rgbFilter – Page 68 – For the pixel pusher in you.

“Rogers On Demand Online” – Hulu North or just another VOD?

November 24, 2009November 24, 2009 Doug Groves Hulu, Rogers, VOD0 comment

We’ve talked about the lack of a Hulu-type service in Canada on a number of occasions. In the US, Hulu is a free service that allows users to watch full TV episodes and movies from a number of content providers in an on-demand service on their computers, either via a web browser or dedicated client. The service does contain advertising, but is less intrusive than watching over the air or cable broadcasts. Rogers announced that they have partnered with 15 network content providers to allow streaming of content from 19…

AOL is dead. Long live Aol.

November 24, 2009 Danny X America Online, AOL, time warner0 comment

AOL today unveiled its new branding, and people are less than impressed. The new corporate identity, created by hotshot design agency Wolff Olins New York, involves using a set of hundreds of different backgrounds to sit behind the new mark in which AOL is written Aol. (don’t forget the full-stop). Landing on this design was the result of a long and winding road which included research, testing, and creative reviews, all to answer the question, “should we even stick with the AOL brand?”

A look at Ninja Assassin: the title is not redundant.

November 24, 2009 Doug Groves Ninja Assassin, review4 Comments

‘Ninja Assassin’ isn’t trying to change the world. It’s an over the top bloody ninja movie, capturing the sometimes cheesy feel of 80’s ninja movies, notably the Ninja series starring Sho Kosugi. To that effect, it works very well. The film takes every supernatural element applied to ninjas, and treats them as real, to the point where they actually disappear in shadows, and can heal themselves with the power of their own will, to sometimes spectacular effect. Before I go on with the review, I just want to clear something…

If you smoke your Mac could be a biohazard.

November 23, 2009 Doug Groves Apple, smoking0 comment

That’s right. According to a Consumerist story, at least two individuals had their Applecare extended warranties voided because the computers lived in households that had at least one smoker. The resultant residue inside the machines was enough to have them considered biohazards by Apple. To be clear, it’s not that the computers were damaged BY the smoke, but the presence of nicotine in the computer itself. Today, April, 28, 2008, the Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there…

Jim Shaw is mad as Hell, and he’s not gonna take it anymore. (ish.)

November 20, 2009November 22, 2009 Danny X CRTC, Fee for Carriage, Rogers, Shaw1 Comment

The world needs more Jim Shaws. The outspoken CEO of Shaw Communications was quoted in Marketing Magazine today as being “sick of the debate” regarding fee for carriage. “It is time to stop this debate and move forward,” he said. Shaw not only opposes the concept of Fee for Carriage, but also calls the CRTC out on its seeming inability to stick to its guns. “I thought you guys made the decision and you should stick to it,” said Shaw of the CRTC’s earlier decisions to oppose fee for carriage….

Free Xbox LIVE Weekends – who needs eHarmony?

November 20, 2009November 20, 2009 Doug Groves Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live1 Comment

The Xbox LIVE Dashboard update has been launched, adding Facebook, Twitter, HD instant streaming via the Zune Marketplace and more. To give more people a taste of it, the Xbox LIVE team is taking a page out of the eHarmomy playbook, and is running free-weekend promos, which start today in many regions, while Europe starts on November 25th. As for the update itself, the main interface remains the same, and the additions are for the most part well done. The real stand outs have to be the Facebook app which…

YouTube getting all Hulu – that’s a bad thing

November 20, 2009November 20, 2009 Doug Groves google, online video, Popcorn Hour, YouTube31 Comments

Starting on December 2nd, YouTube is planning on blocking access to content based on where and how it’s being delivered. This according to Popcorn Hour’s COO Alex Limberis: On November 18, 2009 Syabas, makers of the award-winning Popcorn Hour product line, uploaded a message to their Media Service Portal that said, “As of Wednesday, December 2, 2009, YouTube will no longer be available to Popcorn Hour users.” Please understand that this is neither a technical glitch nor a decision the company has voluntarily made. To be clear, Google has changed…

Internet Explorer 9 getting HTML 5 support and GPU acceleration

November 20, 2009 Doug Groves IE 9, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Windows0 comment

Internet Explorer may be the most popular browser in the world, but that’s only due to its inclusion with Windows itself. Mozilla’s Firefox has been steadily clawing at IE’s market share for a couple of years now, and Google’s been pushing Chrome, though with less success, so far. Microsoft tried to change that with IE 8, which actually has a very nice interface, but still presents rendering issues in a number of sites, rgbfilter.com included. This is supposedly going to change with IE 9, with more standards compliance in general,…

Assassin’s Creed II: First Impressions

November 19, 2009February 16, 2010 Johnathan Leger Assassin's Creed II, PC games, PS3, review, Ubisoft, Xbox 3608 Comments

One of the most anticipated gaming titles of the year was finally released this week… and Assassin’s Creed 2 has a LOT of hype to live up to for some… and a LOT to apologize for to others. In 2007, the first game was greeted with polarized impressions, best summed up by Zero Punctuations review. Despite its glaring flaws, I was a HUGE fan of the Creed and after grinding through the first level of the sequel, my impressions thus far are nothing short of smitten. I wont get into…

Google Chrome OS reveal party

November 19, 2009November 19, 2009 Doug Groves 1 Comment

It’s been a while since Google first announced its foray into the desktop OS market, but today is the launch party, and the open source project is free to download. If the above video, in all its treacly glory, isn’t enough of an indication, Chrome OS may already be obsolete. The new OS is a lightweight Linux based operating system targeting low end computer systems such as netbooks running both X86 desktop and ARM based mobile CPUs. It’s designed from the ground up to run inside the Chrome browser, right…

Telus lauches Blackberry Storm 2. More Polar bear jokes ensue.

November 19, 2009November 19, 2009 drsquid 9550, Blackberry, CDMA, HSPA, Storm 2, Telus3 Comments

Telus launched the Canadian-made premium touch screen smartphone, the Blackberry Storm 2, on Wednesday. The original storm was considered RIM’s answer to the threat of touch screen phones, like the iPhone, and was not considered a big success. With the new Storm, RIM has applied the lessons learned from their first attempt – the Storm 2 runs the latest Blackberry OS 5, has more memory, Wi-Fi and an improved ‘Sure Press’ touch-screen. Since RIM has not officially launched a North American frequency HSPA Storm 2, Telus is launching it on…

Left 4 Dead 2 is out, and is all that and more

November 18, 2009 drsquid Left 4 Dead, PC, Steam, Valve, Xbox 3604 Comments

Valve unlocked Left for Dead 2 at midnight, on November 17th, for those who pre-ordered, and pre-loaded the game. I somehow forgot this fact, despite having done the former and latter, so the first thing I did when I got home tonight was play the game. Though I have only had time to play a for few hours, it’s defintely going to be my new gaming addiction. As said, in our review of the demo, L4D 2 takes all that you loved from the first game (you did buy the…