Jim publishes TechnoFile Magazine. Jim is an affiliate with the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada and his careers have included journalist, technology retailer, video store pioneer, and syndicated columnist; he does a biweekly column on CBC Radio One's The Business Network.
Streaming media, whether via Netflix, YouTube or whatever, is the hot commodity in consumers' choices these days. And thanks to products such as Replay Capture Suite, you can exploit it yourself, over and over again.
Toyota's enhanced Highlander SUV is not only a really nice three row vehicle, it's also snagging honours including the prestigious "2024 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year" from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada.
What is it with the DC comics universe? What should arguably be a
comic franchise that's at least as compelling and fun as Marvel's seems
to have a real problem making compelling and fun movies based on their
comics. Meanwhile, Marvel has had a, well, Marvelous track record, at least
until Avengers End Game (to be honest, I haven't seen a Marvel film
since then).
Tires are a very competitive business, with an abundance of brands vying for your hard-earned dollars, so when you're introducing a new model, it helps if you can get as much attention as possible.
What happens when a government mandates things for drivers and carmakers, supposedly to help ensure our safety behind the wheels of our vehicles?
Well, sometimes it could be a good thing— the use of seat belts comes to mind, though I would argue that they shouldn't be mandated by law—but sometimes what I like to think of as "the law of unintended consequences" rears its ugly head.
I had a skydiving experience just after the new year's celebration, and I didn't even have to get in a plane to do it!
Nope, thanks to my dear wife (as opposed to the rest of them…), I
got a gift certificate to iFly, an indoor skydiving adventure thingy
that set up in my home town of Calgary a couple of years ago. It was an
intriguing notion, and one with which I've been very familiar for
decades, though I'd never tried it.
Two new Blu-ray titles may not have a lot of thrills and chills, but there's some creepiness coupled with laughs in the two-disc package.
Film Masters, to mark the 60th anniversary of Roger Corman's The Terror, has paired it with one his most famous other flicks, a horror comedy that also inspired a classic musical.
LG's new Gram line of laptop computers is very light, very easy on the eyes, and offers good battery life.
Laptop computers have certainly come a long way since the days of
Kaypro and Osborn, PC's that were slightly more portable than the
desktops of their time but still were a pain to pack around and had tiny
little monitors I remember squinting at back in the day. That may be
why I need reading glasses now!
Titanic at the box office, titanic in its scope and in the honours it has earned, James Cameron's epic tragedy comes to 4K disc looking absolutely magnificent.
I expected this, since the film looked great in every other video version since its original theatrical debut 25 years ago. It was a fantastic DVD, and an even better Blu-ray, but with this 4K with HDR disc – just in time for Christmas! –it almost seems as if I were watching it for the first time. And that's something, since I've seen this cinematic masterpiece enough times to practically know the lines word for word.
Do you look at your car purchase as a way to get from Point A to Point B? Do you look at it as a way to make money on your automotive investment? Or do you just want a vehicle that won't depreciate ridiculously the moment you drive it home?
A modern, well 1980's, take on Dickens' A Christmas Carol debuts on
4K disc this week, and it's a pretty good package of a pretty good
movie.
And in a different vein, I've been trying an interesting new gadget
that promises to help take the frustration out of finding the end on a
roll of tape.
If you only have time for one of these movies – or even if you do have time – don't waste it on Blue Beetle. Instead, why not strap yourself in for a much more rewarding ride in the home theatre by taking a look at Gran Turismo. It's well worth your attention.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning part 1 is a rollicking ride in the home theatre.
It's also very much like cotton candy – fun to consume but with
little nutritional value – not that that's necessarily a bad thing. And,
as is traditional in this series, it's a lot of fun to watch and full
of really nifty action, stunts, and locations.
Electric vehicles are supposedly languishing on dealers' lots, as the great unwashed masses apparently eschew electrified autos in favour of the evil gas-powered ones.
Why do you think this may be?
Well, according to a survey done for BrokerLink, a subsidiary of Intact Financial Corporation—which claims to be one of "Canada's largest property and casualty insurance brokerages”—it's because those great unwashed don't know what's good for them.
Paramount Pictures' latest kick at the Transformers cat, er can, is
more fun than I expected, and it's an interesting counterpoint to the
studio's other major release for this week: Rosemary's Baby.
As with Bumblebee
before it, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a throwback in time,
this time to the 1990's, before the Michael Bay-driven original set of
movies were supposed to have happened. This time, the Autobots are
tasked with saving the earth from some new threat that could wipe out
the entire planet, taking the hero Transformers out as well as the
human race these Autobots have yet to discover can be allies.
Not from his job, mind you (though I'm willing to bet he'd love that
as well!), but from his aging winter tires to a brand new – and
surprisingly affordable to these eyes – set of full winter tires from
Canadian Tire. The new rubber appears to be a sequel to an earlier
model because the folks at Canadian Tire have named them
"MotoMasterWinter Edge II" so I assume these are an upgrade to an
earlier version.
Well, they may not have been huge box office successes, though the supplements accompanying this two-disc Blu-ray set say the producer made his investment back multiple times over, but The Giant Gila Monster and The Killer Shrews are well worth your "guilty pleasure" time even though they have never gained the kind of adoration of such contemporaries as Forbidden Planet, or even Them!
Lexus' top-selling mid-size SUV has received a new set of clothes, a new engine, and new interfaces for its current generation. I only wish I could say they're all good things.
Paramount has released another round of popular titles to their growing library of 4K discs and, while they may not be the most spectacular examples of the 4K disc medium, they both shine on the ultra high-definition discs and are well worth seeing and/or owning.