Village Gamer

The Next Global Stage-Challenges and Opportunities in Our Borderless World
Author: Kenichi Ohmae
Publisher: Wharton School Publishing March 2005
Hardcover: 312 pages

In some ways, I was a little disappointed with this publication, yet in many others I was pleased to see Wharton School Publishing live up to the expectations I have of them in regards to the quality of their books. What I found disappointing in The Next Global Stage is that it is often repetitive. While certainly, there are points which may need reinforcing, I feel there were better ways the author could have approached the topic, and spent more time discussing global business for smaller enterprises instead of the large corporations.

The author did find a good balance of positive and negative factors to consider in regards to taking businesses out on the global market, but I found that the book focused too much on what governments were doing to enhance their share of the global strategy, and didn’t focus enough on individual businesses and what smaller companies could do to increase their global market share. We are not interested in outsourcing, which is covered extensively in this book. We keep our technical support in-house; primarily because we are global, and can offer support to those seeking our services in many languages, and usually from within their own country. The Next Global Stage, while doing a very good job of explaining how the global market is helping the economies of the countries this book focused on, it did not, in my opinion, adequately discuss the downfalls of outsourcing areas such as technical support services, and the public’s perception of this practice.
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Gormley – Digital Leisure Inc. a leading developer and publisher of interactive video-based titles and console games, announced today the launch of Sudoku 100,000,000 on the AppStore, designed exclusively for your iPhone and iPod Touch.

With over 100,000,000 Sudoku puzzles, you’ll never see the same puzzle twice in Sudoku 100,000,000. You can select the classic nine-by-nine Sukodu gameboards as well as Grand Sudoku, which challenges you to complete five intersecting Sudoku boards simultaneously! Just a beginner? Don’t worry – With three difficulty options, even the most novice player can complete a Sudoku with ease. But if you’re a seasoned pro, challenge yourself in ‘Expert’ mode and test your true skills. It’s time to get your thinking cap on and see how many Sudoku puzzles you can conquer!

Sudoku 100,000,000…the last Sudoku app you’ll ever have to buy is now available for only $1.99 usd on the AppStore.

Digital Leisure plans to follow up Sudoku 100,000,000 with classic arcade shooter Mad Dog McCree and other iPhone and iPod Touch titles in the coming months.

Waterloo – The majority of people consider browser history to be private, but that is no longer the case. Any website you visit can determine your browser history by exploiting the very features designed to enhance your Internet experience, a fact many people are not aware of.

Sample Collage - Not From Our PC

Web2.0collage.com is a new site designed to illustrate how easily browser history can be sniffed by compiling a list of popular (and safe for work) websites illustrating which ones the user has visited. Once this list has been compiled it is used to produce a visual collage representative of the user’s browser history, providing an artful reminder to all who visit that their private history really isn’t all that private.

The first version of Web2.0collage.com was created in a weekend by Holden Karau (a.k.a. pantsd), a University of Waterloo student. What started as a quick hack to learn new programming techniques quickly gained momentum as interest in the privacy implications of the project spread by way of Slashdot. The University of Waterloo Computer Science Club (CSC) graciously provides the computing resources necessary to keep Web2.0collage.com online. As traffic to the site increased Anthony Brennan (a.k.a. hatguy), a fellow student and CSC sysadmin, quickly offered to help resolve critical scalability issues resulting from the crushing load of curious users. For the technically inclined the source code is made available for review under the terms of the AGPL.
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Halifax – Following a hard-fought tournament, 23 year old Matt Wood emerged as the undisputed winner of the FIFA Soccer 2009 Pan-American Qualifier on Saturday. The Windsor, Ontario resident will represent Canada at the next WCG Pan-American Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico, from September 11-13. All expenses will be paid for by WCG (air travel, accomodation and meals on site). Also known as “Wizikakor” to his opponents, Wood defeated FijiStyler in the final. Thanks to all who participated!

WCG Canada is also pleased to announce the first qualifying tournaments for the upcoming  World Cyber Games Canada Nationals.  This year, Canada will be entering players for Guitar Hero: World Tour and Virtua Fighter 5 on the XBOX 360 console system as well as Counter-Strike 1.6.  Another official game title will be announced over the next few days.

The Eastern Canada Qualification will take place from July 24-26, in the Greater Toronto Area.  Long time WCG Canada partner, LANapalooza, will be host of this important tournament.  This qualifier allows players to move on to the WCG Canada National Finals, which will be held next August in Toronto.

Participants must be Canadian citizen and must have a valid passport to travel to China where the World Cyber Games Grand Final will take place later this year.

Register now to take part in the only live qualifier in Eastern Canada this summer.  For more details about the tournament rules and registration, please visit www.zeropingevents.com.