22nd June 2011

BCIC New Ventures Golf Tournament

BCIC New VenturesJoin BCIC-New Ventures for their second annual golf tournament on July 19th. This year they’re golfing at Kings Links by the Sea, a traditional par 72 links style course with spectacular views of the surrounding Coastal Mountains.

Play Texas Scramble rules. Create your own foursome, or let BCIC put you in a group. Open to all levels, this is a great chance to network with the New Ventures community in a fun setting.

Your golf tournament fee includes a round of golf, dinner, and prizes. Tee-offs start around 12:30pm. You will be notified of your tee-time in advance.

Early Bird Registration by June 30: $90 | Regular Registration by July 13: $105 | Dinner-only: $25

bcic golf tourney

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22nd June 2011

Completion of Canadian P3 to Develop and Implement Environmental Software

greenland groupIn May 2008, the Greenland Group announced that important funding had been allocated by Canada’s National Research Council – IRAP to assist with further developing the CANWET (or CAnadian Nutrient and Water Evaluation Tool) modelling software. This week, CANWET-4 was launched in Newmarket, ON at the offices of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and also with representatives from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and local Municipalities.

Three years ago, GREENLAND® developed an earlier model version that was later used for source water protection, assimilative capacity, nutrient management and water allocation projects. CANWET was also used last year by the Government of Ontario to prepare the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. The total public (research) and private sectors investment to complete CANWET-4 was over $600,000 and included one of the largest grants from the National Research Council – IRAP initiative.

CANWET-4 is a continuous, GIS-based software suite to inform decision making around river basin and watershed management; water supply and waste water treatment infrastructure; food security; and, climate change adaptation. Its ability to quickly and accurately estimate daily water balance, nutrient, erosion sediment, and bacteria loadings from GIS input data allows CANWET-4 to serve as a powerful decision support system. This latest release of CANWET is VB.Net database-driven and web-aware, and features an integrated open source GIS environment. Its relative ease of use and ability to take advantage of commonly available spatial data makes it a solid choice over other water quantity and quality computer models. In addition to the integration of current watershed and climate change science from renowned researchers at the University of Guelph and Penn State University, CANWET-4 also incorporates a large suite of Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) for assessing proposed reductions in phosphorous, nitrogen, sediment, and animal coliforms from rural and urban lands. Multiple practices can be added in parallel or in series. CANWET-4 also calculates costs for typical BMP applications based on unit-costing. The completion of CANWET-4 was important for GREENLAND® to support other Canadian and U.S. collaborations now underway about the Lake Winnipeg, Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay Basins.

“I am extremely pleased with the completion of CANWET-4 and sincerely thank Canada’s NRC-IRAP for its funding assistance over the past few years,” says R. Mark Palmer, the President of GREENLAND®. “Our P3 completion announcement, affirms the commitment of the Canadian Government for environmental research, as well as lake and river basin management programs. The development of CANWET-4 also highlights our niche Mission Statement that recognizes the environment first while complying with best available science and proven technologies.”

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22nd June 2011

Desire2Learn Mobile Dev Program And Metranome Acquistion Announced

desire2learnDesire2Learn Incorporated has announced the acquisition of Metranome Inc. and the availability of the Desire2Learn® Mobile Developer Program, which enables third-party developers to build their own functionality and incorporate that functionality into applications built with Desire2Learn Campus Life. Developers can create solutions that extend the capabilities of their mobile applications, integrate their products or services, and provide customized functionality. With the Desire2Learn Mobile Developer Program, existing mobile applications can be converted to work with Desire2Learn Campus Life quickly and with minimal effort.

The Mobile Developer Program supports all Desire2Learn Campus Life platforms including iOS for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android and BlackBerry®.

Benefits of the Program include:

  • the ability for clients and developers to write custom features for inclusion in their applications
  • a framework to simplify development, and APIs for extensibility
  • use of Desire2Learn Campus Life standard features and broad platform support enabling individual and unique solutions
  • licensing and distribution opportunities

“Desire2Learn Campus Life provides a range of extensibility options which enable our customers to optimize the solution to their unique mobile needs,” states David Kruis, Director, Mobile Strategy, Desire2Learn. “With our Mobile Partner Program we are further expanding this optimization by working with technology partners and third party developers to bring additional innovative features and functionality to mobile learners worldwide.”

Desire2Learn also officially announced the acquisition of Waterloo company Metranome Inc. Founded in 2007, Metranome’s award-winning mobile media platform serves international clients in the media, publishing, entertainment, and travel industries. Smartphone applications built on Metranome’s platform have been featured by Apple, Google, and RIM and made available worldwide on iOS, Android, and BlackBerry smartphones. Over the past six months, Metranome’s technology, leadership, and vision have been integrated into the Desire2Learn platform and are now part of the Desire2Learn suite of solutions serving all market sectors. Desire2Learn Campus Life, launched in March of this year, was built on the Metranome platform and is one of several mobile solutions available today.

“We’ve expanded upon Metranome’s years of mobile industry experience and their strong relationships with platform vendors in presenting this latest addition to our extensive mobile platform,” says John Baker, President & CEO, Desire2Learn. “Our clients are seeing higher learner retention and satisfaction rates, improved outcomes, program growth and reduced costs. Our continued focus on user experience, accessibility and mobility, as well as platform security and reliability, means users will always have access to rich and engaging content anytime, anywhere.”

The Desire2Learn Mobile team is participating in mLearnCon 2011: Mobile Learning Conference & Expo this week in San Jose, CA. Demonstrations will be available at the Desire2Learn booth (#206) on the Exhibit Floor Wednesday, June 22. Stop by to learn more.

Mobile developers are encouraged to visit the Desire2Learn.com mobile developers page, call 1.888.772.0325 or  email for further information and partnership opportunities. Additionally, a full slate of mobile sessions will be featured during the FUSION 2011 Post Conference. Registrations are currently being accepted for the Post Conference which runs July 14 and 15 in Denver, CO.

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22nd June 2011

Toon Boom Makes Flip Boom Classic Compatible with SMART Boards

Toon BoomToon Boom Animation Inc. has announced that Flip Boom Classic for K-6 students and its respective curricula, are now compatible with the SMART Board™ 600 series interactive whiteboard. Compatibility with the SMART Board 800 series will be completed in time for the International Society for Technology in Education Conference, to be held in Philadelphia from June 26-29, 2011. Demonstrations will be given at Booth 1403 during the conference.

Porting Toon Boom’s entry-level educational product to SMART Board interactive whiteboards is a natural step towards offering engaging creative applications on collaborative and interactive learning devices. Students will be able to create and export finished files for easy inclusion in the teaching resources of SMART Notebook collaborative learning software.

“Having Toon Boom products integrate with SMART Board interactive whiteboards raises the creative learning and visual communication potential,” says Linda Thomas, Vice-President, Products, SMART Technologies. “The combination of these products will create a more dynamic and stimulating classroom environment by getting students truly involved in lesson activities.”

“All our award-winning software applications and curricula targeted for K-12 are a perfect fit for SMART Board interactive whiteboards, which will surely make cross-curricular learning a whole new experience,” states Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom Animation Inc.

In conjunction with this announcement, Toon Boom is launching the Flip Boom Classic Teacher Kit for SMART Boards, which includes a license of Flip Boom Classic as well as its respective curricula for $149.99. A Classroom lab license is also available for $499.99. Flip Boom Classic runs on MAC and PC.

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22nd June 2011

New Annex Pro Partner Event

AnnexProAnnex Pro will be hosting a free seminar session along with Atempo titled Managing Digital Content Throughout Your Workflow with Backup and Archive. This July 7th evening session will be held at the Annex Pro office on Dunlevy in Vancouver, and will teach attendees how to:

  • Preserve and protect your digital content throughout the workflow
  • Optimize your SAN or NAS storage by rolling out a low cost disk or tape archive
  • Create a content archive that’s easily accessible to all your users
  • Reduce clutter in shared work areas through automatic archiving
  • Manage your content’s metadata for more effective search and retrieval

This event is recommended for:

  • Creative or IT professionals who manage digital content and/or the storage systems supporting creative workflows
  • Anyone looking for a better way to control storage growth, especially HD, 3D and stereoscopic
  • Anyone wanting to simplify content reuse and monetize their existing content

The doors will open for registration, refreshments and networking at 5:30pm, with the speaker session running from 6pm to 7pm.

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22nd June 2011

D-Box Theatre Experience Just Got Bigger In Texas

D-BoxD-BOX Technologies Inc. has signed its first agreement with Texas-based ShowBiz Cinemas to equip ShowBiz Cinemas 12 in Waxahachie, Texas with 25 D-BOX MFX Seats.

“Texas continues to be one of our fastest growing U.S. markets and we are delighted to name ShowBiz Cinemas as one of our newest exhibitors, further expanding our global footprint,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master.

“A provider of first-class entertainment, ShowBiz Cinemas is looking forward to offering D-BOX in its first theatre,” said Kevin Mitchell, President and CEO of ShowBiz Cinemas. “We plan to thrill audiences with the debut of the new motion technology this summer and anticipate that guests will truly enjoy this one-of-a-kind immersive movie experience.”

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22nd June 2011

Liberty Studios Ready To Open Doors In Toronto

Liberty StudiosLocated in downtown Toronto, Liberty Studios will officially open to musicians, producers, editors and film makers on June 27th.  Named by Mix magazine as “The Class of 2011:  A Collection Of This Year’s Hottest New Studios”, the Martin Pilchner designed, multi-million dollar studio, surpasses any facility of its kind in the city providing the ultimate one stop shop in audio and visual production.  Situated in Liberty Village, the 6,000 square foot media facility, blends top of the line innovative design elements alongside functionality, catering to every imaginable need.  Client services include production, composition and arrangements, recording and mixing tools, sound design, video / audio editing and video capture.

Liberty Studios contains a 1,600 square foot soundstage / live room aptly named The Liberty Ballroom.  It includes three isolation booths for sound control, an expansive drum room, an automated 16:9 screen and a 5.1 surround sound system. The sheer size caters to large-scale live recordings, lectures, film screenings, product launches and Liberty Studiosprivate events. The studio also includes a 600 square foot control room specifically designed for surround recording, a series of production rooms to create, record, edit and mix both audio and video, as well as a commercial kitchen.

Liberty Studios not only offers clients premier equipment, but also an experienced and accomplished staff that provide highly trained and seasoned services.  Newly appointed Vice President of Business Development and Sales, Brian Hetherman, brings his diverse experience to oversee client acquisition, client management and the creation of new business strategies.  Hetherman’s career highlights include Director of A&R at Universal Music, Head of MCA Music Publishing, Executive Director of the Radio Starmaker Fund, President of the Music Managers Forum in Canada and Vice President of Industry Affairs at FACTOR.  He also owns a management company, Cerberus Artist Management, and record label, Curve Music.

Hetherman joins Liberty’s President John Payne, a man with three decades of music industry knowledge in roles such as producer, engineer, technician, consultant and philanthropist.  In the early eighties Payne became Chief Engineer for S.O.L.A.R. Records’ roster of artists as well as many others including Bobby Brown and Paula Abdul.  In 1991, he co-founded the largest hip-hop label in history, Death Row Records, launching the careers of 2Pac, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.  Payne remains the owner of a production company, Payne Productions and Engineering LLC, a management and consulting company, END Management and Consulting LLC, and a publishing company, GJTM Publishing.

In addition to a space that caters to those in the entertainment industry, Liberty Studios is also a new event space in the city, perfect for music showcases, photo and video shoots, non-profit fundraisers, and private corporate events of a variety of sizes.

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22nd June 2011

Aviva Community Fund Competition Version 3

avivaAviva Canada, one of the country’s leading providers of home, auto, recreational vehicle, group and business insurance, is proud to announce that the Aviva Community Fund competition will return in the fall of 2011. In 2009 and 2010, Canadians overwhelmingly answered the call, proposing over 4,000 ideas and casting more than four million votes in support of causes from every province and territory. Do your local youth centres or seniors’ groups need support? Are you ready to make a difference? Year three of the competition kicks off on September 26, 2011.

The company will once again offer $1 million to encourage Canadians to lead, empower and support community initiatives across the country. Whether it’s a project that will help get at-risk youth off the street and back into school, or other ways to extend a hand to those in need, the Aviva Community Fund enables individuals and groups to not only submit a community initiative for funding, but also become actively involved in making change happen.

Launched in the fall of 2009, the Aviva Community Fund competition has already provided over $1.5 million in funding to numerous charities and community groups including youth programs, animal shelters, public schools, camps and centres for those affected by disabilities or illness.

Canadians are encouraged to submit their ideas on the competition’s website and visitors to the site are asked to vote for their favourite ideas so they can advance through to the competition’s final round, at that stage they will be evaluated by an independent panel of judges. Also visit, and Like, the Aviva Community Fund Facebook page for additional program information.

 

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22nd June 2011

Deus Ex Human Revolution QR Scavenger Hunt Begins

Eidos MontrealSquare Enix, Inc. and Eidos–Montreal have launched the  Deus Ex®: Human Revolution™ (DXHR) QR Missions App for fans of  Deus Ex: Human Revolution, wherein participants will have the opportunity to win exclusive real world prizes as well as in–game rewards. In order to join the  DXHR QR Missions Scavenger Hunt, fans should visit the App store on their iOS device. The first code is already available in the exclusive content section of the game’s official Facebook page. New codes will be released every week for the next seven weeks.

Fans should visit the App store to download the App (Deus Ex: Human Revolution QR Missions) for their iOS device DXHR QR Missionsand register for the Deus Ex: Human Revolution QR Missions. Participants must be 17–years–old or older, have an iOS device with a camera and be able to register using Facebook Connect. Participants will also have to choose their preferred gaming platform.

Once the App is installed, users can begin looking for QR Codes — both online and in the real world — in a variety of locations including marketing and public relations materials, in–store advertising, the official website and Facebook page, and more. Hints for code locations will appear on the Official Eidos–Montreal Twitter feed as well as the game’s official Facebook page.

When a code is found, participants will use their iOS device equipped with a camera to scan it, thereby capturing that code and earning themselves (and all participants) 10 points.

The  DXHR QR Missions Scavenger Hunt delivers elite rewards for the fastest and most thorough code collectors as well as an amazing prize for all participants through a larger, unified goal. These prizes include:

  • For each code scanned, users receive an item immediately including special game footage, secret codes to unlock in–game doors, “Augment Yourself” codes and other assets and info from the game.
  • The first 1,000 participants to find 10 codes will receive an exclusive theme for their preferred platform (either the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft or the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system). These themes will be available for sale at a later date.
  • If the collective score for all participants reaches 1,000,000 points before August 23 (the North American release date), all registered participants in the  DXHR QR Missions Scavenger Hunt will receive an exclusive item for their Xbox LIVE Avatar or for PlayStation®Home. This item will be a toy version of the in–game “B–EE Chopper” that will appear as an Avatar prop item for their Xbox LIVE Avatar and will be available as a companion that follows the user within PlayStation®Home.
  • The first 10 participants to collect ALL 21 QR codes will receive the following prize package:
    1. One (1) copy of  Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition (system based upon original console selection)
    2. One (1) pair of Custom  Deus Ex: Human Revolution headphones
    3. One (1) Square Enix Products Play Arts – Kai – Adam Jensen Action Figure
    4. One (1)  Deus Ex: Human Revolution Limited Edition Compression Sleeve

Users can find the first code in the  DXHR QR Missions Scavenger Hunt on the game’s official Facebook Page on the “Exclusive Content” tab. Participants must “Like” the page in order to see the code. Additional codes will be unleashed immediately.

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21st June 2011

New Book Release – Cloud CIO Strategy

Cloud CIO StrategyToday’s markets are all about velocity and differentiation. Businesses need to compete hyper-aggressively in a price driven environment that’s saturated with choices for the consumer.  In his new book Cloud CIO Strategy, Toronto author Bruce D’Sena describes the pivotal transformation that’s required if companies want to keep up the pace and stay profitable.

Social networks, The Internet of Things, Wireless connectivity and the Cloud are just some of the disruptive forces dramatically changing the way consumers and businesses interact.  Yet, despite technology’s progress, the chasm between what a business typically needs and the value that their IT department provides is widening. The fundamental approach to how businesses apply information technology as well as their operating culture needs to change.

“Cloudsourcing and the Cloud’s utility service models can bring simplicity, flexibility and speed to businesses, with significantly lower expenditures and a much better cost structure,” says D’Sena. “But many companies approach this the wrong way and make things difficult for themselves. This is not an IT project, but a better approach to IT itself. To succeed, a Cloud strategy must be executed through partnerships that are properly matched, and must deliver incremental value to the business right from the start. Cloud CIO Strategy shows how this can be done.”

Traditional approaches are simply no longer relevant.  Companies that rely completely on their internal IT infrastructure are putting themselves on a path to certain extinction. The knowledge and currency lag, ridiculously high expenditures and other management overheads will drive them to the ground. The social and product frameworks that drive consumer ecosystems are also transitioning to the Cloud, so companies that wait too long are just going to be left behind. The most dynamic new players are already taking advantage of opportunities that Cloud models provide, and getting ahead of the game.

This book is meant to be an eye opener for business and technology executives, as well as for the investment and entrepreneurial community in general. Cloud CIO Strategy conveys a sense of urgency and provides the direction and tools to get started. Filled with ideas and examples, the book addresses Cloud concepts and their relevance to business strategy as well as their application in practice. Topics covered include Cloud fundamentals and architecture, the unique characteristics of utility computing and Cloudsourcing partnerships, organizational aspects, distribution of responsibilities, strategic planning, and many other insightful perspectives on leadership, transition and culture.

The book also includes an engrossing commentary on the Cloud’s confluence with disruptive areas like Wireless Payments and Augmented Reality, and their related impacts on online commerce. Cloud CIO Strategy is available in hardcover and paperback from Lulu Press.

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