Tag: Canada

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Tips & How To's

Watching US Netflix in Canada, now easier than ever!

Update: I am sorry to report that Tunlr is no longer supporting Netflix. See their blog for more info. If you know of another FREE DNS service please leave a comment.

My friend Ron tipped me off to this free DNS service that allows you to watch Netflix (and other US geo-restricted content) outside of the USA! For free! (Did I mention that it’s free?)

These guys are calling themselves Tunlr.

I love these services. Unlike VPN services, with these DNS redirects your streams don’t get slowed down by being  proxied through a US server.

We set it up on our AppleTV and it works like a charm!

Here are the instructions for setting up ATV:

  1. Open Settings
  2. Open General
  3. Open Network
  4. Open Configure TCP/IP
  5. Select Manually (we assume you already have a fully functional network setup)
  6. Skip IP address by selecting Done (hit the left button on the remote and press OK)
  7. Skip Subnet Mask by selecting Done
  8. Skip Router Address by selecting Done
  9. Use 199.167.30.144 when asked for the DNS address and select Done
  10. Select Restart in the General menu

Instructions for other devices can be found on their site.

Edit: I should mention, that if you have a number of devices on your home network that you wish to use to access US services, you’re probably better off setting your router’s DNS to Tunlr.

Categories
Random

Siri Can’t Map Canada

My desk neighbour showed up to work this morning with a brand new iPhone 4S. He let me play around with Siri a bit.

Looks like Siri is not fully functional in Canada.

Referencing location (eg. “Where am I?”) results in an error message stating that directions and maps are unavailable in Canada.

Update: Now with a screenshot.

Categories
Random

Will Siri Work In Canada?

My friend @iamhabitat on twitter just pointed out that Siri is not listed as one of the features on Apple Canada’s iPhone 4S page.

Does this imply that the feature will not be available in Canada? How disappointing would that be?!

I had assumed that it would. I guess we’ll find out when iOS5 comes out tomorrow.

Update: Yes, Yes it does. But it doesn’t seem to know how to map in Canada (at least not yet).

Categories
Canadian Tech News

UBB Hoopla

This just in, the government plans to overturn the CRTC’s UBB ruling!!!!11!!

This is great news! But the fight is not over.

Lost in all the reddit posts and media buzz is the fact that there is currently nothing stopping any ISP from charging their retail customers bandwidth overages.

The fight is not over, but hopefully the dialogue will continue and real competition can be fostered (west of Ontario even!).

Categories
Canadian Tech News

Canadian Tech News Round-Up

I listen to a fair few tech podcasts every week, I often find myself quite frustrated by the US-centric nature of the stories they cover. While most of the major tech stories have global implications, just as many – if not more – are about US companies and issues. In an attempt to keep myself up to date on  clearly Canadian tech stories I’ve decided to seek out 5 or so important tech stories from North of the 49th every week.

Ontario Parents Try To Ban Wi-fi in School: Parents group blames wi-fi for headache and nausea reported by their children. Health Canada rejects their claims, citing science. Teacher’s federation rejects proposal. Chalk one up for science.

iPhone Competition, Galaxy S Comes to Canada: To my knowledge this is the only phone in available on a Canadian carrier capable of running Android 2.2. Bell launched the Vibrant August 6th. Rogers, SaskTel and (possibly) Virgin are following suit…soon.

CRTC Requires ISP’s Financial Data: I’m totally sure exactly what this is about, it almost sounds like the CRTC is trying to get a handle on just how much profit the telecommunication industry is making. In any case, the industry seems ticked and I can get behind legislation that’s going to make those money-grubbing grubber’s lives harder.

Digital Lock Rules “Fundamentally Flawed”: Canadian Library Association is sticking it to the man, well, as much as they can without raising their voice.

Police “Body Cameras” Becoming Common-Place: cameras worn by police officers directly on their person (on an ear clips or helmet) are making there way into forces across the country. Good move, imho.