Microsoft has agreed to buy 1.6% of Facebook for $240,000,000, giving the social networking site a valuation of around $15 billion. The deal is good for both parties, with Bill Gates finally hanging out with the cool kids, and 23-year-old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg getting to throw an awesome kegger. John Tory has officially backed away from the faith-based schools funding issue that may have cost him the provincial election. Seems kind of silly......

That guy in North York who accidentally let loose his pet giant cobra into the ducts of his semi-detached house pled guilty to mischief yesterday. He also had a poisonous viper in his bedroom and a second cobra that he accidentally left at work. How the hell do you accidentally leave a poisonous snake at work? No, seriously, how do you do that? What major malfunction do you have to have to forget about......

Howard Moscoe to jerks: "Hey, stop abusing disabled parking permits!" Bill Gates and Stephen Harper have pledged millions of moolah to the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative. Polls suggest the Conservatives have taken the lead in public popularity, but Harper claims he's in no rush for an election. Today in City Hall: a $6.2 million renovation is rejected and nobody wants to sit nicely for the class photo. Fiddler extraordinaire and Toronto resident Ashley MacIsaac......

You'd never notice from its squat, generic appearance, but just north of Eglinton on Leslie Street sits the headquarters of one of the world's most luxurious hotel chains. Started in 1960 by Ryerson architecture grad Isadore "Issy" Sharp, Four Seasons Hotels now operates 73 hotels in 31 countries. With more than 25 other properties currently being developed, the Toronto-based chain has attracted the eye of two of the world's richest men. This week, the......

You can play for Toronto FC next year. They are holding open tryouts at the end of December as long as you're willing to pony up $115. And if you don't make it, you also get a T-shirt and two free tickets to a game in their first season. "I'm sorry," apologized Jim Flaherty with nice, cheap words yesterday. He was apologizing to the Canadians who collectively lost $25 billion when he announced the surprise......

The opening gala for the XVI International AIDS Conference was held Sunday night at the Rogers Centre. Along with the abundance of entertainment, many sobering speeches were made about just how serious this pandemic is (45 million infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide) and what needs to be done to fight this battle. Keynote speeches were given by Bill & Melinda Gates, whose message -- in simplified terms -- was that women need to be empowered......

San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing. Getting on the wrong train sucks. Getting on the wrong train and becoming the victim of what will later be described as a "stabbing spree" really sucks.......

Phillyist notes a fistfight between local pols that leaves one man down for the count. Jehovah's Witnesses get a Philly contributor out of bed, things get a little geeky with a film festival and geeky gets taken to a whole new galaxy when they talk with the Dragon Queen of the Dark Kingdom. Shanghaist gets all excited this week over a new nightclub in the city unfortunately named "Snatch" and Mike Tyson is scheduled to......

Tall Poppy Interview - Cecil Castellucci, Writer...

For Torontoist's second JT reference of the day, we'd like to report that Britney's ex is lovin’ the Halo X-Box game so much that he specially built a Halo-themed theatre in his basement. Julia Roberts, Bill Gates, and metal-dorks Linkin Park are also said to be intense Halo gamers. But if they all are such big fans, where were they for the midnight Halo 2 release party in Toronto? Fans of the game snatched up......