Village Gamer

The Khronos Group has announced a 3D content development contest with a $500 cash prize for the winner. The open COLLADA format is ideal for creating compelling experiences, but a great example is worth a thousand words. This is where you come in. Help Khronos show the power of COLLADA by creating a compelling piece of 3D content the group can use as an example for its large and growing developer community.

Deadline is Sunday August 7th, 2011 at 11:59PM PST. The winner will be announced at our event at the SIGGRAPH 2011 conference in Vancouver and be awarded the $500. For full details on how to take part please read the Design Brief on the contest page.

Raindance Canada presents an intensive weekend workshop designed to give young filmmakers hands-on experience in screenwriting, producing & directing a short film. Participants in the Weekend Film Workshop For Teens will form film teams and get hands-on experience shooting a film as they take on the key creative roles in film production. A short film will be produced by each team by the end of the weekend, then screened in a mini-festival the following week.

This course is designed for aspiring young filmmakers age 14 and up interested in making films and knowing what it takes to create a viable filmmaking career. The Workshop will be held on August 13th and 14th  at the Centre for Social Innovation – Annex on Bathurst in Toronto. The cost for this workshop is $349.00 (+ tax) for non-members, or $319.00 (+ tax) for Raindance Canada members. Announced mentors for this workshop include James Cooper, Yaw Attuah, Charles M. Scott and Brian Smith.

Day One of the workshop will feature a  Hands-on Shoot Pre-production session, where participants will undertake the following:

• Writing: Participants complete a short film script using essential story structure.
• Directing: Participants practice shot composition and learn about directing style, storyboards, working with actors & shoot to edit.
• Producing: Participants prepare a script breakdown, budget & negotiate fees, crew and production requirements.

On Day Two, the groups will move on to a day of production in  Let’s Make a Movie, where, under the mentorship of industry experts, participants work with actors and a camera operator to direct a short script and bring the film in on time and on budget. By the end of the weekend, each team will have completed pre-production and production of a short film.

For students interested in documentary filmmaking, there is an opportunity to join the documentary team under the mentorship of award-winning filmmaker Chuck Scott to create a documentary project covering this creative weekend.

Participants in this weekend intensive workshop will receive mentoring from industry professionals on the art, business and discipline of a working filmmaker’s life and receive valuable insider advice on starting a viable career in filmmaking in Canada. Participants could also win a chance to be part of the crew to film Raindance Canada’s next Trailer.

After the weekend workshop, there will be a screening of all the completed short films. Each team’s film will be edited by a Film Editor and the completed films will play at an invitation-only screening party at Raindance Toronto. Parents and friends are welcome to attend this red carpet event and celebrate the work of these young filmmakers.

IndustriOS Software Inc., developer of IndustriOS manufacturing suite integrated with Sage ERP Accpac is honoured to support the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation with the IndustriOS Golf for Kids with Cancer tournament being held Wednesday September 14, 2011.

The IndustriOS Golf for Kids with Cancer tournament offers IndustriOS and Sage Software customers, partners, friends and family, with the opportunity to enjoy an afternoon of fun-filled golf while raising funds for the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation.  Included with the $100 registration fee per golfer are the Green Fee, Electric Cart, Crested Tee Package, Hat, Lunch and Dinner.  Friendly competitions, prizes and a 50/50 draw round-out the day for the golfers.  Online registration is available.  This event is being hosted from 12 Noon to 8:00pm at the Turtle Creek Golf Club in Campbellville, Ontario.

In support of the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, which benefits children’s cancer charities, this tournament follows the IndustriOS Software tradition of supporting charitable organizations and events such as Tour for Kids and the Arthritis Society’s Joints in Motion, and now Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation.  This impressive charitable organization raised $4.7 million in 2010, and is the only national childhood cancer charity in Canada. All receiptable funds, obtained through initiatives and events that promote healthy living, are delegated to charities and programs supported by the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation to help improve the survival and quality of life of children and their families afflicted with cancer including research, clinical care, and children’s cancer camps.

The company is proud to host the IndustriOS Golf for Kids with Cancer Tournament, and eagerly anticipates sharing this fun-filled day with IndustriOS customers and partners this autumn, and are honoured to support the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation.

The joy of choosing new school supplies doesn’t extend to all students during the back-to-school season. That’s why Staples Canada, and its customers look forward to helping children in the community receive the tools they need to learn, during the 6^thannual Back-to-School Supply Drive, which begins on July 23. Since its inception, Canada’s largest office supply retailer has helped raise over $3-million for students in need.

“When the school bell rings, not all children will have the supplies they need to succeed. Help give students-in-need the confidence to learn, by making a donation at your local Staples store,” said Steve Matyas, president of Staples, Canada.

Every Staples store in Canada will collect funds for the Back-to-School Supply Drive, and all donations collected, will remain in your local community.

“We hope Canadians keep up their good will by continuing to support the School Supply Drive,” says Matyas. “Last year, we raised over one-million dollars, and we would like to match or exceed that figure again this year. Giving back within the communities where we operate has always been important to us, and we want to continue to help support children’s education.”

Customers can make a donation from July 23 until September 6 at any Staples store, and in Quebec from July 31 until September 4.

Sirius XM Canada today revealed the winning communities for the inaugural Face the Music Summer Concert Series. After earning the highest average score within their region playing SiriusXM’s Face the Music Challenge, residents of Telkwa BC, Sault Ste. Marie ON, Baie-Comeau QC, and Sussex NB will receive an exclusive free summer concert experience in August courtesy of SiriusXM Canada.

Launched in June, the Face the Music challenge tested Canadians music knowledge for an opportunity to win an exclusive free concert experience for their hometown. The game awarded points for correctly identifying songs based on SiriusXM’s commercial-free music playlist. With more than 100,000 games played since launch, participation was strong with many Canadians taking to Twitter and Facebook to encourage their friends and neighbours to compete for their communities.

SiriusXM Canada subscribers and local game participants will be invited to the exclusive concerts. A number of select promotional tickets will be made available to area residents.

In addition, a grand prize consisting of a trip for 2 to attend the concert of the winner’s choice, spending money and a Sirius Satellite Radio with subscription will be awarded to the individual with the highest score. Nine secondary prizes will also be awarded.

The four exclusive free concert experiences include:

“We’re thrilled that Telkwa, Sault Ste. Marie, Baie-Comeau and Sussex are our Face the Music winners,” said Paul Cunningham, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, SiriusXM Canada. “It was terrific to see such strong community participation and with over 100,000 games played, it seems that everyone had a lot of fun. We’re proud to reward the winning communities with a free and exclusive concert experience from these incredibly talented Canadian artists.”

“Really looking forward to getting out to BC and rocking for you folks,” remarked John-Angus MacDonald of The Trews. “Congrats on the big win and thanks to everyone who participated. I’m sure it’ll be a grand ol’ time. Cheers!”

“From all of us in Broken Social Scene, we just want to thank the people of Sault Ste. Marie that took the time to play the game,” commented Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene. “We’re really looking forward to heading out and playing for all of our fans out there.”

“It’s cool that the Sirius Face The Music Summer Concert series puts the power in the hands of local communities to bring one of the shows of the summer to their hometown,” said Eon Sinclair of Bedouin Soundclash.  “You have to know your music, listen in, answer quickly, and rally your people online to make it happen – looking forward to sharing a wicked night of Canadian music with everyone in Sault Ste. Marie.”

“I think it’s an incredible idea to give people a chance to put their musical knowledge to use to try to win my show in their city,” says Marie-Mai.  “Rock on Baie-Comeau!”

“Congratulations to all those who played and who know their rock,” commented Alfa Rococo.  “We cannot wait to play in Baie-Comeau!”

“It’s great how many people played to get us to come to their hometown,” said Dallas Green of City and Colour. “I’m really looking forward to coming to New Brunswick and performing for everyone.”

Cambridge based software company iVenuto has launched its first business app for the Apple iPad platform. Sign In, the reception desk visitor registry app is now available on iTunes App store for the introductory price of $24.99 (regular price $28.99). This innovative app is the first of its kind, allowing users to convert their iPad device into an easy-to-use Visitor registry.

Most offices require all visitors or contractors to “sign in,” satisfying the needs of health and safety concerns providing an accurate head count in the event of an emergency. The head count is given to emergency officials when asked if everyone is present and accounted for during a fire evacuation, for example.

The problem is: most visitor registries are paper binders with a collection of illegible scribblings, purposely so to keep competitors unaware of appointments or to hide personal information when asked for an email or license plate by the host company.

The “Sign In” app addresses this problem by keeping all information private. Visitors enter their own information on a graphical interface that mimics a paper page in a book. Visitors can not see the information on previous visitors.

Data collected on each visitor is unique to each company’s policy. The data is then easily accessible to only administrative staff. A custom report writing tool allows users to quickly create instant reports. The software also has a badge printing feature – creating personalized & dated color badges for each visitor (according to the software’s FAQ, this is done via AirPrint). The software also assigns a Sign In and Sign Out time stamp, managing a dynamic “on-premises” report.

Canadian-based manufacturer of satellite, RF equipment and microwave systems, Advantech Wireless Inc., has announced the launch of its newest generation of VSAT Hubs – the Discovery Series. The Discovery Series Hub is the perfect starter system offering better value for your dollar than any other manufacturer. The Discovery Series is a two-way, open standard (DVB-RCS), broadband satellite access system and includes a fully functional hub with 4 inbound carriers, scalable as your needs grow, all for under $50,000.

Overwhelming customer demand has driven the company to create a new series of Hubs for each market. The new Discovery series allows small to medium private satellite networks, commercial enterprises or government to get started today at the lowest possible cost.

As you grow, your investment remains intact, as the solution will scale with your needs. Advantech Wireless has removed all barriers to entry and has configured many systems for quick turnaround. For example, those companies seeking a turnkey package can opt for a complete, fully functional Hub along with 50 Remote Terminals (the S4120) from Advantech Wireless for less than $100,000.

• Lowest Entry Level Price: Starting at less than $50,000 for a fully-functional Hub
• Unmatched Features: 4 inbound carriers (Upgradeable to 32 carriers at a low incremental cost)
• Maximum Flexibility for Economical Scalability
• Up to18 Mbps Throughput
• Support for up to 500 terminals
• Minimize CAPEX and OPEX, instantly improve ROI
• DVB-RCS, DVB-S/S2
• Includes an Advantech Wireless Layer 3 Router!
• Advanced options available

Toronto’s emailtopia has announced the much-anticipated release of Response Manager 5.5, a product designed to help organizations manage their customer service email inboxes.

“We are very proud of the work completed by our development team that has allowed us to begin shipping Response Manager 5.5”, said emailtopia President and CEO Mike Senechal. “With the latest version of Response Manager we are ensuring that our product adapts to the latest changes in the marketplace, and continues to offer an affordable email management solution to both SMBs and large organizations.”

* JavaScript custom actions offers the ability to put in place dynamic business rules to satisfy very specific needs, such as updating information in other enterprise systems such as CRM. For instance, if a client emails an organization’s customer service team asking for a price quote, a custom business rule could be used to automatically update the organization’s CRM system with an instruction for the account manager to send the client a price quote.

* More flexible user scheduling. A new user scheduling option for Response Manager lets each user have two “working” time spans per day, which makes it easy to avoid assigning messages to users during break periods.

* Closed message reporting. A new Response Manager report is now available which assesses user performance based on the number of messages closed within the defined service level, as well as providing average close time values.

* SQL 2008 support

* Outlook 2010 support. Outlook 2010 is supported on any operating system, including Windows 7 (32- & 64-bit).

* Secure IMAP connection support.

* Pure JDBC database connections. Response Manager no longer requires additional SQL Server client software or an ODBC data source.

The Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC) is proud to announce that the Trailer Trashed 2011 competition is now open. Trailer Trashed is the environmental short film competition with a twist – all entries must be in the form of a movie trailer and convey this year’s waste reduction theme, The Unrecycled. Please see the competition web site for full details and contest rules.

Last year, 280 million beverage containers were not recycled in B.C. Despite the convenience of depots, return-to-retail options and the incentive of refundable deposits, containers are still trashed. Studies show there’s one group collectively responsible for 242 million of these missing containers. They’re mostly single, mostly male, and for the most part, aged 18-34. The other thing they mostly have in common is watching movies. That’s why RCBC wants filmmakers to help change this wasteful behaviour by making a movie! A movie trailer to be exact; a spectacular, entertaining movie trailer to enlighten this group to return their containers, collect their deposits, and help save the planet, one bottle and can at a time.

You can use animation, live action, claymation, Lego, toy soldiers or sock puppets, in any genre you like such as drama, horror, comedy, sci-fi, action, romance, musical, parody, satire or wherever you creative energies take you.

Anyone can enter, young or old, amateur or professional, as long as your entry is engaging, entertaining and enlightening. Enter as many films as you like. The trailers will be judged by a panel of RCBC staff, sponsor representatives and film industry experts. First prize is $2000 and HD video camera, second place is $1000 and third place is $500 plus all the fame and glory you can handle. Yes, fame and glory because these trailers will be used in a viral internet campaign to put an end to . . . THE UNRECYCLED!

Trailer Trashed is generously sponsored by Encorp Pacific, Belkorp Environmental Services Inc., London Drugs, the B.C. Film Commission and Warner Bros.

Virgin Mobile is bringing something awesome to the East Coast today as it opened the doors to its first flagship store in Canada’s Atlantic region at Halifax’s Mic Mac Mall.

“This flagship store truly amps up our presence in Halifax and brings the experience of Membership to life like nothing the East Coast has seen before,” says Robert Blumenthal, President, Virgin Mobile Canada. “We’ve created a full-on experience – from a great atmosphere to the best range of smartphones and more.”

The awesome space, helping spice up Nova Scotia’s largest mall, shows off all the hottest phones and gadgets that are up for grabs on the super-speedy 4G network. Plus, the new flagship store will sell tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and BlackBerry Playbook. For a limited time, Virgin Mobile is also offering a special deal of $100 off to Members who activate a smartphone in store.

Virgin Mobile’s flagship store was designed by IIBYIV Design Associates and is located in Mic Mac Mall at 21 MicMac Boulevard. Members and Member-wannabes can check out the store Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. and noon – 5 p.m. on Sunday.