Whoa… long time no see
Sorry for the long absence 
Anyway, here's some news:
Miscellany Tips for Working With a WP7 Device for the First Time, by Michael B. McLaughlin
Compressed GPU data formats, by The Shawn
Viewing Windows Phone 7 Marketplace on the simulator, by David Amador
RIP Point Sprites, We Hardly Knew Thou
The Shawn posted an obituary to (for?) the point sprites, explaining the reasoning behind their removal from the XNA Framework 4.0. Also, he shares 360 performance details of the alternatives, indicating that there is no real penalty to be paid.
The Shawn: Math in 2D vs. 3D
Continuing his quest of pouring fuel to the fire The Shawn didn’t start he now writes about Doing math in 2D vs. 3D while teasing at an upcoming vector math post.
The Shawn: Why do 2D worlds make sense?
Shawn Hargreaves ponders the possible reasons why 2D games are still popular: “What makes less sense to me is why our brains are so much better at doing math and physics in 2D than 3D” and causes a discussion in the comments.