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.

Puddle game review

February 13, 2012February 16, 2012 Doug Groves Konami, Neko, PS3, PSN, Puddle, review, Xbox 360, Xbox Live0 comment

Back in 2010, six French students won the GDC Student Showcase award for the liquid physics puzzle game Puddle. Konami later picked up the title, and after development by Neko Entertainment, Puddle was released on both the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN a couple of weeks back. The premise of the game is straight forward. The player guides liquids through hazardous environments, while trying not to lose so much volume that you have to start over. In the early levels, this means navigating water through pipes filled with fire and heated…

Animation Arts Featured Film Gaming

Deus Ex – The Title Sequence

January 31, 2012February 13, 2012 Doug Groves Art Of The Title, Deus Ex Human Revolution, interview, PC gaming, PS3, Xbox4 Comments

The always wonderful to read “Art of the Title”, which focuses on the craft of creating effective title sequences, generally using film and TV, has posted its first game sequence, with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Included is an extensive interview with both Paul Furminger from Goldtooth Creative (director of the sequence) and Jean-François Dugas from Eidos-Montreal (Game Director).

Arts Featured Gaming video

Mass Effect 3 with Kinect

January 23, 2012January 31, 2012 Doug Groves Bioware, Kinect, Mass Effect 3, ME3, Xbox 3604 Comments

YouTube video link Last week, a promotional video showing the Kinect integration in Mass Effect 3 was release. action. The Kinect integration actually appears pretty useful, especially in the issuing of commands to the non-player teammates. They do mention that while there is almost a second of lag while the Kinect interprets the command, it ultimately does pay off. Joystiq had some hands on time with it, and has some good things to say about it. For example, you can point to a location and issue a move command via…

Computing Featured Internet Software

Wikileaks launches Spy Files, Rockwell plans comeback

December 2, 2011December 19, 2011 Doug Groves (in)security, AdvancedIO, Sandvine, Spy Files, Vineyard networks, Wikileaks4 Comments

2011 is not turning out to be a good year for those with paranoid tendencies. With the Carrier IQ story gaining traction, it’s interesting timing that Wikileaks and friends have launched a new project called Spy Files. Compiling information from over 280 documents, Spy Files has created an interactive map that shows widespread montioring of just about every electronic form of communication, from the internet to GPS and speech analysis.

Computing Featured Mobile

Carrier IQ and mobile (in)security

November 30, 2011December 2, 2011 Doug Groves Android, Blackberry, Carrier IQ, Carrier IQ iOS, CIQ, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, iPhone, IQRD, mobile security, Nokia, rootkit, security, Symbian, TrevE, xda developers22 Comments

Back in October, a story ran on XDA Developers about software running on HTC Android phones called Carrier IQ (CIQ) that appeared to be collecting a fair amount of data about your device and not doing a good job of storing it securely. Beyond your device ID, it collected phone numbers, geo-location and account names. Since that initial discovery, there’ve been reports of it being even more invasive, leading Carrier IQ to issue a Cease and Desist letter and denying what it does.

Arts Featured Film Mobile Music video

Nokia vs deadmau5 live event video

November 29, 2011November 30, 2011 Doug Groves deadmau5, event, London, Lumia, Lumia 800, Nokia, Nokia Lumia, UK, video, Windows Phone, WP70 comment

On November 28th, Nokia ran a promotional event to launch their new phones. The event featured Canadian electro producer deadmau5 on stage, using a 400 foot tall building covered in projection screens as a backdrop.

Arts Featured Film Show

Michael Biehn Interview at Fan Expo 2011

November 23, 2011November 29, 2011 Doug Groves Aliens, Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2011, interview, James Cameron, Jennifer Blanc, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Michael Biehn, Michael Biehn directoral debut, Show, TADFF, TADFF 2011, The Terminator, The Victim, Toronto After Dark Film Festival0 comment

We caught up with Michael Biehn and his wife Jennifer Blanc at their Fan Expo signing table. We originally expected to only get a couple of minutes with them, but it turned out to be the longest interview of the show.

Computing Featured Mobile video

Nokia 900 leaked in developer video?

November 16, 2011November 23, 2011 Doug Groves leak, Lumia, Lumia 900, Nokia, Nokia 900, Nokia Ace, Windows Phone, WP70 comment

Last February, Nokia made a drastic decision regarding the future of its operating systems by going all-in with Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS. While there was a lot of online fallout from both proud Finns and Symbian advocates, Nokia’s new Windows Phones, the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800, finally started hitting overseas. The Lumia 800, which shares the same body design as their N9, has been getting rave reviews for the industrial design, but there’s still no word on what’s happening in North America.

Arts Featured Film Science

Time lapse video from the International Space Station

November 14, 2011November 16, 2011 Doug Groves NASA, NHK, SS-HDTV, time lapse, video1 Comment

The video above is comprised of a series of time lapse images taken from the International Space Station over the late summer of this year, then edited and set to music. The camera, known as the “Super Sensitive High Definition TV” or SS-HDTV, works in extremely low light situations, and has managed to capture some detailed visuals of the planet. Whether it’s natural phenomena such auroras and lightning storms, or the vast electrical grid that we as humans have covered the planet with, the footage is nothing less than stunning.

Arts Comics Featured Show video

Sam Bradley talks The Anthology Project at Fan Expo

November 7, 2011November 14, 2011 Doug Groves Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2011, interview, Sam Bradley, The Anthology Project2 Comments

The Anthology Project has become one of the favourite pieces of comic art amongst the RGB crew. Bucking the online trend, The Anthology Project volume one os presented in a luxurious hardbound edition with vibrant colours. Between the covers are some great shorts from a variety of North American creators, which was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Computing Featured Mobile

HTC Raider LTE phone hits Bell and Rogers

October 28, 2011 Doug Groves 4G, Android, Bell, HTC, HTC Raider, LTE, Raider, Rogers1 Comment

If you’re going to be surfing on the new high speed LTE networks from Bell or Rogers, you’re going to want a phone that can handle it. That’s where the HTC Raider comes in. The company has announced that the Raider, HTC’s first LTE phone in Canada, will be coming to both Bell and Rogers next month. The phone checks all the other boxes for a high end smartphone as well, with a 4.5″ qHD screen, 1.2GHz dual core processor and an 8 megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture for better low light performance and 108op video recording.

Computing Featured Science

Microsoft HoloDesk makes remote Jenga possible

October 20, 2011November 7, 2011 Doug Groves 3D object, HoloDesk, hologram, Kinect, Microsoft, Microsoft Research, natural user interface, NUI, see-through display, virutal space4 Comments

There are few things in life that scream ‘from the future’ like holograms, especially interactive holograms. That’s what Microsoft Research is showing off in this video of their HoloDesk project. At the core is a Kinect and a some head tracking software working in conjunction with a see-through display. It allows users to pick up and manipulate 3D objects, including a virtualized smartphone interface, as well as collaborate remotely.