Village Gamer

The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) and Bell Media have expanded their program to bring more diverse writers into the talent pool of Canadian screenwriting. The invitation is now open for interested writers in western Canada to answer a call for applications to take part in this intense hands-on educational program taking place in Vancouver this December.

This session is for writers who live west of Ontario, as they must apply to the Vancouver session, while writers east of Manitoba must apply to the Toronto session. More information for the Spring 2012 Toronto session will be released later this Fall. Out of town writers who are selected for the immersion program will be awarded bursaries to cover their travel and accommodation expenses. The application deadline for this session is September 6th.

The Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program (formerly known as The CTV Diverse Screenwriters Program) reaches out to offer emerging and mid-career writers from diverse backgrounds the chance to hone the skills they need to become successful professional screenwriters.  And one writer will come out of the program with a paid internship on a Bell Media TV series.

Each session of the Program will offer up to eight writers a one-week intensive workshop, featuring lectures, guest speakers, screenings, and more.  This immersion phase will launch the writers’ development of their original script.  After the workshop, each writer will partner with an experienced screenwriter mentor to hone their script and pitch, finishing the program with a polished calling card to the industry.  In addition, one writer will be selected by jury for a paid internship in a writers’ room on a Bell Media conventional television or specialty service show.

Eligibility Requirements in Brief:

• Not currently be enrolled in any full-time school or university program.
• Demonstrate ownership of all underlying rights to the project with which they are applying.
• Be a Canadian citizen or Landed Immigrant.
• Demonstrate in their support material an understanding of the fundamentals of screenwriting such as story arcs and character development.
• Be able to make a commitment to the one-week intensive training and the subsequent 10-12 week mentoring process.
• If chosen, be in a position to accept a paid internship on an existing television series.

Please visit the program’s web pages for a full list of requirements, FAQs and the application package (PDF). The Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program presented by the WGC is made possible through the CTV-CHUM tangible benefits. Contact Elizabeth Stewart if you have further questions.

My two cents’ worth: I hope that those of you who are contemplating this program bite the bullet and apply. If I had had access to, or even known about, the myriad of programs available in this country for creative people, especially writers, when I was much younger – granted, there are more programs now than there was back in the stone-age – and had I been encouraged to follow my creative tendencies, I would have a very different career history from the one I have now. When you see an opportunity like the one above, take it – whether you are successful in your application or not – make the attempt.

Sympatico.ca, which reaches 9.5 million Canadians (according to ComScore), has launched a new mobile application for smartphone users across the nation. The free bilingual app will give Canadians one tap access to the best in news, music and entertainment including stories from across the Sympatico portal. The Sympatico.ca mobile app is available for download now from popular application stores or by visiting apps.sympatico.ca.

The app uses best-of-breed mobile functionality to refine content based on opt-in user preferences and location-based services (LBS). This elevates the user experience by taking the work out of finding relevant information. It also has a QR (2D barcode) reader to make interacting with mobile codes even easier.

“Sympatico.ca is defining the next era of mobile applications for Canadians by demonstrating what is possible when you leverage innovative design, technology and content to engage people,” said David MacPhie, Associate Director, Mobile Products, Sympatico.ca. “Mobile apps have emerged as powerful content distribution channels for consumers and advertisers alike. We’re giving our audience another convenient way to access the content they love by combining it with progressive mobile technology.”

Designed for ease of use and speed, the Sympatico.ca mobile app revolves around an innovative interface featuring quick access to the full depth of Sympatico.ca’s content including news headlines, local weather, celebrity gossip, horoscopes, music, autos and sports. A bevy of features including push notifications, bilingual support, user preferences, social sharing (SMS, Email, Twitter and Facebook) and a QR code reader create an optimal experience for all Canadians to engage with content that resonates.

N-able Technologies^® has announced Policy Manager, a new suite of complementary tools designed to make comparing and reporting on Group Policy Object (GPO) settings dramatically easier and less time consuming.

Designed for use by MSPs and IT managers, N-able’s new Policy Manager offers an important defense against group policy inconsistencies, potential security weaknesses and other factors that can negatively impact network uptime. The solution features two powerful tools — GPO Compare and GPO Exporter — for comparing and exporting GPO settings, including comparing live GPOs to GPO backups, and exporting all GPO settings to Excel. Simplifying the management and consolidation of group policies with these tools saves time and eliminates costly configuration errors.

As an integral part of Microsoft Windows, GPOs offer management and configuration of operating systems, applications and users’ settings in an Active Directory or local environment. But for many IT professionals and MSPs, GPOs also require ongoing monitoring and maintenance — a task that is both tedious and inefficient if performed manually, according to Robert Grapes, director of product management and product marketing, N-able Technologies.

“Policy Manager makes reporting, sorting and searching on Group Policy settings significantly faster and easier, particularly when comparing settings across multiple GPOs,” says Grapes. “The software’s intuitive interface and easy-to-use sorting and searching capabilities provide not only a significant time savings for busy IT professionals, but also offers greater cost advantages compared to other offerings on the market, which are typically offered as part of a much larger, more expensive solution.”

Now available, N-able’s Policy Manager includes:

• Support for the latest policy settings from Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008-R2
• Group Policy comparison capabilities to quickly identify inconsistencies
• Group Policy export features that allow administrators to choose which settings to export, and to search and sort for specific settings
• Capabilities to compare live GPOs with GPO backups to quickly find setting differences
• Selective exporting of GPO settings from one or more GPOs to a variety of formats including CSV, Excel and PDF
• Powerful keyword searching to easily find settings
• Sorting capabilities that allow MSPs and IT managers to quickly discover redundant settings
• Powerful command-line PowerShell (Microsoft’s task automation framework) interfaces for automated comparison and reporting

Intertainment Media Inc. has completed the previously announced arm’s length strategic transaction with Commobility Inc. providing enhanced technology and revenue capabilities to Intertainment.

As part of Intertainment’s ongoing strategy to create a richer and deeper relationship with its users across all its divisional lines of business, Commobility offers the addition of key development in the mobile arena, including proprietary intellectual properties extending the reach of Intertainment’s services globally.

Intertainment has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Commobility pursuant to a share purchase agreement between Intertainment and the shareholders of Commobility. In consideration for all issued and outstanding shares of Commobility, Intertainment will issue 6,000,000 common shares at a deemed price of $0.70 per Intertainment Share to the Commobility Vendors over a period of one calendar year from the closing date pursuant to a voluntary escrow agreement, with 48% of the Intertainment Shares having been released upon the closing of the transaction.

The escrow agreement provides that the remaining 3,120,000 Intertainment Shares will be released to the Commobility Vendors in segments of 13% at the end of each of the calendar quarters following the closing date. The acquisition of Commobility provides Intertainment and its subsidiaries, Ortsbo Inc. and Ad Taffy Inc, a platform to operate on mobile devices and access to software and patents in development and developed by Commobility, which will significantly enhance the reach of the translation capabilities of the Ortsbo platform as well as other Intertainment divisional offerings.

Commobility assets include patent applications and software platforms for creating generic communication channels based on device proximity as well as enabling translation between devices in close proximity to each other. With this acquisition, in the near term, Ortsbo’s translation capabilities will span situations where translation occurs on single device, multiple devices that are in proximity to each other and between users that are anywhere in the world on any device through cross-language, cross-device social network and Ortsbo’s cross-social network translation applications.

Pulse The World is excited to announce the release of v1.2 of its real-time, location-based mobile platform and application. The newest features of the app allow Pulse The World users greater insight into the world around them, further interaction with other users. In addition to the ability to link with other social networks, such as Twitter, and share what is happening with even more people.

Benjamin Roberts of Pulse The World explains that v1.2 “enhances the service for both the individual user and the entire community. While features like the time filter allow individual users a greater ability to find out what is going on around them in a more specific time frame, up and down voting allows the entire Pulse The World community to decide which pulses contain the most valuable information. Users now have a sense of the impact their contribution is making to the community at large.”

Latest features of v.1.2 include:

• New user experience interface for content creation and interaction

• Tight integration with Twitter allowing Pulses to be spread to other networks and groups of people

• Individual pulse statistics including the reach of content and a reliability score based on community votes

• The ability to respond to pulses directly, creating a conversation between the original creator and those curious about the content

• Individual statistics which show the total reach of your own content, as well as a personal Karma score, the cumulative ranking of your Pulses as determined by the Pulse The World community

• A time filter that makes it easy to find the most relevant time and location-based information

• Speed improvements to increase navigability and ease-of-use

Pulse the world is available as a free download on iTunes

Integrated information technology services company Victrix has been chosen by Microsoft as “Partner of the Year” in Canada from among all the Canadian companies that put their names forward for this title. Over 3,000 partners from around the world registered for the competition and only one was selected per country. Victrix will receive this honour at the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), an annual event attended by over 17,000 participants from all over the world, to be held this year in Los Angeles from July 10 to 14.

Through this award, Microsoft recognizes all the efforts Victrix has made over the past twelve months to develop markets for collaborative solutions, unified communications and technology infrastructure. One of the ways in which Victrix stood out from the other companies in the running was in the area of Customer Immersion Experience (CIE). These sessions allow users to simulate real-life business situations using computers equipped with the latest tools such as Microsoft Office 2010 suite, SharePoint collaboration software and Lync communication software, to name just a few. Since September 2010, Victrix has organized more than 40 CIE sessions in Montreal and Quebec City. They have been attended by around 320 participants, who were able to test and assess the many opportunities offered by the latest Microsoft technologies.

Jean Julien, Victrix Director of Alliances and Partnerships, considers CIEs to be “the most effective, individualized way to demonstrate the effectiveness of the state-of-the-art products offered by Microsoft.” He added: “This title clearly shows Microsoft’s recognition for our efforts in promoting the full value of the Office 2010 suite. The title of Canadian Partner of the Year once again illustrates the relationship of trust we have with Microsoft and reaffirms our expertise in providing tailor-made, secure solutions that allow all users to work together and interact effectively in order to increase the company’s performance.”

Victrix Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board Marc-André Poulin will receive the award on behalf of Victrix. Poulin has also been invited to attend a dinner held by Microsoft’s Corporate Vice-President of Worldwide Partner Group, John Roskill, at the WPC. Jean Julien has been asked to give two presentations and participate in a panel discussion. Finally, Stéphan Gariépy, Victrix’s Vice-President for Eastern Quebec, will also participate in a panel discussion held during the event. During the forums, these three Victrix standard-bearers will take the opportunity to talk about the full potential of CIE and share the company’s success in this area.

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the University of Calgary’s Ward of the 21^st Century (W21C) Research and Innovation Centre yesterday, where they experienced some of the world’s most advanced approaches to health research, education and technology.

“The Royal Couple were intrigued by the cutting-edge health practices and technologies being developed at our W21C Research and Innovation Centre,” said Elizabeth Cannon, President, University of Calgary, who led the Duke and Duchess through their tour of the facility. “We are honoured to be the only university on Their Royal Highnesses’ tour of Canada, and what they saw here was unique. The University of Calgary is one of Canada’s top research universities, and we were thrilled to showcase the work we are doing to help define the future of health and patient care.”

The Duke, who is a search and rescue pilot with the Royal Air Force, was shown several fascinating new healthcare tools including an eye-tracking system used to monitor and improve tasks performed by health care providers; a “wireless bandage” that continuously monitors core body temperature; a human patient simulator who can help simulate real-world health care scenarios; a pressure monitoring pad to help prevent bed sores; and a new computer keyboard designed for easy cleaning and sterilization in hospital settings. Read the rest of this entry »

Telus and US-based Rdio have announced that they intend to enter into an agreement that will give Telus smartphone customers the ability to subscribe to Rdio, an unlimited, on-demand social music service, via their existing Telus account. Rdio, founded by the creators of Skype, is the first service in Canada to bring social music discovery to mobile devices, giving users instant access to a growing catalogue of nearly nine million songs. Direct carrier billing will provide Telus customers with a secure, convenient, and easy way to subscribe to Rdio, and to access and share their music on the go.

Rdio is changing the way people discover, share and listen to music. For $10/month, Rdio users can play any song, album, artist and playlist as many times as they like, without ever hearing a single ad. Users also have access to new albums the day they are released. With Rdio, users can discover new and old favourites, and follow friends, people with similar musical tastes, recording artists and other influencers to see what they are listening to, and even collaborate on playlists. Rdio makes music sharing effortless thanks to integration with Facebook and Twitter which enables users to easily share their favourite songs, albums and playlists with friends.

Rdio syncs seamlessly across all of the user’s screens: PC and Mac computers, tablets, and of course smartphones, including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7. That means users can pick up exactly where they left off, regardless of the device they’re listening on. Rdio also enables users to sync music to their mobile devices, so they can listen offline when there is no mobile signal or Internet connection.

“Telus is focused on curating the best Internet-based services for our mobile customers by partnering with innovative service providers who are leading on the global stage.  We want to deliver a superior customer experience by making it easy for our customers to enjoy the best of what brands like Rdio have to offer and empower them to choose the services that are right for them,” said Brent Johnston, vice-president of mobility solutions at Telus. “Our customers have told us that being able to customize their mobile experience with the services they want is important to them. Telus wants to make that easier, and of course to ensure their experience is second to none on Canada’s fastest (based on Telus’ tests of data throughput speeds in large Canadian urban centres) coast-to-coast 4G network.” Read the rest of this entry »

Canadian consulting firm Ideaca, a specialist in assisting customers through a portfolio of management consulting, advisory, implementation and support services, has announced that the company is expanding its retail practice into the United States.

Ideaca has been a leading provider of solutions to retailers for over 10 years with experience delivering Dynamics AX for Retail, combined with expertise in the end-to-end Microsoft suite. These solutions have delivered benefits for a variety of retail clients including LS Retail North America, Sobeys, Subaru and many others. Ideaca will now look to leverage that experience with a strong network of partners to deliver these solutions both in Canada and the United States.

Ideaca is a Certified Microsoft partner and has recently been recognized for numerous achievements including:

• 2011 Microsoft Dynamics Customer Excellence Award – Excellence in Industry Implementation for retail solution delivered to LS Retail North America
• 2011 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards – Dynamics Retail Partner of the Year Finalist
• Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club for 2011
• Certified Microsoft Partner with Gold competencies in ERP, CRM, Business Intelligence and Silver competencies in Portals & Collaboration, Application Integration, Virtualization, Data Platform and Web Development

“We are proud to recognize Ideaca from our highly valued worldwide partner network,” said Jon Roskill, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Corp. “We applaud the unique perspective and creativity they bring to solving customer business and technology challenges. Our strong partnership along with their commitment to customers plays an essential role in our mutual, long-term success.”

“Ideaca is committed and focused on delivering value-based solutions to the retail industry,” said James Gurney, Director, Retail Solutions, Ideaca. “We look forward to helping clients across North America reduce costs, increase operational efficiencies and streamline core business processes with our integrated retail solution offerings.”

Intelliware Development Inc. is pleased to announce its sponsorship of CodeRetreat on July 10, 2011. This one-day intensive practice event provides a unique opportunity for developers to improve their skills, interact with other colleagues in the development community and learn a range of new techniques and problem-solving skills. The sold-out event will be facilitated by Jason Cheong-Kee-You and Alistair McKinnell, both of whom have extensive experience with participating in and facilitating code retreats.

CodeRetreat will focus on the fundamentals of software development and design. Because CodeRetreat is held outside the workplace and regular business hours, participants will have a unique opportunity to collaborate in a highly focused environment. This format has proven to be highly effective for improving development skills. The event is fully sponsored and hosted by Intelliware Development.

“Intelliware has been a strong supporter of the developer community for over 20 years,” explains Bruno Schmidt, CTO, Intelliware. “We have been participating in the sponsorship, promotion and leadership of various events and organizations such as AgileTour, AgileAlliance and XP Toronto. We also host www.i-proving.ca, a technical community and destination for developers, Agile practitioners and people who share a passion for technology. CodeRetreat provides a perfect opportunity to further support this community and we are proud to be its sponsor and host.”