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To continue a week of absences, Wilson is on leave, so MTI once again picks up the mantle and joins us for today's episode. Dan the Mantern kindly filled in the board with stories about magical baked goods, lightbulb-powered Wi-Fi, 11 TRILLION dollar shots at evolution, and a bunch of '80s movies that should not, but will be, remade.

Wow, I can't believe it's been 201 episodes already, it seems like just yesterday that the guys invited me into the studio for my first guest appearance on the show, and now I'm a permanent host! To support our efforts to keep our heads barely above water, I'd like to personally invite you to join The 404 for drinks this Friday, October 10 at Gstaad Bar on West 26th St. and 6th Avenue @ 6:30PM. Jeff, Wilson, MTI, Natali, and I will all be there in the flesh to meet all four of you guys that listen to the show and live in New York. So come out, we'll buy you a drink (scratch that, reverse it) and we'll all have a great time. Don't forget, because we definitely won't if you miss it!

It smells funky in the studio today, and it isn't just Wilson eating ravioli for breakfast. John Funk of Winnipeg, Canada, one of our favorite 404 listeners, joins the show to talk about Frank's Red Hot, the Buzz Out Loud hijack and hockey. The eh's and aboots abound!

Dan the Mantern here. On today's show we discuss celebrity sex tapes. From Paris Hilton to Austin Powers star Verne Troyer, it seems like everyone who's anyone has made a naughty film. Apparently, a spyware program has been circulating a phony link to an NSFW video of Barack Obama. No offense, but does anyone really think that Obama would have a sex tape? I really pity the fool who clicks the link only to find their hard drive infected by a virus. Even if the video was real, do you really need to see that? We wonder if the world would be as keen to see a Sarah Palin video or, dare I say it, a John McCain sex tape. If there is a recording of McCain taking care of his "executive privileges," I'm sure it's on 8 millimeter and you'd need your own hand-cranked projector to view it.

While Rogers, Canada's largest wireless carrier, has made few friends with its iPhone 3G rate plans, it's not the only foreign carrier that will have to go it alone with iPhone sales on Friday.

The Internet was all atwitter Tuesday with reports that Apple had decided to pull iPhone 3Gs from its six Canadian retail stores for Friday's launch, apparently in protest over Rogers' decision to not offer its iPhone 3G customers an unlimited data plan. Appleinsider said that Apple made the decision in a Monday night conference call after it grew "disgusted" with the rate plans, … Read more

If you think AT&T's iPhone 3G service plans are expensive, just consider what Rogers is forcing on our Canadian friends.

Friday, the carrier announced its service plans for the iPhone 3G, none of which include unlimited data use. Instead, Rogers will cap data each month at a certain amount, which will range from 400MB for the cheapest service plan ($60 Canadian or $59.23 U.S.) to 2GB for the most expensive plan ($115 Canadian or $113.64 U.S.).

Though 2GB is a lot of data, we're not sure how a customer is supposed to … Read more

Google's popular free 411 service GOOG-411 (1-800-4664-411) is now available in Canada. The toll-free directory service that uses Google results to give people phone numbers and addresses of local businesses launched in the States back in April of last year. Since then it's added an SMS maps service that will send you a link to the WAP-friendly map. The computerized operator has also since been enhanced, and now has a voice closer to the all-seeing HAL 9000 seen in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 instead of the Microsoft Sam-like one from before.

With the updated version the real … Read more

Legislation introduced in Canadian Parliament on Thursday would fine consumers about $500 in Canadian dollars for owning bootleg copies of digital music and up to $20,000 for posting copyrighted music to the Internet or giving away an iPod with music on it.

The changes are designed to bring the country's Copyright Act into the digital age. As it is today, the law does not allow people to copy music onto devices such as MP3 players or computers, according to TheStar.com.

Under the new law, consumers could copy a book, newspaper, or photograph that was legally acquired but … Read more

Apple is offering a $45 credit to Canadian owners of older versions of its popular iPod, a move that strikes of deva ju over a similar settlement agreement reached in 2005 with U.S.-based iPod owners.

Under the proposed settlement, as reported in the Montreal-based Gazette newspaper, Apple Canada plans to offer a $45 credit to iPod owners who purchased their music players before June 24, 2005. The credit can be used at Apple's online retail store.

The settlement is over allegations that the iPod batteries failed after three hours in-between charges, compared with its advertised claims of … Read more

Virgin Mobile Canada knows how frustrated people can get with the lack of personalized service these days. Faster than Eliot Spitzer could say, "Um, oops," the company came out with a print ad that features the newly former New York governor, aka Client #9, musing as follows under a thought bubble: "I'm tired of being treated like a number..."

"At Virgin Mobile," the ad goes on to say, "you're more than just a number. When you call us we'll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you're #… Read more

Jason Collett seems to do no wrong. Not only is he a member of one of the breakout indie bands of 2004, Broken Social Scene, he also holds his own in the acoustic singer-songwriter camp, producing a fine collection of intimate, desolate acoustic songs. Some musicians make it seem so easy.

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