Author: Doug Groves

dougplanet.com is his personal blog, which is withering on the vine. If you poke around it, you’ll find out that he’s an animator and broadcast designer by trade, usually pushing pixels in either After Effects or Lightwave 3D. If he absolutely had to pick a favourite all time writer, it would be Harlan Ellison more days than any other. If you don’t know who Ellison is, then Doug weeps for you. Doug also likes long walks on the beach, mainly to collect improperly discarded medical waste for an undisclosed project of epic proportions.

Mobilicity calls out Chatr

September 9, 2010September 8, 2010 Doug Groves Chatr, Competition Act, Mobilicity, Rogers, wireless carriers1 Comment

Although it wasn’t the first of the new entrants to Canada’s mobile carrier scene, Mobilicity certainly is becoming the most outspoken. According to a Globe and Mail article earlier today, the new wireless carrier has made good on its promise to take official action against the Rogers Chatr brand. Mobilicty Chairman John Bitove first started rumbling about violations against the Competition Act back in July when Rogers Chatr brand pricing leaked online. On Wednesday, Mobilicity made good on that promise, sending an e-mail to reporters that “late last week Mobilicity’s…

Telus LG Shine Plus – sneak peak video

September 8, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Android 2.1, Android 2.2, Eclair, Froyo, google, hands-on, interview, LG, LG Ally, LG Shine Plus, Show, smartphone, sneak peak, superphone, Telus4 Comments

A little while back, we got a chance to take a look at the Telus version of the LG Shine Plus, aka the LG Ally in the US. This model of the Shine Plus is unique to Telus, and can now be found on their website. The new smartphone sports a landscape slide out QWERTY keyboard, and a largely brushed metal body. Though the processor may be a little underpowered compared to its 1 GHz competitors, the Shine Plus runs Android 2.1 very smoothly, and Telus is talking with LG…

Fan Expo 2010 – Freelance Blues

September 8, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Comics, Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2010, Freelance Blues, Ian Daffran, indie, interview, Mike Leone, Robohorse, webcomics15 Comments

Freelance Blues is a new indie comic from the minds of Mike Leone and Ian Daffran. A comedic take on Lovecraftian horrors mixed with the real horror of moving from job to job, the third issue was launched during Fan Expo this year. Although the series artist, Vicki Tierney, wasn’t on hand, we sat down and talked with the writers… well, more like stood there while they talked about what Freelance Blues is about, and what else they may have in the works. You can check out the first issue…

Fan Expo 2010 – Jarett Cale Interview

September 7, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Fan Expo 2010, interview, Jarett Cale, Jeremy, PC gaming, Pure Pwnage, Show, Showcase, Starcraft 2, uber micro2 Comments

Every time we get a chance to talk to the guys from Pure Pwnage, it’s always a blast. We catch up with Jarett Cale at Fan Expo this year, to talk about what’s happening with season 2 of the TV series, and where the web series stands… “Honestly, it’s a bit depressing working on the web series, having to rewrite because of what happened to Troy and being able to have the ending we originally envisioned. So I get kind of bummed out, so I work in small intervals, I…

Fan Expo 2010 – Caanan Grall Interview

September 6, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Caanan Grall, Celadore, Comics, Fan Expo 2010, interview, Max Overacts, Show, webcomics3 Comments

While make our way through artist alley, one of the many tables that caught our eye was that of Caanan Grall, creator of Max Overacts and Celadore, the latter which originally appeared as part of DC Comics ZUDA online experiment. After taking a look at some of his work on Celadore, we had a quick chat about the upcoming graphic novel release of Celadore. Be sure to check out the Max Overacts webcomic.

Fan Expo 2010 – Jamie Toghill Interview

September 5, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Battle Grids, Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2010, interview, Jamie Toghill, Propaganda Games, PS3, Show, Syndicate, Tron Evolution Battlegrids. Tron, Tron Interceptor, Tron Legacy, Wii, Xbox 3604 Comments

There was no mistaking the big push that Disney was making this year for Tron Legacy, the long awaited sequel to the classic sci-fi film. The Tron Legacy booth was the largest on the show floor, complete with a 20 foot tall Interceptor. Beside the usually merchandise that goes along with modern sci-fi movie, the video game Tron Evolution was on the floor and playable on multiple consoles. Also on hand was Jamie Toghill, lead designer for the Wii version (Tron Evolution Battle Grids) from Propaganda Games. We had a…

Fan Expo 2010 – Camilla d’Errico Interview

September 4, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Camilla derrico, Comics, Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2010, How to talk to girls at parties, interview, Neil Gaiman, Show, Sky Pirates, SwagBag 2010, Tanpopo5 Comments

One of our first stops at Fan Expo this year was at Camilla d’Errico’s booth. She has a unique art style that bridges the gap between anime and western style comics work, which she’s using to full effect in her book Tanpopo. The book uses the text of classic literature, such as Faust, accompanied by her characters. You don’t have to take our word for it though, as you can catch some examples at her website. As an added bonus, she’s donated some of her work to our Swagbag 2010…

Samsung Galaxy Tab coming to Canada

September 3, 2010September 3, 2010 Doug Groves 7 inch, Android, Galaxy Tab, google, Samsung, tablet20 Comments

Over the past week or so, Samsung’s entry into the tablet market, the Galaxy Tab, has been generating a fair amount of buzz. The fact that it’s a tablet is enough to get it some press. When you combine that with the positive response to the Samsung Galaxy smartphone lineup, and it’s no surprise that the tablet is getting people interested. Though the 7 inch tablet, running Google’s Android OS (with Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay) is already slated to hit Europe on October 11th, as well as the US, a tweet…

PC64 aims directly at the nostalgia crowd

September 3, 2010September 3, 2010 Doug Groves Atom, C-64, Commodore, Commodore 64, ION 2, nettop, Nvidia, PC64, portable2 Comments

One of the more oddball computer announcements in the past week or so was Commodore USA would be coming out with the PC64, and all in one computer that will be a 1:1 replica of one of the most successful computers of all time – the Commodore 64. The basic concept is that they’re going to stuff the guts of a modern nettop, complete with an Intel Atom dual core 525 processor and Nvidia ION2 graphics processor into the original chassis, along with a modern variety of ports. The machine…

Fan Expo 2010 – Pressure valve

September 3, 2010September 3, 2010 Doug Groves crowd control, Fan Expo 2010, Metro Toronto Convention Centre3 Comments

As we briefly touched on in our initial Fan Expo write up, the convention was overcrowded this year, with attendance up by about 10,000 people. It didn’t help that Expo was moved from the larger south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, to the north, which has approximately 20% LESS square footage. The intention of Hobbystar all along was to keep it in the south building. After all, Fan Expo moved from the north to the south a few years back precisely because of increasing attendance. This year, however,…

Fan Expo 2010 – The Anthology Project

September 2, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Comic, event, Fan Expo 2010, interview, Nick Thornborrow, Show, SwagBag 2010, The Anthology Project2 Comments

Last year at Fan Expo, we spoke with Nick Thornborrow of The Anthology Project, which was aiming not just to put out a quality collection of shorts from a variety of artists, but to really care about the physical quality of the book itself… to make a beautiful “artifact” as Nick put it. Well, the book was released a few months ago, and he has no worries in that department. The artwork from each of the contributors really pops in this hardbound, and really does them justice. Nick also mentions…

Fan Expo 2010 – Lar deSouza Interview

September 1, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves artist, Fan Expo 2010, interview, Lar deSouza, Least I Could Do, Looking For Group, Show, webcomic3 Comments

Lar deSouza, the rather prolific artist of Least I Could Do and Looking For Group, let us sit down with him ‘in booth’ during Fan Expo this year. Despite almost constantly drawing and signing, something I gather he does all the time no matter where he is, he found the time to talk about the different approaches he takes for each of the webcomics he works on, and the value of trying to copy another artist’s style, not for the end result, but to figure out their process.