canada

If Netflix enjoys success with its new streaming service in Canada, it could expand further internationally, company CEO Reed Hastings said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

"For now, we're focused on Canada," Hastings said in an interview published today. "If we succeed in Canada, we will certainly look at other markets."

Canada is Netflix's first foray outside the United States. Exactly where Netflix could go in the future is up in the air, Hastings said. But he told The Hollywood Reporter that "Western Europe, Latin America, Asia, or Russia" … Read more

Netflix was accused of trying to pump up the excitement around the launch of its new Web video service in Canada today.

During a scheduled press event in Toronto, members of Canada's media said they noticed that some of the responses from people in attendance sounded like "canned responses," according to the Web site of Canadian news service The Financial Post. Reporters began to grow suspicious.

They were right. Some of the people who attended the event were actors paid by Netflix, but according to Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey, the actors weren't paid to attend the … Read more

Despite being an excellent location for bachelor parties, Canada is apparently a laggard when it comes to country-wide tech proficiency. Case in point: it just got Netflix. Our northern neighbors can now sign up for Netflix's streaming service for as little as $7.99 per month, which includes feature films from major film studios like MGM, Paramount, Universal, Sony, and more.

We applaud Canada for joining the streaming game, but the news has a catch: although they can access the content online through a computer, a Blu-ray player, and the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, Canadians still can't sign up for Netflix movie deliveries--it's just streaming, for now. However, they can get the first month free if they sign up now.

Two strange announcements from the world of video games: first, Christopher Nolan revealed that a video game based on "Inception" is in the works. That's all we know for now, but we're looking forward to zero gravity fight sequences...as long as game play isn't as difficult to follow as the film!

Next, the King of Pop is getting his own online game called Planet Michael. The game will be a massively multiplayer online role-playing game like WAR or Guild Wars 2 and will take players through multiple realms, each based on one of Jackson's famous albums.

Even better, Los Angeles-based SEE Virtual Worlds is offering the 3D game for free when it comes out in late 2011.

You still have time to win a pair of tickets to see "The Social Network" with The 404 next Tuesday, September 28. To enter, simply follow us @The404 and RETWEET THIS.

Yes, all you have to do is hit that "Retweet" button OR become a fan of The 404 Facebook Fan Page and you'll be automatically entered to twin. If you're a fan of us on Facebook already, you're already grandfathered in, so good luck!

Netflix has crossed the U.S. border for the first time.

Canadians can now sign up for Netflix's streaming service at $7.99 per month. The service, which was announced in July, provides content from the major film studios, including MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, and Universal Pictures. The rental firm has also partnered with Lionsgate and several Canadian film distributors.

The service will also include television shows, including "Mad Men," "Rescue Me," and "Leverage." Netflix didn't provide an exact figure, saying only that "thousands of movies … Read more

NIAGARA FALLS, Canada--At one time, it was the largest producer of hydroelectric power on the planet. That was in 1961. Today, it is still New York State's preeminent hydropower facility, and it shares some of the glory of one of the most awesome spectacles in the world.

This is, of course, the Niagara Power Project, a hydropower producer capable of lighting 24 million 100-watt bulbs at once--2.4 million kilowatts. A ways downriver from the world famous Niagara Falls--Horseshoe Falls and American Falls--this giant project is still worth celebrating today, especially in light of the fact that people are … Read more

It's another Monday on BOL, which means breaking news interjections, stumbling analysis, and hilarious Brian Tong jokes that go RIGHT over Molly's head. Turns out you can not actually search for girlfriends on Facebook using the search term, "hot girls." Unless, of course, they self-identify. Plus, a pain ray update!

A Toronto-based law firm with a history of targeting litigation at corporations as varied as chocolate companies and silicone breast implant manufacturers has a new company in the crosshairs: Facebook.

Merchant Law Group, which has offices in 10 Canadian cities, last week launched litigation seeking class action status against the massive social-networking site, alleging the mishandling of sensitive user data--the latest development in a resurgence of action against the social network's privacy policies, after it looked for a while as if all the fuss had calmed down.

The suit alleges that Facebook changed user privacy settings and its terms … Read more

After the shortest time on market ever, the Microsoft Kin has been unceremoniously yanked from market. Which, I guess, you could see as swift and decisive action on Microsoft's part, rather than a total failure of the company's mixed-up mobile strategy. Or both. Also, Apple lawsuits, Google's uncertain future in China, and the Woot monkey finds a new home at Amazon.

Canada will phase out older coal-fired power plants to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said on Wednesday, as it moves to make natural-gas-fired plants the new clean-power standard.

The new standards, expected to be firmed up by early 2011, will force electricity producers to phase out older, high-emitting coal-fired plants and require newer facilities to match the lower greenhouse-gas emissions of more efficient natural-gas fired plants.

Canada has 51 coal-fired units producing 19 percent of the country's electricity and 13 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions. However, 33 of those plants will reach … Read more