Gaming goes indie with new WiiWare

Think of them as the indies of the gaming world.

The video games being released on Nintendo’s new WiiWare service – which went live in North America yesterday – provide consumers with a new way to buy games online and help game makers get product to market faster.

If you think of traditional retail games as Hollywood blockbusters, then WiiWare games are like independent movies, according to Nintendo’s Canadian spokesperson, Matt Ryan.

The games are meant to be quick and fun, allowing developers to try new ideas without the investment in time and money required to create a full-scale game, which can take years to develop.

“We’ve been trying to expand the gaming audience, but we’re also trying to get developers to expand creative risk,” Ryan said.

Internet Privacy Can Be Risky In Canada

Government Investigating Claims Of Unauthorized Monitoring

Ottawa- The commissioner of Privacy for the government of Canada is investigating some claims that Internet service providers in Canada are monitoring the online behavior and activities of some customers without their permission.

The issues centers around a practice called Deep Packet Inspection, which is a method that some Internet service providers use slow down sectors of Internet Traffic that are taking more than their share of bandwidth in the option of the supervising ISP operators.

The University of Ottawa’s Canadian Public Interest Clinic and Internet Policy organization is saying that such a practice is against the privacy legislation currently on the books in Canada.

Asian anglers face racial profiling, violence: report

MARKHAM, Ont. – A puzzling spate of violence against Asian-Canadian anglers last summer has moved beyond being a cottage-country squabble.

It is now a provincial call to arms, a crusade against profiling that involves the Ontario Human Rights Commission, helicopters, undercover police dressed as fisherman, and the threat of a lawsuit.

Perhaps with good reason: fishing season has begun and already there have been two complaints that locals in Southern Ontario are accosting and attacking Chinese fisherman.

Firefighters’ memorial vandalized

A memorial for Ontario firefighters killed in the line of duty was defaced with black paint and red spray paint last night.

It took the vandal just minutes to throw black paint on the face of one of five stones that make up the Queen’s Park memorial, while spray painting phrases on the four other sections. The phrases include “Liberal lackeys,” “Dalton gang,” “guns bad” and “firemen 4 McGinty.”

The memorial bears the names of 420 firefighters killed in the line of duty in Ontario.

The Ontario Provincial Police, who cover security at Queen’s Park, are investigating. It’s believed the memorial was defaced just before 9 p.m. by a lone male.

Mannequin on toilet vies for top British art prize

LONDON — A mannequin perched on the toilet vied with a cartoon cat on Tuesday to land the Turner Prize, the controversial British award that annually sparks a heated debate about what is art.

Critics may lambaste the shortlist as pretentious claptrap but the Turner has recognized Britart stars like Damien Hirst and the exhibition attracts up to 70,000 fans a year.

Not a single painter made the shortlist for the 2008 Turner, which is dominated by filmmakers and video artists.

Mark Leckey splices together images of the Simpsons, presents clips from the Titanic movie and confesses to an obsession with cartoon star Felix The Cat.

Cathy Wilkes displays shop mannequins squatting on the toilet and sitting with leftover bits of dried porridge at their feet.

Mr Pitiful – Brand New Friend (New Song!)