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.

Album review: Tomorrow’s Harvest by Boards of Canada

November 14, 2013August 8, 2014 Doug Groves album review, Boards of Canada, electronic music, IDM, Music, review, Tomorrow's Harvest28 Comments

Boards of Canada have always been one of ‘those’ bands for me. The kind of band you heard once at a club, and the track caught your attention enough to ask the DJ about, but never quite get around to really checking out. On the occasions I’ve heard them, I’ve liked them but never got around to sinking myself into their discography. Back in the spring, I stumbled across their website and noticed they had a new album, called “Tomorrow’s Harvest”, due out soon. Even then, it wasn’t until a…

Arts Comics Featured

Bionic Antboy webcomic

November 12, 2013November 14, 2013 Doug Groves action, Bionic Antboy, sci-fi, scifi, web comic, webcomic30 Comments

Shameless self-promotion time. Bionic Antboy is a weekly web comic that originally started out as a video game idea a long time ago. Since The Practical Dead is in an on-again/off-again state of flux, I started working on Antboy when time afforded it. Now, with 4 months worth of pages under my belt, and more pages already in the can, it’s probably a good time to share it.

If this is October then there must be undead in Toronto

October 2, 2013November 12, 2013 Doug Groves Christopher Bond, Evil Dead the Musical, Fan Expo, Fanx Expo 2013, John Russo, Mike Nahrgang, Night of the Living Dead Live, Nug, Russ Streiner0 comment

It’s October again, which means, for Toronto, a whole lot of undead happenings. Beside the Toronto Zombie Walk (and Halloween Parade), two great live horror film adaptations return to Hogtown. At Fan Expo 2013, we had a chance to talk for a few moments with Christopher Bond and Mike “Nug” Nahrgang about their involvement with the upcoming productions of both “Evil Dead the Musical” and “Night of the Living Dead Live“. After that is a bonus interview that was originally recorded at Fan Expo 2012, and thought to be lost when we had a…

Animation Arts Film Photography

Timelapse Video on effects of aging reveals something unexpected

September 11, 2013November 14, 2013 Doug Groves 3D Studio Max, After Effects, aging, animation, morph3 Comments

A video project called “Danielle”, released by filmmaker Anthony Cerniello attempts to portray the effects of aging on the face, and does so to good effect, but it also reveals something I personally found more interesting. I’d recommend watching the video before reading the rest of this article, as there are some spoilers ahead. Danielle from Anthony Cerniello on Vimeo. First, a little background. Last year, Cerniello went to his friend Danielle’s family reunion, and took photos of many of her extended family members. From there, he selected the photos of members who had the most…

Computing Software

Steve Ballmer to retire as Microsoft CEO

August 23, 2013September 11, 2013 Doug Groves Microsoft, retirement, steve ballmer, Windows7 Comments

After over a decade as Microsoft’s CEO, and 7 years Steve Ballmer has announced his retirement from Microsoft. He will step down within 12 months, as the search for a new CEO commences. It comes at an interesting time for the company, as Microsoft tries to position itself as a “Devices and Services” company moving forward, having announced a major restructuring plan earlier this year.

Computing Software video

How to uninstall McAfee – NSFW

June 19, 2013August 23, 2013 Doug Groves anti virus, how-not-to, humour, McAfee, video, YouTube1 Comment

If you’re easily offended by foul language, scantily clad women, smoking, drug use or the irresponsible use of firearms, you might not want to watch this video. If, however, you’ve been MORE offended by McAfee anti-virus software in the past, then you might be able to overlook those other things, as the creator of the McAfee software out Sheen’s Charlie himself in this (not so) informative video…

Microsoft announces phone support life cycles. Ill founded conclusions are made.

March 18, 2013 Doug Groves Microsoft, Windows Phone, WP7, wp816 Comments

A few days back, Microsoft posted the support lifecycle for their Windows Phone devices, both those running version 7.8, and newer devices running Windows Phone 8. If you’re familiar with lifecycle patterns at all, these numbers seem pretty reasonable. Windows Phone 7.8 will continue to be supported until September 9th, 2014. The newer WP8 actually ends earlier, in July of 2014. While no official announcement about an update to WP8 has been made, the chances are that there will be an update to those devices either later this year, or…

Computing Hardware Mobile

Configuring the Budweiser Red Light without a phone

February 20, 2013November 14, 2013 Doug Groves Android, Bluestacks, Bud Red Light, BudRedLight, Budweiser Red Light, hockey, iOS, Red Light, review61 Comments

Budweiser recently released the Red Light, a limited edition a wireless hockey goal light that’ll blast the horns and spin the lights when your favourite team(s) score a goal. It’s the perfect addition to any den or man cave inhabited by even casual hockey fans.

The Red Light has been such a hit for Bud that they’re now back ordered until May, and a brisk second hand market for them on Ebay with the kind of 200% to 300% markup you’d expect from a gizmo limited to Canada, leaving US hockey fans out in the cold. I was lucky enough to get one as an early birthday present from a friend…

but there was a caveat that came with it.

Arts Computing Music

World War Z trailer launches, unfortunately

November 9, 2012October 2, 2013 Doug Groves Damon Lindelof, magic garbage truck, magicgarbagetruck, Max Brooks, trailer, World War Z131 Comments

After moving back the release of World War Z from December to the summer of 2013, it’s not surprising that the trailer is getting a lot of buzz. Too bad that before the end of the first minute of the trailer, I already didn’t give a crap. The trailer opens with Brad Pitt and his family stuck in NYC gridlock. Every lane is packed with cars, and Brad Pitt gets out to see what’s going on. There’s an explosion far up ahead… so far so good. Something ominous, and unexplained fireworks in…

Arts Comics Computing Featured Zombies

The Practical Dead

November 1, 2012February 21, 2013 Doug Groves practical dead, The Practical Dead, web comic, webcomic, zombie, Zombies0 comment

This post is both a shameless self-promotion and an explanation of sorts. Over the past while, the site has been quieter than usual. While there’s still more to come from Fan Expo, and we’ll still be writing other pieces, a lot of time has gone into another endeavour – The Practical Dead. It’s a new web comic written and drawn by myself and RGB’s own Rebel Scum. What is The Practical Dead you ask?

Zombies

10th annual Toronto Zombie Walk on Oct 20th

October 18, 2012November 1, 2012 Doug Groves event, Toronto Zombie Walk, zombie walk, Zombies0 comment

Since its humble beginnings a decade ago, the Toronto Zombie Walk has grown to become a massive annual event, every year attracting thousands of the undead to the streets of Toronto. On Saturday October 20th, the dead will rise again. Here’s just a partial schedule as to what’s going down…

Arts Comics Featured Film TV video

Kill Shakespeare at Fan Expo 2012

October 4, 2012October 18, 2012 Doug Groves Anthony Del Sol, Conor McCreery, Diana McCallum, Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2012, interview, Kill Shakespeare, video0 comment

Diana McCallum joins the rgbFilter crew by taking up mic duties in our interview with Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Sol, the creators of the comic Kill Shakespeare.