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Fundica, providers of unique services that help entrepreneurs efficiently find suitable funding programs and products, has launched new proprietary online services to intelligently help entrepreneurs and funding providers in Québec and Ontario. Fundica finds and tracks available grants, tax credits, loans and equity funding offered by federal, provincial and municipal governments, and private funding providers. Additionally, these services elevate the visibility of public and private funding providers’ initiatives.

Fundica offers a unique solution through its proprietary search, intelligent filtering and timely notification software. With an intuitive user interface, the Fundica solution allows for quick and easy matching of entrepreneurs with funding programs/products through an extensive and up-to-date database.

“Québec and Ontario have some of the best government and private sector funding programs/products in the world,” says Mike Lee, Eng., MBA, CFA, Partner, Fundica. “But, finding and tracking these initiatives can be mysterious and costly for busy entrepreneurs. Additionally, high advertising and administration costs can make programs/products completely ineffective for governments. We created Fundica to simplify the funding process for both entrepreneurs and funding providers,” adds Mr. Lee.

Fundica offers a free Basic Service that allows entrepreneurs to evaluate the number and size of potentially applicable programs/products before making a purchase decision. Fundica’s Premium Service includes comprehensive details on programs/products, advanced notifications and one hour of expert consulting. Depending on individual circumstances, it may be possible to fully complete applications within this one-hour period. Fundica’s Premium Service costs $40.00 per month, based on a 12-month subscription. Funding providers may change programs/products within Fundica’s database listings at any time and at no cost.

Kids and parents visiting TVOKids.com beginning May 31st will be introduced to two new and inspiring additions to the team. Ten-year-old Emma Evans from Toronto, and 16-year-old Hisham Mohammad from Whitby, join TVOKids.com as its newest Kid Reporters bringing back stories from the field from a typical kid’s point of view.

TVOKids producers worked with Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, where Emma and Hisham receive services, to help find kids who had talent and who could inspire kids who face challenges of their own.

“When TVOKids approached us to help find a Kid Reporter, we were thrilled because we know so many enthusiastic kids with great stuff to contribute,” says Genevieve Scott, Senior Communications Associate at Holland Bloorview. “Many people don’t know a child with a disability. Sometimes this can lead to false impressions about differences and misunderstandings. Emma and Hisham are role models for kids with and without disabilities. We are so proud of them and excited to see them on TV.”

For TVOKids producers the search of Emma and Hisham presented them challenges of a welcome kind.

“At first, we were looking for only one new reporter,” says Pat Ellingson, TVO’s Creative Head of Children’ Media, “but Emma and Hisham’s auditions were so wonderful that when it came to making the selection we realized we had to have two. They’re both enthusiastic, interested in people, and both have exceptionally bright minds. They are great examples of kids who demonstrate that there are no limitations to what you can achieve in life.”

Emma is a Girl Guide, a member of the Toronto Children’s Chorus, an avid reader who hosts monthly book clubs in her home and has published a short piece of writing in her school where she is a grade 4 student. Emma was also featured in a video for HeartSpeak, in which she talks about Cerebral Palsy, the challenges it presents to her in her life, and confessed to wanting to become an actress when she grows up.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dxRYY_qbP0]

Hisham is a grade 10 student in the Performing Arts program at O’Neill Collegiate & Vocational School in Oshawa. A budding musician and athlete, Hisham plays alto saxophone and sledge hockey, is a member of the Junior National wheelchair basketball team, and names Rick Hansen as his role model. Hisham is also civic-minded, becoming the first page in a wheelchair in the Ontario Legislative page program at Queens Park.

In April, Emma and Hisham along with some of their friends met with TVOKids producers to talk about what stories they think should be on their editorial calendars including, a trip to the Toronto Zoo, bush-plane ride, the Canadian Air & Space Museum, Wheelchair sports, and Harbourfront Kids Camp.

Look for Emma and Hisham’s stories in the TVOKids Reporters page at TVOKids.com Ages 11 and Under.

IGLOO Software has announced it is the recipient of the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) Recognized Innovator Award for Social Collaboration. The company won the honour for its social intranet and extranet solutions at the spring 2011 Technology Services World (TSW) conference in Silicon Valley.

IGLOO was also awarded Best in Tour, as voted by attendees, following the Innovation Tours at the conference. Conducted by John Ragsdale, TSIA vice president of technology research, the tours featured demos from all of the Recognized Innovator finalist companies, including CitrixOnline, Coveo, InQuira and LivePerson.

Communities, powered by IGLOO, allow business professionals to share files and capture knowledge, locate documents and expertise, communicate with colleagues and customers, build connections and work better together around projects. Services professionals frequently use IGLOO to build a knowledge base and encourage peer-to-peer interaction in order to reduce support costs and increase sales.

“Technology innovation is a driving force for businesses in every sector of the market,” said John Ragsdale, vice president of technology research for TSIA. “IGLOO Software was selected as a winner for its leadership in developing an innovative social collaboration solution that aims to improve the capture, sharing and consumption of ideas and expertise across employee, partner and customer communities. We were proud to honor them at our spring TSW event.”

The Recognized Innovator Awards are the only independently judged awards program that recognizes innovation in technology services products and service offerings documented with customer case studies of measurable business value and results. The Recognized Innovators in each category were selected by a panel of judges, including industry experts and TSIA members.

Loblaw’s is launching a menu of unlimited monthly plans for the first time as PC® mobile products and services offer Canadian families brand name mobile phones and new options for simple, affordable plans.

“We’re offering Canadians a great selection of stylish mobile phones to choose from and the value they’ve come to expect from the President’s Choice® brand,” said Sandra Daniel, senior director, PC Telecom. “Starting this month, shoppers will have new flavours of Unlimited talk, text and tweet options to choose from.”

PC® mobile products and services are offered through many of Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) banner stores across the country and now include great new ways for customers to get value for their hard-earned dollars:

• Unlimited plans starting as low as $15 per month and the first month for free
• Simplified plans with talk and text options to suit any budget for $15, $25 or $35 per month
• All monthly plans include UNLIMITED regular text messaging throughout North America and Unlimited
• PC® mobile Family Calling, letting customers reach out to other PC® mobile customers locally, any time of the day or night
• Plans stuffed with more value so that Canadian families can talk and text to their hearts’ content, without blowing the family budget

“We want to make life easier for Canadian families,” added Daniel. “With PC® mobile products and services, what you see is what you get. There are no zones, gimmicks or hidden costs – just Unlimited calling and texting options using brand name phones, easy on-the-spot comparisons and unparalleled value.”

The PC® mobile line of products and services were introduced by Loblaw in 2005. PC® mobile customers enjoy free voice mail, call display, call waiting, call forwarding and three-way calling as well as free incoming texts. In addition to new unlimited monthly plans, Canadians can count on their PC® mobile service to keep them connected, running on a network that serves over 96 percent of the Canadian population.

New PC® mobile customers can enjoy a limited time offer: With the activation of a PC® mobile $35 monthly plan and phone by June 30, customers will receive 150 local anytime minutes each month and free unlimited incoming calls for as long as the plan is active.

Toronto-based GoGoNews, the online news resource for children, has launched GoGoNews.com, an interactive web site featuring daily news for school children ages seven to 13 years old. GoGoNews.com features popular headlines from mainstream media with filtered content, informing children of global events while simultaneously protecting them from images and story details appropriate for more mature audiences. In addition to breaking news, GoGoNews covers Science, Art, Government, Politics and Geography, offering fun facts and stories that capture children’s attention and encourage exploration of new subjects.

Designed to provide parents and teachers with interesting topics to engage children in conversation and expand their knowledge, GoGoNews provides a safe means for addressing the harsh realities of today’s world. The site is organized in stories that are packed with facts but concise enough to keep young readers engaged and hungry for the next article. The news articles can be readily accessed with the site’s simple and intuitive navigation:

Headlines – covers breaking news
Cool & Fun – contains items like brain teasers, puzzles and jokes
Picks – is filled with editor’s and children’s recommendations on top books, toys, and gift ideas
Planet – feature interesting facts about space and the environment
Talk – provides a forum for kids and parents to post feedback, comments and ideas
Teach – offers  suggestions for parents and educators on how to approach difficult news topics and innovative ways to introduce new lessons

“We created GoGoNews to inform kids about world events in a safe manner, feeding their young, inquisitive minds with real news, while also protecting them from content that is too sophisticated or beyond their

Golnar Khosrowshahi

comprehension,” said Golnar Khosrowshahi, founder and editor in chief of GoGoNews. “As a parent, I want my children to grow up and be educated in a global context; to think of countries near and far as their neighbors who do things just a little differently. I believe that the next generation of leaders will be those who have grown up connected to the world around them intellectually, academically and socially. With GoGoNews, we are creating the opportunity for children to improve their literacy, gain a new vocabulary and learn about different people, countries, and cultures in a fun and entertaining format.”

Khosrowshahi started GoGoNews in 2007 for her then five-year-old twin daughters after they saw a newspaper cover with a devastating photograph of a little girl after an earthquake in Pakistan. Rather than ignoring her daughters’ ensuing questions and finding them an alternative distraction, Khosrowshahi explained earthquakes and the types of damage they can cause.

The interest, emotions and discussion that followed inspired Khosrowshahi to create a daily online newsletter for her girls. The result was a compilation of culled headlines and relevant data that encouraged conversation about what they read, learned and felt about the news. The newsletter quickly gained a following among family, friends and elementary schools and led to the creation of GoGoNews.com, which, unlike other similarly branded news sources geared for children, is updated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Today, GoGoNews is compiled by an editorial team, with consultation and input from an advisory board that includes teachers, child psychologists, curriculum specialists and various educators who guide classroom discussion and materials and advise on the treatment of stories about natural disaster. GoGoNews is currently being syndicated to elementary schools throughout the United States and Canada via the newsletter, GoGo On The Go.

Denver-based MapQuest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Inc. has just announced the launch of MapQuest.ca to provide accurate mapping tools and directions for Canadian addresses.

“MapQuest has been providing solutions to Canadian users to meet their trip-planning needs for years,” said Christian Dwyer, senior vice president and general manager, MapQuest. “The launch of MapQuest.ca speaks to the growing needs of Canadian consumers for MapQuest tools, including search results and Canadian-specific directions providing a localized experience.”

MapQuest.ca is a key part of MapQuest’s strategy of inspiring consumers to explore and discover while on their travel journeys. MapQuest also offers tailored opportunities for advertisers looking to engage users.

According to comScore’s 2010 Canada Year in Review (published March 2011), Canadians are one of the most engaged online audiences, ranking highest among the top markets in both average hours and visits per visitor. MapQuest’s new, dedicated site provides a better experience to users through customized features including precise search, advertising messages geared toward individual inquiries and needs, and directions defaulting to kilometers.

Additional information on Canadian users:

• Directories/Resources (where mapping is) grew 18% Y/Y and is a top category
• Canadian males spent the greatest amount of time on Directories sites, averaging more than 94 minutes per month in Q4 2010.
• Women spent double the amount of time on Photos and Directories sites when compared to Q4 2009

“Though Canadians have been using MapQuest for 15 years, the new site provides new inventory for advertisers looking to reach travelers in all stages of trip-planning and discovery,” said Graham Moysey, general manager, AOL Canada. “We’re thrilled to bring these enhanced, new opportunities to our current and prospective advertising customers.”

MapQuest.com also operates with 14 language localization options and 27 country-specific open-source mapping sites that harness crowd-sourced map data. The launch of the dedicated Canada site underscores AOL Canada’s continued commitment to the Canadian marketplace, coming on the heels of the recently announced IAB Portrait (formerly known as Project Devil), the new ad format that could transform online marketing and the announcement of a Canadian version of The Huffington Post.

Chicago-based Media Chaperone, developer of Piggyback – a first of its kind Facebook application that helps parents monitor their kids’ online game use – has announced a strategic partnership with Quebec’s Frima Studio. The partnership will provide tens of millions of parents the ability to monitor and reward their children’s online gaming activity while playing Frima developed games.

Media Chaperone’s Piggyback application provides parents with important information, parental controls and protection for their kids’ online game play and learning. Parents can obtain, in real-time, an overview (through a parent’s Facebook account) of how their children are navigating the web within online gaming environments, social networks, and virtual worlds—and can easily manage entertainment expenditures, add monies for tokens, credit for continued gaming, while monitoring online behavior.

Ed Lewis, CEO of Media Chaperone acknowledged the value of partnering with a market leader like Frima Studio, “We are thrilled to partner with Frima Studio. They are a premier game developer, understand kids’ game play and have built outstanding games for market leaders including Build-A-Bear, Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon.”

Piggyback simplifies the ability for parents to follow along with their kids’ online game behavior, social activities and learning success—and has already been integrated within several popular online gaming environments, social networks and virtual worlds including: Everloop, Planet Cazmo, Webosaurs Whyville, and Woozworld among others. Frima Studio will collaborate with Media Chaperone to integrate Piggyback into leading kids’ online games to enable incremental revenue for its clients.

“Our clients can now leverage Piggyback to give parents insights and understanding into their child’s online gaming all with built in rewards,” said Frima CEO Steve Couture. “Parent engagement is a key to success for any kids game developer.”

Toronto has leapt into the number two spot in the world in the just-released PwC survey of “Cities of Opportunity” – the consultancy’s fourth analysis “of the trajectory of 26 cities, all capitals of finance, commerce and culture.” New York is slightly ahead of Toronto in first place, while San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney round out the top five.

In its analysis, PwC ranked cities in ten categories – measures designed, as PwC describes it, to favour “holistic capital market centres with vibrant economies and strong quality of life.” According to PwC, “Our thesis is that a successful city going forward will balance both social and economic strengths so the people and infrastructure support each other.”

Toronto ranks particularly highly in two of the categories most closely correlated with global competitiveness: Intellectual Capital & Innovation (2nd) and Health, Safety & Security (2nd). “The successful modern urban economy,” says PwC, “is reliant on, if not yet solely the product of, intelligence and social well-being.”

Toronto also ranks highly on Demographics and Liveability (#3), Lifestyle Assets (4th), Ease of Doing Business (5th), Sustainability (5th) and Cost (5th).

The PwC report sums up with the observation that, “to sustain success, cities today must continually attract and retain highly educated, technologically adept and digitally connected knowledge workers who increasingly make up the core of their human capital and whose definition of quality of life is exacting and not easily compromised… More than a centre of global business and finance alone, Toronto is a community in which people want to live and expect to lead rich and meaningful lives.”

Samsung Electronics Canada and Zip.ca has announced an exclusive partnership that will soon provide Canadians the ability to enjoy thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed from Zip.ca to Samsung’s SMART Televisions, Blu-ray players and Home Theatre products.

“Realizing the changing entertainment landscape and the demand for online entertainment, this new partnership will help Canadian’s access Zip.ca’s expansive catalogue and underscores our goal of developing smart technologies that deliver content with convenience to meet consumers needs,” said David Vitale, Head of Marketing, Samsung Electronics Canada.

A Zip.ca app will be available on Samsung’s Internet connected TV and Home Theatre products soon, offering Zip.ca members the ability to instantly watch movies and TV episodes from Zip.ca.

“For the past year, Samsung and Zip.ca have been working together to solidify a service that would provide Canadians with the latest movies and TV programs at the mere push of a button,” said Scott Richards, CEO, Zip.ca. “Consumers want outstanding technology to watch their favourite programs, so Samsung was a natural choice for this partnership.”

MEGA Brands Inc. has announced that holders of its 10% senior secured debentures passed an extraordinary resolution today approving amendments to the indenture governing the debentures. The amendments, among other things, allow the Corporation to increase available borrowings for working capital purposes under its existing asset-based credit agreement and are effective as of today. The extraordinary resolution was approved by approximately 92% of the votes cast in person or represented by proxy at the special meeting of debenture holders.

When the polls closed on Monday evening Jack Layton had made historic gains.  It was a trend in popularity and leadership that the two-week online election game Ballot Blitz had shown from the beginning. Layton finished at the top of Onestop Media Group’s Ballot Blitz leaderboard on Play Onestop with 36%.

Ballot Blitz was an election themed arcade game which posted poll results based on the animated candidates’ popularity.  Users were asked to play as one of five party leaders – Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Elizabeth May, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe – while the other four candidates whizzed across the scene attempting to steal votes.

Layton’s luster was not confined to Ballot Blitz. He and his party rose to the top of almost every poll on PlayOnestop.com’s polling section as well.  These polls measured several leadership qualities including integrity in a fun way.  For example, most users did not believe Layton would attempt to ring 9 items through an 8 item express checkout line.

Susan Varty, Principal of Wordtree Consulting, has joined HeadStart Solutions Inc. as Director of Digital Strategy. Wordtree is now operating under HeadStart to contribute content marketing, social media initiatives and services for HeadStart’s clients.

“Our partnership will enhance our recruitment and employer branding offerings for our existing client base, as well as attract new clients in the emerging digital technology space. I’m looking forward to working with Sue who brings a wealth of experience in content and social media communications.  This makes it a perfect match for us to collaborate and build upon HeadStart’s foundation,” says Marc Roginsky, Founder and President of HeadStart.

Best Buy Canada is hosting The Windows Experience Tour at select Best Buy stores in Ontario and Quebec. Beginning May 6^th until June 26^th, the tent activation will be set up in the parking lots of select stores where customers can check out the hot new hardware while experiencing how Windows 7 and free Windows Live services can help them create, connect and share using their PC and the cloud. In addition, customers can speak with Windows brand ambassadors and Best Buy blue shirts and have the chance to win prizes including one of seven ultimate jet-setter experiences to a music festival somewhere around the globe, or many other prizes as part of the Rock the Globe contest.

Two Best Buy locations will feature a Windows “tailgate” parking lot party, complete with a free barbeque and music. The parties will be at the Newmarket location on May 14^th and May 15^th and the Leaside location on May 21^st.

Dates and locations of the Windows Experience Tours:

May 6 – 8: Sherway – 167 North Queen Etobicoke
May 13 – 15: Newmarket – 175 Green Lane East, Newmarket
May 20 – 22: Leaside – 147 Laird Drive East York
May 27 – 29: Laval – 1560 boulevard Le Courbusier Laval
June 3 – 5: Woodbridge – 7850 Weston Road Woodbridge
June 10 – 12: Sherway – 167 North Queen Etobicoke
June 17 – 19: Kitchener – 215 Fairway Road South Kitchener
June 24 – 26: St. Catherine’s – 420 Vansickle Road St. Catherine’s
June 24 – 26: Ottawa East – 380 Coventry Road Ottawa

Intelliware Development Inc. has officially introduced its newest Roadmap process designed specifically  for BlackBerry® platform applications. This tool enables companies to rapidly but strategically plan and launch mobile solutions. Whether your company requires an enterprise application to improve organizational efficiency, or a consumer app to drive customer engagement, Intelliware’s Roadmap jump-starts your initiative. The Roadmap for BlackBerry app is the latest addition to a variety of Roadmaps that Intelliware offers to help clients accelerate their software development initiatives.

“We’ve been developing mobile apps for years and the first question our clients ask is, Where do we start?” explains Greg McKenzie, SVP, Strategic Alliances & Partnerships, Intelliware. “With the explosion of devices in the marketplace and proliferation of apps, organizations are starting to take a more strategic approach to the mobile ecosystem. Our Roadmap for BlackBerry apps results in a strategic, actionable plan that enables companies to get to market quickly with a solution that provides immediate, enduring value.”

On April 19th, RIM’s latest device, the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet was launched and is proving to become popular not only among consumers, but in particular, for enterprises. Companies are trying to determine how best to leverage what this new enterprise-class tablet has to offer. To help, Intelliware adapted its proven Roadmap process to incorporate the unique attributes and opportunities the PlayBook offers.

To coincide with the introduction of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, Loblaw® launched its President’s Choice™ Recipe Box app for the PlayBook. The app, developed by Intelliware, has been extremely popular and continues to have positive ratings and strong downloads.

“We’ve already used our Roadmap process to produce an opening day hit on BlackBerry App World™ for the PlayBook. Now, we’re working with other partners using this process to plan and develop new apps as well as launch existing apps on the new platform,” comments Dave Scapillati, VP, Mobile Solutions, Intelliware. “The PlayBook is the world’s first true enterprise-class tablet, and, deployed strategically, it can transform how an organization uses technology.”

Game Dev studio Endloop X has relaunched with a new name and a new look – Massive Damage Inc. The company’s official blog states that Endloop X was meant to be a placeholder, a temporary name until they came up with “the right name” – and anyone who has tried to name anything, knows how difficult this can be. The name Massive Damage fits well with the studio’s goals to disrupt the mobile social gaming space, and seemed to be the logical answer to the equation of Massively Multiplayer + Massive Disruption + Massive Impact.

Massive Damage is currently hard at work on Please Stay Calm, a location-based zombie MMO title. Again borrowing information from the studio’s blog, here is more information about the game:

Please Stay Calm is not Mafia Wars with a map slapped on top of it. Here are the game’s key features:

1. Location is key, it’s not about geography, it’s about people’s inherent affinity to their favorite spots. While the game can be played from your office, players will derive more value from moving around. The studio aims to be able to direct players to specific locations for special events.
2. A venue is a natural opportunity to drive organic social team play without the usual headaches involve with explicit teamwork. The studio calls this asynchronous dynamic massively co-operative gameplay.
3. Please Stay Calm integrates existing social graph information into the game narrative. Since the game fiction is layered on top of the real world, people will immediately feel like they are playing in a vibrant active game world even if few people are actually playing in their area.