Village Gamer

Canadian small business owners say they are spending a lot of time sweating the small stuff when they could be focusing on the big picture of how to grow. According to the quarterly American Express Small Business Monitor, entrepreneurs recognize planning, hiring, and marketing as key business functions but admit to spending a big part of their day on tasks such as office administration, cleaning and repairs. It would appear a big part of Canada’s business backbone is caught between planning for success and maintaining the status quo.

More than half (59%) of respondents to the latest survey, conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion, say their business would be in a much better position if they could spend more time doing what they’re good at. Specifically, small business owners say more than a quarter (26%) of every day is focused on activities they don’t consider core to their business. Almost half (48%) report that they can’t concentrate on growing their business because they are spending too much time running it, and many remain reluctant to hire outside help to share the workload.

“We know small business owners put their heart and soul into everything they do, so a reluctance to rely on others is only natural,” said Eric Nielsen, Vice President & General Manager, Small Business Services Canada, American Express Canada. “But looking for outside help for even a few tasks can allow owners to focus on the work they love and the reason for starting their own business in the first place.”

Exactly what non-core tasks are small business owners taking on themselves? Findings show owners are spending valuable time on such tasks as secretarial work (49%), technical support (48%), office/property repairs and cleaning (40%), and doing their own website construction (30%), rather than hiring outside help. Control is a key consideration for them: 56 per cent don’t want to give up control over any aspect of their business, even if it means doing everything themselves.

It’s not that small business owners don’t recognize the dilemma: 38 per cent of respondents say they waste a lot of time doing things that other people would be more qualified to do. Nevertheless, they are reluctant to outsource for a number of reasons, including a desire to maintain quality (38%), and the time it takes to hire and manage outsourced contractors (24%). The single greatest factor, though, is that outsourcing is seen by more than half (52%) as too expensive. Read the rest of this entry »

NASCAR Team Properties and Toronto toy company Spin Master Ltd. have joined forces to connect with, and help build, a new generation of fans for the sport. In a strategic effort to build its merchandising program and to further its reach with the youth demographic, NASCAR has chosen Spin Master to inject excitement, innovation, and fun into its toys and merchandise. As the primary toy licensee, Spin Master’s line of products will begin hitting store shelves in 2012.

The multi-year agreement provides Spin Master with exclusive licensing rights for NASCAR branded toy categories including replica vehicles, play sets, action figures, remote control items and much more. Not only will these Spin Master NASCAR items be sold at mass market retailers, but also at online e-commerce sites and specialty retailers nationwide.

“Spin Master is not only one of the largest toy companies in the world, they are renowned for creating innovative products that combine play and technology in an interactive manner rarely seen in the industry,” said Blake Davidson, vice president, NASCAR licensing and consumer products and board member of the NASCAR Team Properties. “The NASCAR products that Spin Master will produce will be original and relevant to our sport and will be products that our young fans can connect with in a fun and creative way. We are excited about what really is a new era beginning for NASCAR, and the role Spin Master will play in helping us to reach new NASCAR fans at an early age.”

“Spin Master is going to stimulate energy into NASCAR branded toys like never before which will help young fans develop a deeper attachment to our drivers and teams,” said Scott Hammonds, vice president of licensing for HGJ Licensing and a member of the NTP board. “This partnership is a great testament to what forming NASCAR Team Properties has meant to the business of NASCAR.”

“It’s very exciting to be partnering with an iconic brand such as NASCAR,” said Craig Sims, VP of Global Licensing at Spin Master. “This partnership will allow us to work hand in hand with the sport. There is so much passion and lots of storytelling opportunities that we can capture and translate to toys. We’re looking forward to the amazing long term potential we have with this partnership.”

Spin Master’s Air Hogs, the largest radio-controlled toy brand in the world, is a sponsoring partner with Jr. Motorsports, and will be the primary sponsor of driver Josh Wise and the #7 Chevrolet car at the Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway this Saturday, June 18.

Teletoon Canada Inc. has announced its lineup of new and returning Canadian original series recently green-lit or currently in production. The announcement was made at the Banff World Media Festival where Teletoon is a Gold Partner, sponsoring the Kids & Animation program.

“Teletoon has always been proud to showcase the great animation and kids television talent that our country has to offer and we’re thrilled to announce our new lineup of Canadian programming,” said Alan Gregg, Director, Original Content, Teletoon Canada inc. “With four new shows and three more renewed Canadian-made series, Teletoon continues to expand its repertoire of animated and live-action/animated series for kids 6-11, co-view audiences and adults.”

Highlights of Teletoon’s new lineup of Canadian original productions are as follows:

New Series:

FUGGET ABOUT IT
9 Story Entertainment • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon at Night

Teenager Petey Falcone’s father, Jimmy Falcone, was once the head of a large crime syndicate. But when Jimmy refused to whack his good ol’ Uncle Cheech, the Falcones were forced into witness protection in Canada. Petey, who was finally starting to figure out life in New York, now lives as Petey “McDougal” in Regina, Saskatchewan. In their new life, the Falcones must come to terms with the fact that they are no longer respected neighbourhood big-shots – they’re just regular schmucks. Fugget About It is an animated comedy aimed at teens and young adults that was originally developed for the Teletoon At Night Pilot Project in 2007.

JUST KIDDING KIDS
Just For Laughs Gags • 6 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Winter 2013 on Teletoon

From the creators and producers of the smash TV hit, Just for Laughs Gags, comes Just Kidding Kids, an all new spinoff with an age-old difference. Just Kidding Kids puts kids in the driver’s seat and lets them loose to concoct preposterous pranks on unsuspecting adults. The kids work together to ensure that one victim after another falls for the ploy. The audience is in on the scheme and won’t be able to resist roaring with laughter as unwary victims take the fall and their candid reactions are all caught on camera. Just Kidding Kids is sure to be a favourite for the whole family.

SPLATALOT
marblemedia • 26 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2011 on TÉLÉTOON (French)

Splatalot is a hilarious family-friendly medieval-themed physical game show featuring a larger-than-life extreme obstacle course with more splats and spills than ever imaginable. Each episode features a different group of 12 thrill-seeking teen contestants, dubbed Attackers, competing in three hilarious rounds: Cross the Moat, Escape the Stockade and Capture the Crown. The Defenders of Splatalot, an international squad of nine costumed gladiators, do their best to protect the castle from the Attackers – leaving only one to be crowned King or Queen of Splatalot.

ROCKET MONKEYS
Breakthrough Entertainment • 26 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon

Meet Wally and Gus. Best friends and NOSA-trained monkeynauts on an odyssey through outer space. Blasted into strange new worlds on a unique and specially equipped rocket, these two simians experiment with new technologies and discover alien species never seen before. Despite Dr. Chimpsky’s instructions for space travel, neither the optimistic Wally nor the brainy Gus has a clue as to how to pilot their ship, but somehow they have the right stuff to complete their mission. New life forms, techno-gadgets and collisions with space pirates all add up to a zany, fun-filled series for kids 6-11. It’s close encounters of a primate kind.

Renewed Series:

CRASH CANYON (Eight additional episodes ordered)
Breakthrough Films & Television • 8 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon at Night

When the Wendell family leaves for a vacation in their camper trailer, only one thing can happen: disaster. Motoring between tourist attractions, scenic vistas and the occasional point of interest, the trip turns to catastrophe when the family vehicle goes off a cliff. As the Wendells stumble out, they realize that not only are they alive, but also that they are not alone as the same fate has befallen several others before them, forming a community known only as Crash Canyon. This comedy series is produced by Breakthrough’s Ira Levy, Peter Williamson and executive producer Joan Lambur with Joel Cohen (Co-Executive Producer, The Simpsons). These eight additional episodes bring the total to 26 for the Crash Canyon series on Teletoon. Crash Canyon premieres on Teletoon in fall 2011 as part of the adult-oriented “Teletoon at Night” programming block.

DETENTIONAIRE (Season Two)
Nelvana • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon

Lee Ping is about to start grade 10 – the best year of his life – when he is blamed for pulling off an epic, mind-blowing practical joke and sentenced to spend the rest of the school year in detention. It’s goodbye freedom, goodbye girls and hello worst year of his life. Detentionaire follows Lee in his attempts to uncover the mystery behind the practical joke and clear his name. Detentionaire is created by Daniel Bryan Franklin and Charles Johnston and produced by Tracey Dodokin. The addition of these 13 episodes brings the total to 26 for the Detentionaire series aimed at kids 8-12, with the first 13-episode instalment premiering in fall 2011 on Teletoon.

MUDPIT (13 additional episodes ordered)
Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon

This animated and live-action comedy series tells the story of four teens who form a virtual rock band in hopes of becoming real rock stars. Using a new high-tech videogame called Muzika, ubergamer Reese and power drummer Geneva create avatars to rock the online world for a chance to win a recording contract and world tour. This kid-friendly series stars Jesse Rath, Carleigh Beverly, Vas Saranga and Daniel Magder. These 13 additional episodes bring the total to 26 for the Mudpit series on Teletoon. Mudpit premieres on Teletoon in winter 2012.

McGill University today announced an $8.3-million CDN contract with IBM in Canada to acquire a supercomputer cluster able to support the data-intensive research activities of the CLUMEQ High Performance Computing Consortium, making it the most powerful supercomputer in Quebec and the second-most energy-efficient data centre in Canada, based on the current Top500 list which was announced in November 2010.

The first phase of this McGill project, funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), aims at building Canada’s capacity to undertake world-class research and technology development to strengthen its position in today’s knowledge economy. According to a recent report issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the province of Quebec is a hotbed of research and development, making the city of Montreal an ideal location for the project

Gaining an efficient, relevant understanding of mountains of data will be one of the biggest challenges for organizations in the 21^st Century. McGill’s CLUMEQ will provide high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities to fully support the research activities of the Quebec and Canadian university communities in several data-intensive sectors. McGill’s focus includes high-energy physics, nanotechnologies, computational fluid dynamics, climate research, brain imaging, biology and life sciences. The cluster will leverage the processing power necessary to facilitate the efficient capture, storage, search, sharing, analysis, and visualization of vast amounts of industry data. CLUMEQ will also support the Atlas research project linked to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) project. Read the rest of this entry »

Toon Boom Animation Inc. has announced that the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) granted the Distinguished Achievement Award (DAA) in the Curriculum/Arts category to Toon Boom’s Flip Boom Classic Art Curriculum for K-5 and Flip Boom All-Star Art Curriculum for Grades 6-8.

Focusing on educational excellence for both teaching and learning, AEP, a national, nonprofit organization serving the educational resource community, runs this annual awards program that defines the industry standard for quality educational products and excellence in education marketing.

The DAAs, the largest branch of the program, recognize the year’s best products according to subject area and grade level in the categories of Curriculum, Periodicals, Professional Development and Technology. The awards highlight the standard of excellence other developers can measure their products against.

In the Curriculum/Arts category, the Flip Boom Classic Art Curriculum competed with the Disney English Winter Camp Music Program from Disney Publishing Worldwide for K-5 while the Flip Boom All-Star Art Curriculum competed with Connections Education for Grades 6-8.

“We feel truly honored by this prestigious recognition which testifies to our commitment to education. We’ll make sure to let all our customers know about this wonderful accomplishment,” states Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom Animation Inc.

Astral’s Family Channel and Disney Junior have ordered new episodes of four Canadian original productions for the 2011/2012 season. Family Channel has ordered second seasons of the live-action comedies Really Me and What’s Up, Warthogs!, from Fresh TV and Dolphin Entertainment/Aircraft Productions respectively, as well as a third season of Temple Street Productions’ Wingin’ It. Disney Junior has commissioned a second season of the new animated series Justin Time from Guru Studio, for both the English and French language Disney Junior networks. All four series will begin production in Toronto later this summer.

“To be able to support these shows and encourage the talented teams behind each one is an incredible privilege. We are eager to see how each series develops, or in the case of Justin Time, debuts across our networks,” said Michael Goldsmith, Director, Original Programming. “Our new Canadian live-action productions have grown to be real hits with our viewers. Really Me has captivated the Family audience with its smart writing and innovative concept while What’s Up, Warthogs! and its off-beat comedic style is proving not only popular on Family and Family.ca but is also rating well on the newly launched Disney XD. Also playing a key part in the Disney XD schedule, Wingin’ It continues to engage fans on the new channel as well as on Family. Justin Time, with its focus on imagination and its unique style, is sure to charm younger viewers when it premieres on Disney Junior.”

Series Synopsis – Family Channel

REALLY ME (13 episodes x 30 minutes)
Maddy (Sydney Imbeau, Marley and Me: The Puppy Years), is an ordinary-turned-famous 15-year-old who has won the ultimate prize of starring in her own reality TV show with her best friend Julia (Kiana Madeira, Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars). The girls quickly realize that actually getting on the screen can be tough when surrounded by a family of scene-stealers and working with a ratings-hungry producer. Created by Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, Really Me is produced by Fresh TV (6TEEN, Total Drama Island, My Babysitter’s A Vampire) in association with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME). FME has worldwide distribution, brand licensing and home entertainment rights (excluding Canada). New episodes from the first season of Really Me currently air Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT on Family Channel. Read the rest of this entry »

Quebec’s Laurentian Bank kicked off the month of June with the launch of a summer contest on its Little Heroes Club web site. By indicating what they plan to do to stay active this summer, young contest participants have a chance to win a Wii game console, complete with controllers and games. In addition to contests like this, the Clan’s site offers children the opportunity to play interactive games, draw and explore the world of science with a number of experiments.

Through its various involvements, Laurentian Bank’s Little Heroes Club is committed to enhancing youngsters’ self-esteem by highlighting their accomplishments large and small. Once again this summer, the Club will be on hand at numerous family festivals and soccer tournaments to amuse and entertain. This initiative assembles the majority of the Bank’s activities in the area of donations, sponsorships and social involvement under a single umbrella. All geared toward children and families, these activities strive to encourage youth to actively participate in their communities’ sports, cultural and artistic life.

The contest is open to residents of Quebec, and runs until 4:00PM September 30, 2011.

Strangeloop has announced that it is the first company in the world to provide a commercial product that automatically offers the benefits of Google’s experimental SPDY protocol without requiring changes to the site owner’s code or servers. The release, which is available immediately to all Strangeloop customers, comes after months of close collaboration between Strangeloop and the Chromium Project team at Google.

“Our goal is to make the web faster for everyone,” said Mike Belshe, Lead Software Engineer at Google. “Strangeloop engineers embraced SPDY from the beginning and provided key data and feedback about their experience. They then integrated SPDY with their Site Optimizer product and moved rapidly from concept to code to product, demonstrating an impressive speed-up in their customers’ site performance.”

Strangeloop’s integration of SPDY within its Site Optimizer suite of products and services have resulted in:

• At least 50% reduction in page load time.
• Minimizing the complexity of deployment. Site Optimizer automates Web Content Optimization (WCO), delivering the benefits of SPDY to customers without making changes to their servers or code.
• Bringing together like-minded people interested in using the power of open-source collaboration to explore protocols as a way of solving latency problems.

“At Strangeloop, we’re passionate about pushing the performance envelope, and we’re always looking for opportunities to collaborate with other industry leaders to do this,” said Strangeloop CEO Jonathan Bixby. “This is just the first phase of our SPDY integration work.” Read the rest of this entry »

Symantec Corp. has revealed the findings of its 2011 Virtualization and Evolution to the Cloud Survey which examined how organizations plan to move business-critical initiatives to virtual and hybrid cloud computing environments. The survey highlighted topics including server, client, and storage virtualization, storage-as-a-service, and hybrid/private cloud technologies; and the results uncover disparities between expectations and reality as enterprises deploy these solutions. CEOs and CFOs are concerned with moving business-critical applications into virtual or cloud environments due to challenges including reliability, security, availability and performance. The survey is based on more than 3,700 respondents from 35 countries worldwide, including 200 respondents from Canada.

“Cloud computing represents a major shift within IT – changing from a traditional IT delivery to a service-provider model.  Moving to the cloud is a complex evolution for many companies and it’s essential that IT and executives are aligned on initiatives,” said John Magee, vice president of virtualization and cloud solutions, Symantec.  “Virtualization is an enabler for private and hybrid clouds and our survey shows that planning a seamless move is critical to achieving all the simplicity, affordability and efficiency that these environments have to offer.”

Adoption of server virtualization is widespread, and more than 75 percent of organizations are discussing private and hybrid cloud deployments.  Of the technologies evaluated in the survey, server and storage virtualization are the most mature with 45 and 43 percent of enterprises implementing.   Private Storage-as-a-Service is the least mature with 36 percent adopting.

Early investments have revealed gaps between expectations and reality which indicate that organizations are still learning what these technologies are capable of and how to overcome the new challenges they bring with them. We asked respondents about initial goals in server, storage, and endpoint virtualization; private Storage-as-a-Service; and hybrid/private cloud.  We then asked those who have already implemented which goals they actually achieved.  The difference between the two answers revealed an expectation gap.

• Server virtualization projects were most successful, with only a 4 percent average gap between expected and realized goals.  The biggest gaps occurred in scalability, reducing capital expenditures and reducing operating expenditures.
• The average shortfall in storage virtualization was 33 percent, with disappointments coming in agility, scalability and reducing operating expenditures.
• Respondents reported an average gap between expected and realized goals of 26 percent with endpoint/desktop virtualization.  They cited disappointments in new endpoint deployment, application delivery and application compatibility.
• Seventy-seven percent of organizations are considering private Storage-as-a-Service, but these projects are challenging to implement and fall short of expectations by 37 percent.  For example, complexity reduction was a goal for 84 percent of respondents, but reached by only 44 percent.

These gaps are a hallmark of early stage markets where expectations are out of step with reality.  As the virtualization and cloud markets continue to mature, we expect to see those gaps close. Read the rest of this entry »

MEGA Brands Inc. has entered into a multi-year international licensing partnership with Blizzard Entertainment to develop construction toys based on Blizzard’s popular  Warcraft^® and StarCraft^® franchises, expanding on the remarkable success the company has achieved with translating gaming content into innovative and entertaining toys for kids and collectors alike. The first-ever construction toy sets from this partnership will be based on the iconic locations, characters, and vehicles from World of Warcraft^® and StarCraft^® II: Wings of Liberty™. The Mega Bloks licensed product offerings will make their retail debut worldwide in Summer 2012.

“We’re proud and thrilled to enter into a partnership with Blizzard Entertainment, the world leader in creating epic online game franchises,” said Vic Bertrand, Chief Innovation Officer of MEGA Brands. “The depth of content in World of Warcraft and StarCraft will fuel years of fun, collectible products for gamers and collectors.”

“We’re pleased to form this partnership with the experienced toy developers at MEGA Brands,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “Our players regularly amaze us with their creativity, and we’re confident that they’ll enjoy building and collecting the Warcraft- and StarCraft-themed construction sets that we’ll be bringing to market with MEGA next year.”