Village Gamer

Happy first anniversary to Snowed In Studios. The Ottawa studio is currently working with Eidos Montreal on the upcoming Deus Ex: Human Revolution and recently worked with Artech Studios on The Undergarden for Atari. The Snowed In team has also worked with two other studios on our Favourites List, Behaviour and TransGaming. Here’s to many more years of gaming goodness for the team at Snowed In!

Vancouver indie developer Josh Brown has released his first Android title. Vertigo Towers is a physics based 3D action puzzler with 3 game modes which requires the player to match sets of three or more bricks and create chains for huge points. Vertigo Tower is OpenFeint-enabled complete with a Leaderboard and Achievements. There is both a paid version (1.99 USD) and a lite version available in Android Marketplace. I would buy this game if it became available for iPod Touch.

Relic and THQ have opened up the Warhammer®40,000®: Dawn of War®II – Retribution™ BETA to anyone who has bought a Dawn of War game through STEAM or has registered a Dawn of War II product on their STEAM account. In addition, gamers can get access to the beta by registering on the Dawn of War Community site and following the instructions under the Beta Key giveaway tab.

Featuring all six multiplayer races including the new Imperial Guard faction, the beta will run through the end of February to test the new Steamworks network and matchmaking features and help balance the multiplayer mode. All new units for each race will be available in the beta along with the new multiplayer maps that will ship with Retribution. The Dawn of War II – Retribution multiplayer beta is currently planned to run until midnight on February 24th, at which point the developers will take all feedback into account to create a day-zero balancing patch.

The Cavechild checked out the Retribution Beta last week, and his thoughts thus far are: HOLY WTF WIN! FREAKIN’ EPIC OMG WEEEEEE. That pretty much sums it up, there is more and all but that is for another time.

Retribution is very very VERY pretty, it a new thought out army panter so that you can see what many of you squads will look like, they made it a little less shiney and more grungy like the old dawn of war which is freaking amazing! The sound in the game, the effects, ambiance, voices, yelling, gunfire, tanks, orcs and so on are very clear even in the middle of a giant war with 2 Imperial guard armies taking down Orcs, more Orcs and some weird looking Eldar.

In my opinion the Imperial Guard are just a little OP considering I was able to beat down the Orc Warboss pretty easy, same with the Eldar Farseer. The game play is the same as the two games previous so none of you have to worry about changing style and how to do things. If I remember correctly you are allowed to import everything for Last Stand mode which is you versus a ton of AI which aren’t too hard then casually grow in difficulty. Dawn of War II: Retribution is by far one of the best games for 2011 and the year has only started…

Congratulations to the Mass Effect 2 team on all of the hardware they picked up at last evening’s AIAS Awards, winning in three categories: Outstanding Achievement in Story,  Role Playing / MMO Game of the Year and Game of the Year – and of course congratulations to Bioware co-founders Doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk on their induction into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame. Congratulations also to the FIFA 2011 team over at EA Sports for picking up the Sports Game of the Year award.

Frima Studio titles Widgets Odyssey I and Widgets Odyssey II are now available in Europe as a single game bundle for the super low price of £1.74 / €1.99! As PlayStation®Mini titles, Widgets Odyssey I and Widgets Odyssey II are playable on both PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®Portable. Both titles are rated as PEGI 7 (ESRB rated E for Everyone).

In the Widgets Odyssey saga, five robots aboard their space vessel have just one simple mission…to save the universe from the tyrannical Yagor and his evil henchmen! Armed with the unique abilities of Spad, Cosmo, Bruce, Helmut, and Monk, players will guide each robot along their exciting adventures filled with puzzles, mazes, minigames and intense platforming challenges.

If you’re in the Vancouver area on March 9th, you may be interested in attending BCTIA’s TechBrew event being held at the Stanley Park Pavilion. The mega-mixer invites entrepreneurs, investors, professional service providers or anyone interested in technology companies to meet, talk, and make new connections in a casual setting. Featured companies at the March event include: D2D Campaign Solutions, Gogiro, ikamobile, Jostle, Nexterra Systems Corp., NGRAIN, REV, Rx Networks, SewerVUE, Snap Technologies, Solegear Bioplastics and Wishpond. Tickets for TechBrew are $34.95 for BCTIA members, $44.95 for Non-Members or $19.95 for Students.

bant, an iPhone based application to help adolescents improve diabetes self-management by capturing, analyzing, and sharing their blood glucose data, is being tested by teenagers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Diabetes Clinic in Toronto. The pilot program will assess the impact that social networking and rewards that encourage and reinforce self-management behaviours have on young teens as they become more independent in managing their diabetes. The pilot will run for three months.

bant was developed by University Health Network (UHN) in collaboration with SickKids and with input from patients, families, doctors, nurses and engineers. The multidisciplinary teams from SickKids’ Diabetes Clinic and Division of Adolescent Medicine worked closely with colleagues at UHN to design the application. bant is partially funded by the Saint Elizabeth Health Care ACT research grant program.

People with type 1 diabetes need to maintain their blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible to decrease diabetes-related complications, such as kidney and heart disease. Optimal blood glucose is very hard to achieve; requiring frequent measurement of levels, detailed analysis of the results, and continued adjustments of the treatment plan.

A free version of bant is already available in 10 languages at the Apple App Store. An advanced version of the application has been developed for use in the pilot which will use a LifeScan OneTouch Mini blood glucose meter to collect and wirelessly transfer readings directly into bant using a Bluetooth adapter developed by the UHN team. The data are then displayed and organized visually. Teens can customize the tool to categorize readings according to their activities and daily schedule to enable accurate decision-making and medication adjustments. They will also be able to share their experiences in a private social network within the app and earn experience points leading to rewards in the form of iTunes redemption codes to purchase music and other apps. bant is integrated with TELUS health space, Powered by Microsoft HealthVault, giving pilot participants the ability to store, review, and control the sharing of their personal health information with their care team and family members.

Sierra Wireless has unveiled a multi-purpose wireless gateway that defines next-generation intelligent machine-to-machine (M2M) networking. The powerful Sierra Wireless AirLink™ GX400 gateway offers a leading-edge combination of features, including cloud-based device management, extensive hardware and software enhancements, mil-spec ruggedness, GPS and associated location-based services, and advanced configuration options with comprehensive expandability for both hardware and software features.

Flexible and powerful enough to meet the needs of a wide range of applications in the transportation, industrial M2M and enterprise markets, the AirLink GX400 will make solution deployment faster, easier and less expensive for mobile system operators, OEMs, application service providers and end customers. With the AirLink GX400, system integrators can standardize on a single gateway platform to serve the needs of all of their customers.

Sierra Wireless also announced AirLink Management Services (AMS), which will facilitate comprehensive cloud-based device management for the AirLink GX400, as well as other AirLink intelligent gateways and routers. Based on the Sierra Wireless AirVantage™ Platform, this powerful hosted device management service means small and large deployments can affordably take advantage of the comprehensive AMS management features from any location with Internet access.

Sierra Wireless boosted processing performance five-fold, basing the AirLink GX400’s design on an ARM 11-class microprocessor architecture operating with high-capacity DDR memory. This provides a powerful foundation for exploiting existing and new features and functionality. Other hardware enhancements include external antenna connectors, Ethernet, Serial and USB “OTG” (On-the-Go), as well as an expansion slot to accommodate future integrated add-on capabilities such as additional physical interfaces and wireless local and personal area networking and communications.

Congratulations to the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood writing team who picked up the Writers’ Guild of America award last night for Video Game Writing: Story by Patrice Desilets, Jeffrey Yohalem, Corey May; Lead Script Writer: Jeffrey Yohalem; Script Writers: Ethan Petty, Nicholas Grimwood, Matt Turner; Ubisoft

TELETOON Canada Inc. is taking the original TELETOON Pilot Project concept and turning it into an online, user-generated contest called the TELETOON At Night Pilot Project, which began yesterday, February 6th. This initiative calls on aspiring and professional animators to put their creative skills to use for a chance to win $10,000 CDN and the opportunity to attend North America’s largest animation conference and festival, the Television Animation Conference and Ottawa International Animation Festival.

“The TELETOON at Night Pilot Project is an important initiative which offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for animation enthusiasts,” said Russell Ward, Vice President, Marketing, TELETOON Canada inc. “As an active player in the animation industry, this project gives TELETOON the opportunity to recognize and open a door of possibility to raw and undiscovered creative talent.”

From Sunday, February 6 to Friday, July 15, 2011, contestants are invited to submit original, funny and unique animation or animation-related short films. Eligible submissions must be no more than five minutes in length and can either be entered through the English-language contest on teletoonatnight.com or the French-language contest on teletoonlanuit.com. The winner of each English and French contest will be awarded:

* $10,000 CDN
* Two roundtrip airline tickets from the closest Canadian commercial airport to the winner’s residence to Ottawa
* Four nights accommodation in Ottawa
* Two delegate passes to the Television Animation Conference and Ottawa International Animation Festival

All eligible submissions will be featured in a video gallery on teletoonatnight.com and teletoonlanuit.com, where the public can select their “Fave of the Week” each week. The five final contenders selected by a TELETOON jury for each of the English and French contests will be revealed on Sunday, July 31. The public can then vote for their favourite video until Saturday, August 28. The video that receives the most votes by the end of the voting phase will be crowned the winner and revealed on-air and online on Sunday, September 18.

The original TELETOON Pilot Project launched in fall 2007, exclusively inviting Canadian producers to submit proposals to produce a pilot in either English or French to be broadcast on TELETOON. Ten projects were selected as finalists from over 200 submissions, straddling a wide range of topics, animation styles and comedy sensibilities. TELETOON recently announced that the first TELETOON Pilot Project winner, Fugget About It, has been officially greenlit for production into a 13-part series in English and French.

And just to add to the bandwidth cap angst, Sony of Canada has launched “Video On Demand powered by Qriocity™”in Canada with titles such as “A-Team,” “Get Him to the Greek,” “Inception,” “The Last Airbender,” “Salt,” and Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story 3.”

“Video On Demand powered by Qriocity™” is a premium streaming video service that allows film fans to rent from a growing library of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters from NBC Universal Television Distribution, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, as well as films from local studios, straight to their Sony 2010 and 2011 network-enabled BRAVIA® TV, Blu-ray Disc™ player, or Blu-ray Disc Home Theatre system.

Rental prices for High-Definition content will range from CA$4.99-5.99 while those for Standard-Definition content will range from CA$3.99-4.99. After renting a film, consumers have up to 30 days to start watching their movie, and once playback is started, they have up to 24 or 48 hours to watch the film as many times as they like.

“Video On Demand powered by Qriocity” started in Japan on January 26 and is already available in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. and is an entertainment network service platform that connects many of Sony’s network-enabled devices and allows consumers to enjoy high quality entertainment across multiple devices. Via Qriocity, Sony will deliver a variety of digital entertainment content and services that are “powered by Qriocity”, including video, music, game applications, and e-books over time. Through these services, and in combination with its networked devices, Sony aims to bring new and exciting entertainment experiences to customers.

When Ontario’s students need answers to their research questions, or access to multimedia archives or authoritative databases, they can turn to Knowledge Ontario’s online services, and the Ontario School Library Association (OSLA) showed its appreciation of these valuable services by presenting a Special Achievement award yesterday to Knowledge Ontario’s executive director David Thornley and chairperson Peter Rogers.

“The OSLA’s Special Achievement award goes to Knowledge Ontario for its capacity-building leadership and collaborative partnerships that make it possible for school libraries in Ontario, regardless of size or location, to provide students with equal access to virtual resources and technology tools needed by 21st-century learners,” says OSLA president Ruth Hall.

KO’s services reflect many of the priorities of the Ontario Ministry of Education, such as fostering digital literacy and providing equitable access to students across the province, including students in remote, rural, northern, Aboriginal and Francophone schools.

KO’s digital services include the following:

* eResources, a range of authoritative, age-appropriate collections of information, periodicals, newspapers and other learning tools;
* Learn Ontario tech help and tutorials for teaching and quick “how-to’s”
* Our Ontario, a digital collection of heritage photographs, videos, audio recordings, newspapers and other historical records; and
* askON and ONdemande, which allow students to get real-time research assistance in English and French after school and on weekends from public library staff.

Knowledge Ontario (KO) is gratified by the recognition. “I’m delighted to receive this award, along with my colleague David Thornley, because Knowledge Ontario deeply values our close partnership with teachers, students and school boards throughout Ontario. Educators at every level tell us that our digital tools are extremely useful to students, supporting them in school and in transitioning to college and university,” says Rogers. “We thank the OSLA for this recognition.”

Since January 2007, through negotiated province-wide licences, KO has turned an annual $1.2-million investment from the Government of Ontario into a suite of e-resources that would have cost individual school boards over $10 million. Before KO, over half of Ontario’s school libraries had no online database access for their students, and many others had only limited resources. Now, students use KO resources over 6 million times each year—and it’s making a difference to their education.

“Knowledge Ontario has proven to be a catalyst for change and improvement,” says Anita Brooks Kirkland, a library consultant with the Waterloo Region District School Board. “Having a broad range of quality, reliable resources, differentiated by instructional need, topic and audience, has been a powerful motivator for deeper learning and critical thinking for our students.”

At the school board level, administrators recognize the value of leveraging collaborative investment to prepare students for lifelong learning. “Knowledge Ontario’s services help Ontario’s students develop the skills they need to thrive in an increasingly high-tech world,” says John Stadnyk, director of education with the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board and a KO board member.

Parents, meanwhile, appreciate the fact that their children can quickly access the information they need to further their education after school hours. “Knowledge Ontario is an excellent choice for the OSLA award,” says Gay Stephenson, online communications manager for People for Education, a parent-led organization that supports Ontario’s public education system. “The research is reliable and can be found in one place! For parents, it’s the perfect homework helper.”

The February 14^th deadline to submit entries for the 2011 Weston Youth Innovation Award is fast approaching. The Ontario Science Centre is looking for young Agents of Change – Canadian youth who are actively motivating positive outcomes in the world by creating solutions for real issues.

The Weston Youth Innovation Award was established in 2008 to support and acknowledge young Canadian innovators. It provides students ages 14 to 18 a unique channel to share their ideas and get the word out to a much larger audience. The winner (either an individual or team) is granted a $2,000 cash prize and the chance to work with a Science Centre multimedia team to produce a short animation showcasing their project. This video will be broadcast in the Science Centre’s Weston Family Innovation Centre, and will also be posted online.

Entrants are asked to showcase how they have demonstrated leadership and initiative in tackling a real-world issue, for example, energy conservation or climate change, and to illustrate the impact of their efforts. Submissions will be judged on demonstration of the characteristics of innovation: inspiration, creativity, collaboration, risk-taking and problem-solving.

Last year, Kimberly Gulevich from Fort St. John, British Columbia was granted the award. Her innovative project presented a potential method of reducing the carbon footprint of small rural households that use sewage lagoons – by exploring the use of methane capture as a way to provide energy to these homes.

“The Weston Youth Innovation Award is a great opportunity for Canadian youth to showcase the work they are doing on a larger scale,” said Gulevich. “For me, winning the award was not only about showcasing my work, but showcasing how communities can come together to benefit youth pursuing science. I not only believe that we are the next generation of scientists, but that we Canadian youth are making great progress today. The monetary portion of the award was also useful, as I was able to use it to further my education and am now studying Environmental Engineering at the University of Northern British Columbia.”

Entries will undergo a two-step judging process. A panel from the Ontario Science Centre will assess all entries in February and will then send a shortlist to a second panel of external judges. The winner is scheduled to be announced on April 30, 2011 and will receive their award during a special ceremony in May where a multi-media presentation of their project will premiere.

The Weston Youth Innovation Award was named in recognition of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation’s $15 million lead gift to the Ontario Science Centre’s Agents of Change initiative. This national award honours the Foundation’s dedication to education and contribution to the Canadian cultural landscape.

There is a ton of news coming out of the Canadian Creatisphere today. Grab a coffee and let’s take a look at what’s going on so far. Congratulations to the team over at Capcom Studios Vancouver whose Dead Rising 2: Case Zero game was the top selling title last year on XBLA with 689 000 units downloaded to Xboxes around the world. Congratulations also to the Assassin’s Creed team over at Ubisoft Montreal for being named as the Guinness world record holder with Assassin’s Creed II being featured on 127 international publications between April 2009 and April 2010.

A free version of The Balls! Extreme Sports Ball Busting has been released by Savant Inc. The Balls game is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad; the paid version is listed at 99 cents USD. The free version offers OpenFeint and the same great graphics, audio, and frantic gameplay as the paid version, with a teaser for another mode coming in the future.

Riese: The Battle for Eleysia by Genius Factor Games has had an update to its features, along with a bug fix. Add features include the addition of Head-to-Head Multiplayer (via local wifi), stability improvements and aforementioned bug fixes, along with updates to the battle screens, How To Play help and screen-flow for editing decks. Riese: The Battle for Eleysia sells in the iTunes App Store for $2.99 USD.

Drift Mania Championship is now available worldwide on the Mac AppStore for $2.99. This new high-resolution version includes all the in-app purchase items that are available as options in the iOS version. As with all previous platform versions, the Mac AppStore version is loaded with new features like real drifting, as well as the ability to compete with users who are on other iOS or Android devices. Experience longer burnouts, taking 11 different vehicles through 3 levels of difficulty on 8 tracks as you compete to take over the global leaderboards.

ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver has just announced its latest event, which will be held on February 8th in the Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema at the SFU Woodward’s campus on West Hastings. Tron – Cult Favourite to Franchise will feature two presentations that will take a look at this convergence of  Vancouver film and game development teams. The first presentation will cover the visual effects used in the making of TRON and TRON: Legacy. This session will be presented by TRON animator and programmer Frank Vitz and Darren Poe, Digital Supervisor at Digital Domain Vancouver.  In the second presentation, former Propaganda Games Technical Art Director Gary Snyder and Art Director David Patch will share their experiences working with the TRON: Legacy film team to recreate the TRON assets and storyline in the video game TRON: Evolution. Tickets for this event are $25.00 for non-SIGGRAPH members or $15.00 for members and include a pre-event social mixer.

Hothead Games has released part two of the Ask Dr. Mike video series with Dr. Mike Hayward. Watch this intense and dramatic documentary which studies the habits of Swarmites as they weave their way through diabolical and unrelenting gauntlets of death and destruction, attempting to be the last pudgy blue moron still standing. It is highly recommended that those who are planning to take over their own Swarm colonies study the video series closely, so that you will be prepared for any situation into which your Swarmites will undoubtedly  place themselves. If you have the opportunity to practice herding cats, I suggest you take advantage of the experience.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ySRKr8omkY]

As part of the PlayStation®Network “11 for 11” sale, players can grab Big Sandwich’s thrilling dragon-themed game HOARD™ for half-price until January 31st. With game play for 1 to 4 players, HOARD™ combines action and strategy elements to create an innovative gameplay mix unlike anything else on the store. The game features over 35 levels, 4 game modes, 100+ badges to earn, trophy support, leaderboards, and any combination of couch and online players. Best of all, HOARD™ puts the dragon in the hero’s role, where he must strive against cruel knights, fierce wizards, conniving burglars, and even rampaging giants.

Critics and consumers alike have appreciated HOARD’s unique design. IGN recently honored HOARD™ with the “Best Quick Fix” Best of 2010 award, and the game was also nominated in the “Best Competitive Multiplayer” category. Joystiq says “HOARD’s gameplay shines,” and 1UP reports “the game hides a surprising layer of complexity and strategy.”

“If you’ve been keeping an eye on HOARD™ but have been waiting for the right time to try it, now’s officially that time,” says Glenn Barnes, Big Sandwich’s Creative Director. “For less than 8 bucks you get a proven, acclaimed game with over 20 hours of gameplay. It’s a no-brainer.”

Don’t forget to get your nominations in for The Technology Impact Awards. The BCTIA will be accepting submissions for BC’s top technology innovations, companies and individuals from all sectors until March 11th. The TIAs will be held on the evening of June 9th at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The Award categories are as follows:

Technology Awards: Most Promising Pre-Commercial Technology, Excellence in Product Innovation and Best Application of Technology

Company Awards: Most Promising Start-up, Emerging Company of the Year and Company of the Year

Personal Recognition Awards: Team of the Year, Community Engagement and Person of the Year

The Canadian Marketing Association invites you to attend the 2nd Annual CMA Awards Case Study event, where attendees will join Master of Ceremonies Aldo Cundari in a close-up look at some of today’s top creative works and better understand how they came to be CMA Award winners. The Case Study event will be held in the Victoria Room at  Toronto’s Metropolitan Hotel on February 2nd from 3:30 – 5:30pm, with a networking social immediately following the session. All-inclusive tickets are $75.00 each for CMA members or $95.00 earch for non-members. Tickets for the cocktail party only are $25.00 each for CMA members or $30.00 each for non-members.

Merging+Media has announced that there will be a Spring session featuring Anita Ondine-Smith, who will present an exclusive Transmedia Seminar + Lab on April 28th and 29th at the VanCity Theatre in Vancouver. The focus of this session will be a 1/2 day Seminar with a 1 ½ day hands-on in-depth lab on the full cycle of Transmedia development, writing, production and distribution from Conception to Consumption. Event participants will obtain a framework for production as well as Creative Toolkit and Business Strategies for Transmedia production. This Transmedia theory, Case studies and architectural workshop is designed to provide tools to create successful transmedia productions. The seminar portion of the event will be open to 100-150 people, while 20-24 producers, writers, broadcasters, commissioning editors will be selected to take part in the workshop.

Merging+Media has also confirmed that the next full conference and master class will be returning in October. Like the first conference held last fall, this event will feature world class speakers and experts who will present “Best in Class” case studies and high calibre discussions on the business of cross-media production. The two day programme will include a Masterclass + Conference, International B2B Matchmaking, Networking receptions, M+M Socializer + Digital Gallery to showcase our latest local technology. The Merging+Media 2011 Masterclass will include the Merging+Media Pitch and Development Prize. Keep an eye on the Merging+Media site for confirmed dates and speakers.

The Canadian Telecom Summit has early bird pricing available until February 28th, which means you can save $200.00 off the regular registration price. The 10th annual Canadian Telecom Summit will be taking place in Toronto on May 31st through June 2nd and offers three days of discussion regarding the key issues and trends surrounding the Canadian Telecom industry.

Group buying site SwarmJam, which launched across all Postmedia Network properties in December has expanded to the Winnipeg area through a partnership with the Winnipeg Free Press. The promotion-based system uses a platform through which consumers are connected with local businesses. SwarmJam’s group buying service offers savings of 50% or better, which for some deals can actually grow progressively better as more people sign onl For “progressive deals”, when the offer closes, the number of cumulative purchases determines the actual discount. So, these deals become better as subscribers share the promotion with friends, family and people in their social network. Users of the service simply sign up for a free subscription to get the SwarmJam Winnipeg Daily Deal emailed directly to their inbox. They can then click on deals they like, pay online, print the certificate and visit the business to redeem it. There are currently thirteen major urban and suburban areas which offer SwarmJam deals.

Wicked Interactive, publisher of Mission Against Terror, has launched Occupation Mode with a twist. Alongside the hotly anticipated new game mode which brings hardcore, capture-the-flag-style gameplay comes the chance to win the most unique and priceless weapon so far seen in the popular, free-to-play shooter – the Golden AK-47.

“We have been saving this announcement for just the right moment,” said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive. “With the frenzy of excitement over Occupation Mode, it seemed like the perfect time to blow everyone’s minds with this news. The Golden AK-47 is the ultimate showpiece for the M.A.T. community.”

The Lottery System enables players to take a break from a raw competition of Occupation Mode. Just like any other lottery, players step up, lay down their ticket and spin an actual wheel that appears right in the middle of the screen. The Golden AK-47 is merely the ultimate prize; there are plenty more for those who are feeling lucky.

“There are a whole assortment of weapons that the Lottery System offers,” added Ho. “Many, like the Golden AK-47, are one-of-a-kind items that cannot be purchased. We hope the M.A.T. Community enjoys the new System. It’s our way of helping them forget the winter doldrums.

Congratulations to the team behind Moderation Town. The web series, along with the show’s producers Stitch Media picked up the nextMEDIA Digital Launch Pad Award at this year’s NATPE conference which just wrapped in Miami.

One of my favourite new shows on HGTV Canada, Design DNA, which is produced by  Toronto’s Castlewood Productions has been picked up by Australia’s Beyond Distribution for international television distribution. If you haven’t yet seen the show, here is it’s official synopsis: Design DNA combines the simplicity of “How It’s Made”, the popular manufacturing show, with high style design. This show focuses on the amazing stories of the world’s most extraordinary and ordinary pieces of home design. From the first spark of conception throughout the trial and error of design, to the factory floor, and finally to a stunning reveal in a magnificent home, each episode features the life story of three iconic and sometimes not so iconic pieces of home design. Who knew that one of the garbage cans in our house was inspired by classic art design – certainly not us when we bought it – but we do now. 😉

The Quebec Technology Association (AQT) has launched a broad survey of CEOs and executives of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies across Quebec. Christened “AQT Barometer”, this survey will provide a picture of business practices and key issues, while also highlighting the growth requirements of this sector which is of strategic importance to the Quebec economy. Data collection will continue through the following weeks and the results will be unveiled in May 2011.

“The ICT industry is a powerful lever for the entire economy, explained Nicole Martel, Chief Executive Officer of AQT. The AQT Barometer will enhance our understanding of the sector’s evolution, making it possible to develop strategies to effectively support the growth of some 2000 Quebec ICT companies. In addition, the study will allow the AQT to better tailor its programs and tools to the needs of its members.”

The AQT Barometer will provide a detailed profile of ICT companies operating in Quebec and identify indicators to form a basis for comparison to track the sector’s progression. These indicators will also serve to develop the AQT Index which will be used to measure the annual growth of the ICT sector based on data relating to human resources, innovation, income, and ICT exports. The survey will be conducted by the SOM survey firm. Participants in this survey will get a customized report comparing their own business to similar ones in Quebec. ICT companies willing to take part in the survey may obtain their password to the online survey by communicating with AQT.

Go Explore Canada is a multimedia app available as a free download from both the Apple App Store and Android Market. The app resulted from a joint effort of brothers Jon and Mark Pedersen who have years of Canadian film and television production experience, including the Canadian Antiques Roadshow, documentaries for CBC, CTV and IFC and Jon’s feature film Tuesday, Wednesday.

Go Explore Canada covers travel anywhere in Canada (including the high Arctic) with extensive listings in all ten provinces and three territories, many with multimedia, and the producers – Go Explore Everywhere Inc – have loaded it with the top natural wonders and travel attractions of Canada. They also sell listings to the top restaurants, hotels and clubs, and it already has 5,000 locations with more being added every day.

Users of Appolicious say Go Explore Canada is one of the top 10 Canadian apps: “So you’ve arrived in Canada. What next? This app has tours based on your province, city, and what kinds of tourism you’re into. I definitely can vouch that the Toronto tour hits all the major amusing activities/sites in the city and surrounding areas.”

The producers of Go Explore Canada have streamlined the latest version with new Category searches that allow users to easily zero in on what they want to find anywhere in the country. One of the challenges was to build an app this big while making sure it doesn’t crash. Working closely with their software developers, the producers have come up with an app that occupies little space on the phone but still runs fast.

“We wanted to make an app that’s the one to have if you’re travelling in Canada,” says Mark Pedersen, one of the two Maritime brothers who have expanded their media production company to include multimedia apps.

The more than 5,000 Points of Interest are searchable by province, territory and city with sections for nature and adventure, history, fun things to do, eating, sleeping, night life, transportation, essential services and more. Each POI has a pin on the map, address, phone number, description and direct link to its web site that can be surfed without losing your place on the app tour. The sites can also buy embedded multimedia that plays instantly off their listing.

Go Explore Canada has been so successful that the producers have also begun selling branded map-based apps to other clients in three different sizes. All their apps come with patented Tour Builder software developed by their U.S. partner, Bar Z Adventures. The software allows app clients to change the content as often as they like simply by logging on to the dedicated server with their password.

Creativeworks Productions is pleased to announce that their video In Your Own Words was a gold award winner in this year’s prestigious Pixie Awards competition, which honours outstanding creativity in motion graphics, FX and animation. The In Your Own Words video was created for Seneca College, where for almost 45 years, Seneca’s commitment to quality post-secondary education has provided the foundation for students to become successful career-ready graduates in business, industry and the communities in which they live. The video was created to launch a multimedia campaign for Seneca College students aimed at obtaining their opinions in a fun and engaging format while also giving them an opportunity to hear and see their new President.

“Seneca’s In Your Own Words campaign gave students an opportunity to tell us in their own words the type of Seneca they want”, said Seneca’s President, David Agnew. “The need for student involvement in designing Seneca’s future community is a critical component. By using new media such as the green screen video and special effects, In Your Own Words achieved excellent results. We’re thrilled with the recognition received by the video produced by Creativeworks Productions. It played an important role in the success of this project.”

Creativeworks Productions’ President Doug Hohener says, “This video was part of an exciting multimedia student engagement program for the College. The challenge we were given was to target college students with an “out of the box” solution that was fresh, innovative, fast-paced and engaging, while communicating the College’s key messages. The result seems to have hit the mark!”

The Pixie Awards are sponsored by The American Pixel Academy, whose goal is to connect creative visual professionals in the pixel media with educators and judged by top industry professionals, all of whom have won significant awards for their work.

The Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF) launches its 9th annual showcase and celebration of films directed by women with a bang! This March 16 to 20, 2011, join us as we take a look through the lens at sex, violence and politics through the Female Eye. This years’ line up, slated to be unveiled at the Female Eye Media Sizzler which will be held at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel on February 24th, will prove to be both a mainstream and unusual mix of salacious, revelatory and provocative cinema.

The Female Eye Film Festival is recognized around the world as an opportunity for both established and first-time filmmakers to experience an international independent film festival, meet and interact with internationally recognized directors and showcase their work. “There are very few festivals that give you the opportunity to spend quality time with your fellow filmmakers and to make what we’re sure will be long-lasting personal and professional relationships,” reflected Richard Wilson, L.A. Producer of FEFF 2010’s closing night gala film Nothing Special.

Attendees of the festival will enjoy five full days of extraordinary films along with Script Readings, Industry Panel Discussions, the Directors Round Table, The 3rd Women In The Directors Chair Career Advancement Module, Best in The Biz Series and the Honorary Director Brunch and Tribute. An Opening Night Gala will kick off the festival followed by exciting parties each night leading to the closing night awards reception and gala. All screenings will take place at the Rainbow Cinemas Market Square, 80 Front Street East, while the FEFF hotel partner, the Novotel Toronto Centre, 45 The Esplanade will host all panel discussions, workshops and award ceremonies. Party & other venues TBA.

Trellia Networks a Montreal-based provider of enterprise mobility management solutions, today announced the “Enabling iPhone and iPad for the Enterprise” webinar on Thursday February 3, 2011. This session is designed for organizations looking to overcome the cost and security challenges associated with embracing iOS devices for business use.

The consumerization of mobile devices in the enterprise is an unstoppable trend, with iPhones and iPads leading the way. Chances are that in almost every enterprise a handful of mobile users are already asking IT to support them. On the other hand, some enterprises recognize that these devices represent a powerful new set of tools: from new presentation options to custom applications, iOS devices present the enterprise with an opportunity to take their mobile business to a whole new level. If your organization is considering support for iOS devices, whether corporate or personal, this webinar is for you.

Best Buy Mobile, the mobile specialty retail unit of Best Buy Canada, announces the launch of Free Phone Fridays at all stores across Canada. Beginning February 4 and running every Friday in February, Best Buy Mobile will feature two to three free mobile phones in all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile specialty stores across Canada.

Each week will feature at least one high-end, in-demand smart phone for free with a new, in-store three-year activation. Reward Zone members will receive 2,500 points for every new, in-store activation or renewal (based on new in-store three-year activations. Minimum voice and data plan required. See in-store and online for details). The free phones will be announced every Thursday to the company’s Facebook fans and Twitter followers.

Best Buy Mobile has become a leading destination for smart phones and accessories, in part because of the promises the store offers its customers: better choice of phones and networks; impartial, informed advice; straightforward pricing; and someone to be there for the life of the phone. In addition, Best Buy Mobile offers an array of services aimed at improving the mobile phone buying experience, including:

* Upgrade Checker: A quick and easy service that gives customers the ability to see when they are eligible for their next phone upgrade. Best Buy Mobile Specialists can review customers’ current plan to determine which upgrade options they are eligible for and can help customers change plans or providers if they are unhappy with their current carrier plan.

* Walk Out Working™: Free in-store smart phone setup by a Best Buy Mobile Specialist who will sync personal email accounts, set up Bluetooth headsets, transfer contacts and activate other services to allow the customer to leave the store with a fully functional new smart phone.

The Walrus Foundation and Aeroplan have launched The Walrus Foundation Amateur Travel Photography Contest. Sponsored by Aeroplan, this nationwide contest will be judged by acclaimed photographer Edward Burtynsky, The Walrus magazine’s art director Brian Morgan, and the Canadian public. The contest is open to Canadian residents, and the winning photo will be published in The Walrus magazine. The winning amateur photographer will also receive 100,000 Aeroplan Miles courtesy of Aeroplan, and an invitation for two to The Walrus Foundation Gala in January 2012. In addition, a full gallery of photographs from the runners-up will be showcased on the contest page.

“This is a great opportunity for photography fans and travelers alike to get out and snap photos of their favourite destinations, unique landscapes and off the beaten path locations or even be creative in their own city,” said David Klein, Vice President, Marketing, Aeroplan. “For the last few years, through our partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario, we’ve been trying to raise the profile of photography with the Grange Prize. Aeroplan is thrilled to be a part of this contest and to be working with The Walrus Foundation to encourage participation in this important art form.”

For those unfamiliar with The Walrus Foundation, it is a charitable non-profit organization with a mandate to promote public discourse on matters vital to our country. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting Canadian writers, artists, readers, education, ideas, and debate. First and foremost, we achieve these goals by publishing The Walrus magazine ten times a year. We also produce public debates, leadership events, and run an intensive internship program training the next generation of leaders of media and the arts.

“The Walrus Foundation is a keen supporter of Canadian artists, both established and emerging,” said The Walrus Foundation’s executive director and co-publisher Shelley Ambrose. “We’re delighted to be working with Aeroplan and Edward Burtynsky to showcase Canadian photographers and their unique perspectives on our world.”

The Walrus Travel Photography contest begins today with the release of the March issue of The Walrus, and officially closes on May 31, 2011. Judges will select a shortlist of ten photos Between May 31 and July 1, 2011. Throughout the summer of 2011, readers of The Walrus magazine and visitors to the contest page will be asked to vote for their favourite photo. The winning photo will be selected on August 27, 2011, and will be featured along with a short essay in the special double winter January/February issue of The Walrus.

January 19, 2011 – The Walrus Foundation Amateur Travel Photography Contest sponsored by Aeroplan opens
May 31, 2011 – The last day for entrants to submit their travel photos to The Walrus Foundation
July 1, 2011 – Judges Edward Burtynsky and Brian Morgan release shortlist of ten photos, and public voting opens
August 26, 2011 – Public voting ends, and the winning photo is selected
December 5, 2011 – The winning photo will be published in The Walrus magazine
January 18, 2012 – The winning amateur photographer and a guest will attend The 4th Annual Walrus Foundation Gala

On February 25th, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) will present the findings from a national consultation on how the Internet is run at the Canadian Internet Forum (CIF). CIRA, along with its partners the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Media Awareness Network (MNet), will present findings from six face-to-face consultations that took place across Canada along with input received from an online discussion forum.

A panel of Canadian experts will discuss the findings, and leading Canadian technology visionary Leonard Brody will provide the keynote address. The event will also feature sessions for participants to provide their feedback and ideas about Internet governance in Canada and internationally. The CIF will be webcast to facilitate the interactive participation of all Canadians who are interested in Canada’s role in Internet governance.

Although the Internet has become an integral part of the Canadian economy and society, the CIF presents the first opportunity for Canadians to discuss how it is developed, deployed and governed. The results of the consultations, online discussion and the national event will be presented to the United Nations coordinated Internet Governance Forum, a venue for nations to discuss the future of the Internet.

As of today, the online discussion forum is open to all interested Canadians who wish to discuss issues related to how the Internet is developed, deployed and governed in Canada and around the world. All interested Canadians are invited to join in on the discussion. Registration for the Canadian Internet Forum is free, and the event will also be webcast in English and French. The Forum will take place at the Brookstreet Hotel in Ottawa from 9:00am until 5:00pm on February 25th.

OpenText will be bringing content analytics capabilities to market for improved business productivity through an Intellectual Property (IP) licensing agreement with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The NRC innovations will be incorporated into OpenText’s flagship Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Suite, with the first version expected to be available by Spring 2011.

Businesses and governments are increasingly engaging with workers, partners and customers across a range of electronic and social media to collaborate, find new ideas, measure sentiment, identify important trends and predict future outcomes based on content analytics. With added content analytics capabilities incorporated into the OpenText ECM Suite, businesses will gain more value from their content through improved data mining and analysis.

Research and development for the new project is already under way in the Ottawa NRC facilities in collaboration with OpenText’s Montreal R&D center that develops its content analytics solutions, based on the acquisition of Nstein Technologies last year. The project is focused on developing software for analyzing large collections of structured and unstructured data that reside within organizations.

Content Analytics addresses the discovery of answers to those important business questions through the use of semantic technologies such as natural language processing and sentiment analysis. The collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada and OpenText will enable more efficient data mining capability to locate entities –names, product brands, geographic locations, currencies, ticker symbols for example – plus uncover facts such as financial statements, merger and acquisition announcements, etc. and then connect relationships between those entities and facts. The software can search for pieces of text or metadata that cannot be specified in common search engines, and the results from those queries can be presented much more flexibly than would be possible using traditional business intelligence solutions.

Boutique advisory and technology services company Project X Ltd. has completed the QuickStrike Mobile Application training program from MicroStrategy, a global leader in business intelligence technology. Project X is among the first MicroStrategy alliance partners to complete the training program and become lead facilitators for the MicroStrategy Mobile QuickStrike Program in Canada.

As MicroStrategy Mobile QuickStrike Lead Facilitators, Project X will work with clients to accelerate their mobile BI application strategies from concept to production with a proof of concept mobile application, storyboard and video overview in two weeks. With mobile business intelligence on the verge of widespread adoption, companies are looking to deploy their business data on devices that make it easy and convenient to access critical data.

PoolingPeople.ca, a new web-based business, provides employers with a unique platform for cost-effectively sharing employees directly with each other. The first online service of its kind, PoolingPeople.ca allows companies to reduce overhead costs during idle time by temporarily or permanently sharing employees with other member companies. Conversely, PoolingPeople.ca allows employers to find experienced people when they need additional part-time or full-time staff.

With more than 15 years experience in the recruitment industry, McKinnon knows first-hand the problems and costs businesses face trying to fill a vacancy with a qualified candidate.  Equally, she understands the difficulties involved when layoffs occur.

For a $250 US annual subscription fee, employers can use PoolingPeople.ca in various ways:

• If a company is suddenly overstaffed because of a project delay, they can use PoolingPeople.ca to connect with another company experiencing a temporary worker shortage due to vacation schedules, for example. The two companies solve their staffing issues by lending or borrowing well-qualified employees on a short-term basis.
• A business that must downsize can find other member companies looking to permanently hire talented staff.
• If a company needs to reduce a full-time employee to part-time, it can enter the individual’s qualifications on PoolingPeople.ca and connect with another company needing a part-time employee – resulting in the employee working for both firms.

Level Platforms Inc. has launched Managed Workplace® 2011, a comprehensive, integrated remote monitoring, management and automation software platform designed for IT service providers offering managed services. This historic major release features comprehensive Automation OnDemand, an optional Device Manager agent to supplement Level Platforms award-winning agentless architecture, and further advances in the platform’s seamless integration with the full IT ecosystem found in most organizations today, including local infrastructure, applications and Cloud services. Managed Workplace 2011 is available in Cloud and On Premise versions.

In conjunction with the release of Managed Workplace 2011, Level Platforms also announced the Managed Workplace 2011 Road Show to take place in 19 cities across North America this February 8th through 24th. In addition to an introduction to the highly anticipated Managed Workplace 2011, attendees will benefit from new industry research and information, open forums led by successful MSPs sharing their insights and experience, and significant exclusive industry announcements from leading vendors working with Level Platforms to help the managed services community enhance the growth and profitability of their businesses in 2011.

The Nature Conservancy, Protecting Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest has become the first Canadian incentive to ever receive funding from Disney Friends for Change. The Nature Conservancy: Protecting Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest took second place in the recent round of voting by kids on the Disney Friends for Change website. Disney Friends for Change is a multiplatform environmental initiative that helps kids help the planet. Protecting Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest is a project trains local students to monitor local wildlife in an effort to protect the rainforest, home to such animals as grizzly bears and wolves.

The voting is part of an overall call to action for kids to make a difference in their local communities. Registered participants make personal promises to reduce their impact on the environment by changing their everyday actions. They can also help allocate Disney’s $1 million commitment to fund environmental programs worldwide. This round of voting is the first to include kids from around the world since Disney Friends for Change expanded into Latin America and Europe.

Voting is continuous throughout the year, giving kids the opportunity to vote on five different projects per quarter. Each project is managed by leading environmental nonprofit organizations. The projects are centered on Disney Friends for Change’s four focus areas — climate, habitat, waste and water. With nearly 2.5 million votes, Disney Friends for Change kids have helped direct almost $2 million to 41 projects in 21 countries since the program was launched in May 2009.

The award amount is contingent upon how many votes each project receives. This is the third round of award voting, and the first to include international votes. BirdLife International, Saving Spoony’s Chinese Wetlands received the first prize allotment of $100 000.00 The project contributes to the conservation of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, a unique and highly threatened migratory shorebird. The project raises awareness among local governments and communities about the importance of the species and of the inter-tidal wetlands that are vital for its survival.

Destiny Media Technologies Inc. has received conditional approval from the TSX Venture Exchange for its Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Under the Plan, employees of Destiny are able to contribute up to 5% of their annual salary into a pool which is matched equally by Destiny. Independent directors are able to contribute a maximum of $12,500 each for a combined maximum annual purchase of $25,000. The maximum annual combined contributions will be $400,000. Money in the pool will be used to purchase shares out of the market on a biweekly basis. All purchases will be made through the Exchange by a third party plan agent and no purchases will be made on the OTC or German exchanges. The third party plan agent will also be responsible for the administration of the Plan on behalf of Destiny and the participants. The Plan is subject to shareholder approval at Destiny’s next AGM.

Dare To Be Digital 2011 is seeking applicants for its annual student competition held University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland. For complete details on how to apply and the full list of rules, please see the competition’s web site.

Microsoft Canada invites you to enter the Battle of the Apps, a WP7 app competition for student developers and designers. The Battle encompasses three rounds of competition with prizes awarded at the end of each round, as well as a grand prize awarded at the end of the competition for the top app. Round One is open for entries until February 15th. Also, Microsoft Canada would like to remind aspiring WP7 developers that Go DevMental will be in Calgary on February 7th and Winnipeg on February 11th. Go DevMENTAL is Microsoft’s free academic tour designed to teach you coding for the coolest apps and platforms, connect you with the industry, and help you pursue your career aspirations.

The Vancouver chapter of the Institute for International Film Financing (IIFF) continues its popular monthly gatherings at the junction of film & finance with a special Film Financing Townhall, hosted at Vancouver Film School’s downtown campus (420 Homer Street) on Thursday, January 27th from 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM.

This grassroots community get-together is designed to foster & inform productive relationships between attendees. It provides unbiased insight & education about the business of film and film financing in particular. The event features a powerful roster of highly topical speakers from the filmmaking and financial industries. We are delighted to welcome real-world financiers among our guests!

The evening’s five presentations plus panel discussion address key issues relevant to filmmakers, financiers and anyone interested in the economics, business mechanics, and financial dynamics of motion pictures. They are followed by Q&A time. Attendees also have ample opportunity to interact & network with our featured experts and amongst themselves. An informal après-meeting celebration will take place at a nearby restaurant.

RBC has issued a call for grant applications for the 2011-2012 school year as the RBC After-School Grants Project is offering more than $2 million in grants to fund first-time and renewed grant recipients.

The grants are awarded by regional community panels made up of experts in the fields of youth and education. Each organization should have a mandate to keep students in grades K-12 safe as well as positively engaged through an enriched curriculum after their classes end each day. RBC After-School grants of up to $40,000 are provided by the RBC Foundation to programs in at-risk or underserved communities. The deadline for funding applications is March 4, 2011, and grant recipients will be advised by June 2011.

“Research has shown that participation in after-school programs helps students enhance their academic performance, improve social skills and motivate them to excel in school,” said Shari Austin, executive director, RBC Foundation. “We are looking to fund the best after school programs in the country that help bridge the gap between schoolwork and homework and offer students an opportunity to participate in a wide-range of other activities that help build self-esteem and confidence.”

To qualify for a grant, after-school programs should offer structured, supervised activities five days a week and focus on offering a variety of activities, such as, computer instruction, sports, literacy tutoring, music and art lessons, nutrition guidance, and help with homework. RBC has been funding after-school programs since 1999, with over $22 million through 750 grants to 212 different organizations that have helped more than 24,000 children.

Bieber? Buffett? Oprah? Obama? WIND Mobile has launched a new competition that will give five Canadians the opportunity to talk to anyone they want in the world. To make these conversations happen, WIND Mobile will donate over a half a million dollars to Canadian charities. Once WIND confirms the winners, WIND will donate $100,000 on behalf of the chosen personalities for having the conversations. An additional $100,000 will also be donated to the six most popular charities as voted for online.

“The question we are asking ‘if you could talk to anyone in the world, who would it be?’ is the kind of question that really gets people talking, whether it’s at work, at home or even among strangers,” said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman, WIND Mobile. “We think it’s a powerful and fun question and we are look forward to hearing how Canadians answer it! Ultimately, we hope this unprecedented competition makes a few dreams come true and helps some important Canadian charities in a big way.”

When it comes to who they want to talk to, Canadians are encouraged to get creative: is it an actor or an author, a well known chef or business person? An athlete, journalist or politician? “Whether it’s a film student in Calgary whose dream is to speak to Steven Spielberg, an environmental scientist in Ottawa who wants a few minutes with Al Gore, or a restaurant owner in Vancouver keen to chat with Jamie Oliver – we are going to make some amazing conversations happen,” said Lacavera.

To help kick-off the competition WIND Mobile brought one the top newsmakers of 2010, Aron Ralston to Toronto for a conversation. Ralston, the real life mountain climber who was forced to cut off his own arm and whose journey is depicted in the much acclaimed film 127 Hours, shared his inspiring story and encouraged Canadians to think outside the box on who they’d like to speak with.

The launch event was held at Ryerson University where dozens of students gathered to hear the conversation and become among the first to enter the competition. WIND Mobile staff were on hand to help people record and upload their entries in the “Conversation Lounge” where the event was held. These lounges will be set up at universities and malls in cities across Canada through-out the course of the competition. Who knows who else might drop by these lounges to inspire people to think outside the box?

“From the beginning WIND Mobile was built by the power of conversation – listening to what Canadians wanted to build a better wireless carrier. Best Conversation Ever is an extension of that promise,” says Lacavera.

Who do these well known Canadians want to talk to?

Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto – Warren Buffett
Justin Trudeau, MP – Neal Stephenson
Valerie Pringle, Canadian Journalist – Nelson Mandela
Gerard Kennedy, MP – Nelson Mandela
Sami Jo Small, Double Gold Medalist, Women’s Hockey – Obama
Lyle Bauer, President & Chief Operating Officer, Calgary Stampeders – Obama
Dan Hill, Songwriter – Obama
Dr. Samantha Nutt, Founder of War Child Canada…Lee Harper
Mark McEwan, Celebrity Chef – Alan Greenspan
Geoff Green, Arctic Explorer – Dr. E.O. Wilson
Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa – Sydney Crosby
Senator Mike Duffy – Queen Elizabeth II
Dean Del Mastro, MP – Warren Buffett
Senator Michael MacDonald – the Dalai Lama
Mike Harris, former Premier of Ontario – his wife
FeFe Dobson, Canadian singer – Stevie Nicks

The ultimate goal of the competition is to help five lucky Canadians have the conversations they never dreamed possible. The competition begins January 24, 2011 and runs until March 7, 2011. The winners will be selected by a panel of WIND judges and industry leading bloggers. Entries will be judged based on creativity and number of votes.

Don’t miss out! There’s only one week left to nominate your favourite Canadian blog for the 2011 Best Health Blog Awards. Best Health invites Canadians to nominate their favourite blogs in one of four healthy-living categories based on the brand’s four pillars: Look Great, Eat Well, Get Healthy and Embrace Life. Canadians can submit their entries until January 30, and for all those who nominate their favourite blog, each individual will also be entered for their chance to win one of 17 fabulous prizes!

Blogs can be nominated in one of four categories:

1. Look Great: Beauty
2. Eat Well: Cooking and healthy eating
3. Get Healthy: Fitness
4. Embrace Life: Personal growth, humour, crafting and charitable living

Finalists will be announced on February 16, 2011 for Canadians to then vote for their ultimate favourites, and the top bloggers will be revealed on March 31, 2011. All finalists will receive a Best Health Blog Awards badge for their blog, recognition on besthealthmag.ca and the four top blogs will also be featured in the Summer 2011 issue of Best Health Magazine.

marblemedia interactive and Teletoon have flipped the On switch for Skatoony’s web page, which is filled with games, show information, downloadable craft projects and videos. Skatoony is a combined live action and animation quiz show for kids. Each week the two hosts, Chudd Chudders and The Earl pit 3 animated characters against real kids who hope to survive the show’s shenanigans, temperamental producer and environmental challenges to be declared victorious.

Several Canadian titles have been named as finalists for the AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards which will be presented at DICE Las Vegas this coming February 10th. The dev teams from EA Canada will be competing against each other in the Sports Game of the Year category with both FIFA Soccer 11 and NHL 11 receiving nominations. The debut title for United Front Games, ModNation Racers, has been named to the Racing Game of the Year category.

Relic Entertainment’s Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising has been nominated in the Strategy Game of the Year category, while Ubisoft Montreal action title Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction is competing in the Achievements in Animation category. Bioware has been named to the Outstanding Character Performance category for Mass Effect 2 – Male Shepard, while Mass Effect 2 was given the nod for both the Outstanding Achievement in Story,  Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year and Game of the Year categories.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has been nominated for an Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Award as well as Adventure Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play. The Ubisoft Montreal blockbuster will also be going head to head with Bioware’s blockbuster Mass Effect 2 as they compete in the  Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction category. Best of luck to all of our Canadian nominees!

Vancouver Film School graduate Nicholas Yonge has officially launched his indie game development studio krangGAMES, which will initially be focusing on flash games with an eye to expanding its products to other platforms in the future. The studio is currently developing DotGuy vs The Galaxy, which is an action-puzzle game where the player must successfully guide DotGuy out of a damaged spaceship. According to the game’s description, DotGuy vs The Galaxy will feature a campaign mode, unlockable modes of play, multiple playable characters, and user-made content via the Assembly Level Editor. krangGAMES also developed a game named Prior, which was created for the Ludum Dare Competition #19. Prior is a msyterious 2D platformer that was built in Adobe Flash, and in following with the LD19 theme of Discovery, players must navigate through a dark facility in an effort to figure out who they are, what has happened, where they are, and why they are there, developing their story piece by piece.

Hothead Games has brought Swarm creator, Dr. Mike Hayward, out of his dark and windowless office for a few short minutes to explain how players can control their “Swarm” in this first edition of “Ask Dr. Mike.”

Since Dr. Mike tends to speak in programming code without even realizing it, Hothead brought in “man of the people” and “regular guy”, Lead Designer, Pete Low, to bridge the gap and explain to us laypeople the unique and fun way to control your Swarm. Swarm is the upcoming and ultra addictive action game from UTV Ignition and Hothead Games set to release early this year. Dr. Mike did his PhD research in the field of artificial intelligence, and while his research didn’t directly relate to causing the horrific deaths of little cute and pudgy blue creatures, he has harnessed his work to realize that vision in Swarm. In the newly released video, Dr. Mike shows us everything from how to jump, group up, huddle and even stack and bash your Swarmites.

[youtube:http://youtu.be/IeWVU-eVMAU]

Swarm gives players control of 50 utterly fearless Swarmites and drives them through an intense and often suicidal battle of survival. Swarm is the first game to feature mass character control, where players move all the Swarmites at once. Steer the flock of pudgy, clueless little blue morons through the game and they naturally flock and flow around obstacles. Creatively combine swarm moves to work your way through a relentlessly dangerous and hilariously brutal environment. Compete against friends to get the high score by deftly moving through the world and cleverly solving puzzles the game throws your way. Swarm is rated T for Teen by the ESRB

EA SPORTS™ and Virgin Gaming™ have penned a new agreement which names Virgin Gaming as the official worldwide provider of online tournaments for EA SPORTS. The agreement covers all head-to-head competitive play, pay-to-enter and sponsored tournaments for select EA SPORTS console video games.

As part of the agreement, the Virgin Gaming tournament platform will integrate directly with select EA SPORTS titles offering seamless web functionality and enhanced community tools for competitive gaming across Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 consoles. The first tournaments will begin early 2011, with details to be announced in the near future.

“EA SPORTS is the leading sports video game brand and publisher in the world, and we are thrilled to offer our members the opportunities to compete in some of their very best multiplayer sports games,” said Rob Segal, CEO of Virgin Gaming. “Virgin Gaming is a unique convergence of competitive gaming, video games and social/community networking, and we are excited that EA SPORTS shares our vision for the platform and its potential.”

“Competitive online gaming is an increasingly popular component of our industry and a great way for EA SPORTS and Virgin Gaming to help connect gamers around the world through the global language of sports,” said Peter Moore, President of EA SPORTS. “Virgin Gaming demonstrates the system-wide integrity we desire, and this is a great opportunity for EA SPORTS fans to experience secure and impeccably managed online tournaments for some of our top titles.”

Wicked Interactive and Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.) today offered a first look at Occupation Mode, the eagerly anticipated update which brings hardcore, capture-the-flag-style competitive action to everyone’s favorite free-to-play shooter.

“Gamers have been extremely curious,” said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive. “Since there hasn’t been an Old School hardcore competitive title in quite some time, gamers seem like they can’t wait to get their hands on Occupation Mode. We hope that these screenshots hold them over until Occupation Mode goes live, which, we promise, will be very soon.”

What’s New in Occupation Mode:

· New maps
· Territory capture and control – the two essential ingredients of a competitive title
· New team-based action and coordination
· Ability to set time-challenges – game creators determine how long one team has to hold all points on map for the win
· Opportunity to test out recently purchased or unlocked weapons in new, challenging environments

“With Occupation Mode, we offer players a great mix of flexibility and raw competition,” added Ho. “Some players want an experience that is nothing less than a fight to the death, with matches lasting countless rounds until one team finally emerges victorious from the firefight. For others, it’s about light, scrimmage with friends. We are proud to serve both communities of gamers with this latest update to M.A.T.”

Mobile IT management solution provider Rove has announced the rapidly growing adoption of its award-winning solution, Rove Mobile Admin, a secure smartphone- and tablet-enabled IT management solution giving IT staff unprecedented mobile access to incident detection, diagnosis, triage and resolution.

Spurring the surge of interest and uptake has been Rove’s Dashboard, functionality that aggregates alerts, alarms, notifications and tickets from IT monitors and incident management systems, presents them to IT administrators directly on their mobile device’s screen, and makes it possible to drill down quickly into problem details to identify the cause and implement a fix.

“We use Microsoft’s System Center Operations Manager to monitor a wide variety of security and server health issues,” said Jeff Rountree, Global Network Manager for Dover’s Pump Solutions Group (PSG), a world-leading manufacturer of industrial pumps and compressors. “While email alerts for warnings and errors are available to us, setting them up takes a number of steps and our time. With the Rove Mobile Admin Dashboard my team can view alerts directly, without the need for any email escalations. The added value is being able to receive alerts regarding our Exchange and/or Blackberry servers even if they’re offline – as long we have network connectivity we can get the Rove Dashboard alerts and begin taking corrective action.”

“There is a growing awareness within IT organizations that robust, proven mobile solutions are required to effectively manage their networks and infrastructure,” said Russell Ure, President and COO, Rove. “Rove Mobile Admin is increasingly seen as the preferred solution to address these needs.”

Congratulations to all of the Canadian developers whose titles have been nominated in the 2010 Best App Ever Awards – support your Canadian interactive media industry and vote before January 25th 2011:

Celsius Game Studios – Red Nova – Best App Ever Category, Best Action Game, Best Arcade Game for iPhone/iPod Touch; Best Use of iOS Hardware, Best Game Controls, Best Arcade Game for iPad

TransGaming Studios – Puzzle Quest HD – Best Strategy Game for iPad

Hemisphere Games – Osmos – Best Use of iOS, Most Innovative Game,  Best Game Graphics for iPad and Best Game Controls for iPhone and iPod Touch

Enflick, Inc. – TextNow – Best Social Networking App for iPhone and iPod Touch as well as for iPad

Binary Dawn – WordUs2 – Best Word Game for the iPhone and iPod Touch

EA Mobile has multiple titles nominated this year:

Mirror’s Edge – Best Game Controls for iPhone and iPod Touch
Scrabble – Best Multiplayer Game and Best Word Game for iPad and Best Word Game for iPhone and iPod Touch
Monopoly – Best Family Game for iPad
Dragon’s Lair – Best Retro Game for iPhone and iPod Touch
Need for Speed Shift – Best Racing Game for iPhone and iPod Touch and Best Racing Game for iPad
Need For Speed Undercover – Best Racing Game for iPhone and iPod Touch
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit – Best Racing Game for iPhone and iPod Touch
Reckless Racing – Best Racing Game for iPhone and iPod Touch
Surviving High School – Best Strategy Game for iPhone and iPod Touch

GameLoft has four titles nominated:

Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus HD – Best Multiplayer Game and Best Action Game for iPad
Ashphalt 5 HD – Best Racing Game for iPad
Ashphalt 6 Adrenaline – Best Racing Game for iPhone and iPod Touch
Shrek Kart ® HD – Best Racing Game for iPad

Newspaper Direct – PressReader – Best Publication App for iPhone and iPod Touch as well as for iPad

Ravenous Games – Ravenous Trivia – Best Word Game for iPhone and iPod Touch as well as Best Word Game for the iPad

Acrylic Apps – Pulp – Best News App for iPad

Matt Rix – Trainyard – Most Innovative Game, Best Puzzle Game as well as Best Casual Game for iPhone and iPod Touch

Agile Web Solutions – 1Password Pro – Best Productivity App for iPhone and iPod Touch

Loud Crow Interactive – PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Best Use of iOS Hardware for iPad category; Best eBook App; Best Kids’ App for the iPad and Best Kids’ App for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

XMG Studio Inc. has 4 titles nominated:

Style Studio Fashion Designer – Best Artistic App and Best Family Game for iPhone and iPod Touch as well as Best Artistic App, Best Family Game and Best Young Adult App for the iPad.
Cannon Cadets – Best Casual Game for the iPad
Drag Racer : Pro Tuner HD – Best Racing Game for iPad
Drag Racer: Pro Tuner for iPhone and iPod Touch

Kobo Inc. – Kobo App – Best eBook App for the iPhone and iPod Touch as well as for the iPad.

The App Door – iFish Alberta – Best Reference App for iPad.

If I missed any studios from the nominations list, my apologies – and if you were missed, is it because your web site does not offer information on your location? 😉

Reminder: The CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa conference is February 16th – 18th, tickets are available online.
Reminder: Desire2Learn RoadShow presentation will be in Toronto on January 26th &  Ottawa on January 27th.
Reminder: CFC Features application deadline is January 28th & the Cineplex Entertainment Film Programme deadline is January 21st.
Reminder: The deadline for nominations for the 2011 Worldwide Short Film Fest are open until February 4th.

Shot in the Dark Mysteries has launched its inaugural podcast. Hosted by company president and head writer Leigh Clements, this first podcast in the series will introduce you to the concept of mystery parties. Additional podcasts will  offer listeners many excellent tips on planning that special, and memorable, party or corporate event.

The Youth Media Awards, presented by the Youth Media Alliance, are now open for nomination submissions. The Awards are open to all Canadian-made, youth-oriented productions originally broadcast or released online in English between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010. Programs and interactive content must be submitted by no later than Monday, February 21, 2011, at 5 p.m. The Award winners will be announced at a gala event in Toronto on June 2nd.

Wired Woman Vancouver presents a session with Tod Maffin, podcasting pioneer, technology trend blogger and Digital Marketing Strategist on Monday, February 7th. Tod will discuss the 7 successful action steps for launching an impactful and measurable viral campaign using his ASSURED ROI™ methodology. Tod’s energetic, highly entertaining presentation style has audiences captivated, engaged, entertained and inspired. This session will be hosted at the ING Direct Cafe on Howe Street. Advance registration for this event is required, tickets are $35.00 for members and $40.00 for non-members. Note: membership is free, sign up and save.

Congratulations to the two Canadian nominees in this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards:

Mass Effect 2, nominated for Best Game Design, Best Technology, Best Audio, Best Writing as well as Game of the Year, and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, nominated for Best Visual Arts and Game of the Year.

Bioware has announced a new pre-order incentive for the fast approaching release of Dragon Age 2. Those who pre-order the game before March 8th (the scheduled release date) will receive access to the following additional in-game content at no extra cost.

* The Lion of Orlais Shield, whose legend begins at the height of the Summer War, when all of Orlais was embroiled in fierce battles, with dozens of contenders for the Imperial Throne emerging. Most are long forgotten except as footnotes in scholarly tomes, but everyone remembers the gallant young lord Emile Deveraux, “The Golden Prince”. Thought outnumbered at every turn, he racked victory upon victory culminating in the Seventh Battle of Roses. While wearing this shield he broke through his uncle’s vanguard to win the day. Never knowing the taste of defeat on the battlefield, this gallant hero is said to have met his end at the hands of a jealous lover in the dead of night. Now you can carry this magnificent shield into battle, adding to your health and XP gained, you can also increase its power with magical runes which will fit nicely into two special slots.

* The Fadeshear Sword, whose core is very old – as old as the first smiths who sought a way to battle the nightmares from the land beyond. This sword has fought the demonic hosts in countless battles, sometimes being held high in triumphant victory. Other times, it has lain broken beside its dying owner. But after every defeat it has always been reclaimed, reforged, and made stronger. Fadeshear has passed through many hands before yours. Now it is your turn to make the demons of the Fade pay for crossing the Veil into the waking world. Make use of the FadeShear Sword against demons and the undead, its power growing as your character levels up.

Original purchasers of Dragon Age 2 will receive:

* A fighting Mabari War Hound who can be summoned by a whistle to fight at your side in battle.
* The Mirror of Transformation which will allow you to change your very appearance. Hair, eyes, tattoos, and more can be changed with the click of a button.
* Access to The Black Emporium exclusive Magic and Crafting Stores that have some of the best equipment and powerful, unique recipes you’ll find in the game. It’s restocked with better items as you progress through the story.

This is a double bonus for those of us who also took advantage of the Signature Edition pre-order incentive, which ended on January 11th, because we also get access to all of this newly announced bonus content. Here is the latest Dev Diary trailer, which talks about story development.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AWS31hO4M4]

Montreal’s Gamerizon has announced that over 8 Million of its Chop Chop™ games had been downloaded on the App Store in a span of less than 10 months. Each of the six existing Chop Chop™ games – Chop Chop Ninja™, Chop Chop Runner™, Chop Chop Tennis™, Chop Chop Soccer™, Chop Chop Hockey™ and Chop Chop Caveman™ – have received critical acclaim and have reached top ranking positions in their respective categories in most countries around the world, with specially strong performances in the US, the UK, China, Australia, Canada, Germany, and France.

“We reached the milestone with an incredibly strong performance of 1.4 Million downloads in the last 6 days alone and are well on our way to make the Chop Chop™ franchise one of the world’s best known mobile gaming franchises” said Alex Sakiz, CEO of Gamerizon.

The success of the Chop Chop™ franchise is primarily a function of the unique one-finger gameplay mechanics developed in all games and the innovative hybrid Paid/Free Business Model adopted. Three new games – Chop Chop Rocket™, Chop Chop Kicker™ and Chop Chop Alien™ are scheduled for release in February and March.

Emmy® Award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. has entered into a partnership with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore’s leading institution of higher learning, to set up a paperless digital animation production hub on their campus, fully equipped with a Toon Boom pipeline.

This first animation hub will serve as a great launch pad for the students in the interactive digital media courses to learn animation and create projects in a true digital production environment. In addition, Toon Boom will collaborate with Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of InfoComm Technology to assist in faculty development, student development, academic and professional networking, as well as in granting prizes of excellence in the form of special awards and scholarships.

“Toon Boom is fully dedicated to the development of the animation industry in Singapore. As a result, our partnership with Ngee Ann Polytechnic represents a great accomplishment in combining Toon Boom’s field proven expertise with Singapore’s impressive creative talent,” shared Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom.

EA Sports has released a new trailer for Fight Night Champion. Setting the stage for a new standard in sports games, Fight Night Champion will deliver the most dynamic simulation fighting experience to date, pushing visual boundaries and redefining the single player journey for the category. Check out this video about fighter stamina:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPPeCMOX13Y]

In just a few weeks, Fight Night Champion will break the mold of what is expected in a single-player sports game. Players will be introduced to an entirely new way to step between the ropes and experience the drama, emotion, excitement and tragedy of world championship boxing.

Burnaby’s Teradici Corporation, developer of the innovative PC-over-IP® (PCoIP®) protocol that enables a true PC experience for desktop virtualization, has announced a strategic investment and development agreement from In-Q-Tel (IQT), the strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the missions of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Teradici PCoIP protocol is an innovative remote display technology that allows the user’s desktop operating system, applications, and data to reside in the datacenter, eliminating the need for traditional desktop workstations, PCs and thin clients, and delivers an uncompromised user experience to each person, anywhere, without incurring the security risks associated with having data reside in remote PCs. PCoIP technology provides high resolution, full frame rate 3D graphics and high-definition media, with full USB peripheral interoperability, locally over a LAN or remotely over a high-latency WAN. It compresses, encrypts and encodes the entire computing experience at the datacenter and transmits it ‘pixels only’ across a standard IP network to secure, stateless PCoIP zero clients, thin clients, and mobile devices.

The protocol is implemented in silicon for hardware accelerated performance and enhanced security, as well as in several software configurations, including VMware View™, the industry leading desktop virtualization platform. A growing ecosystem of over 25 third-party vendors provide a wide variety of PCoIP products including server plug-in cards, rack and tower workstations, blade PCs, zero clients, integrated monitors, and IP phones with added PCoIP capability.

The Canadian Media Production Association has filed an intervention (PDF) with the CRTC, confirming that it does not support BCE Inc.’s application as filed, to acquire sole control of CTVglobemedia Inc. The CMPA disagrees with BCE’s contention that tangible benefits are not payable as a result of this transaction. The CMPA similarly disagrees with BCE’s proposal that the valuation of benefits payable amounts to only $221 million and that a mere $40 million of that amount will go towards supporting the creation of Canadian programming. The CMPA expects to make its arguments before the CRTC when it commences hearings into the proposed acquisition on February 1, 2011.

“The benefits package proposed by BCE represents a very significant departure from the CRTC’s long-standing tangible benefits policy. It is also extremely self-serving and very largely focused on activities that are normal capital expenditures for such a company,” says Norm Bolen, the CMPA’s President and CEO.

In its intervention, the CMPA argues that the tangible benefits policy must be respected. This means that:

* the payment of tangible benefits are indeed fully required in this transaction;
* the quantum of these TV benefits must represent 10% of the total value of all CTV television assets;
* BCE must not be allowed to exclude or discount any of its television-related assets in this calculation;
* a minimum of 85% of the total tangible benefits must be allocated to the creation of Canadian programming;
* a minimum of 75% of the amount allocated to the creation of Canadian programming must be earmarked to third-parties from the independent production community; and,
* the resources allocated to the creation of independent Canadian programming must be administered by a third-party, and must not be limited to projects that are ultimately broadcast only on CTV or its many television properties.

“If BCE’s proposal is accepted by the Commission without considerable modifications it would fall extremely short of what is in the best interest of our broadcasting system and the Canadian public,” says Bolen.

Wicked Interactive and Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.) have announced that the long-awaited Occupation Mode will be coming soon to everyone’s favorite free-to-play shooter.. With Occupation Mode, M.A.T. gains one of the most essential elements of a competitive title – territory capture and control.

“We are thrilled to offer this intense level of action to our community,” said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive. “We invite gaming clans of all skill levels to see for themselves just how crazy things can get. We know that gamers will put Occupation Mode right up there with Old School, hardcore multiplayer classics like Counter-Strike 1.6 and the Battlefield series.”

Occupation Mode brings with it new maps and new opportunities to put that weapon you just bought to work. The real challenge, of course, is to protect yourself and your team as you keep moving forward as a unit, attacking new positions and then defending them before time runs out. When your team holds all points on a map, you win the game. When both teams fail to complete the mission, beware…you can end up spawning infinitely for a lengthy and engaging firefight over a single capture point.

“At the request of the community, we have left it up to the game creators to set just how severe the time-keeping will be,” added Ho. “For those who love a good challenge, this is the mode for you. The two teams are in constant struggle for territory control until the best team finally emerges as the winner, involving not only brute force advancement but also endurance and holding key locations.”