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.

Eric Cartman and Lady Gaga – together?

March 9, 2010March 10, 2010 Doug Groves Christopher Walken, Eric Cartman, harmonix, Lady Gaga, Poker Face, rock band, South Park2 Comments

As anyone who plays Rock Band knows, Harmonix has consistently put out new tracks every week for over two years, and have branched out into other musical genres. This may be the first time in it’s history that both an original artist and cover have seen the same track released simultaneously though. Lady Gaga makes her debut on Rock Band March 16th, with a track pack that includes “Poker Face”. At the same time, for those who like a little irony in their Rock Band list, you’ll be able to…

Attend SXSW virtually

March 9, 2010 Doug Groves festival, SXSW, torrent1 Comment

Every spring, the SXSW music festival invades Austin Texas. In the early days, it was purely a musical affair, but since then has also grown to include both film and interactive festivals that run more or less concurrently. Twitter, for example, launched at SXSE interactive in 2007. As part of it’s musical side, artists both new and established have made MP3s available free to download from the SXSE website. In more recent years those files have been compiled by the public into a huge repository of RIAA safe torrent files….

Pure Pwnage

March 9, 2010March 9, 2010 Doug Groves NSFW, Pure Pwnage0 comment

The above is the latest (and last) in the Pure Pwnage Production Blog videos before the TV series starts on Showcase this Friday. This time round Jeremy gives stand up comedy a whirl. Don’t forget that there’s a screening of the first 3 episodes of the TV series on March 20th, as well!

Photoshop turns 20

March 7, 2010March 7, 2010 Doug Groves Adobe, Photoshop1 Comment

Adobe’s Photoshop, which has become the industry’s leading image manipulation tool, recently turned 20, and Adobe has posted the above documentary on their site that’s somewhat interesting. It’s also just a smidge hyperbolic, as I can think of a lot of other events that did more to “spawn… a cultural paradigm shift unparalleled in our lifetime”.

Apple sues HTC over 20 patents… war is on?

March 2, 2010March 2, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Apple, google, HD2, HTC, iPhone, Microsoft, Nexus One, Sense UI, Touch FLO, Windows Mobile4 Comments

The news broke this morning that Apple is suing smart phone manufacturer HTC, maker of many popular Google Android and Windows Mobile devices. In their 700 plus page ITC filing, Apple lists a whole slew of specific HTC devices running both operating systems, including the Nexus One, HD2, Touch Pro, Hero, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro2, Tilt II, and quite a few more. It’s interesting that Apple is going after HTC as opposed to either Google or Microsoft and their operating systems. There’s precious little, on first blush, in the patent…

Don’t turn on your PS3 for now: UPDATE – fixed

March 1, 2010March 1, 2010 Doug Groves Playstation, Playstation Network, PS3, PS3 Slim, Sony3 Comments

The widespread PS3 errors have been narrowed down, as expected, to a clock-related bug, at least that’s what Sony believes. In short, if you own an older “phat” PS3 (aka not the Slim), Sony is recommending that you do not turn on the console at all untill they announce a fix. So if you were planning on heading home today and firing up Heavy Rain, Bioshock 2, or watch a BluRay, you’re going to have to hold out just a little bit longer. We believe we have identified that this…

PS3 outage a leap year bug?

March 1, 2010 Doug Groves Playstation Network, PS3, PS3 Slim, PSN, Sony5 Comments

Late yesterday, reports started appearing across the social networks and message boards of PS3 owners losing trophy information and the console being unable to play game discs. At first it was suspected that this was due to an outage of the Playstation Network (PSN). Most users reported getting the 8001050F error code, and even booting up without a network connection doesn’t alleviate the problem. As more info has leaked out, it appears the problem is limited to the older ‘phat’ PS3 models, as PS3 Slim users haven’t noticed the same…

Ford Sync Demo

February 26, 2010February 26, 2010 Doug Groves automotive, demo, Ford Sync, Microsoft0 comment

Dave was at the Canadian International Auto Show and got a demo of Ford Sync which provides in-car entertainment and communications via wired or bluetooth connected devices.

Palm sales ‘lower than expected’… it wouldn’t be the ads would it?

February 26, 2010February 26, 2010 Doug Groves palm, Palm Pre, Pixi, Verizon2 Comments

Well, this doesn’t spell good news for the future of WebOS. Palm’s ‘re-entry’ into the smart phone market has been less than spectacular. In fact, even with the launch of the ‘Plus’ versions of their Pre and Pixi devices, Palm still hasn’t managed to pull out of a sales slump. Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today indicated that it expects that revenues for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 will be in the range of $285 million to $310 million on a GAAP basis and in the range of $300 million…

Canadian carriers complete trials of two-way wireless video calling

February 24, 2010 Doug Groves Bell, Rogers, Telus, video calling0 comment

More news from Canadian carriers today, as Bell, Telus and Rogers have finished the trials for inter-network video calling. Each of the ‘big three’ had their own video calling solutions, which allowed 2 way video between customers on the same carrier, which severely limited the functionality. This development suggests that at launch it “…will create North America’s largest two-way mobile video calling community…” at least according to the press release. The new video calling tech makes use of the open 3G-324M Video Telephony standard, which should enable compatibility with international…

Rogers introduces DRM free music… sound familiar?

February 24, 2010February 24, 2010 Doug Groves digital download, DRM, Music, OTA, Rogers6 Comments

(UPDATE: fixed incorrect URL and graphic – where’s that editor-in-chief when you need him? Oh yeah…) With services and pricing structures being almost identical between the ‘big three’ Canadian wireless carriers, it’s hardly surprising that Rogers has followed Telus’ lead, and has introduced a new DRM free music service. Two wIn keeping with the theme, individual tracks will cost between $0.69 and $1.29, with $0.99 being the sweet spot. Albums will also generally be priced at $9.99. To help differentiate itself, Rogers is also the first to introduce pre-orders. “Customers…

Pure Pwnage on the big screen

February 22, 2010 Doug Groves Bloor Cinema, Pure Pwnage, screening4 Comments

Really, the image says it all, but even with the switch from hit web series to TV show, the gang at Pure Pwnage are keeping the premiere screening tradition alive. You can catch the first 3 episodes of the new TV show on the big screen at the Bloor Cinema (that’s in Toronto for the n00bs, which is in Canada for uber n00bs), on Saturday March 20th starting at 6:30pm. The first 2 episodes will have aired on Showcase by then, which means you’ll be getting to see the 3rd…