Leave a comment Posted on January 5, 2016January 4, 2016 by Steve Murray Video Games

PSX is the Perfect Example of a Games Industry Showcase

It was around this time two years ago that I suggested that the games industry needed a second showcase event apart from E3 every June. Following another edition of The Game Awards that was more interested in the new trailers and game reveals than it was in celebrating the best in gaming during the unspecified nomination period. I was planning on leaving this alone because I don’t see The Game Awards ever being an awards show but rather being a product of hype.

Last month, I changed my mind. While it wasn’t the first time they did this, I realized that Sony might have inadvertently stumbled upon exactly what I was looking for with their second PlayStation Experience convention and industry show.

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Leave a comment Posted on January 3, 2016January 3, 2016 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Welcome to the New Year, Same as the Old Year

I was so busy working on the next episode of The Lowdown podcast that I nearly forgot to do the links. My target is getting the podcast up on Tuesday but I have nearly three hours of audio to comb through in putting this together so I think I’ll be cutting it close. It’ll come out this week for sure, though. The one thing I can tell from early edits is Jackie is louder than me so I’m going to have to turn up my mic for future podcasts.

Anyway, it’s the last Sunday of my Christmas break so I suppose that we should do some links. Since there was a Doctor Who Christmas special over the last couple of weeks, let’s kick things off with Jenna Coleman (who was not in said Christmas special nor even mentioned).

Nearly 1,000 Americans were fatally shot by police last year. One in ten were unarmed. (Washington Post)

Fact checkers are very busy with the current crop of political candidates but it doesn’t seem to be doing any good. (Politico)

You’ve heard the tale of Donald Trump but do you know about the tragic tale of Donald’s oldest brother, Freddy, who was largely cut out of the family? (New York Times)

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Leave a comment Posted on January 2, 2016January 2, 2016 by J Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Out with the Old…

Happy 2016! The new year is here! Plenty of things to look forward to this year include a whole bunch of film sequels on its way! Let’s kick off the first ELO of the year with Emily Bett Rickards! I am definitely excited for the return of Arrow later this month!

After the jump, a soft reboot for Prometheus, George Lucas does not have kind words for Disney, find out how much it costs to save Matt Damon at the movies, and Die Hard is the best Christmas movie ever! Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on January 1, 2016December 31, 2015 by Steve Murray Randominity

The Lowdown Annual: 2015

With another year having come and gone, I thought it was time to look back at the best of the past 12 months here on The Lowdown Blog. We integrated more video game and entertainment content. The Hottest Canadian bracket made a comeback this year. There were a few theme weeks and long-form content posted this year. No, this might not have been our most read year in the blog’s history but I’m quite happy with the content we’ve been putting out.

So let’s look back at the year with our most read posts from 2015 and the most read posts overall in 2015.

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Leave a comment Posted on December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 by Steve Murray Randominity

How to be a Google Pro (Infographic)

I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions but if I was to pick a specific point in time to say that I must endeavor to improve myself, I suppose that it would be when I change the calendar. One thing I do know about self-improvement is that my best friend is always going to be Google. If I’m ever going to get better at anything, the answers will be a quick Google away. That’s why I want to get better at Google. It’s the perfect plan.

To help us all get better at using Google, we have this handy little infographic for you.

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Leave a comment Posted on December 30, 2015December 30, 2015 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: The Other Eve Eve

I just realized that people are more than willing to call December 23rd “Christmas Eve Eve” but no one calls December 30th “New Year’s Eve Eve.” It doesn’t really make sense to call one date an “eve eve” but not the other. Hell, you even have to do last-minute shopping on both eve eves. Granted, one is for gifts and this one is solely to get you drunk. Priorities, right?

Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of 2015 which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Since it’s the last linkdump of the year, we have to lead off this post with our woman of the year. Using the scientific analysis criteria of the blog’s traffic, posts, comments and so on, for the second consecutive year, our woman of the year is Anna Kendrick.

Are those who want to limit free speech as a weapon to combat terrorism themselves a form of terrorist? It’s an interesting little debate. (The Intercept)

As we gear up for Presidential primaries starting next year, we witness the ongoing death of the Republican Party as a political group and the rise of an anti-establishment cultural movement in its stead. (Washington Post)

Why does everyone seem more scared of everything thing this year than last? Because the TV news is exploiting your fear for ratings. (Rolling Stone)

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Leave a comment Posted on December 29, 2015December 28, 2015 by Steve Murray Humour

Fails of the Year 2015

Usually, when we do our fails posts, it’s the best fails we’ve found from the last short stretch of time. This week, we have some compilations of the best fails from the past twelve months in the Fails of the Year.

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Leave a comment Posted on December 28, 2015December 28, 2015 by Steve Murray Entertainment

Worst of Music Retrospective: United States of Pop 2015

I don’t think that we’ve done a Worst of Music post since this time last year. It’s not that music has gotten any better. I’m just avoiding any of the hits stations as much as possible. If you go off the Billboard path, you can find some pretty good music. This year, I’ve discovered Deafheaven and Sleater Kinney so it’s not like music is all terrible. Just mostly terrible.

Since most of the internet has gone into year-in-review mode, I thought that we’d do our usual retrospective of the worst music of 2015. But why do I have to do anything when I can use DJ Earworm’s annual mashup of the top 50 pop hits of the year to recap the year in bad music. Apart from Adele. She’s alright.

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Leave a comment Posted on December 27, 2015December 26, 2015 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: When the Wallet Breaks

The timing of holidays can really mess you up if you aren’t keeping on top of your calendar. For example, it wasn’t until late last night that I realized that yesterday was Saturday. All I knew about yesterday was that I had some shopping that needed to be done since the best deals of the year were on Boxing Day. I bought more than I wanted to, saved more than I care to admit and still didn’t buy much in the way of impulse buy items (I really want one of those colour changing party speakers but can’t justify the price). I don’t think anyone is looking forward to their credit card bills in January.

Anyway, since it’s apparently Sunday, we have to do the links and hopefully make me a penny or two towards my Christmas bills. Let’s kick things off with Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach.

Ted Cruz was right about something. The more ex-felons are Democrats than Republicans. The problem is that’s not what he said. To say that most violent criminals are Democrats isn’t exactly true nor does it deviate from the general population. (Washington Post)

Anonymous’ cyberwar on ISIS has now turned the focus to its allies. They recently took down the internet in Turkey for their support of ISIS. (The Hill)

Internet freedom in America is dying. This isn’t just about CISA being included in the recently passed omnibus budget. (Motherboard)

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