Photo by jpghouse. The incentive to spend money is enormous: there’s always a bigger latte, a newer iPod, and a better apartment waiting around the corner. Saving money is laborious and—let’s face it—boring. Unfortunately, easy access to credit and rising property values have turned the West into a population of grasshoppers, just starting to get a taste of the financial winter coming. Although the new federal budget has underwhelmed, the government has provided an......

Many years ago, the TTC launched the smart "Ride The Rocket" ad campaign, of which only the slogan and typewriter-like font still exist. The fast-paced and effective television commercials featured a quirky spokesperson chattering rapidly into a wide-angle lens about the pros of public transit, and the slick spots made the Commission look modern, exciting, and cool. To a tourist or GTA resident, the subway looked like the backbone of any big city experience.......

There was a time in this fair city when home theatres did not run When the grand majestic steeples stood alone against the sun Long before the iPod and long before the radio When the brown dark piano entertained homes in Toronto (with apologies to Gordon Lightfoot) Founded in 1888, Whaley, Royce & Co. quickly billed itself as "Canada's Greatest Music House." Initially manufacturing a wide range of instruments, the company focused on brass......

The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is usually a repository of "the urban equivalent of messages in a bottle." It’s home to those wishing for a second chance at a serendipitous encounter and to cute, shy-person flirting, as nameless, faceless people share their private emotions in a very public way. The messages usually affirm that no matter how much coldness there seems to be at street level, there’s just as much hope and optimism......

Canadian DMCA to be introduced to Parliament today? That's what a lot of sources are saying, and the bill will likely be an abomination, essentially outlawing, among other things, freeware hacks for the iPod, automatic intellectual property rights for research purposes, making copies for your own personal use, and the above image. Al Gore rips into John Baird at the Bali conference. So, with two of the most pressing legal issues of the new......

Few companies inspire the kind of product lust that Apple does, and it's no secret that Mac users can be somewhat evangelical about the company from Cupertino. To many Apple fans in Canada, it's sheer torture that TV shows and movies aren't yet available in the Canadian iTunes Music Store, or that the iPhone is taking so damn long to cross the border. In the United States, the iPhone has been the must-have tech......

In our opinion, the time-travel short Hirsute was one of the strongest of the festival, particularly if we discount the almost unfairly good Madame Tutli-Putli. We recently talked with writer and director A.J. Bond (pictured above on the left and right) about the creation of the short, his inspirations, and the “Many Martys” theory. Today’s Interview: A.J. Bond, writer/director of Hirsute Torontoist: So the burning question is: given the option, would you go back......

The funny-looking "keg" antennas have been appearing atop street lamps around the city since last year, and it looks like One Zone, Toronto Hydro's plan to blanket the city with wireless internet, is bearing fruit. According to the Globe, the City-owned utility says that the network is already a resounding success—a significant achievement since similar installations in major U.S. cities are failing. The reason for this is based on how the network was implemented:......

Today Apple offered us a refresh of their entire iPod line, making us want to blindly toss our money at the company once again. One Torontonian, however, is getting some coin thrown her way—big time. Indie darling Leslie Feist has found her track "1234" at the core of the new worldwide iPod nano television spot. Even better, Apple is touting the device's new ability to play video, and prominently features the "1234" clip, directed......

When Torontoist was a wee tyke, we used to hate gym class. It made us feel flabby, unloved, and a little tired. Recess, on the other hand, was the greatest thing ever—every day! The jungle gym! Tag! Imaginary battles! Recess had it all. As we’ve gotten older and indulge ourselves in eating street meat and the like, we are slowly beginning to realize that perhaps we should have paid a little bit more attention......

"Honest Ed" Mirvish dies at 92. As the man himself would say: He may be gone, but his bargains sure aren't. Torontoist's obituary for him can be found here. Details on the funeral are here. Toronto police board still making up its mind about whether or not to approve Tasers. Insert bad joke about "shocking" here if you want to pretend that you are actually listening to Humble and Fred rather than reading Torontoist. New......

For his entry to Touch Up Toronto, Alden R. Cudanin sent us this photo of the south side of College just east of Bathurst from about 1920, doctored to include the now-ubiquitous iPod ads. Of course, back then, in addition to billboard advertising, Apple also targeted the ever-growing praxinoscope-owning demographic, their ads featuring shadowed men and women dancing the Charleston to the latest Gershwin (or, occasionally, Daft Punk) joint. Original photo from the City......

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve! This photo reminds us of some ultra-realistic version of arcade hit "Breakout," which we can occasionally be found playing on our iPod on the streetcar. At first, we weren't sure exactly how we felt about this rather graphic image......

Try as you might, you can't look anywhere in our city without seeing some sort of ad for Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista. Alongside an unusually aggressive advertising campaign through more traditional methods, the company also went all out and paid for an elaborate ice house in Dundas Square. As the corporation should have expected, the backlash towards the over-the-top promotion began almost right away: there were the obvious jokes about "freezing"; impromptu......

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved the opportunity to gossip......

To some people, Groundhog Day is a silly little day where some rodent-like critter gets 15 seconds in the news cycle to flip a coin and tell us if there's going to be a short summer or not. Or for some, it could be all about the 1993 classic starring Bill Murray about a crazy day that repeats itself over and over and over again. But to Fort York, Groundhog Day is going to......

Apple unveils the iPhone. Entire bunches of interwebs go nuts over possibilities created by what is, when you get right down to it, just another fancy cellphone. Seriously, this isn't the iPod. This isn't a new class of product. This is at best a slight improvement on existing things to which we already had access. The iPhone will not do your hair, manage your diet or make you generally sexier. (Okay, it might make......

Former U.S. President Gerald Ford dead at 93. Not really much to say here: he was by all accounts an extremely decent man who served honorably. (Unless you are of the belief that all politicians are by their very nature forked-tongue devils, which is not the most uncommon belief out there.) I suppose Chevy Chase has one less go-to joke in his arsenal, though, which makes this an extremely sad day for Chevy Chase.......

Everything you ever wanted to know about the new Quebecois nation but were too afraid to ask, courtesy of Metafilter. But more importantly, Snoop Dog was arrested after a performance on Leno. Everyone who is surprised, raise your hand. What, no one? Royal LePage Realty is listing a house in East York for the grand total of $1, something we thought was just a trick used by eBay sheisters trying to unload wholesale iPod cases.......

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but sometimes remaking other people's songs brings a whole new level of originality. New performers are well-advised to have a signature cover tune to help attract fans familiar with the original, and artists like Tori Amos and Barenaked Ladies have made cover songs a staple of their shows. The Beatles, Dylan and The Rolling Stones are among the most-covered artists, and there are more than 3,000......

If you’re hiking, consider charging up your iPod, as Seattlest finds out that a man lost during a hike was found by the glow of his iPod. That cleverness seems to be devoid in cops who were using police cruiser instant messaging clients - although we imagine IMs “so are you nakie” to be included in cop shows, just for realism. If only the cops were busting the Hummer-driving jerk who made a poor......

Years and years into the ridiculously on-going debate over the legalities and moral issues surrounding mp3s, an anniversary is taking place this week: the iPod turns five. While the Walkman had two types of users- those who sought "escape" and those who sought "enhancement"- iPod users have been seen to use the mp3-player for both needs, concurrently. (Ain't that the truth, Toronto?) But Slate Magazine isn't convinced that Apple's gizmo is all that revolutionary.......

Before embarking on your Nuit Blanche evening, take a few minutes to load up your iPod. Artist Lewis Kaye has put together a series of MP3s intended to act as your audio companion for the night. Each track is tailored to a specific Nuit Blanche event. Download the audio files here. Here are our five "must see" events from Nuit Blanche's Zone C. This area runs in a line along Queen West West, between Trinity-Bellwoods......

Before embarking on your Nuit Blanche evening, take a few minutes to load up your iPod. Artist Lewis Kaye has put together a series of MP3s intended to act as your audio companion for the night. Each track is tailored to a specific Nuit Blanche event. Download the audio files here. In the second of this series, we've picked another five "must see" events -- this time from Nuit Blanche's Zone B. All these activities......

Before embarking on your Nuit Blanche evening, take a few minutes to load up your iPod. Artist Lewis Kaye has put together a series of MP3s intended to act as your audio companion for the night. Each track is tailored to a specific Nuit Blanche event. Download the audio files here. Below, we've picked five "must see" events from Nuit Blanche's Zone A -- art events happening in and around Yorkville. All of the events......

The weeks starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. Houstonist is there to start compiling the punditry when when the guilty, guilty Enron verdict comes down. This guy seems to be able......

By now, most everyone in the city knows of the single most unfortunate event in Toronto this year: On Boxing Day, while shopping, 15-year-old Jane Creba was killed by errant gunfire. Six other innocent bystanders were also wounded. Just as any other human being in this city - or rather anyone else privy to this story - we feel deeply affected by this. And, as it should go without saying, our utmost sympathies to any......

With SH, it's one present after another. Here's what the big guy has passed down over the past two weeks: - Minimum sentences for drug offenders. (Obviously targeting Andre Boisclair here.) - Eliminating conditional sentences, or house arrest, for all indictable drug offences. - A promise NOT to decriminalize marijuana. - Shut down safe-injection sites in Vancouver. - Reduce wait lists for cancer treatment, diagnostic testing and other health care treatment, with or without......

So you're not TIFFing towards ecstasy, making like conspicuously consuming celebs on Bloor's Mink Mile who spend small fortunes in order to drown out the loneliness of the red carpet (boo hoo). The weekend's stuffed with fashiony goodness that's kinder to the civilian pocketbook, and much more satisfying. Today: Susan Harris Design, queen of urbane recycled clothing, is having an open house at her studio today, and inviting other designer to present their wares: jewellery......

Following one of those 'lower court rulings,' Apple has agreed to give consumers back the levy charged for I-Pod players bought in 2004. Good. That surcharge was redonk. If we are to believe Apple, they are inclined to agree since they are pleased to offer the money back. But one mystery still remains, citizens of Torontoistville: Now that we're through the legal wax, how do we claim our cheddar?......