According to a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by Rogers Communications Inc. and Vision Critical, 79 per cent of Canadians believe people will use their smartphones to make purchases over the next few years.

That's nearly 4 in 5 Canadians who will use their mobile phones like a digital wallet, of sorts, to purchase items instead of relying on cash or cards.

Not surprisingly, this Rogers Innovation Report -- created to gauge tech trends among Canadians in 2012 and beyond — found 85 per cent of respondents "very attached" to their mobile devices, with 22 per cent saying they "would be lost without" their smartphones.

One technology that might facilitate mobile payments is near-field communication (NFC), a shortwave wireless radio built into the smartphone. When you want to purchase a product or service, simply swipe a small sensor near the cash register's terminal (or tap a vending machine) and the funds will be withdrawn from your bank account.

NFC can also be used to exchange funds

In an Internet experiment of sorts, comedian Louis CK sold his latest video of his performance on his website for only $5. There was no distribution, no DRM, no major marketing or sales expenses. Yet in twelve short days, Louis' video has earned $1 million.

"The experiment was: If I put a brand new standup special at a drastically low price ($5) and make it as easy as possible to buy, download and enjoy, free of any restrictions, will everyone just go and steal it? Will they pay for it? And how much money can be made by an individual in this manner?" said Louis in a statement, as quoted on Mashable. His statement came shortly after he'd made his first $200,000 on the video, just four days after its release.

In another statement on his website, Louis says he was overwhelmed by the response, and wanted to let all those who had bought the album know what he was going to do with that money. He says it will be split four ways:  $250,000 would cover the cost of producing the special and

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has Internet companies and users divided over how the U.S. bill will change the future of the web. Domain name registrar GoDaddy drew a line in the sand when it publicly stated in its blog that it supported SOPA, and described those who were against a bill holding "which might hold us accountable" as "myopic."

Now, many websites and customers have responded by pulling domain names from the world's largest domain name registrar.

Among the who's who of sites that are disagreeing with GoDaddy's stance on SOPA is CEO Ben Huh of Cheezburger, responsible for websites like I Can Has Cheezburger, FAIL Blog and Know Your Meme. Huh announced on Twitter that they would no longer support GoDaddy:

While Huh's 1000+ domains seem like a lot of lost revenue, GoDaddy's official blog says they manage over 50 million domain names in total. However, Huh's high-profile departure might encourage others to follow suit in taking their domain names elsewhere.

One Reddit user,

'The Binding Force' was created using iStencylYou don't have to be a game developer to earn a buck or two making video games. In fact, you can build your own game and put a little change in your pocket without having any knowledge of code.

iStencyl provides gaming enthusiasts who have no coding experience with the ability to create entire video games for iOS using "block builder." The program is tailor-made for beginners as it does not support Objective-C, for those of you code-savvy gamers.

Games can be developed using a Mac or PC, tested within the program using an app simulator (or outside using your personal iOS device) and put up for sale in the iTunes app store.

Check out the video below:

All creations are compatible with the the entire slate of Apple mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), and can be exported to flash for web-based game play. Gizmag reports that compatibility with Android and HTML5 is on the way.

Building games using the program is free, but users who decide to sell their product in the app store must

It's been another year of cute cats, men getting hit by unexpected things, and performers who are so questionable, we can't help but watch. YouTube has come out with its list of the most watched videos of 2011, and you're bound to have seen at least a few of this year's top clips.

Hosting YouTube's rewind is Ms. Number-one-on-the-list herself, Rebecca Black:

Canada's own Maria Aragon, performing her cover of Born This Way, cracked the top 10 in the eighth spot. The Winnipeg girl shot to fame in February when Lady Gaga herself tweeted the YouTube clip with the comment "Can't stop crying watching this. This is why I make music. She is the future." Since then, she has performed for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Ottawa's Canada Day celebration, sung with the Prime Minister, and has landed a recording contract in the Philippines.

Not on the list but also tremendously popular are Montreal's Epic Meal Time. They came under fire earlier in the year for not speaking French in a

The fight to protect students from potentially harmful WiFi signals is heating up again as parents across the country are demanding wireless internet networks are removed from schools.

Back in October, The Right Click reported that two schools in Ontario had banned WiFi networks in an effort to protect students from radiation. Since then, more parents have taken up the fight to keep their children away from WiFi signals by transferring students to schools with wired Internet and campaigning at their current schools for educators to ban WiFi.

According to The National Post, at least 12 schools in Ontario and B.C. banned WiFi networks in September by either refusing to install or removing their existing networks in an effort to protect children from the potentially harmful frequencies.

Advocates who are fighting to have WiFi removed from schools say they don't understand why schools are dragging their feet when it comes to keeping kids away from WiFi networks.

"This is not a question

As the U.S. House Committee prepares for tomorrow's hearing on SOPA, a controversial bill that seeks to block websites accused of copyright infringement, there seems to be a general lack of understanding amongst internet users abroad.

And perhaps the tight-lipped coverage is to blame. This burgeoning story could be the largest Internet-themed news event since Y2K, yet the major media coverage on a bill that some believe has potential to "break the internet" has been scarce.

Should this bill pass, one of the most robust industries on the planet - as we know it - will cease to exist. Content for download will come under attack, users will tip-toe around restricted access and popular sites such as Reddit will struggle to survive - all because the entertainment industry seeks to pick up where the Napster lawsuits left off.

What is the Stop Online Piracy Act?

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee recognizes SOPA as bill H. R. 3261. It's designed to "expand the ability of the Department of

Although it isn't set to launch until midnight tonight, Star Wars: The Old Republic already has over a million people on its servers, analyst Doug Creutz says.

The new, highly-anticipated MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online game) has a launch date of December 20, but those who pre-ordered the game were given the chance to hop online early and begin the battle between the Republic and the Empire one week before everyone else.

Creutz, who is an analyst at Cowan & Company, estimates that the game already has one million people playing on EA's 140 servers. He adds that he is "fairly comfortable" estimating as many as 1.5 million could be playing prior to the game's North American and Europe.

Interestingly, that number is based on the number of people playing World of Warcraft: there are 491 servers supporting 4 to 4.5 million players across North America and Europe. Based on the "relatively high density" of players online in The Old Republic, Creutz and his firm project 1-1.5 million players