Techno Logic

Web community spins Protagonize
Expert lighting casts a glow on Ratatouille
Hot-weather high tech boosts outdoor fun
Pro gaming league takes off
Apple is here and the geeks are gobbling
Voodoo-powered Blackbird 002 PC is a gamer’s dream
Digital stars converge on Vancouver for festival
Leopard conquers Vista in the OS wars

Web community spins Protagonize's yarns

Nick Bouton's website doesn't just let readers decide what happens next in the Choose Your Own Adventure series of books; they write 'addventures', which can branch out from the plot at any point.

Expert lighting casts a glow on Ratatouille

Sharon Calahan, photography director of Pixar's Oscar-winning Ratatouille, explains how she used the power of darkness to capture the cobblestones and ratty places and bring to life a vision of Paris not often seen in animation.

Hot-weather high tech boosts outdoor fun

From UV monitors that stop you sizzling in the sun to USB beverage chillers that you can plug into your laptop at the beach, technology shouldn't just be kept in your basement anymore.

Pro gaming league takes off

The crowds cheer louder, the commentators are going crazy, and the players are shouting amongst themselves, trying to outsmart the other team. At first glance, you might swear you were at a Canucks game. “A great start for Team Classic: they have control of the two sniper rifles and they’re just no-scoping people in the middle of the map,” one of the commentators says.

Apple is here and the geeks are gobbling

Hundreds of rabid fans, some travelling for hours, made the pilgrimage to Apple Store number 212, which is now open for techno-gorging in Vancouver's Pacific Centre.

Voodoo-powered Blackbird 002 PC is a gamer’s dream

Hewlett-Packard’s slick, customizable Blackbird 002 offers serious video-game players premium performance at a premium price, and will make you the envy of your friends.

Digital stars converge on Vancouver for festival

Alternate-reality games will be one of the hot topics for discussion at this year's Vancouver International Digital Festival, running May 21-24.

Leopard conquers Vista in the OS wars

Where Leopard is a stable, usable operating system with a few bugs, for many Vista is a nearly unusable, unstable mess of an operating system with a few nice features.

Massive Technology Show gets down to business

Conceived as a place where small and medium-sized businesses can learn about technology solutions that can help them succeed, the first Massive Technology Show took place in 2005. That show, held in Vancouver, attracted about 2,000 people, and the event is now presented in Edmonton and Toronto as well. This year, the show was held at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre on April 1.

Hacking for fun and fortune

While sports fans across North America are busy obsessing about U.S. college basketball’s March Madness or the race to make the NHL playoffs, many in the computer industry are watching a competition in Vancouver.

Big Music is fighting a losing battle for rights

Both consumers and artists will benefit from the impending death of digital-rights-management efforts by the music industry.

It’s not all Rainbows for Radiohead fans

For all the hype around Radiohead’s decision to release its 2007 album In Rainbows as a pay-what-you-want download, the experiment wasn’t all that groundbreaking.

Blu-ray claims victory in high-def DVD wars

Blu-ray Disc is now your one and only choice because of Toshiba’s decision to discontinue the development, manufacturing, and marketing of HD DVD players and recorders.

At CBC Radio 3, podcasts reach global domination

Canadians can be found everywhere in the world. For many of them, the CBC Radio 3 Podcast is a lifeline to their home country and its unique musical culture.

Clone, clone on the range

Since many cloned farm animals are born with abnormalities, how safe is their meat and milk?