The CRTC just created a legislative framework that allows ISP’s such as Bell and Rogers to continue to throttle Internet traffic – slowing down popular services such as bittorrent and video streaming. This comes one day before the United States is proposing real net neutrality rules, which will probably outlaw the practices at Bell and Rogers in the US.

I love living in a condo. It’s convenient, with great locations and lots to choose from in Toronto. However one of the largest drawbacks is not having your own garage. Now that winter is fast approaching, I have to look for a place to store my spare wheel and tire setup.

The Toronto Star ran a fantastic article that highlighted places that not only do winter changeovers, but also storage. In it was a unique service call Tire Butler who comes to do the changeover at your home. The pricing for Tire Butler is not exactly accurate in the Toronto Star article. It quotes $150 including pickup and delivery, however pickup and delivery is an additional $65. So this service is $215 per season.

The new network has been announced, and even the iPhone has been announced. But the full list of smartphones that Bell is selling to use on their fancy new HSDPA network has leaked out by Boy Genius Reports:

• LG Xenon: $89.95, $289.95
• Samsung Impact: $79.95, $279.95
• Samsung Omnia 2: $349.95, $549.95
• Apple iPhone 3G 8GB $399.95, $599.95 — probably $149 after in store rebates
• Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB: $499.95, $699.95 — probably $199 after in store rebates
• Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB: $599.95, $799.95 — probably $299 after in store rebates
• BlackBerry Bold 9000: $399.95, $599.95 — probably $149-$199 after in store rebates
• BlackBerry 9700: $399.95, $599.95 — probably $249 after in store rebates
• Nokia 2730: $29.95, $119.95
• Nokia 6350: $49.95, $249.95

Porsche released a new 911 Turbo this year, complete with a brand new engine (3.8L direct injection, variable vane turbo) and added dynamic enhancements (dynamic engine mounts, torque vectoring). Wolfgang Durheime of Porsche describes many of the new features below:

The new LCBO Vintages Release is here. These are the highlights taken from the full list:

• Fortress Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Lake County, California $20.00
• De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2006, Australia, $29.00 (375 mL)
• Poderi Colla Bussia Dardi Le Rose Barolo 2004, Piedmont, Italy $55.00
• Firriato Harmonium Nero D’Avola 2006, Sicily, Italy $39.00
• Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino 2004, Tuscany, Italy $45.00
• Luis Cañas Gran Reserva 2001, Spain $39.00

A lot of people pinged my Facebook when I mentioned I was buying from the US. With the Canadian dollar on a winning streak, it’s hard to ignore buying across the border.

TireRack is a well recognized size for US shoppers and they make buying in Canada very seamless. Their site quotes shipping to Canadian addresses as well as adding duty and brokerage fees already. The only thing you have to do is convert to CAD (which may even reach par soon).

Yes, it’s winter, so it’s time to shop for tires. Remember there are different types of winter tires: All-season winter tires, full winter tires and performance winter tires.

In Toronto I recommend full winter tires if you are a “must drive” type of person. Those that drive to work and drive every day will appreciate the traction on those stormy days. The top end tires in this category use multicell technology – a way of creating a tire that removes water from beneath the tire. I recommend Bridgestone WS-60 and Michelin X-Ice Xi2 and both use multicell compounds for the best traction on ice and packed snow. Tires without multicell technology are cheaper, but at a cost of ice traction – which probably is an OK sacrifice for Toronto.

Performance winter tires are better for occasional drivers and drivers that are willing to sacrifice some snow traction for some cold/dry performance. I bought one of the newest offerings in this category, the Bridgestone LM-60.

I don’t recommend any all season tires for winter in Toronto.

If you are interested in truck/SUV tires, see this article at Canadian Driver.

I picked this up from the Globe: The US Ambassador to Canada is a blogger. He fills his official blog with posts about his introduction to Canada and moving into his new home in Ottawa. While I’m sure it won’t contain anything controversial, it’s pretty cool to see some inner workings of diplomats.

I’m hoping he keeps up the blog, as sometimes blogs are started and abandoned fairly quickly.

I use a news aggregator to get my news, mostly from RSS feeds. I noticed that for the last day or so, the Toronto Star feed was stuck with old news. It wasn’t being updated.

It dawned on me that the Toronto Star just did a website redesign. Sure enough, they changed the RSS feeds and disabled some of the older ones without notice.

The new feeds are listed on their website.

The San Francisco Chronicle listed eight vacation destinations for foodies. Their list includes:

1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Bologna, Italy
3. Marrakech, Morocco
4. New Orleans, USA
5. Chengdu, China
6. Avignon, France
7. Bangkok, Thailand
8. New York City, USA

Read the full article for all the details.

Yes, Google Street View is here in Toronto. Yes, it’s a bit of a privacy concern, but it’s a lot of fun! If you see something funny, post it in the comments.