My Macintosh and Me

Playing Heroes of the Storm on my 2010 Macbook Pro

2015-06-14T16:14:00.002+08:00

It's been a week already and I'm really having a great time playing this game on my Mac. It's a new game from Blizzard and it combines all the characters from the company's games like Diablo, World of Warcraft and Starcraft. I'm aware of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games but I'm really new to playing it. I just see my brother play a lot of these games but I really haven't grasped its gameplay. Add to that, there are a lot of controls to take note of, abilities to upgrade and other gamers to play nice with.

I initially thought I'll encounter some slowness playing it on my 5 year old Macbook Pro but Blizzard did a great job in optimizing the game for older computers. The SSD upgrade to my Mac may have helped but its the only hardware I changed in my computer. Installing the game is pretty straightforward. As long as you have Battle.net installed on your machine, you are good to go. For a review of the game, you can check out this article from The Verge. I totally agree with it and Blizzard's take on the MOBA genre makes this a good entry level for new players like me who wants to try it out.

Heroes of the Storm is a free download available on Blizzard's site. The game is playable on your Mac or PC.

Here are some screenshots of the game from my Mac.

Downloading Heroes of the Storm in Battle.net

Heroes of the Storm login

Heroes of the Storm landing page

Quick Match using Jim Raynor (from Starcraft)

Different skin for Jim Raynor

Shop inside the game

Searching for a match

My company

Just one of the maps in the game

Gain experience and gold after a match

Playing the game got me this card back in Hearthstone (another favorite)

Happy Philippine Independence from Google

2015-06-12T08:18:00.000+08:00

I haven't much covered the Google Doodles in the past months compared to the previous years I've posted about them on my blog. But today is a little different because I'm very proud of what is being celebrated today here in our country, the Philippine Independence. Here's a screenshot of the doodle if you go to Google's search page. Here are some of the doodles I was able to post on my blog on the same day for 2013 and 2014. To all the Filipinos who will come across this post, Happy Independence Day!

Source: GMA News Online

My thoughts after the WWDC Keynote

2015-06-11T09:18:00.001+08:00

The WWDC Keynote for this week's Apple conference has just concluded. And while I haven't finished watching the event I downloaded, I was able to read some articles on Apple's announcement and check Apple's website about them. There are no hardware related announcements in the event and Apple mainly focused on what's coming on software. Here's what I think are the interesting parts of the event.

1. Focus on performance

A few weeks ago, I've read an article that the latest release of iOS will support older generations of Apple devices like the iPhone 4S. I used to own one before upgrading to iPhone 6 and I must say that the latest advancements in iOS slowly degrades the performance of older devices. It's understandable so it's quite a surprise to me that Apple is extending the lives of these devices that have A5 chips in them one more year. iOS 7 moved away from skeumorphism of the previous releases and iOS 8 continued on these enhancements. iOS 9 seems to be more focused on performance than introducing new features. That's not to say that there are less features in this release but Apple gave additional life to older generations of mobile devices.

The same is true for OS X El Capitan. Based from Apple's website, El Capitan is 1.4x faster in terms of app launch and 2x faster in app switching. Having a mid-2010 Macbook Pro, this is a very welcome upgrade. The previous releases of OS X, like Lion, in my opinion are slow. This is very obvious during boot times and launching of applications. This made me upgrade my HDD to SSD. I'm comparing El Capitan to Snow Leopard, Apple's previous release that mainly focused on improving performance to the Mac's operating system.

2. Release of a public beta

Last year, Apple had released a public beta for testing OS X Yosemite. This year, Apple is extending the public beta to iOS. Before 2014, you need to be a developer and paid the $99 annual fee to gain access to these operating software. But now, some versions of the OS are available to the public. There are risks of course, which in my opinion would be high for iOS devices compared to Macs, but this is a welcome move as Apple receives more feedback from the public for bugs. I already signed up to the public beta release of iOS 9 but I need to think twice before installing it.

3. Apple Music on Android

Music streaming is also one of the rumored services that's planned to be announced and Monday's Keynote have confirmed it. What I did not anticipate was the release of an Apple application for Android. I can't help but remember when the iPod started to dominate the mp3 devices back in 2003 when Apple released iTunes for Windows. iTunes was considered before as one of the best Windows applications to be released for Microsoft's OS and Apple Music could do the same for Android. This is another first for Apple in the mobile front. It's very rare that you see Apple release applications outside of the walled garden as compared to Microsoft or Google. I will try out Apple Music when it gets released worldwide on June 30 on my iOS devices. Let's see if I will ditch Spotify for this.

4. Android Migration

Another application created by Apple for Android is specifically for potential switchers to iOS. I see this as a strategic move by Apple as it makes the migration between platforms much easier. Based on Apple's website, "It securely transfers your contacts, message history, camera photos and videos, web bookmarks, mail accounts, calendars, wallpaper and DRM-free songs and books. It will also help you rebuild your app library, too. Any free apps you used -- like Facebook and Twitter -- are suggested for download from the App Store. And your paid apps are added to your iTunes Wish List." How convenient is that?

What's your opinion of Apple's WWDC this week and the announcements made in the Keynote? Feel free to give your comments below.

Apple WWDC 2015

2015-06-08T07:35:00.000+08:00

Apple's annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) will be happening this week. On Tuesday, at 1 am Philippine Time, expect Apple to announce the latest release of iOS and OS X. Apple will be live streaming the event on their website. Live streaming video will require Safari 6.0.5 or later on OS X v10.8.5 or later; Safari on iOS 6.0 or later. Streaming via Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 6.2 or later.

Are you excited to see what's next for Apple's softwares? Well I am!

Writing back to my blog

2015-06-07T17:52:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since I've written something on my blog. The last article I wrote was an update to Boom Beach back in February. While there are a lot of inspiration to talk about on my blog, I can't find the right words to compose my thoughts and write it down. I was really on a drought. Good thing the page views are still consistent at around 3000 per month and there are still people who commented on the posts every once in a while. For the past three months (March to May), aside from being very busy at work, I attended some events, took a lot of pictures using my iPhone and Olloclip and touched on my playful self. Expect a much more visible My Macintosh and Me in the coming months.

Incubus event back in March

DPP 9th Anniversary Event also in March. This was my first time to attend such a big photography event.
I really had fun in Bonifacio Global City. I'm just equipped with my very trusty Canon S95, iPhone 6 and an Olloclip Lens.

Just one of the Lego minifigures I buy once in a while. Their latest release are the Simpsons minifigures.

My new hobby aside from collecting Lego minifigures. This is the first Gundam I built and I'm looking forward to the next interesting Master Grade to buy.

Boom Beach updated with another new troop - The Scorcher

2015-02-07T20:53:00.001+08:00

Boom Beach Inbox detailing the update

Supercell has just released a new update to Boom Beach this week bringing in another new troop called the Scorcher. Based from the update, the Scorcher is a massive armored unit that burns everything in sight. Here's the full release notes of the update.

NEW TROOP
- The Scorcher is a massive armored unit that burns everything in sight!

NEW STUFF
- Find new wildlife on your island, and female villagers!
- New Power Base tactical note system for Task Forces
- See information about your attacker’s statues
- Several new Power Base layouts

IMPROVEMENTS
- The Grenadier now throws faster and further
- Statue boosts will pause automatically during maintenance
- Cannons, Boom Cannons and Boom Mines no longer deal double damage to Tanks, but instead deal more damage overall
- Tanks do more damage and train faster, but have less health
- Sabotage price reduced

PLAYER FEEDBACK
- Officers can only kick a Task Force Member every 20 minutes
- Landing Craft colors improved

Here are also some screenshots I took of the game on my iPhone 6

The Scorcher

Mortar seems to look different in this update

Boom Beach is a free game which you can download from the App Store, just click on the button below.

Happy Street updated with new themes for Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day

2015-02-01T09:36:00.003+08:00

I haven't posted in a while regarding updates to Happy Street so here's a new one with their recent release. Happy Street has just released it last week and here are some screenshots from my iPhone 6.

Get productive with these discounted apps for your Mac and iOS devices

2015-01-31T10:18:00.001+08:00

Apple has just discounted productivity applications for the Mac and your iOS devices. If you haven't downloaded any of these applications yet, now is the best time to grab them. Here's the list of applications that are now selling at 50% to 60% off.

For iOS

For Mac

Product review: Numbers Shock Case by SwitchEasy

2015-01-18T18:12:00.000+08:00

It's very seldom that I post an Apple device case on my blog but this will be an exception. I only bought this yesterday for my iPhone 6. Here are the reasons why I got the case even though I have one already for my phone.

1. It's color. My uncle loves orange and I want him to envy the case, haha.

2. It's very simple and minimalist.

3. It's rubbery so it won't scratch the sides of your phone. I don't buy cases made of plastic anymore.

4. The texture of the case provides additional grip for the phone.

5. I find it cheap compared to other quality iPhone cases in the market. It only costs 895 pesos.

That's basically it. It's a nice find and a second addition to my case collection. I also love the first one I initially bought for my iPhone 6 when I got it. If you have an iPhone 6, I highly recommend this. Here are some screenshots I've taken of the case with my iPhone 6.

I bought this case from Digital Walker but it should be available on other Apple resellers as well. If you're outside the Philippines, you can get the case from Amazon or SwitchEasy.

Upgrading my Macbook Pro from Optical Drive to SSD

2014-12-31T13:22:00.000+08:00

My Macbook Pro

I've been longing to upgrade the optical drive of my Macbook Pro to SSD. Been researching it for the longest time but haven't had the time to perform the upgrade. It was only this month that I decided to do it after seeing a post in Facebook. I am not updated with the latest in SSD and that post in Facebook was a start. I shortlisted my choices to Samsung 840 EVO (Anandtech review here) and Crucial MX100 (Anandtech review here). Now I am not a technical person to understand everything made in that review so I asked questions if anyone has used it already in PhilMUG. Here's the specific thread in PhilMUG for the SSD Upgrade Database. One of the users replied that I go with Crucial MX100 because the Samsung 840 EVO is buggy. I finally decided to get that SSD.

After deciding on what to get, I searched the same forum for good sellers. I came across this page in TipidPC which has 4283 positive feedback and zero negative feedback, now that is good reputation! I contacted the seller and good thing he has stocks of Crucial MX100. I reserved the 256 GB capacity since the 512 GB capacity is very pricey. The 256 GB costs 5,300 pesos and the 512 GB is around 10,000+ pesos. I won't be filling up my drive with applications and files and I could be upgrading my Mac soon so the lower capacity is just enough for me. For the instructions, I turned to iFixit's site and looked for the model of my Macbook. My Mac by the way is a mid-2010 13-in Macbook Pro.

Here are some screenshots while performing the upgrade on my Mac.

Screwdriver set I bought for this project

The bottom

Internal parts after removing the cover. Lower left contains the HD to be replaced.

The SSD and the optical drive

2.5-in SATA USB 2.0 enclosure for my old drive

After swapping the drives, I did a fresh install of OS X Yosemite. You can search for tutorials again online on how to create a bootable USB out of this OS. In my case, the bootable USB I created was corrupted so I connected the 2.5-in SATA drive where my old HD is now placed to my Mac. I copied the Yosemite installer there from another external drive that I have since I still cannot boot from the SSD yet. This was the same Yosemite installer I downloaded from the Mac App Store when it was released this year. After making a fresh install of the OS, I restored the backup I created in Time Machine. The SSD upgrade up to the restoration took around 4 hours to complete. The time to complete will vary depending on the size of your files.

All in all, it's a worthy upgrade as my Macbook feels snappier now. Boot time and loading of apps feel similar when I initially bought it in 2010. RAM upgrade is optional for now as I don't perform heavy activities on my Macbook like video editing. If you have an old Mac, SSD upgrade is the way to go.

All shots were taken with my iPhone 6 and edited on Camera+. You can download the app below.

Holiday Game Sale on the App Store (2014)

2014-12-24T16:07:00.000+08:00

Christmas is just around the corner. If you just bought or got a new Apple device as a gift, whether its an iPhone 6, iPhone 6+, iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3, now is the time to fill it up with games. The App Store currently has a lot of games on sale right now. Feel free to check out the list below and buy the games now before they go back to their original prices.

NBA 2K15 ($7.99 to $3.99)

BioShock ($10.99 to $4.99)

Civilization Revolution 2 ($14.99 to $7.99)

XCOM: Enemy Within ($12.99 to $6.99)

Hitman Go ($4.99 to $0.99)

Machinarium ($4.99 to $2.99)

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars ($4.99 to $2.99)

Joe Danger Infinity ($2.99 to $0.99)

Thomas Was Alone ($5.99 to $2.99)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($6.99 to $0.99)

OTTTD ($4.99 to $0.99)

Leo's Fortune ($4.99 to $0.99)

Terraria ($4.99 to $0.99)

Infinity Blade III ($6.99 to $0.99)

Anomaly Defenders ($4.99 to $0.99)

Anomaly 2 ($4.99 to 0.99)

Deus Ex: The Fall ($6.99 to $0.99)

Batman Arkham City Lockdown ($5.99 to $0.99)

Dragon Quest VIII ($19.99 to $12.99)

Final Fantasy VI ($15.99 to 7.99)

Final Fantasy V ($15.99 to $7.99)

Final Fantasy IV ($15.99 to $7.99)

Bastion ($4.99 to $0.99)

The Room Two ($2.99 to $0.99)

Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4 ($4.99 to $0.99)

Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril ($4.99 to $0.99)

Lego Lord of the Rings ($4.99 to $0.99)

Modern Combat 5: Blackout ($6.99 to $3.99)

Gangstar Vegas ($1.99 to FREE)

Oceanhorn ($8.99 to $4.99)

Source: AppShopper

Using the iPhone 6

2014-12-21T11:05:00.000+08:00

Unboxing

My iPhone 6 is a month old today. I bought the phone last November 21 as a gift to myself. From the time I saw it revealed last September, I already planned in getting one. Coming from the iPhone 4S, a 3-yr old phone by this year, it's a very welcome upgrade.

There are a lot of good things in the iPhone 6 which are very applicable for my everyday use. The increase in screen size is a very welcome upgrade. But I chose the 6 over the 6+ because I would still want to be able to hold the phone with just one hand. The additional increase in capacity is also a good move since I can now store more media and install more apps on my phone. Applications are getting larger to have universal compatibility with the iPad. I got the 64gb model which is the middle storage size for the unit. Battery was also a consideration when I got the phone and I did experience some improvements in it. This is subjective as battery usage is dependent on how one uses the phone.

After getting the iPhone 6, I used my iPad mini less. The increase in screen size made me leave the iPad mini at home. Reading articles while commuting to work is a pleasure. Games are also buttery smooth on the phone. The increased hardware specs helped a lot in this aspect. Going back to the iPad mini is a slight pain as games that I thought will run smooth feels sluggish.

Writing of hardware specs, I really appreciate the motion processor added to the phone which started last year on the 5s. I started using a fitness tracker this year but I find it inaccurate as it detects movement while I'm sitting on my commute to and from work. This does not happen in my observation of the iPhone 6. I find the steps recorded by my phone are more accurate.

Another hardware that is of interest is of course the camera. I have used it already for taking pictures but I'd love to try further the panorama, time lapse and slo mo video. Aside from the iPad mini, I'm using my Canon S95 less because of this.

There is a lot to love with the latest iPhone models. If you are in the market looking for a smartphone, you won't go wrong with these phones from Apple. iPhone 6 and 6+ are already available locally. Go and get one.

My iPhone 6

The 6 beside the 4S

Boom Beach updated with a new troop - The Grenadier

2014-12-14T17:37:00.000+08:00

Boom Beach's new troop

Supercell released a couple of updates this week for their games. For Boom Beach, they added a new troop called Grenadier. Based from the troop's description, the Grenadier is a big and powerful ranged unit that deals area damage. He also causes damage to friendly troops so be careful with their deployment. This troop requires a level 16 HQ to unlock.

Here are other details of the update with screenshots taken from my iPhone 6.

NEW TROOP - The Grenadier! A powerful ranged unit that deals area damage, rather inaccurately.
SABOTAGE - Use Intel to take out defensive buildings in Task Force operations.
DR. TERROR - Wednesday's Terror Statues have been weakened.
RADAR - Check your Radar info screen for new invasion details.
IMPROVEMENTS - Visit Task Force members' bases from the chat, new NPC levels and Power Bases, epic win sounds and lots of new graphics!

Boom Beach is a free game and offers in-app purchases. You can download the app from the link at the end of this article.

Sawmill's new look

Quarry's new look

Sculptor's new look

Operations have description of their difficulty

Clash of Clans updated for the Holidays

2014-12-14T11:17:00.001+08:00

Happy Holidays from Clash of Clans

My favorite game in the App Store has just been updated for the Holidays. It's also a big update for me as it introduces the Layout Editor where you can save multiple layouts of your Village or War base. This alone is a great update for me as its very difficult to change layouts especially as you go up your Town Hall, I'm currently at Town Hall level 9. Here are the other details of the release:

Introducing the Layout Editor
- Save multiple layouts for both your home Village and your War Base!
- Switch, copy and edit layouts easily at any time - even finish later

New goodies
- Level 12 Gold Mines and Elixir Collectors and level 7 Giants!
- Compare your clan to others in clan local leaderboards

Other improvements
- Dark Elixir Drills available earlier and with more capacity
- Watch a live replay when your village is under attack
- Archer Towers shoot twice as fast to better take down weak hordes
- Inferno Towers shoot for longer before getting depleted
- Hitpoint values have been rebalanced for many buildings

Here are some screenshots as well taken from my iPad mini:

Other info about the update

Level 12 Gold mine

Level 12 Elixir collector

Layout editor for your Home Village

Layout editor for your War Base

Comixology gives free comics for 12 Days!

2014-12-14T10:34:00.000+08:00

12 Days of Free Comics -- 2014

Comixology has just started its 12 Days of Free Comics this month. From December 11 to December 22, Comixology will be giving away free issues of comics, how cool is that! I missed the first two comics they have given -- The Wake and Captain Marvel -- but today, I made sure that I'll be able to get the freebie right away -- Flash Gordon. To make sure you won't miss yours as well, be sure to Sign Up on Comixology's dedicated page about it, here's the direct link to it -- comixology.tumblr.com/12days. Be sure to download the Comixology app from the App Store below. Happy comic reading!

Boom Beach updated with "clan-like" ability called Task Force

2014-10-25T17:34:00.001+08:00

It's been pretty busy for Supercell this week. A few days ago, they had released the Halloween update for Clash of Clans. A few days later, they released another update but this time for their latest game Boom Beach. It's a very interesting update since it now includes a clan-like feature for attacking co-op missions against the Blackguard. The "clan" this time is called a Task Force. I created a new Task Force yesterday but I have yet to recruit members in it. I think Supercell decided to include this in the update because interest in the game is going down. I have friends who played the game before but now deleted it on their devices because you don't have the social interaction Clash of Clans provides. This update may bring them back to play the game. Aside from co-op play, the game has nice tweaks on the graphics. I just wish I can recruit members to my Task Force. It's just something new and I'm pretty sure it will catch the attention of players of Supercell's games. The game and update are absolutely free from the App Store. Go check it out.

Here are some screenshots of the update from my iPad mini.

Release notes

The Task Force I created -- Kalasag (The Filipino War Shield)

The Blackguard locations

Supercell releases Halloween update for Clash of Clans

2014-10-25T11:23:00.001+08:00

Happy Halloween

Clash of Clans has just been updated this week in time for the Halloween. The latest update includes a new Skeleton Trap for distracting your enemies with a small group of Skeleton troops. There are also improvements in the Clan War and 1 gem boost is enabled until Halloween for the Spell Factory, more attacks, more fun.

Here are the release notes for the game as well as screenshots taken from my iPad mini. Download the update now for free. Clash on!

The Skeleton Trap!
- Ambush and distract your enemies with a small group of Skeleton troops!
- Target either ground troops or air troops and upgrade to spawn more at once

Limited-Time Treats
- 1-gem Spell Factory boost special is back!
- Harvest bonus Elixir from special Headstone obstacles

Clan Profile and Clan Search
- Specify your Clan’s war frequency and location in the Clan profile
- Search other Clans by war frequency, location, member count and clan points

Other Improvements
- Boost all buildings of the same type with one button
- Boosts for Army buildings now pause during server maintenance and can be resumed
- Player profile now shows the highest unlocked level troops, heroes and spells!
- Increased League bonus and more War loot!

Trick or Treat

My profile which now displays the level of my troops

Our clan

Added War Frequency and Clan Location

Efficient boosting of resources, now you can boost everything with one touch

Troop training can now be boosted as well with one touch

Halloween Headstone - remove at 25k and get 75k Elixir

Bitbook Status - September 25, 2014

2014-09-25T13:24:00.001+08:00

Ronald Chump: "The worse thing a man can do is go bald. Never let yourself go bald."

Download Tiny Tower Vegas from the App Store :)

Bitbook Status - September 22, 2014

2014-09-22T13:31:00.002+08:00

Eileen Boyd: "I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out."

Download Tiny Tower Vegas from the App Store :)

Clash of Clans updated with a new Dark Troop called Lava Hound

2014-09-20T20:27:00.002+08:00

Details of the update inside the game

Clash of Clans has just released its latest update this week which introduced a new Dark Troop called Lava Hound. Lava Hound is a flying unit which focuses mainly on Air Defenses. The first level Lava Hound has a very low 10 Damage per second but this is compensated with very high Hitpoints of 5700. You can probably say that its a Golem that flies. The troop splits into multiple Lava Pups when it dies and its unlocked on Town Hall Level 9 (Source: Clash of Clans Wiki).

The Lava Hound

The Lava Pup

Aside from this new troop, Barbarian and Archers can now be upgraded to Level 7 and Archer Towers can now reach Level 13. Another interesting update is the use of Elixir to upgrade walls. The only condition here is that you need to have at least Level 6 walls to use it.

I just reached Town Hall Level 9 a few weeks back and this is absolutely another interesting update. I have yet to play Lava Hound but it will definitely a good decoy for my usual combos of Giant and Healer and mass Dragons during Clan War. Here's the full release notes of the update as posted in iTunes.

A brand new Dark Barracks troop makes its debut, along with new troop and building levels!

Lava Hound
- This brand new flying Dark troop loves to hunt Air Defenses
- Tough and reliable, it takes tons of damage before erupting into many smaller units!

New Upgrades
- Barbarian & Archer level 7, Archer Tower level 13 and Dark Barracks level 6

Balancing and interface improvements
- Upgrade full rows of walls at once with the option to pay Elixir instead of Gold!
- Hero heal times and Valkyrie training time are greatly reduced
- Healers now stick to healing bigger groups of units
- Replays show the attacking army, can be paused or will show time remaining if live

Troops can now be removed from the Clan Castle...

... and Army Camps

Tydlig calculator goes free on the Apple Store app

2014-08-22T17:22:00.001+08:00

Another nice application goes free on the Apple Store app (this link is for iPad). I've been eyeing this calculator app because aside from the usual calculations, it supports graphs as well. This is a good alternative to the Calculator app on your iPhone and it works nicely on your iPad. If you have the Apple Store app, you can get the application by going to any Apple Store. Tydlig is free until September 12. Here are some screenshots of the application on my iPad mini.

Normal calculations on the application

Graph support

Settings

Other calculator functions supported in Tydlig

The normal calculator keys

Source: iDownloadblog

Boom Beach updated with visual upgrades and interface improvements

2014-08-17T10:12:00.000+08:00

Supercell has just released an update to its latest game Boom Beach in the App Store. The update focused on visual upgrades, interface improvements and some gameplay and balance changes. Here's the complete release notes of the changes:

Visual upgrades
- Magma Islands! Discover Magma Crystals by defeating the Blackguard on these volcanic islands
- New graphics for resource storages
- New statue graphics and effects
- Defense building visual improvements, including distinctive building bases to easily spot them
- Hot new effects: enemy HQ now burns when damaged, flamethrower fire and gunboat smoke improved
- Improved and extra boomy effects for rocket explosions and Boom Cannon shell impacts

Interface improvements
- Daily summary popup info is now more informative
- Enemy Activity log shows which lost villages can be attacked immediately
- You can now access the Armory to check unit stats and upgrade costs even while an upgrade is underway in the Armory (thanks to L3stat for the suggestion!)
- Fixed Rocket Launcher damage per second info (thanks to Rudeman for the correction!)

Gameplay and balance changes
- Trees will now randomly grow back on your home base island (thanks to everyone who suggested this!)
- If a lot of enemy base buildings remain after the HQ is destroyed, they will blow up faster
- New dive location for Radar level 5
- Improved endgame npc matchmaking, no more low level Blackguard bases for endgame players

Also bug fixes and several optimizations to speed up game loading and to improve overall performance.

Here are some screenshots as well from my iPad mini.

Check out that volcano on the island

Nice detailed touch on the statue. The resource they hold represent what is boosted.

New look for the statues

My Biggest Loot in Clash of Clans

2014-08-16T10:51:00.000+08:00

It's not all the time that you get a big loot in Clash of Clans. In the years that I've played the game, my average would be in the 150,000 range for Gold and Elixir. I sometimes raid 200,000 to 300,000 and its not that often. But a few weeks ago, just before one of our Wars ended, I got very lucky with one of my raids. Having 10 Dragons, 2 Rage spells, 1 Heal spell, a Barbarian King and a Castle, I attacked this village. Check out the video below for my personal best in Clash.

OS X Yosemite Beta starts rolling out to the public

2014-07-25T18:52:00.002+08:00

My successful signup to the Beta Program

I was very fortunate to signup for Apple's beta program last Wednesday night after being alerted that their latest OS for the Mac is being offered to the public for testing. In the four years that I owned a Mac and upgraded to their OS annually, this is the first time I experienced having the public participate for beta testing. In the past, this was only exclusive to developers who pay yearly to have their status renewed. I immediately grabbed the opportunity and signed up to the program since only the first 1 million users will be able to participate in the testing.

Email confirmation I received today

Welcome to the program

This morning, I received a notification that I got in to test drive OS X Yosemite. I got really excited because I can now take a look at Yosemite. A link is available in the email which redirected me to OS X Yosemite's Beta site. After logging in to the site, there are reminders on installing Yosemite on your Mac. First, your Mac needs to have enough memory (at least 2GB) and disk space (at least 8GB) to run the OS. You also need to have Mavericks installed on your Mac. Second, as a precaution, backup your Mac using Time Machine. You'll never know what could happen after you install Yosemite and its always a good practice to perform a backup. Then finally, you can now download and install Yosemite. You will get a redemption code then download the OS from the Mac App Store.

Since this is a beta software, you don't want to install it on your main machine. In my case, I read some articles on how to partition the hard drive on my Mac and install Yosemite there. This article from Ars Technica is just one of many articles on how to do it on your machine. The OS is a 5GB download and I'll probably just do it this weekend. I'm really looking forward to test the OS and share my findings to Apple.

Hearthstone updated with its first expansion Curse of Naxxramas

2014-07-25T16:48:00.000+08:00

Blizzard has just released its update to Hearthstone last Tuesday bringing its latest expansion Curse of Naxxramas. The game is available to PC, Mac and iPad users.

Here's the full details of the update for the iPad.

CURSE OF NAXXRAMAS: A HEARTHSTONE ADVENTURE

- Curse of Naxxramas offers a new single player campaign to play Hearthstone against challenging NPC adversaries. Curse of Naxxramas can be unlocked with gold or real money and can be accessed by players that have unlocked all 9 heroes.
- Defeat 15 fearsome bosses to unlock a total of 30 new Hearthstone cards for your collection, including Legendary cards! Naxxramas cards can easily be searched for within My Collection using the search function.
- An all-new interactive Naxxramas-themed game board awaits you within the Adventure! Discover the surprises that lurk inside the slime pools, the quivering masses of spider eggs (spoilers: It’s spiders), and more!
- Surmount 9 diabolical Class Challenges that test your skills with each of the unique classes of Hearthstone!
- Defeating all of the bosses within a wing unlocks the extremely challenging Heroic Mode of that wing. Defeating all of the bosses of Naxxramas on Heroic mode unlocks a new card back for your collection.
- Five unique wings await those brave enough to venture into Naxxramas. The first wing, The Arachnid Quarter, will immediately be available to play for free for a limited time. The remaining four wings are immediately available for players to unlock with real money or gold, and will become accessible over a period of time once unlocked.

1. The Arachnid Quarter – A web choked maze filled with many-legged minions.
2. The Plague Quarter – Necromancers brew deadly plagues while a fungal monstrosity lies in wait.
3. The Military Quarter – Tireless undead knights perfect their deadly arts within these chambers.
4. The Construct Quarter – Abominations stitched together from the Scourge’s victims stomp through these slime soaked halls.
5. Frostwyrm Lair – Chilly abode of Sapphiron and the arch-lich Kel’thuzad himself. (A curse upon my air conditioning bill!)

GENERAL
- Improvements were made to increase stability, especially for iPad 2 and iPad mini.
- Tooltips that appear when selecting an object by touch are now positioned in a more intuitive place.
- Marking yourself as “Busy” within the Battle.net desktop app will suppress incoming chat messages and toasts for friend requests.
- The Shop interface has been updated to include Curse of Naxxramas.
- Cards available within each wing of Naxxramas will become available in the Arena when that wing becomes available to play.
- The order in which Deathrattle abilities resolve has been updated to be more consistent.
- Additional music tracks have been added.
- Players that appear in “Players Near Me” now appear more prominently within the Friends List.
- Overall organization of the Friends List has been improved.
- Sounds and graphics that occur when Mass Disenchanting now take less time to complete.
- Cards can now be searched for using the artist of the card art in the Collection Manager.

CARD CHANGES
- Eaglehorn Bow now reads “Whenever a friendly Secret is revealed, gain +1 Durability”.

PRACTICE MODE
- Practice Mode is now entered through the Solo Adventures button on the main menu.
- The AI in Practice Mode is now better at Hearthstone.

Here are some screenshots as well playing the latest update on my iPad mini.

Unlock the full adventure

Practice mode

Curse of Naxxramas

Unlocked cards after defeating Anub' Rekhan

Battle against Grand Widow Faerlina

Hearthstone is available for free on your PC, Mac or iPad. Click on the button below to download the game on your iPad. Enjoy!