Village Gamer

Cineplex Entertainment has announced that the official grand opening of the new IMAX theatre at SilverCity Windsor Cinemas will take place on Thursday July 14^th with a promotional presentation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: An IMAX 3D Experience. Beginning July 15^th, guests at SilverCity Windsor Cinemas can enjoy this highly anticipated final installment of the blockbuster film series based on the beloved books by J.K. Rowling.

The IMAX theatre at SilverCity Windsor Cinemas provides guests with an immersive movie-going experience. The theatre features revolutionary projection technology that delivers crystal-clear images and is complemented by IMAX’s latest sound system, which features its proprietary loudspeaker technology and uncompressed digital sound.

“SilverCity Windsor Cinemas is the first theatre in Southwestern Ontario to present the latest Hollywood movies in the immersive IMAX format,” said Pat Marshall, Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations, Cineplex Entertainment. “With the addition of the IMAX theatre, we are providing our guests in Windsor and the surrounding areas with a great new entertainment option to experience.”

Scene members who purchase tickets for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in IMAX 3D at SilverCity Windsor Cinemas between July 15^th and July 29^th will earn 500 bonus Scene points. Scene members earn points with every movie admission ticket purchased at Cineplex theatres and can redeem their points for free movies and other great entertainment rewards. The Scene program is free to join.

Tickets can be purchased for upcoming IMAX presentations at the theatre box office, through the Cineplex Mobile Apps, online at the Cineplex web site, or via the Cineplex mobile site.

Every year Canada’s three levels of government invest about $12 billion in grants and contributions, but many companies report that they have little understanding of how to access these resources. With today’s launch, The Funding Portal can help Canadian businesses secure public funding through four easy steps: Find It, which is free. Should you wish to Apply for It, Score It and Advance It through the Funding Portal,  these latter three steps all require the payment of fees based upon the amount being applied for, in return for professional reviews of your application and the ultimate submission of your funding request, as described below.

The Funding Portal website features TFP Search™, a high-powered search engine that allows users to instantly search all Canadian public funding programs. Users complete their applications in secure online workrooms and can have their drafts evaluated by the Portal’s Expert Review Panel to gain valuable feedback through a TFP Scorecard™.

The Funding Portal boasts Canada’s top funding experts, including: Marielle Piché, the former Executive Director of the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP); Dr. Kevin Goheen, a respected expert on tax credits (SREDs); and Dr. Sherif Barakat, a recently retired Vice President, National Research Council of Canada (NRC).

Businesses can also advance their applications using The Funding Portal’s advancement services provided by trusted accounting, law, government relations and intellectual property firms. The new service is already receiving praise from key industry associations, including the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) and Chambers of Commerce.

“Our members report significant challenges identifying the public funding programs that exist and in complying with the application processes—they welcome the launch of this public funding portal,” said John Reid, CATA’s president and CEO.

The Funding Portal is operated by the same group who operates The Funding Store, a private funding search and application service for Canadian businesses.

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CDW Canada has announced its sponsorship of popular Canadian race car driver Alex Tagliani in the Honda Indy Toronto and Honda Indy Edmonton. Tagliani is one of only three Canadian drivers entered in the Toronto event, which will be run at Exhibition Place from July 8 to 10, 2011.

“We’re pleased and proud to be sponsoring Alex in these exciting IndyCar races,” says Mary Ann Yule, Vice President and General Manager, CDW Canada. “In the world of technology, speed and precision is vital — just as in the racing world. Alex is a great representative of racing in Canada, and his skill, perseverance and positive attitude have made him one of the best Canadian racers ever.  As a Canadian company, we’re particularly strong supporters of his journey to the finish line in Toronto and Edmonton.”

Tagliani enters the Honda Indy Toronto fresh from back-to-back pole position in Texas and Indianapolis where he won the prestigious Indy 500 Pole Award, becoming the first Canadian ever to win 500 pole. Driving for the Sam Schmidt Motorsports team, the Montreal native has enjoyed much success during his career. After driving in the Champ Car World Series from 2000 to 2007, he now competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series where he recorded five top-ten finishes last year and finished 13^th overall.

The Honda Indy Toronto is Ontario’s largest annual sporting event, and this year’s race marks the 25^th anniversary of open-wheel racing excitement on the streets of Toronto. The 11-turn temporary street course near downtown Toronto has proven to be one of the most challenging IndyCar courses anywhere, and has hosted many of the world’s top drivers. Following this weekend’s race, CDW Canada’s support of Alex Tagliani will continue at the Honda Indy Edmonton from July 22 to 24, 2011.

Game publisher Wicked Interactive has announced that the popular, free-to-play, online first-person shooter Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.) will begin commercial launch today. Wicked Interactive’s SUBA Games platform, best known to shooter fans for such titles as Cross Fire, is hosting M.A.T. With the official commercial launch of M.A.T., SUBA Games endeavours to blow through expectations of all SUBA Games’ Cross Fire and M.A.T. fans.

“We are delighted to be launching M.A.T. 2.0 today,” said Sam Ho, Director of Wicked Interactive. “M.A.T. 2.0 comes with a massive amount new content and updates.  The biggest change is that the game is no longer in Open Beta status.  M.A.T. 2.0 strikes hard with its commercial release; rocking a new user interface, a new game mode, an expanded crafting system, seven maps and over a dozen weapons.”

Hybrid Invasion is a brand new game mode that is being introduced with this patch, expanding on the need to band together as team mates to survive.  Players will survive wave after wave of hybrid creatures that are a combination of AI robots, mummies and biological weapons.  If players survive long enough, they will encounter the Tyrant; a hammer-swinging monstrosity that’ll take a well trained and well armed squad to put down!

The expanded crafting system will allow players to create a variety of items out of multiple types of materials.  Before the patch, players had to collect just a robot part from AI Mode and use a Weapon Casting Machine on it to create one of several weapons.  With the new patch, players will be able to use all kinds of materials like PCB boards, diodes, metal, nylon, leather, dyes, etc to create not just weapons, but clothing and items as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Hothead Games producer Hamish Millar (heyyyy, we know that guy!) provides an in-depth tutorial of the gameplay from the Tower Mode in this new Kard Combat video.  Kard Combat, which is already available for Canadian iOS gamers will be unleashed upon the masses in the iTunes App Store on July 13th.

Watch the video to learn how players can earn upgrades for their mage, items, and additional cards by completing the Tower campaign.  The walkthrough covers basic strategy, offensive and defensive tactics, card combinations, and powerful spells.  This particular battle is fought out on the Master difficulty level, but nothing less should be expected from the producer of the game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcjfDJvq-Vc]

Kard Combat is rated 12+ for the following:

* Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
* Frequent/Intense Horror/Fear Themes
* Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 3.1.3 or later.

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.