This probably won’t come as a shock, but I’m something of a nerd when it comes to technology. Yeah, I like gadgets and devices and toys and machines that go “ping,” but I’m especially interested in the tech that affects music—and vice versa.

Back around 2013, I got involved with a company that created a touring museum exhibit that went to science centres around North America. The owner of the company came up with the idea when he heard an “Ongoing History” program called “Format Wars,” which looked at all the different ways music was captured, stored, and distributed: vinyl, tape, CDs, and so on.

We called the exhibit “The Science of Rock’n’Roll,” and it explored how science and music have influenced each other, not just over the years, but over the centuries. The two things go hand in hand, each affecting the other and providing ways for creativity to expand into directions that were once thought impossible.

The exhibit did okay, too, booking runs at science centres in Toronto, Boston, Kansas City, Detroit, Cleveland, and a few other markets.

“The Science of Rock” spun off into a children’s book I co-wrote called “The Science of Song.” It’s aimed at kids 13 and under and STEM teaching: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

It’s been a minute since the book, the museum exhibit, and that original “Format Wars” show, so I thought it might be time to revisit the subject. And with that in mind, here’s a timeline of the biggest technological advances in music.

Prepare to geek out.

Songs heard on this show:

• Beck, Where It’s At
• Bjork, Headphones
• The Kills, Tape Song
• Kraftwerk, The Model
• SSQ, Walkman On
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Give It Away
• Evanescence, Bring Me to Life
• Sarah McLachlan, Building a Mystery

Here’s Eric Wilhite’s playlist.
The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations:

• 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
• Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
• Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm
• 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
• FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
• Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
• 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
• The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 9am and 9pm
• The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• The Goat Network/Interior BC
• WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Hollerado is a weirdly creative bunch of guys. Take the case of their album, 111 Songs.

Someone in the group came up with the idea of writing a song for every fan who wrote in and asked for one. The initial concept was to release a special promotional bundle with the record, a T-shirt, a poster and a custom song that would go with their second album, White Paint. Fantastic.

But so many fans wrote in—more than a hundred people paid to be a part of this—that the project took two years to complete. The result is equivalent to more than five full-length albums and was finally released on March 24, 2015. Hollerado went to iTunes who then refused to sell a five-hour collection for nine dollars.

The band wouldn’t compromise—Apple wanted to sell it for $35—so the 111 Songs album has gone down in Hollerado history as a fantastic money-losing passion project.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

On November 18, 1993, Nirvana went to Sony Music Studios in New York to perform an unplugged gig for MTV.  It was broadcast on TV and turned into a CD that came out after Kurt Cobain died. At first, MTV and the band’s label thought it was going to be a disaster because Nirvana insisted on playing some of the band’s more obscure stuff along with a couple of covers.

Kurt refused outright to do “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which freaked everyone out.  There were also concerns about Kurt’s health because he was going through withdrawal and vomiting blood.  Only a standby supply of Valium kept things on the rails.

At the end of the day, though, it was a magnificent performance.  Unplugged in New York is available in its full form on DVD and Blu-ray.  If you’re a Nirvana fan, it’s definitely worth it.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Think buying music is too expensive? If you look at things from a historical point of view, music has never, ever been cheaper.

If you go back to the 1950s, the average price of an album was about $5.50–and that’s in 1950s dollars. If you adjust for inflation, that’s over 60 bucks today.  Single digital albums sell for around 10 dollars on iTunes today. A CD certainly goes for less than 20. In the 70s, a 7-inch single sold for between 99 cents and $1.29. Adjust that for inflation, and that’s equivalent to over $7.50 at the high end.

Today on iTunes, singles go for between 69 and a buck twenty-nine. Talk about DEflation.  And that’s for physical and digital product. When you look at the free streaming from Spotify and YouTube, music costs nothing.

So, is it worth less or worthless? That’s where the discussion gets interesting.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The Department of National Defence (DND) is looking to purchase anti-drone defences for military installations within Canada, federal procurement documents show.

In a short notice posted online Monday, DND said they need a system that can defend personnel, equipment and facilities from drone attacks at locations across Canada. The details of what DND is looking to buy — including what threats the system is meant to defend against — is only being made available to qualified suppliers.

DND did not respond to Global News’ request for information Monday or Tuesday.

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars bolstering its drone defences for personnel deployed as part of Operation Reassurance in Latvia — part of NATO’s efforts to bolster its eastern flank as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

The deployment in Latvia has offered a front-row seat to Canadian and allied forces for the evolution of drone warfare tactics since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Canadian military installations at home, though, are far from the threat of direct combat with advanced drone warfare technology — but that doesn’t mean there is no threat, experts say.

Stephanie Carvin, a professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Relations and former intelligence analyst, said the CAF is likely more concerned about hostile powers hiring help within Canada.

Carvin pointed to the recent spate of hired gunman in Canada, allegedly working under the direction of nation states or their proxies.

“It’s very, very hard to sneak operatives across borders. So the model really is just to find people on social media and convince them to engage in this. And it is becoming a major focus of not just the CAF, but the RCMP (which) has a counter-drone unit,” Carvin said in an interview.

“Obviously (the RCMP are) worried about drugs, but I also think they’re worried about public events and policing.”

Carvin noted that Canada already has deployed counter-drone systems to protect critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants.

“I would say that the use of counter-drone technology around critical infrastructure is becoming the norm,” Carvin said.

The CAF previously budgeted between $100 million and $249 million for a vehicle-mounted anti-drone system to be used by soldiers deployed in Latvia. That system includes detectors and jammers for radio frequencies and global navigation systems used in drone targeting.

Separately, the federal government launched the Defence Drone Initiative in July 2026 to scale Canada’s ability to produce low-cost uncrewed and autonomous systems at home.

“Recent conflicts have shown that drone technology evolves rapidly,” a statement announcing the initiative read.

“The DDI will help build a more responsive and scalable Canadian ecosystem and it reflects the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide the CAF and (Canadian Coast Guard) with access to Canadian-developed technologies that enhance operational readiness while supporting Canadian innovation, skilled jobs and long-term economic growth.”

The DDI program is intended to study both drone combat systems — including the ability to launch long-range precision strikes — as well as drone interceptor systems meant to defend against hostile uncrewed vehicles.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

An Alberta man who was already arrested earlier this year and charged with sharing child sexual abuse materials online has now been charged with allegedly using artificial intelligence to sexualize images of underage people he knows.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) believes there are numerous victims in the case out of Sherwood Park, a community located to the east of Edmonton.

ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit initially arrested a 51-year-old man on June 25, following reports he allegedly was sharing child sexual abuse materials online.

At that time, the suspect was charged with possessing, accessing, and transmitting child sexual abuse materials (formerly referred to as child pornography.)

Following that arrest and a forensic analysis of computers and electronic devices seized from the home of the accused, ALERT said ICE investigators discovered an extensive collection of child sexual abuse materials manufactured using artificial intelligence.

The accused allegedly used AI applications to sexualize photos and videos of numerous victims that were known to him.

ALERT said the accused took advantage of open social media accounts and used posted photos as a source of material to alter.

The use of AI tools to sexualize images is a growing problem and has led to several charges laid in Alberta over the past year and a half.

Last summer, a junior girl’s football coach in Lethbridge was accused by ALERT of using AI to create child pornography.

Then in December 2025, ALERT accused a teenager in the Calgary region of using AI technology to sexualize photos of teen girls who attended several high schools in the area.

A 17-year-old was charged with making, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse and exploitation materials along with criminal harassment.

Investigators at the time stressed the making of such content is not a joke or prank, but rather a “most extreme form of bullying and a criminal offence.”

This past June, ALERT accused two 14-year-old boys in Edmonton of using artificial intelligence to make child sexual exploitation images of several classmates from a junior high school in the Alberta capital city.

Investigators said a teacher at the school brought the allegations to the attention of police in late March 2026, acting on complaints from the students.

ALERT said photos of several girls were taken without their consent. Those photos and others pulled from social media were then used to develop the exploitative images with AI tools. Investigators allege the boys shared the images with each other on their phones.

“There is a misconception that because it’s AI, it’s not real, that the impact is not significant,” Const. Stephanie Bosch with the ALERT Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit said at the time.

Investigators say exploitative images generated using AI is becoming more common.

Sherwood Park resident Christopher Kalbfleisch, 51, was charged on Sept. 25 with one charge of making child sexual abuse materials that ALERT says cover numerous instances.

He has been released from custody on a number of court-imposed conditions, including not to have any communication with anyone under the age of 16, and not to attend public pools, schools, playgrounds, or public libraries.

Kalbfleisch is scheduled to appear in court in Sherwood Park on Oct. 16.

ICE’s investigation is ongoing and is attempting to identify victims. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact their local police department or reach our anonymously via Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-TIPS).

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Tennessee will execute Christa Gail Pike on Wednesday, making her the first woman in 200 years to be put to death in the state.

Pike, 50, who was sentenced to death at the age of 20 for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, will receive the lethal injection on Wednesday morning at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tenn.

Pike and her boyfriend were convicted of stabbing and beating 19-year-old Slemmer at a job training facility in Knoxville when Pike was 18.

Pike, who testified that she feared Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, was found guilty of luring the 19-year-old to a wooded area on Jan. 12, 1995 and slashing her with a box cutter before beating her with a slab of asphalt.

Tadaryl Shipp, Pike’s boyfriend, has admitted that he was the one who carved a pentagram, a star-shaped symbol associated with satanism, into her body.

Shipp, who was 17 at the time of the crime, is currently serving a life sentence for his role in the murder. The Tennessee Board of Parole denied his request for parole in October 2o25, 30 years into his sentence.

He was deemed ineligible for the death penalty because of his age when Slemmer was killed.

The case gained attention at the time in part because of a pentagram that was carved on Slemmer’s body and other elements of the crime that stoked fears of Satan worship during the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and 1990s.

Pike does not deny committing the murder, but her supporters have argued that state lawmakers should consider her age at the time of the killing, her history of mental illness and that she endured severe sexual abuse, including being raped as a toddler.

“I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done,” Pike said in a statement in her clemency petition.

“Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime.”

Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said her punishment is an anomaly because other 18-year-olds sentenced to death in Tennessee have had their sentences vacated.

Pike’s lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has denied Pike clemency.

Slemmer’s mother, May Martinez, told the Associated Press in an interview that she wants Pike to receive the death penalty as planned.

“Every time I think about it, I think about Colleen feeling that pain and trying to get up and run,” she said, adding that a group had raised funds so she and her husband could travel from Florida to watch the execution.

Tennessee has not executed a woman since 1820, according to Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Since 1976, 18 women have been put to death in the U.S., equating to about 1 percent of all executions, according to the centre.

— with files from the Associated Press

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A fraternity at the University of Arizona in Tucson has been suspended after it allegedly forced recruits to consume copious amounts of alcohol and live goldfish as part of a hazing ritual.

Sigma Tau Gamma was informed by college officials earlier this month that all activities related to the fraternity and the enrollment of new members were suspended and that it was under investigation for multiple violations of the student code of conduct.

“It has been determined that your organization presents a substantial risk to members of the university community,” a letter from the dean of students addressed to the fraternity president reads.

According to the letter, during the fall 2025 semester, new members of the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity were subjected to “screaming, degradation, and threats from active members,” while being forced to consume live goldfish and large quantities of alcohol.

The Tucson incident is the most recent in a spate of hazing-related events at U.S. university campuses.

Earlier this month, two men were arrested over their alleged role in an off-campus initiation at a fraternity house at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

On Sept. 24, Madison police said they found around 30 partially clothed males covered in food, condiments, and other liquids sitting on the floor of a basement with a thermostat set to 81 degrees, at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house.

The vast majority of those in attendance were 18-year-olds, investigators said. Several of the men had visible injuries consistent with being physically assaulted, their statement added.

Alpha Epsilon Pi is an unrecognized and unaccredited student organization, having been terminated by the University of Wisconsin more than a decade ago after several conduct violations related to underage drinking, hazing, and unauthorized events were reported.

The university addressed the incident in a statement last week, saying it was “fully committed to preventing and addressing hazing and takes all incidents involving our community seriously,” and that its Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards was investigating.

Despite not being affiliated with the university, the chapter continues to be recognized by its national organization, meaning it is legally allowed to operate as a fraternity chapter.

In New York on Monday, prosecutors reopened an investigation into an alleged drugging and gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Cornell University campus in October 2024.

The investigation is being reexamined in response to a lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by seven students after being pressured to snort ketamine, smoke marijuana and drink alcohol.

She became completely incapacitated while frat members were sexually assaulting her, the lawsuit alleges.

The accuser is suing the men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages.

She was a 20-year-old Cornell student at the time of the alleged assault and a sorority member.

The university said in a statement that it supports the decision to reopen the investigation and that it had conducted its own and issued sanctions, including expelling some students and suspending others.

It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.

Cornell said a school task force on campus sexual assault, formed in 2025, made recommendations earlier this year, several of which have been implemented while others are in development.

— with files from the Associated Press

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

An Edmonton man is facing sexual assault charges after a Winnipeg police investigation into a series of grandparent scams in the Manitoba capital.

The investigation began after police received multiple reports of several adults in their 80s being scammed.

Between Aug. 17 and 22, police say an adult in his 80s received multiple phone calls from someone pretending to be his grandson. The person on the phone claimed he had been arrested and needed money for bail. The victim agreed to pay, with a man going to the senior’s home to pick up cash four times, as well as gold and silver coins.

During that series of calls, a second adult in their 80s got a phone call from someone pretending to be their grandson who needed money for bail. The second victim also agreed to pay, with a man picking up money from the victim’s home.

A third adult in their 80s also received calls of a similar nature between Aug. 20 and 21, with the victim agreeing to pay and a man visiting the home twice to pick up money.

The victim in the third incident later checked with family and learned their grandson was not in jail, did not need bail money and that it was a scam. They called police.

Officers responded to the area and found a man, who matched the suspect’s description, in a vehicle. He was taken into custody and officers found evidence in the vehicle linking the man to all three victims, police said.

The man, a 29-year-old from Edmonton, faces multiple charges including fraud over $5,000, two counts of fraud under $5,000 and possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Through fraud investigation, police determined the 29-year-old had travelled from Edmonton to Winnipeg with a female teenager. Police say they had been staying a short-term rental.

The teen told police she had been sexually assaulted while staying with the man at the rental property and did not have transportation to return to Edmonton on her own. She has since returned home.

On Aug. 23, Winnipeg Police’s Sex Crimes unit attended the Winnipeg Remand Centre where the 29-year-old was being held. He was arrested on a warrant for the charges of sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon and sexual interference.

The man remains in custody.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Drug insurance claims across Canada are going up across the board, but they are soaring when it comes to the insurance claims for GLP-1 drugs and ADHD medication, a report by insurance company GreenShield said Tuesday.

The insurance cost borne by GreenShield in Canada rose 9.5 per cent in 2025, the report by the private insurance company said.

The report attributed the growth in large part to the growing demand for treatments related to diabetes, obesity, and other chronic conditions.

The cost the company paid for GLP-1 medication like semaglutide skyrocketed with costs related to diabetes and weight management treatments increased 47.7 per cent compared to 2024, “highlighting the growing impact of chronic disease on benefit plans,” the report added.

Semaglutide accounted for 6.6 per cent of total drug insurance costs in Canada in 2025 and was the top product by total drug cost in 2025. The average claimant spent $2,489 on drugs like Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy for diabetes and weight management.

Total costs for diabetes medications in the $2,000 to $2,999 range increased 594 per cent in 2025, while the number of claimants rose 374.3 per cent, the report said, adding however that costs could come down in 2026 due to the introduction of generic GLP-1 drugs.

Ozempic was the most popular diabetes drug, accounting for 41 per cent of all claims for diabetes treatments. However, its share slipped from 43.2 per cent in 2024.

The year 2025 also saw a big jump in the cost of two drugs used for ADHD medication, methylphenidate and lisdexamfetamine.

ADHD is slightly more prevalent among men (8.6 per cent) compared to women (7.4 per cent), but women saw the condition rise at a much faster rate from 2024 (15 per cent growth).

The segment of population that saw the highest growth rate in ADHD claims in 2025 is people between ages 35 and 44, with claimants growing by 23.1 per cent compared to 2024.

This segment also saw the highest increase in claims for medication for anxiety and depression (6.8 per cent) as well as for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychosis.

Women were more likely to claim medication for anxiety and depression, with a prevalence rate of 4.3 per cent compared to men.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.