Wow. Blizzard has announced the next installment of one the most addictive games ever.  I am now having flashbacks of raiding gaming cafes in Katipunan with friends early in the morning, demanding that they open up before their business hours. Such was the need to satisfy wanton hack-and-slash lust. The Diablo 3 announcement is stirring up that hunger again.

So far only two character classes have been revealed. The good-old Barbarian is back with grayer hair but no less smashing power. The new Witch Doctor class seems to be the replacement of the Necromancer. There will also be an option to select the gender of your character - which leads me to believe that the Ranger from Diablo I will make a comeback in place of the Amazon. A few new features would be:

• The Healthglobe system - eliminates all the potion-popping that was the lifeblood of the previous versions.
• Interactive environment - smash more stuff
• New Battle.net

So when can we get our hands on Diablo 3, you ask? “When it’s ready,” Blizzard says. It might take a while but it’s should be worth it. Meanwhile feast your eyes on the videos here.

Well… maybe not. But you do get to be a part of a Guinness World record for most software downloaded in a day. Do yourself a favor and stop using that “other” browser.

See the rest of the album here.

Freelance Switch is part of my daily blog reads. Though I’m not really a freelancer right now, a lot of the stuff on this site is still pretty useful, or at least entertaining, to the cubicle-bound among us.

“It’s a phrase you hear often: design is in the details. With design, paying attention to small details—and in some cases, obsessively focusing on “what isn’t right”—can take a design from “nearly there” to “there” and beyond.”

Head on to the article and learn a new word while your at it.

Asus has been tempting me to get an EEE PC for sometime now. The announcement of the new member of the diminutive family might have sealed the deal. The next-gen EEE boasts of a larger 9-inch screen, double the RAM at 1Gb and 12GB of storage at the cost of 399 Euros. Thats roughly 25k in Philippine Pesos. What I’d love to know is if Asus somehow managed to bump processor power and the screen resolution.

Update (03-05-2008): Engadget now has pics of powered up 9-inch EEE PC’s. According to them, the screen resolution is 1024 x 600. I’ve also corrected the price on this post.

I cringed when Jason Kidd was dealt for Stephon Marbury in 2001. I did the dance of joy when Steve Nash was signed as a free agent in 2004, the vital piece in what has been the most entertaining show in the NBA for the past 3 years.

And now this long-time Phoenix Suns fan is at a complete loss on what to make of this show-stopping trade. Why in the name of James Naismith would the Suns, who currently lead the Western Conference, ship Shawn Marion (who could probably outrun a gazelle) for the 35-year-old Shaquille O’Neal (who is as mobile as the chair I’m sitting on)? I’ve never been a fan of The Big Aristotle but I mean no disrespect to his past achievements. But Matrix defined the Phoenix Suns even before Nash came along with his versatility and athleticism. He defends point guards to centers and has time to finish the fastbreak. Shaq might have once been the Most Dominant Ever but age and injuries have gotten the better of him already. Even in his prime, he would be voted #1 on the Most Unlikely to Fit in the Phoenix Suns Offense list.

Some say GM Steve Kerr pushed the panic button when Pau Gasol was acquired by Pacific rival Lakers for practically nothing. Yes, we are all sour graping about that fact. Still, as a fan I am giving Kerr the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Shaq will be motivated enough to stay healthy and win one more championship (or two). Maybe Grant Hill will share with him the fountain of youth that he seems to have discovered this year. Maybe the 7′1″ Man of Steel will be the vital cog for the Suns in the playoffs.

Maybe this is all just a dream…

Meet the anorexic new member of the Mac family: the Macbook Air. I purposely held off posting about it until I got over the initial ooh’s and aah’s so I can make a more level-headed comment on the device.

• The Name - you would think Apple came up with another crossover product with Nike. Sorry Mr. Jobs, the word Air is too attached to sneakers and a certain legendary basketball player. Macbook Lite would’ve been more suitable but that’s just me.
• The Design - Remember that Sunscreen song? You could use a line from there and say: “Do not look at Macbook Air photos, they will only make your current laptop feel ugly.” I bet my lappie’s LCD is thicker than this. Geez.
• The Features - By reducing the device to its 0.76″ thickness, Apple had to squeeze out the optical drive, the wired LAN and a couple of USB ports. That pissed off some people. It does have more RAM by default than the plain vanilla Macbook albeit with less processing power. The multi-touch trackpad looks wonderful on paper but will have to be experienced first-hand to know for sure.

Overall, the Macbook Air is a good start in the ultraportable front but not totally yet. I’m definitely gonna check this out as soon as it hits the stores here in Manila. Whether I’d want to buy one is a different matter. I wonder when they’re gonna micronize the Macbook Pro?