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In a stunning repudiation of a United Nations summit, an alliance of Western democracies including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada today rejected a proposed treaty over concerns it hands repressive governments too much authority over the Internet.

"This conference was never meant to focus on Internet issues," said ambassador Terry Kramer, head of the U.S. delegation to the Dubai summit. "The Internet has given the world unimaginable economic and social benefit during these past 24 years -- all without U.N. regulation."

Delegates from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, the Philippines, … Read more

While Americans are all trying to blow out their electrical circuits with insane light displays, Canadians are busy creating elaborate edible gingerbread structures. A gingerbread "Star Wars" Millennium Falcon is blowing away the competition in Canada's National Gingerbread Showcase 2012.

The insanely elaborate creation comes from the Canoe Brewpub in Victoria, B.C. The spaceship appears to have landed on Hoth, judging by the presence of tons of shredded coconut snow and a Wampa. Chewbecca also lounges near the ship. … Read more

Her majesty looks fantastic in plastic.

A polymer portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is in many Canadian wallets now that a new $20 bill packed with anti-forgery tech is in circulation.

The plastic note follows the circulation of new plastic $100 and $50 bills, but since it changes hands with greater frequently, more Canadians are taking notice.

Reactions to have been mixed. Some say the bills tend to stick together in stacks and ATMs, others have praised their security features, and some say they look like play money.

Apart from Braille-like raised dots for visually impaired users, the twenty's … Read more

We've seen several designs for military exoskeletons that can boost soldier strength, but these leg braces from Canada's Bionic Power generate electricity on the go.

The PowerWalk system looks like an athletic knee brace and weighs about 1.7 pounds. The braces generate about 12 watts of electricity when the user walks at a normal pace; an hour's walk can apparently produce enough juice to recharge four cell phones.

That's especially handy for soldiers who have to carry up to 28 pounds of batteries on a 72-hour mission to power everything from flashlights to night vision goggles, according to Bionic Power. … Read more

Square, a red-hot mobile payments service that allows nearly anyone to accept credit cards, is now available in Canada.

The service works on iPhone or iPad and Android devices, and aims to upend the traditional credit card system -- which has usually required a merchant account -- by charging a flat 2.75 percent fee and letting users take Visa or MasterCard with a dongle that attaches to their mobile devices.

The San Francisco company is building a roster of merchants that accept its service, with Starbucks joining forces next month. That should get Square in front of a very … Read more

Not content with a robot arm and a handyman on the International Space Station, ever-aggressive Canada is aiming for a bigger slice of the space pie with some new rover prototypes.

The Canadian Space Agency recently showed off the fleet of vehicles designed to inspire machines that will explore the moon and Mars.

They include mini-rovers that can act as scouts, as well as larger vehicles that could do double-duty as astronaut transporters. NASA is hoping to work with some of the vehicles, but the earliest that they would be aboard a mission to Mars or the moon would be 2020. … Read more

Popular music-streaming service Spotify is expanding to Canada, a new report claims.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that it has obtained a filing made by Spotify Technologies, the music service's holding company, claiming that it will launch its service to Canada. In addition, the company says that it will expand into "countries in Asia and South America."

According to the Journal, Spotify filed its plans in a management note in April. That note became public this month.

Spotify made its name in Europe, offering a streaming-music service that customers in the U.S. were dying … Read more

Starbucks is expanding its Android mobile app access to the United Kingdom and Canada, the company announced today.

The app allows customers to pay with their phones, locate stores and check their reward points, just like the original app. Additionally, it has some new features, including a widget, the ability to use PayPal (in addition to any major credit card) to reload your card, pin code protection and a rewards history dashboard to see how many points you've earned. U.S customers can also access the features with an app upgrade.

"The expansion of our mobile payment footprint … Read more

There's about to be a whole lot more Angry Birds played at the Opus hotel in Vancouver.

The hotel is in the process of swapping out its hotel room phones for iPhones, USA Today reported today.

The hotel hopes that its guests, particularly the ones from the U.S., will know how to use them and enjoy using a Canadian phone that won't stick them with international roaming fees. This means guests will be able to take the iPhone from their rooms and use it as they would their own while they're guests of the hotel.

It … Read more