Tech Blog

While visiting Disney Interactive Studios to check out Toy Story 3, I also had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with Wideload Games' latest creation, Disney Guilty Party. If I had to take a guess on what the next offering would be from the studio that brought us the brain-eating Stubbs the Zombie and the animal kingdom political party game Hail to the Chimp, a Scooby-doo meets Zack and Wiki whodunit mystery party game would not have been on my list. An odd combination sure, but the result was an entertaining, clever and addictive family-fun game that's sure to delight fans of classic board games such as Guess Who or Clue. Read more...

So now you've learned the basics of the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta and you're ready to dive in. In this walkthrough I'll be showing you game controls, what Armor Abilities, Take Downs, and Loadouts are, explaining how matchmaking works, as well as an overview of the new game modes and maps found in the beta. Read more...

The wait is finally over. Earlier this week Bungie officially rolled out the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta and to help you navigate the largest console beta ever, I've assembled a handy guide of what you need to know. Read more...

This weekend is the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, and although that doesn't seem like it's got a lot to offer a tech blog, it does, because not only will there be a very full-featured webcomics pavillion (come on, you're using the internet, you've got to love webcomics) Toronto's own Hand Eye Society will be there demonstrating their wares. Read more...

The Expo hall at GDC Canada isn't stacked to the brim with developers, but those who are there are making the games we love to play. GDC is a chance for developers to reach out to one another, to middleware providers, and to potential publishers and employees. Read more...

Time for a little news about SanDisk's new 32GB microSD card. Expected in stores later this year. Read more...

If you hate your cell phone contract and desperately want out without having to splurge the outrageous fees carriers slap you with, then you may want to read on. So long as a carrier gets the full term of a contract, they could care less how many people end up picking it up. The good news is you have a way out of an unhappy relationship, and it can all be done with some clever online moves and a phone call. Read more...

It's been a about a month since Apple launched their fancy little device known as the iPad south of the border. Not only that, the company released a second version, the 3G, last week in the States without making any acknowledgement about international release. Well that changed this morning. Read more...

Olympus seems to be listening. They were pretty quick to upgrade the firmware to address the autofocus speed issue and improve the usability of the electronic viewfinder. Way to go! So, here is my input on how to make the E-P2 (or E-P3 for that matter) an even better camera. Are you taking notes, Olympus? Read more...

As much as I like the image quality and shooting still images with the E-P2, I almost like the video functionality and quality better. Having previously reviewed the Nikon D300s and Pentax K-x, both which shoot video, I have not been a big fan of DSLR video. Main reason: focusing is simply too slooooww. Not so with the E-P2. Read more...

In a couple of previous posts I have touted this new camera class. Showing just how new the class is, the industry has not yet come to an agreement on a name for this class. So far EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) and MILC (Mirror-less Interchangeable Lens Camera) are amongst the candidates. Put together they essentially sum up what the camera class is: no mirrors (unlike a DSLR), often an electronic viewfinder (but not always, as opposed to the DSLR's optical viewfinder) and the lenses are interchangeable (unlike regular point & shoots, but like a DSLR). Read more...

Sorry, if you already are humming along to "Step by Step" and scanning the page for images of Donnie Wahlberg, you are in for a bit of a letdown. 90s pop music aside, the Olympus E-P2 is the New Kid on the Block in the world of photography representing a brand new, very exciting camera class. So what exactly is this New Kid? Read more...

... discover who won the goody bag full of amazing gaming gifts from Future Shop. Read more...

In the first 28 days the iPad was available over 1,000,000 units were sold. Yes, that's million. That's enough that one in 300 Americans would have one. The iPad hit this mark 2.5 times faster than the iPhone. Beyond these great marketing numbers, something interesting, and not entirely unexpected, happened: netbook sales tanked. Read more...

I caught a few clips of VGL in action – check out the smattering of videos of last night’s music that kept the Canadian Videogame Awards' audience moving. Read more...

As you may have heard from our good friends at Twitter, fellow Tech Blogger Graham Williams and I had the pleasure of attending the first annual Canadian Videogame Awards (CVAs)... Read more...

If you've been following my recent flickr image posts, you'll know that I'm not freezing and enduring the spring snow that's hit the Alberta prairies. Rather, I'm basking and baking in the sunny tropical paradise that is Maui, Hawaii. Read more...

In which I discuss the new Iron Man film, Icelandic volcanos, and my pants. Read more...

I’ll be at Canada’s hottest videogame event tonight, attending the Canadian Videogame Awards. The best and brightest in Canada’s fastest growing entertainment sector will be in the audience and up for awards to recognize the Herculean efforts they made in 2009. We'll be live blogging (assuming the Lords of the Internet allow it) so join us! Read more...

I don’t know about you but that hand ball by Thierry Henry that sealed Ireland’s fate and put the French through to this year’s World Cup made me a little sick. Hence, why it was the first scenario I played when I cracked open FIFA World Cup 2010 on my PS3. Picking up right after the controversial play, I had about 16 minutes to win the game and change history. Read more...

Going on any trip or excursion that includes dipping yourself into a body of water can be a lot more interesting when you have gadgets that brave Mother Nature’s power. Now that waterproof digital cameras and pocket video cams are becoming more common and getting cheaper, they might be worth looking into as everyday cameras, too. Read more...

If you've recently purchased a so called 'mobile hotspot' by Bell or Virgin Mobile listen up. The wireless carriers want you to stop using them immediately. The device known as the Novatel 2372 MiFi is having an issue with an overheating battery and needs to have a part swapped out. Read more...

Hmm, that headline there was supposed to make you think of that bit in 300 where Gerard Butler shouts... well, look, you know what he shouts, to spell it out would just be embarrassing. So I'll just pretend that it definitely worked and that referencing Gerard Butler and 300 isn't incredibly dated... or honestly, kind of lame when you're talking about a new instalment in the God of War franchise. Read more...

When we bought my mom a new TV for her birthday this year it added another new remote to a stable of "clickers" she would fumble through to watch TV, enjoy a DVD, or change the channel on her satellite receiver. The Harmony 300 was my early Mother's Day gift to her, and it's a great choice for every mom out there. Read more...

As I found out recently, depending what you're doing with your iPhone or iPod Touch, the battery life can be adequate or very short lived. But then, I found a way to easily recharge the battery... Read more...

The Canadian Video Game Awards (CVAs) are set to kick-off their inaugural ceremony honouring the very best and brightest in Canadian games, computer animation and visual effects this Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Read more...

Here's one that's intriguing and interesting for two different reasons. How would you like to be able to see incoming emails on your car's display screen? No more fumbling for your smartphone when you really should be focusing on the road. Well, BMW and BlackBerry are looking to help you out with this. Read more...

Kids love taking pictures. I remember borrowing my grandmother's Polaroid One Step at her birthday party and taking lots of pictures. I took a lot of pictures. Which would have been okay except that those 10 exposure packs were pretty expensive back then in the 70s. So you might wonder when I got my first camera of my own. Later that year in fact; I was nine. Read more...

Blizzard Entertainment Inc. has announced that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is coming to the PC platform on July 27, 2010 in regions all over the world. Read more...

If you're one of the few who doesn't already have a Wii (what's wrong with you!?) or you're looking for a second Wii, you're about to have more choice in colour, and you'll find a bonus in the box! Read more...

Valve is a really interesting video game developer and digital content distributor to report on. As Mathew pointed out in his write-up on Valve's Portal 2 announcement, the company has a distinct, nonconforming way with dealing with media. Quite often they provide next to no information in their press releases and they get right to the message. Case in point: on Thursday I received a media bulletin from Valve that simply read: Read more...

In a move that signals a new chapter in the history of Bungie, developer of the iconic Halo video game franchise, on April 29, 2010 the company announced that an "exclusive 10-year publishing partnership" with Activision has been forged that will see their next big action game universe land on multiple platforms and gaming devices. Read more...

PC gaming has hit hard times. Let's face it, it costs a lot of money to game on your PC. You need a decent processor, and you have to constantly upgrade your graphics cards which can cost a lot of money. You also can't play many of the titles that are available on the home game consoles on your home computer. Although this can (and I'm sure will be argued by hardcore PC gamers) it's just easier to purchase a console and game in the comfort of your living room. But two companies are trying to change that, and lure you back to your PC. Read more...