I’m convinced that, if Apple ever ceased to exist, we would have nothing to talk about. I mean, it’s not like there’s real tech news going on elsewhere, right? But that’s not the pont! iPhone OS 4.0 is here, and myself, Captain Capacitor and Mike the TV are here to lead you safely through this brave, new tech world. Or not, since we all seem to have some choice words on the matter. You’ll just have to tune your fancy old radios to our broadcast to find out.

As well, we’ve got a few science-related nuggets for you, with Morocco planning to turn half its country to solar by 2020, and Anand’s trip to see Hubble in 3D. Because, as we all know, there’s really no other way to truly view a space telescope.

Listen here, or at the Not So Much News!

Length: 36:28
Close: Nausea – Beck
Download: 33.2 MB
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Things were slow this week. I watched a squirrel gather nuts in my backyard for a half hour, and then emptied a jar of honey, just for a good measure. There just really wasn’t much to report on.

I mean, this thing called the iPad came out, but who cares? No one. There really wasn’t much news coverage. It was pretty low-key as far as launches go. I’m not really sure what we talked about on this episode anyhow, so you’ll have to listen in to find out. I think our good friend Stephen Hanbury might have made an appearance. I was too busy tying my shoes in different lacing patterns.

I hope you know we’re kidding. There’s 40 minutes of pure, iPady goodness in here, with everything we hated, and everything we liked. It’s a wellspring of information, so if you don’t know what all the hype is about, we’ve got you covered. Listen here, or at the Not So Much News!

Length: 41:10
Close: More than a feeling – Boston
Download: 39.5 MB
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Savour the moment people, for this is our last week pre-iPad. The world will be very different in just a few short days. Water will taste different. Cats will become more friendly. Anand may finally be let past border security with only a light frisking. This is the hope.

But before we face the unstoppable deluge of Apple fanboyism, we’ve got some real news to talk about this week. Special guest and troubadour Brian Liu is on the show, dropping knowledge and giving us all Kindle envy. Topics of note include:

• Nintendo announced their upcoming handheld refresh, the Nintendo 3DS, in a very quiet fashion. I think the news broke in the dead of night. Did they really think we wouldn’t notice?
• Anand and Demers join forces in their hatred of Telus. Can’t say I blame them. I long for the day when we won’t speak ill of a telcom company.
• eReader prices are going down, which means us laggards might actually be able to afford one, finally. Brian, on the other hand…
• The Wall Street Journal thinks we’re going to pay $17.99 per month for a digital subscription — you know, on top of our $29.99 data plans.
• Finally, remember all that Android platform fragmentation we bitched about? That’s a big string of words, so I’ll forgive you if you don’t. Either way, Google says they’ve got a plan to fix it. Demers and about five other users care. (Zing!)

Listen here, or at the Not So Much News!

Length: 31:29
Close: God of War III Overture — Gerard Marino (GOW III OST)
Download: 30.2 MB
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Episode 31, and the apocalypse has yet to arrive. Quite frankly, I’m a little disappointed. Nevertheless, we must soldier on here at podcast HQ, and solider on we shall. Some strands of thinking from today’s off-the-cuff adventure include:

• Anand plays the Heavy Rain demo, and, unsurprisingly, we talk about it.
• I go to a swanky Microsoft Silverlight party and, unsurprisingly, talk about it.
• I run out of water mid-way through the podcast. This was not discussed.
• Microsoft and Yahoo are now some giant search conglomerate, which means Cylons are not far behind.
• The internet killed Gordon Lightfoot for a few hours last Thursday. Hoaxes can be dangerous, kids.
• Finally, it’s New Year’s Eve, and HTML5 is the innocent little baby preparing to beat Old Man Flash into submission — OR IS IT?

Length: 30:40
Close: Panoramic – Atticus Ross (Book of Eli OST)
Download: 29.4 MB
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CAUTION: REALITY DISTORTION FIELD AHEAD.

This is a warning. If you do not like Apple, or do not wish to further indulge in the Padocalypse, then proceed no further. Here be dragons. And crushed dreams. And, of course, the iPad.

This is Apple’s “latest creation,” a 9.7 inch tablet that is, in essence, eight iPhones taped together. Notable features include:

• A capacitative, multi-touch screen — perfect to showcase your grubby fingerprints to friends and family
• A custom, Apple-made 1GHz A4 chip, whatever that means. Moles are investigating.
• FLAVOURS, as long as your idea of flavours is 16, 32 or 64GB
• Wifi in all models, and 3G in the more expensive kind, with GPS, internal compass and ALL THAT JAZZ
• iPhone OS 3.2 — pretend you have invented an anti-shrink ray device, and amaze your friends with your “new, larger phone”
• Fancy applications, from the likes of EA, the New York Times and a mobile version of iWork
• eBooks, in an iTunes like platform. Which, by the way, also includes an actual mobile iTunes.

AND SO MUCH MORE. Which, of course, we talk about. Because it wouldn’t be a product release party if me and Anand didn’t tear it to shreds, and give you the lowdown on what we love and hate. After all, it’s just the sort of stuff we like to touch upon. Ahem.

Length: 32:42
Close: Demon Days [Instrumental] – Gorillaz
Download: 31.4 MB
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