And the wait begins...

Blizzard Entertainment has been working on Cataclysm the third expansion for World of Warcraft even before Wrath of the Lich King was released in 2008. The details were unveiled at Blizzcon 2009 and since we found out that there would be two new races, Goblin and Worgen, we've been shivering with antici...pation.


Get it? We're shivering cause it's Blizzard and not just because it's a Rocky Horror Picture Show reference. Gosh, if I have to explain it to you, half the fun is lost.

Um, I digress. New races, new race-class combinations, new lands and flying in the entirety of Azeroth?! The Cataclysm is sure to change everything that we've come to know and love. Deathwing is back and with a vengeance and everyone in the World of Warcraft isn't going to know what hit him.

But for now, we wait. Of course, Blizzard hasn't released a definitive release date as of yet, but have gone on record saying that it's on track for 2010. That being said, they also told us that it wouldn't be released until they were happy with it, meaning that it was a finished, polished product.

According to new information by MMO Champion (via Wow Insider) a new release date for Cataclysm floating around is November 2. This is the first "official" date that has been mentioned in the year since the details of Cataclysm emerged at Blizzcon 2009.

From MMO-Champion a few days ago

Keep in mind that Blizzard didn't announce it because the release can still be postponed, but as far as I know the target release date for Cataclysm is the first week of November (that would be November 2, if you like numbers). The first part of the Cataclysm prologue started exactly 8 weeks before that and the next part of the pre-Cataclysm event will probably happen in 2 or 4 weeks depending on their schedule. 

So nothing is set in stone yet, but they do make a great point about the timeline. Patch 4.0.1 just hit the Player Test Realms and I know that Tarinae over at A Healdin's Tear has downloaded it and is waiting on her character copy. (That's taking up to 4 days, btw.) I do not look for the last patch before Cataclysm to drop for another month or so in live play.

I believe that the last patch before Wrath of the Lich King dropped one month to the day before the expansion came out. That patch brought us the attunement taken out of Onyxia as well as ramped up the Scourge invasion. It also brought us the barber shops, if memory serves.

But here's the real question. Do you buy the Collector's Edition. In 2008, Tarinae stood in line for hours to get our hands on the coveted items. Granted she stood in line much longer, because I didn't skip class, but it was still a lot of fun. However, money's a bit tight this year so I don't think I'll be dropping the $80 on it, unless my mom decides that it can be an early Christmas present.

It's black... like Deathwing's soul

Granted, I really want the mousepad and the Mini Deathwing, but I don't know. As soon as we get a release date, I think I'll make up my mind.

If you take a look at the bottom, you'll see that the release date on Walmart.com was once 11/30/2010. This was Wednesday, September 1 and not 2 weeks later the news broke about a Nov 2 release. It now says 12/31/2010.

For now, we'll just wait for more news. I'm going to sift through all of the warrior and protection paladin news to bring you the latest information. I am also super excited about Archaeology, so I'll update everyone that as well.

App Review: Museum of Modern Art

Want to go to space, find the directions to the closest Dennys, watch a video of kittens playing foozball, or photoshop your Grandma? There's an app for that.


We've been hearing it since the iPhone first debuted: Apple is making it easier for us to communicate, share information, and even learn all with one device. The iPad is no exception as the applications are educational, entertaining, informative, and fun. You can hand your phone to a 3 year old and help them learn their ABCs, make a To-Do list, and organize notes for your Economics class as well asread eBooks. It's not hard to begin to fill page after page on your device as downloading new applications is incredibly easy. There are many free apps to try that are lite versions and perform nearly exactly as their paid counterparts. And we now have other smartphones by Blackberry, Samsung, Motorola and with the release of the Android system, Apple is getting some stiff competition

Being a museum geek, I am constantly learning the importance of the smart phone in the museum world. We produced a podcast for the museum last year, but have not had the technical capabilities to do so this year. I've been thinking of different ways we could use smart phones as a way to engage our visitors and excite them. Our history is so relevant to today and I believe that being creative and using smart phones in museums can help connect the past and the future.

Part of this smart phone revolution comes with the age of Twitter and social media. We ran a promotion where visitors can “check-in” to the museum using Foursquare and they would get a 10% discount in the museum gift shop. Many places are offering rewards to their Mayor and those would would be competing to be Mayor. It is truly amazing how different it is to exist on the Internet now than it did even 5 years ago. Then, a website as a marketing tool was cutting edge and while some small businesses still haven't tapped into Internet marketing (sad, but true) there are so many organizations who are a mainstay on the World Wide Web.

Picture courtesy of Gizmodo

 But history museums are not the only institutions that can benefit from this technology. The Museum of Modern Art has been a driving force in the Museum 2.0 experience. With 268,648 followers on Twitter, they are leading the way in engaging visitors and exciting potential visitors. With the release of their iPhone app, the Museum of Modern Art achieved greatness. A quick download on AT&T's 3G network, the MoMA application for iPhone brings the museum's collection and galleries to your fingertips.

A nice user interface provides 5 main options: Calendar, Tours, Art, Info and More. The Calendar tab allows for access to Events at the MoMA including what is going on that day, Programs, Film Schedule, Film Exhibitions and Exhibition schedules. It also puts that day's hours of operation in an easy to read place. For example: Today, Saturday August 21, the hours were 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. The Tours tab brings guided audio tours to you easily.

I browsed by floor and selected Floor 5 – Painting and Sculpture. All floor are easily laid out and upon choosing Floor 5, was presented with galleries containing works by Vincent Van Gough, Diego Rivera, and Georges-Pierre Seurrat, to name only a few. In Gallery One, Van Gogh's Portrait of Jouseph Roulin is featured as the first choice. Upon choosing that painting, you can listen to audio about the work. It opens with a quote from Van Gogh himself and includes narration that examines not only the work, but Van Gogh's life. It brings the artwork from MoMA to anyone in the world for free.

On the Art and Artists tab, search for works of art by artist name or title. I searched for Claude Monet and found his Waterlilies with detailed information about the piece. Searching for Claude Monet even brings up the art term “impressionism” the school of art to which he helped perfect. Also on the Art and Artists tab, you can search through the database of art terms individually.

Info is just as it suggests. You can find the hours of operation, ticket prices, directions, etc. Parking information seems incredibly helpful as well as the information to visit the museum via subway, bus, car, airport, etc. MoMA has made everything quick and simple to access. More gives you links to MoMA on Twitter, Youtube, iTunes U and the podcasts page. Through the MoMA app, you can even listen to your own music while exploring the museum through your device.

The clarity of the pictures is astounding and the color scheme of the user interface is inviting. I have an iPhone 3 and it was very nice, but I would assume that it is even better on an iPhone 4 and iPad. You can even view the app in portrait or landscape. I was very pleased with this download and recommend it to all art lovers. Having not yet visited the Museum of Modern Art, it makes me very excited to visit.

The MoMA isn't the only art museum with an application. The Louvre has released an app as well. It is a very large download and you must be on a Wireless network as it is too large for 3G. I haven't tried it out yet, but I was so excited about the MoMA app that I just had to share. It's virtually impossible to get lost in the museum as well. The app provides floor plans, restaurant information, etc. Don't think that this is something that you can just use when you're at home and wanting to look at the MoMA's collection. Use the app while in the museum and add to your experience.

The Smithsonian is getting into the smart phone game as well with a new Natural History museum application as well. I'll be discussing that at a later time. For now, download and enjoy the Museum of Modern Art app and let me know what you think!

How about a little tank and spank?

As I've referenced before, I play World of Warcraft. Not having my regular computer for the last few months has made me want to read a lot more about the game, about my class, and about other game related issues. One thing I have found: the lack of Warrior blogs. So one thing I might do from time to time is discuss the Warrior class. Unfortunately, I do not feel I can devote an entire blog to the class, but I feel it'll be a nice addition to KY Geek Girl.

My beloved Aleksondra is a Forsaken Fury Warrior on Shadow Council-Horde-RP-US. She belongs to the guild , of whom the lovely Tarinae is guild master. To be perfectly honest, Sondra was an alliance before she was a horde. Highly misguided, I played for 2 years as an alli. But, on Septemer 3, 2009, I made one of the best World of Warcraft Decisions ever: Faction change.

I've really enjoyed playing Fury, though when I decided to go dual-specialization, the secondary spec was Protection. Once I realized I liked Paladin tanking better than Warrior tanking, I unlearned the Protection talents in favor of Arms. I primarily use the Arms spec for Player-Vs-Player. It's all a learning process. I don't play to theorycraft or to raid hardcore. I play for myself and to have fun.

Now that we have introductions out of the way, I'll say that I am incredibly excited for Cataclysm. I came into WoW during Burning Crusade and Vanilla content was barely talked about.  With Cataclysm, we will see Azeroth changed forever. I'm shooting for Loremaster before the expansion comes. I was nearly done on Aleksondra before I switched factions. Sadly, your quest count gets wiped. I'm going to have to do all of the faction specific quests over. Can I do it? I'll update on my progress.

For now, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite World of Warcraft related sites:

• A Healadin's Tear -- Tarinae has been playing World of Warcraft as long as I have. She's a master at the art of the Holy Paladin and offers up a great deal of information and insight into the class. She has two other 80s, an Arcane Mage and a BeastMastery Hunter.


• Cynwise's Battlefield Manual -- Cynwise, a Warlock on Durotan-US, loves long fishing trips in Wintergrasp. (As do I.) Need some Warlock info, have a question about battlegrounds? The Battlefield Manual answers those and more.


• Warcraftpets -- I don't know about you, but I'm a vanity pet whore. I love them. I'm even going to get the Authenticator (which I recommend everyone do anyway!) so I can get the Corehound pup. I'm curious to see how vanity pets will change come Cataclysm and I'm sure Breanni over at Warcraft Pets will have all of the information you need. Ever notice Breanni in Dalaran, the vanity pet dealer? That's her! She was added to the game as an homage to the Warcraft Pet database!


• El's Extreme Anglin' -- Want to get started with fishing in World of Warcraft? You've come to the right place. El wrote her own Extreme Anglin' guide... Nat Pagle just can't compare. She outlines equipment, locations, the Salty title, etc. Find all of the information you want about Fishing.


• Wow Insider -- One of my favorite columns is The Overachiever which details our favorite Achievements in World of Warcraft. After Loremaster, I want to go for Insane in the Membrane.

Do you have a favorite site? I'll create a comprehensive list, just let me know your favorite!

I hope you've liked this addition to the blog. If you're a WoW player, give me a shoutout. I love rolling lowbies on new servers!