Here are some of the pictures I took.

Warcraft universe is so vast, expansive and highly developed that few other games can attempt to match it. Blizzard put so much work in it that when you play the game it feels fluid and natural – like a parallel world that lives on it’s own. Over the years playing World of Warcraft I’ve met so many amazing people. This was an experience unlike anything else.

Unfortunately lately time constraints mean that I can’t play the game as much as I would like to (I don’t play at all at the moment), but I found other ways to enjoy Warcraft, namely collecting stuff. I have Collectors Editions of the game, books, etc. – the usual stuff. But during last year’s BlizzCon it was announced that retired server blades that were used to run the actual game are going to be auctioned off for a charity. This is what got me really excited! This is the ultimate collectors item! And not only it helps the environment by getting rid of e-waste, preserves an important part of gaming history but it’s also helping a good cause: all the benefits are going to St. Jude children’s research hospital in Tennessee.

I was fortunate to be able to get a blade server that used to run my realm, Azuremyst EU. Operational datas engraved on a metal plaque are October 24, 2008 (a few weeks before I joined the game) to June 15, 2010. Below is a text about it and signatures of the World of Warcraft team. All the components and circuits are covered by a sheet of plexiglass engraved with WoW logo, held by magnets. All in all pretty cool stuff!

It’s quite interesting to have a real physical object, a huge server weighting 10kg in a world where almost everything is digital. Collectors Editions of the game with all the goodies inside, mouse pads, T-Shirts, books they are all physical objects as well, but are just representations of a digital work created on a computer. Mostly images printed on various objects. The blade server is something different, it is closely related to the game, yet it’s not based on it’s IP. It is nice to have an analogue object in a digital world.

Below are a few pictures of my server blade and more can be found on Flickr.

iCloud has been out since 12th of October, but I’ve been holding off upgrading because I didn’t want to be an early adopter and I didn’t have much free time anyway. MobileMe was heavily criticised for it’s problems at launch. I have to say that I’ve never had problems with MobileMe and it was working smoothly for me since day one but this time I’ve decided not to risk it.

But by this time the move was already long overdue and I finally decided to do it. iCloud offers many benefits over MobileMe so there is no point in waiting. The process itself was fast and painless and it was over in no time.

What I’m really exited about is Documents in the Cloud. I commute between Brighton and London regularly so I end up writing quite a lot of my work on the train. Although I love writing on the iPad, it’s getting the files out of it used to be difficult. I used iTunes file transfer or sometimes emailed myself, but both ways are far from ideal. iTunes file transfer is cumbersome and sending myself an email just doesn’t make sense. Of course this weren’t the only two methods available but all of them are far from being seamless. And seamless is what iCloud does best. Now all my files are pushed to my iPad, iPhone and the web and best of all I don’t have to do anything, documents are uploaded and updated automatically. I only wish Apple would add tight iCloud integration to iWork for Mac, but it will probably be in the next version. The current version of iWork was released in January 2009 so an update is probably due soon.

Another cool feature is automatic backups of data and settings to the iCloud. Backups have never been an issue for me because I do tend to sync regularly, but I know a few people who do not. Backups start when device is plugged in, on Wi-Fi network and locked which pretty much means at night when you are not using your device, very convenient. And it would save a lot of people massive headaches when something goes wrong.

I haven’t turned on Photo Stream yet as I need to first sort out Camera Rolls on iPhone and iPad, but having recent photos pushed across all my devices does sounds very promising!

iCloud is amazing as it is, but it’s only set to get better as more and more developers integrate it in to their products. A quick search on App Store already shows some great examples of iCloud integration, I’m excited to see what comes next!

Screenshot of MobileMe control panel before moving, showing my join date.

The promotion has been running in the US for quite some time now and has been extremely successful. Each week Starbucks would offer it’s customers cards with codes for free iTunes content. It could be a song, book or an app, you redeem a unique code at the back of the card to download content. Every Monday new cards comes out.

This is a great news! I’m looking forward to get new free apps and books. And this gives yet another good reason to go to Starbucks besides my favourite white filter.

Yesterday I came to the Churchill Square shopping centre at about 4AM. There were already about 15 people in front of me. First person in the queue got there around about midnight. It was quite chilly waiting outside. It is October now, not summer anymore as with previous iPhone releases. Thankfully Apple arranged for shopping centre to open 6AM, so I waited the last 2 hours inside with a cup of Starbucks coffee in my hands. Apple brought a giant coffee thermos from nearby Starbucks. It was really nice to have a hot drink after hours of sitting in cold.

There were 2 queue lines, one for a contract and another for SIM-free iPhone. Very few people wanted a contract this time, the SIM-free line was huge but only about 10 or so people waited for a contact iPhone. At 8 o’clock Apple Store staff started to cheer and set to run around the shopping centre, high-fiving everyone in the queue. It was an amazing experience, so much joy and excitement!

Below are some of my pictures from the launch.

Apple Store, Regent Street London

The Apple Store on Regent Street is an iconic store and it seemed like a right place to go to. There were a lot of people here who came to say goodbye. Notes, cards flowers and Apples with a side bitten off just like the Apple logo, were laid outside. I left a note as well, thanking Steve for everything what he’s done. It felt really sad being there as Steve himself has been in this store and was involved in it’s design and construction.

There was a lot of media around as well. I was interviewed by ABC Australia, they asked my why I came here, and what do I think will happen to Apple now that Steve’s gone.

Apple Store in Brighton

Brighton’s Store is much smaller and is located in a shopping mall. There was just a picture of Steve with Obama’s quote in the black frame and a lone flower. It might not sound like much compared to the other stores, but it was beautiful and tasteful. A little bit later someone left a bitten red apple.

RIP Steve. You will always be remembered.

His legacy will always live on. Rest in peace, Steve.

Yes, iPhone 4 might be over a year old, but it’s design has proven to be very successful. Build quality is exceptionally high, it’s beautiful, works well in day to day use. And perhaps most importantly when you pick it up it feels like a perfectly engineered device, a solid block of glass and steel. You can’t really say this about any other phone out there.

The A5

The iPhone 4S is all about what’s inside. As expected it’s based on the Apple’s latest A5 SoC. What I love the most about my iPad 2 is just how fast it is. I even found myself preferring to use non-optimised iPhone apps on it just because they are so much faster on the iPad. Thanks to the dual core A5 in the iPhone 4S I won’t have to keep doing it anymore. Speed makes all the difference. When a device is fast and responsive it is just so much more pleasant to use.

Camera

I take a lot of photographs every day. New camera is what I’m excited the most about the iPhone 4S. Although I have a number of cameras, most of the time when I need to take a picture I have only my iPhone with me, the best camera is the one you have with you.

Never before did Apple put so much emphasis on the camera and talked so much about it’s specs and abilities. The new backside illuminated 8MP sensor inside iPhone 4S offers 60% more pixels then iPhone 4. The custom designed 5 element lens makes pictures 30% sharper then before, wider f/2.4 aperture lets in more light that helps to make images brighter, especially in low light conditions. And thanks to the A5 camera works really fast, it takes 1.1 seconds to take a first picture and just half a second to capture a subsequent one. This is important when you need to capture a moment that’s happening right now and reduces chances of getting a ruined blurred shot. Apple posted a gallery of unedited full resolution sample shots that look absolutely amazing. Yes, most of them were shot in bright daylight, but if my shots will be even half as good I will be really happy.

Improvements didn’t stop only on stills. iPhone can now capture full 1080p high definition video at 30 frames per second. You also get tap to focus while you shoot and there is that handy LED light. But as if it wan’t enough, iPhone 4S features a video stabilisation system, it uses the build-in gyroscope and software to stabilise your video as you shoot it. This completely blows my mind! Who needs a camcorder now? It really shows what the iPhone is capable of!

Siri

The biggest new feature of the iPhone 4S is Siri, the widely rumoured virtual assistant that lets you use your voice to interact with the phone in a natural way like you would be with another person. It will recognise what you say and not only respond, but also show any relevant information on the screen. Again the demo video is impressive!

I’m a little bit sceptical about voice recognition as I didn’t have much luck with Apple’s previous attempt. I’ve struggled with voice commands for a few days after getting 3GS and then gave it up, never to use again. But so far media has been very positive about Siri. Darren from Engadget said: “It worked as well as Scott’s demo up on the stage. There’s nothing better to say than that.” Sounds very promising and I’m looking forward to try it out myself!

Apple will start taking pre-orders for iPhone 4S this Friday and a week later it will begin selling in the UK, USA and 5 other countries.

Going through tons of old public domain movies on archive.org I’ve decided to use footage from a classic 1959 horror movie ‘House on Haunted Hill’ to create a music video of sorts for a song Para-Noir by Marilyn Manson. I’m a big fan of his work and it was a great fun building upon existing footage and trying to make it work in a new way. You can judge for yourself how it turned out below.