Blog Posts by Tori Floyd

After being on KickStarter for only one day, the 3Doodler 3D printing pen has smashed through its funding goal of $30,000, raising over $710,000 at the time of writing.

What likely attracted the attention of over 8,000 backers (and counting) is the affordability of this 3D printing technology. It’s not going to let you print out a house or a case for your phone, but it also won’t run you thousands of dollars like a traditional 3D printer will. You can get a full 3Doodler pen and two bags of mixed colour plastic for a pledge of only $75 on the KickStarter campaign.

Instead of drawing with ink, the 3Doodler uses ABS plastic, the same material used in many other 3D printers. It extrudes the heated plastic and it quickly cools, solidifying and keeping the shape you drew in three-dimensional space. Once you’re finished, you’ve got a 3D plastic model that you just drew out of thin air.

You can hear the pitch and, more importantly, watch the pen in action here:

If you’re quick, you can

While the CRTC is in the process of conducting hearings on the wireless code in Canada, some provinces have taken wireless regulation into their own hands.Cell phone contracts seem to be one of the biggest technological gripes Canadians have, no matter where in the country you are. With less aggressive competition than in the United States and the CRTC apparently slow to react to the changing nature of the market, we’re often saddled with expensive penalties for roaming, leaving contracts, or just about anything else wireless companies think they can make a buck on.

But that seems to be changing, at least if recent laws being passed by provinces are any indication. While the CRTC is in the process of conducting hearings on the wireless code in Canada, some provinces have taken wireless regulation into their own hands.

[ Related: New area codes appearing across Canada due to need created by mobile phones ]

For Quebec residents, cell phone contract legislation is nothing new. The government tabled legislation back in 2009 to protect consumers, which came into effect June 2010. The idea behind Bill 60 was to protect users from long-term

(Image of KT-X from Robot MarketPlace)Ever since I first watched The Jetsons and saw their beloved household robot Rosie, I've had dreams of getting my own personal robot assistant. While there are plenty of robot-like household items now available, ranging from the Roomba to GPS systems, nothing quite compares to the idea of having a humanoid robot as your own personal helper.

If you too dream of a robotic companion but aren't looking to build your own, you can always order one pre-assembled from KumoTek Robotics.

KumoTek makes a variety of humanoid robots, all with various degrees of motion and functionality. The KT-X can walk, run, somersault, and stand up from a face-up or face-down lying position. More advanced users can program the robot to pull itself up when it falls over, too. To control the robot, all you need is a standard wireless PS2 game controller, and you'll be able to make your robot move at its 17 joints (degrees of freedom) through its body. It runs an H8 CPU with a 60MHz HV processor and 512 kb ROM/64

Map of Canadian area codes from the CNAOver the next decade, many Canadians will be seeing new area codes in their parts of the country, and the high demand by mobile devices is largely the reason why.

But it’s not just the activation of mobile devices that’s causing this need for more telephone numbers, it’s the ways we’re using them, too.

Glenn Pilley, Director of the Canadian Numbering Administrator, explained to Yahoo! Canada News that while mobile phones do play a significant role in the number of phone numbers a person has, there’s a variety of apps and other mobile devices like tablets that are using those phone numbers, too.

“Items like iPads, which use cell phone frequencies, are assigned telephone numbers,” Pilley explained. Many of tablets on today's market can operate on the 4G or LTE networks in Canada, the network as cellular devices. In order to operate on those networks, the device needs its own phone number.

Pilley added that there are also apps on many mobile devices which can be used for text messaging

Two of Yahoo! Canada's editorial cartoonists, Wes Tyrell and Terry Mosher (also known as Aislin) discuss the importance of editorial cartoons, and the impact they can have on Canada's political landscape.

Visit Yahoo! Canada News for a new cartoon every day. Check it out on our homepage, or go through all our comics in our gallery.

BlackBerry pushed an update dubbed “update 2.1.0.1526” which includes improved bridging with “legacy” BlackBerry devices, improved browser speed, boosted audio and a better experience when setting up Yahoo! and Gmail accounts.Last week, the first BlackBerry 10 phone, the BlackBerry Z10, hit store shelves in Canada, getting people across the country excited about the new operating system. If you’re a BlackBerry Playbook user however, you might have to wait a little bit longer before you can join in on the fun.

BlackBerry pushed an update last night, dubbed “update 2.1.0.1526” (much less titillating than “BB10”) which includes improved bridging with “legacy” BlackBerry devices, improved browser speed, boosted audio and a better experience when setting up Yahoo! and Gmail accounts, Mobile Syrup reports. The BlackBerry App World has also been re-branded to be in line with the BB10 BlackBerry World App and the ability to make purchases in-app.

[ On Y! Finance: BlackBerry Playbook update coming on heels of BB10 ]

One of the biggest changes that comes with the legacy functionality improvement is the ability to interact with SMS messages on the BlackBerry Playbook.

But that’s going to do little to placate those who

The bill was characterized by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews as “either stand with us or with the child pornographers".Earlier this week, the federal Tories put to rest the ‘Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act,’ a bill which sought to fight child pornography by allowing police to intercept and track online communication.

Largely characterized by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews standing in the House of Commons and saying “either stand with us or with the child pornographers,” the bill was initially characterized as the best means the government had of tracking those conducting illegal activity online.

Unfortunately, the powers that the bill granted police were far-reaching, and its implementation would have meant that police could watch anyone’s Internet activity at any time across Canada.

Privacy and civil rights groups fought back, and with the death of Bill C-30, it looks like they’ve won their battle.

But the war is far from over.

[ Related: TekSavvy to get more time to inform customers about legal action ]

OpenMedia.ca, an online privacy group that has been active in the fight for

Rumours are beginning to surface about Apple’s next big thing: a wearable digital device dubbed the iWatch.

According to The Daily Mail, Chinese websites began reporting in December that Apple is working with chip-maker Intel on developing a “wrist-worn gadget.” The report went on to say that the device, thought to be going on sale sometime this year, would be Bluetooth enabled and have a 1.5-inch OLED display.

For designers, though, the inevitable smart watch by Apple has been an object of speculation for years. The concept designs have widely varied, ranging in style, functionality and futuristic features but have all largely adhered to the same Apple esthetic, making any of them viable (some may be more plausible than others). Here’s a collection of some of those designs:

The smart watch concept has already started to gain momentum with the Pebble, an e-paper watch that began as a Kickstarter project and became one of the highlights at this year’s CES. Many of the features expected