Rogers made some surprising announcements regarding the iPhone 4 today. The Canadian launch is tomorrow, July 30th.

First of all, they are prioritizing the phone to their existing customers.

…we’re making a commitment to allocate the majority of inventory we receive from Apple to existing customers wanting to upgrade to the iPhone 4.

In addition, if you purchased any iPhone from Rogers, they are giving you a discount – even if you bought a 3GS within the last year.

They are also offering a $20 option to share your iPhone wireless data with your iPad.

Finally, for new customers the iPhone 4 price is lower than last years iPhone 3Gs prices. Just $269 for the 32GB version on a 3 year contract. Still not as cheap as the USA price $299/2 year contract, but still better news that before.

If you’re looking for a new microwave, consider these recommended models:

• Kenmore 6633
• Sanyo EM-S6588S
• GE Profile JES2251sj
• Panasonic Inverter NN-T945

Every two weeks, the LCBO makes available some limited quantities of wine available by online purchase only. When the email comes out, you have to act fast because they tend to sell out within a few hours.

I tried it last month, by ordering a nice Chateau Cesseras Rouge 2006 online. It arrived at my closest LCBO in 10 days and was available for pickup. The wine turned out quite OK, although not one of the best $20 wines I’ve had.

Today, they feature the following wines.

LAURENZ V. CHARMING GRÜNER VELTLINER 2007

DR. HERMANN RIESLING AUSLESE 2007

CHÂTEAU MOULIN HAUT-LAROQUE 2004

PODERE IL CASTAGNO SYRAH 2007

QUINTA DO VALLADO TOURIGA NACIONAL 2007

If the links do not work, they have sold out of that wine. It’s a poor user experience, but I’ve learned that is what it means. As of the time of this posting, all the links were working and most had 60-100 bottles remaining.

Apple has announced the pricing for their iPhone 4 in Canada. The 16 GB model will be $659 and $779 for the 32 GB model.

Buying from Apple and paying the unsubsidized price has one advantage: the phone will be unlocked, and available for use with any GSM carrier, including Canada’s big 3: Telus, Rogers and Bell.

He ejects just in time. The pictures are shocking:

Ever heard of Woot!? The American site offers one limited quantity deal every day. Prices are usually pretty unbelievable – like discounts of 95%. Well RedFlagDeals just announce their own daily deal site and are bringing this action to Canada. I always thought RFD was the perfect fit to create a site like this. I guess the extra backing by the Yellow Pages has given them the opportunity.

A few people have asked me about where I go for wheels and tires in Toronto. Well my most recent experience is with ordering from the USA through Tire Rack. However for those wanting to have someone else do their installs, I highly recommend Simply Tire. They were able to replace one of my damaged rims quickly and professionally. I’ve sent two people to them since the weekend and both were happy.

You’ll find that Simply Tire participates in many car forums and have lots of fans. They run a large deal every winter for winter tires on RedFlagDeals.

Simply Tire
515 Champagne Drive
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 2C6

allen@simplytire.com
Tel: +1 416 916 9233

LIGHTS released a small album called LIGHTS. Acoustic. It features acoustic versions of five songs from her album. Unfortunately, her acoustic version of The Listening was not among them. Available on iTunes.

No details yet expect for this placeholder page on their .ca domain.

These pictures are from a Russian astronaut (cosmonaut?) show with a Nikon D3X.