World of Warcraft Announces the Third Expansion Pack: Cataclysm

I think I'm actually a bit behind on sharing this news. True, it hasn't been ten days since its announcement at BlizzCon 2009 but in this day and age, that IS behind. Being up to date would mean hearing about it on Twitter or Facebook within a second after its announcement. Or even knowing about the leaked info at mmo-champion.com.

Anyway, the third expansion is slated for a release in 2010, which still gives me enough time to get that Wrath of the Lich King expansion and level up my Warlock to 80 ^-^ (10 more levels to go and the real game begins! Yey!).

Cool trailer!


What to expect: (taken from http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/features/)

Two New Playable Races

Adventure as one of two new races--the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde.

Level Cap Increased to 85

Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters.

Classic Zones Remade

Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two.

New High-Level Zones

Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great Sunken City of Vashj'ir beneath the sea.

More Raid Content than Ever Before

Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional more challenging versions of all encounters.

New Race and Class Combinations

Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations.

Guild Advancement

Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements.

New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds

Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds.

Archaeology

Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.

Flying Mounts in Azeroth

Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.

And much, much more...

Say bye bye, Windows Vista

This is a somewhat "old" article on the latest OS from Microsoft, Windows 7. But since it's nearing its debut (October 22, mark that on your calendars!) and we can finally move on from Vista, it's worth a repost to let you know/remind you what makes Windows 7 belong to a totally different league from its predecessor.

Being a Windows user myself, and having tried both operating systems (as well as their ancestors, from Windows 95 up), I can say that Microsoft has really gone a long way, and even with less than 3 years of development in between, a lot of improvement has been made.

I can say it's an almost perfect OS for me, because Microsoft has finally heard my (and millions of other people's) cries for what we want in an operating system. These reasons may be shallow but they're what make me love Windows 7:

1. Rearranging applications on the taskbar. This may not be such a big deal to some people, but for a somewhat obsessive-compulsive person like me, this is a gift from heaven. Now I can finally always arrange my taskbar to have Notes mail on the left most part, followed by FireFox, YM and explorer windows.

2. Automatic resizing and snapping. Ever tried opening two text files and then resizing and dragging them so they are side by side on your desktop? I have, and it's annoying and a waste of time. In Windows 7 you can simply drag one text file to any side and it will automatically snap and resize to half the screen. Yey me!

Oh, and did I mention it takes up wayyyyy less memory and has lesser User Account Control popups than Vista? I'd say these two are even enough to convince anybody that Windows 7 is hands down the OS of choice. (Heck, when Vista came out, it only made some people love Windows XP more.)

For more features and stuff, check out these links:
Windows 7 Features (from the Microsoft site itself)
Ten Microsoft Windows 7 Features We Want

Return

Aaaand I'm back in the game. After several months of silence due to busy-ness in real life (which I blogged about in my other blog), as well as resolving to minimize my packet consumption in the next few months to save up on some money (I, unfortunately, got my iPhone at a time when the iPhone 3G was still coming out in the market and so Softbank wasn't selling it for peanuts yet), I have finally returned to tend to the weeds growing in this part of the internet world.

But I still have nothing to talk about. At least, nothing I can get from the top of my head.

Geeky Joke of the Day

Q: What did WinXP say to Vista?
A: "You're such an Aerohead. I can see right through you!"

I can't believe im actually blogging from my iphone! It's not the easiest thing in the world, mind you. I can only type with my two pointer fingers but it's definitsly easier than doing it with just my thumb.

Hmmm look at that. I actually tried using more than just the two fingers and i'm still typing well. This ability to type in landscape mode is definitely more helpful than i first presumed it to be. more room for fingers = lesser room for typos. woot!

now i no longer crave for netbooks. at all.

well, gotta go. that's my stop coming up.

Sent from my iPhone

More on the iPhone OS 3.0

I finally managed to download and install the OS 3.0 last night, but apart from checking a few of the features, I haven't really gotten very dirty doing some digging and discovering more of the 100 new features.

On the upgrade screens on the way to a completely new and better OS, iTunes displayed this list that showed most of the added features:

iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update

This update contains over 100 new features, including the following:

• Cut, Copy & Paste with shake to undo
• Landscape keyboard in key applications
• Enhanced Messages application
- Send and receive photos, contacts, audio files, and location via MMS*
- Forward and delete single or multiple messages
• Added search feature in Mail, Calendar, Notes and iPod
• Spotlight search across iPhone
• Support for CalDAV and subscriptions in Calendar
• Improvements to Safari
- Performance
- HTML 5 support
- HTTP Streaming audio and video
- Auto-fill usernames and passwords
• New Voice Memos application
• Sync Notes with a Mac or PC via iTunes
• Internet Tethering over USB and Bluetooth*
• Browse and download movies, TV shows, and audiobooks from the iTunes Store**
• Stereo Bluetooth***
• Wi-Fi auto login
• Enhanced Stocks application
• More Parental Control options for Apps, Music, Movies and TV Shows
• iTunes account creation and login**
• YouTube account login and access to subscriptions, ratings and favorites**
• Shake to shuffle
• New languages, dictionaries, and keyboards
• Find my iPhone and Remote Wipe via MobileMe (subscription required)**
• Support for more Exchange policies
• Create and send Exchange meeting invitations
• Search mail on server (Exchange Server 2007 and supported IMAP servers)
• Search LDAP company directory
• VPN on demand and VPN proxy support
• Encrypted configuration profiles
• Encrypted iTunes backups
• 1,000 new developer APIs, including:
- In App Purchases
- Apple Push Notification Service
- Accessories support
- Peer to Peer Connectivity
- Embedded Maps
- iPod Library Access
• Bug fixes

* Compatible only with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S and requires support from your wireless provider.
** Not available in all regions or in all languages.
*** Compatible only with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S.

I was totally excited about the Internet Tethering ability (I can use my iPhone as a "modem" for my laptop and don't have to keep looking for WiFi hotspots if I want to browse on a bigger screen!) so I checked Count Dracula (my name for my iPhone, btw) but it turns out that Softbank here in Japan doesn't support Internet Tethering and purportedly won't support it at all. I did manage to find this website that provides some way to get around that tiny problem ;) Though I still have no plans on doing so since I'm not exactly lugging around my laptop with me all the time. And there is no shortage of WiFi hotspots in my area. Heck even hair salons have 'em!

My second great discovery was the ability to have more control on my media's playback. Before I could only scroll in one speed forward and backward on my mp3 or audio books, a totally difficult feat when the whole length of the media is an hour or more (think 11-hour-long audio books!). If only toothpicks or needles could have worked on the touchscreen, then I might have been able to achieve scrolling to my desired location. But it doesn't (err, I didn't try it anyway), and I had to contend myself with listening to the whole previous 5 minutes again even if I just wanted to hear clearly what was said a few seconds back.

Now there's a "button" that allows me to immediately rewind the song or audio book to 30 seconds back, and the scrollbar itself has more options now. Pressing the dot and dragging it up or down allows you to adjust the scrolling speed among the choices high speed, half speed, quarter speed and fine scrubbing. Once you get the speed you want, simply drag your finger left or right again, to scroll to your desired location.

I still haven't gotten around to trying the cut, copy and paste feature, the search feature, the MMS capability and the Bluetooth connectivity but I haven't really been using my iPhone that much since I'm facing the PC most of the time at home. But what the heck, my iPhone's here to stay anyway. I got time.

Say Hello to the iPhone OS 3.0

Finally, after years of waiting (well, years for some, but only months for me), today Apple has finally released the iPhone OS 3.0 which only makes the iPhone more kickass and makes me love it even more. Finally I can cut, copy and paste. Whoopee! And make the most of its Bluetooth. I'm torn between sarcasm and sincerity here, because although there are great new features, that only means the iPhone's already not-too-satisfactory battery life will shorten even more.

Aside from the two mentioned above, though, the OS upgrade boasts of nearly a hundred new features, most of which I still have to see and discover for myself (perhaps that can make us forgive Apple for giving the iPhone a crappy battery life?). I was planning on upgrading my phone tonight when I realized I left my USB connector with someone else and forgot to take it back. Now I have to actually wait another 24 hours before I can give my it a revamp. The upside to this? No congested servers. At least I was able to see the search feature, as well as the MMS capability, on the iPhone of an officemate who told me he managed to squeeze the upgrade into his daily morning ritual.

Before the iPhone OS 3.0's final release, the most publicized features had been the cut, copy, paste ability, the search feature, MMS capability, and typing/texting in landscape mode, and better Bluetooth functions. These alone are great, but with the promise of 100 new features, I can't help but want to know more. PCWorld did have this article on 10 Hidden Features, so that leaves around 85 more for me to discover. Until then, I'll have to wait for that USB connector.