenient template for creating UIs for their own homebrew projects.

This latest release features a general code cleanup, as well the addition of non-draggable screens and windows. Ant512's changelog details for Woopsi v0.25 can be accessed via the Full Article.

Download: Woopsi v0.25 source
Download: Woopsi v0.25 demo

Many PlayStation Portable owners, at one time or another, have thought of coming up with our own homebrew games and applications. While the others have been been successfully churning out creations left and right, some others are still afraid to even begin, for various reasons.

Well fret not. Homebrew developer Zx-81 just came up with a software development kit that will allow users to do just that without spending hours on installing cygwin and compiling the toolchain. This SDK was made possible with the help of x86 hardware general-purpose full virtualizer VirtualBox.

One you've obtained the software and other files needed through a connecting link on our readlink below, you must do the following as instructed by Zx-81 himself:

• You have to unrar the rar archive in disk1.vdi (you need at least 4Gb of free space on your hard disk)
• Then create a new virtual host, Linux 2.6 with 256 Mb of memory, and use the disk1.vdi as a disk image!
• This disk image contains a full install of xubuntu 7.4, where the PSP SDK has been already compiled, and several other software added (such as the famous IDE Kdevelop, gcc, SDL etc ...).
• After virtually booting Xubuntu, the login name is psp, and the password is psp.
• I've written a small PSP project (hello world) for Kdevelop, ready to use.
• The source code of PSPWrite is also given as an example, with a linux version and a PSP version (but with makefile only, without project file for Kdevelop).

That being said, we wish you all the best in developing your own apps. Enjoy the application!

QJ.NET Forums user mhorpheox dropped by earlier to inform us that Italian homebrew developer omerjks has released the new version of Miro Lua, now in version 2.1. This homebrew development utility is targeting to aid users of the programming language.

According to omerjks, this Lua Ide was built to fit the needs of Sony PSP homebrew developers who are using Lua in order to make life a bit easier. These are some of the main features of Miro Lua:

• The interface has been improved and it looks like Microsoft’s IDEs like Visual Studio.
  
• You’ll be able to manage your project that may have scripts, images and others.
• A small tool help you to find easy the coordinated of your PSP. In this version you can import in the virtual screen an image for made more easy the search.
  
• You can execute your project with the Lua Player for Windows.
  
• You can export the project like an Homebrew in your computer or directly in your PSP.
  I remember, to have a good result of the exportation, to import in the project all files needed to run correctly the script.
  
• You can set the language [ English - Italian ]
  
• You can find words or substitute words.
  

If you're wondering what distinguishes Miro Lua v2.1 from its previous version, these are the changes:

• Added a small guide to the program
  
• Added a small tutorial for the beginner
  
• Added a guide of the PSP Lua functions
  
• Exporting bug fixed
  
• Language bug fixed
  
• Undo and Redo functions fixed
  
• Management of the single script changed
  
• The button: "Save with name..." was removed
  
• Added the Debug Embedded
  

Also, be informed that this program requires you to have Microsoft Framework 2.0. As always, check out the readme for reference and installation instructions. If you find any bugs and errors, the developer would like you to pint them out by commenting on the Visit link below. Enjoy!

Download: Miro Lua v2.1
Download: Microsoft Framework 2.0
Visit: QJ's PSP Development Forum

It's sad to say, but another homebrew developer is leaving the homebrew scene. ManiacX is quitting after the release of CSP Development Studio version 3.0. Among his reasons for leaving were school obligations, acquiring a new 360 with plans to make developments there, Fanjita's retirement, and the lack of appreciation for all the hard work from ungrateful people.

ManiacX will be leaving something behind for the homebrew community though. The app CSP Development Studio is a Window-based IDE for PSP homebrew developers looking for an easy-to-use application.

Like the previous CSP v2.2 release, a readme file isn't available, which means you'll have to find out what's new and what's been fixed in this latest version. What the dev tells us about the app though, is that a version of Cygwin is integrated with support for libraries.

Apparently, you'll need 500MB of free disk space and 512MB RAM to run this version of CSP at minimum. Further updates in the future will be provided by a different homebrew developer called Blade Hunter.

Download: CSP Development Studio v3.0
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development Forums

And this makes it three. PSP modder PvP (aka Tony Hoang) over at AcidMods has apparently been kicking it into overdrive lately, as he informs us of another project that's just been completed. This new mod will ensure that any onboard LEDs mods will only activate under low-light conditions and won't turn on (and drain your battery) when it's bright.

As PvP explained, this was done by wiring the LEDs to a light-sensitive PCB before hooking them up to a power PCB. The sensor is taken from a light-sensitive night light - PvP used the one to the right - which should be readily available in stores. The mod has been described as easy to duplicate and will require the following materials:

• PSP
• LEDs
• IDE cable wires or very thin wires
• Soldering iron
• Solder
• Light-sensitive nightlight ($1.50 at a thrift store)
  

Full install instructions are available at the AcidMods site, provided at the Read link below. There aren't any videos of images available for the mod at the moment - we'll let you know if PvP decides to update with these items.