Village Gamer

Moneyville.ca, a comprehensive financial resource for everyday personal finance, has partnered with the Investor Education Fund (IEF) to deliver high quality educational content that will help Canadians to make smart, informed decisions about money.  Adding to Moneyville.ca’s comprehensive editorial coverage on the financial issues that matter to Canadians, are hundreds of IEF articles, blogs and case studies.

“We have partnered with the IEF because we have the same priorities in mind,” says Adam Mayers, editor of Moneyville.ca. “Both organizations stand for the consumer and offer plain speaking, clearly written articles on all aspects of personal finance from budgeting and basic money management to buying a car, bringing up baby and buying a house.”

A non-profit agency set up by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the IEF is funded by fines and settlements from OSC enforcement actions and has a mandate to improve investor education and financial literacy through the web and in schools. The IEF’s Get Smarter About Money site is a treasure trove of practical financial information including everything from budgeting to investments to lifestyle angles such as finding and losing jobs, the cost and considerations of getting married, having children and the implications for divorce and retirement.

“The consumer wins with this partnership,” says Tom Hamza, President of the IEF.  “Greater awareness of high-quality, unbiased resources will help consumers get what they need and help to avoid the financial mistakes that are so common.”

The AMD Foundation today announced grants of more than $125,000 for educational programs that mark the non-profit’s expansion into Canada. The grants were awarded to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada and Friends of York University at the 2011 INplay Conference.  The awards support AMD’s education initiative, AMD Changing the Game, which is designed to inspire students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by creating video games.

“The AMD Foundation is committed to partnering with organizations that can help us meet students on common ground to build critical STEM skills,” said Allyson Peerman, President of the AMD Foundation. “The Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada and York University are innovators in the education space and the perfect partners to help us grow educational game design curricula in Canada.”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada will receive $45,000 to create two new computer labs with Acer computers powered by AMD Fusion APUs and $32,000 to deploy Game Tech pilot programs that will familiarize students with video game design principles and the STEM skills involved in the process.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand our technology learning programs for youth by enabling our Club members to access Game Tech,” said Pam Jolliffe, CEO and President, Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada. “Using game design to support youth in their learning and get them excited about learning is an innovative approach that we think will encourage our youth to be actively engaged.”

The Ontario grants are the most recent collaboration between AMD Changing the Game and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada. The Game Tech curriculum offers Club members ages 9-13 the opportunity to explore video game design and teaches systems thinking, introductory programming and problem-solving skills. The program is also designed to expose members to gaming career fields.

Friends of York University will receive $15,000 to create a computer lab equipped with AMD-based technology, and $35,000 to develop after school programs that encourage girls aged 13-15 to make use of video game design as a way to harness the power of new media development for under-privileged youth in the Greater Toronto/York Region.  After school programs will be enhanced with a summer camp opportunity that will provide access for additional students, supplemental mentoring and confidence building opportunities.

“York University researchers are making new breakthroughs in digital media and gaming,” said Stan Shapson, Vice-President Research & Innovation at York University. “We are excited to partner with the AMD Foundation to extend our research and outreach into the pedagogy of gaming to engage high school girls. These opportunities will provide students with technical skills while giving the participants insight into careers in the gaming and digital media industries.”

AMD Changing the Game is designed to take gaming beyond entertainment and inspire youth to learn critical education and life skills by equipping them to create digital games with social content. The program’s purpose is to promote the use of youth game development as a tool to inspire learning and improve science, technology, education and math (STEM) skills. The initiative is rooted in AMD’s long history of supporting education, along with the company’s passion and expertise in the graphics processor and gaming industries.

Since its launch in June 2008, AMD Changing the Game has:

• Funded 33 programs by 21 organizations in the United States, China, Malaysia, Germany and Canada that enable youth game development
• Co-sponsored the U.S. National STEM Video Game Challenge and joined Change the Equation in support of the US Educate to Innovate campaign
• Co-sponsored, along with the Entertainment Software Association, The Atlantic Intelligence Series Technologies in Education Forum
• Funded the creation and implementation of the Game Tech program at 10 local Boys & Girls Clubs across the country.
• Funded the creation of Level Up!, a comprehensive online teaching resource providing curricula and tools for middle and high school educators to teach students video game design and improve their STEM and language arts skills
• Funded the creation of a social impact game community within the Gamestar Mechanic game development platform
• Funded the creation of the AMD Game Zone within the Whyville.net virtual learning world
• Funded the development of the World Wide Workshop Foundation’s Globaloria game-design program for the Southwest Key’s East Austin College Prep Academy in 2009 and 2010
• Funded the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers new video game design category for the 2010 and 2011 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
• Funded Schmahl Science Workshop’s program to develop a sustainable fishing video game to communicate the danger of over fishing to long-term human survival
• Co-sponsored the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Games for Change Festival

CAD Crowd, an online matching service that helps companies hire global CAD workers, is pleased to announce a partnership with CADENAS GmbH. With CADENAS’ innovative new design catalogue technology, the CAD Crowd Part Community has successfully been launched. Pre-existing designs will allow companies to use the library of pre-constructed CAD models for reduced costs, reduced lead time as well as enhanced productivity for engineers and technologies. The CAD Crowd Part Community now allows CAD Crowd clients access to over 300 catalogues of 3D CAD standard design parts. Best of all, these drawings are provided free to engineers, architects, drafters and CAD technologists.

Toronto’s BeAnywhere Inc. a remote access and remote support technologies provider for SMB and Domestic Users, has launched its most recent version of Support Express, the Windows remote support solution for companies of all sizes.

With BeAnywhere Support Express, companies can deliver instant, on-demand remote support to any computer in the world, even through firewalls or non-standard Internet configurations. Support providers or internal helpdesk departments can manage, maintain and control unattended computers, as well as assisting several machines simultaneously to increase productivity. Support Express uses a blazing fast, proprietary peer-to-peer network protocol that is up to 30% faster than similar technologies. It is fully compatible with Microsoft’s User Account Control and Active Directory technologies, supporting every Windows operating system from 2000 up to Windows 7. It supports detailed reporting and video recording of the sessions in the cloud, as well as several methods of connection.

BeAnywhere Support Express 2 is the result of several months of development and beta testing in close contact with BeAnywhere’s community of users. “Over the last months, the response of our users has been amazing, with hundreds of comments, suggestions and requests arriving after each new beta version we published,” said Ruben Dias, CEO of BeAnywhere, Inc. “This new version combines the performance of our network with dozens of new features and enhancements that bring the remote support experience to a whole new level.”

The last version of Support Express adds several features and refinements like:

• Immediate support request notification with exclusive InstaConnect technology and a new applet, 20% faster.
• Enhanced Reboot & Reconnect with autologon allows the remote technician to perform unattended reboots and log back into Windows without knowing the system credentials or requiring a local user to log in locally, even from the support applet and without administrator permissions.
• New full screen mode, perfected with the feedback from the community of users.
• Revamped disconnect procedures now make locking the remote machine optional.

Support Express is available in four plans, including one free edition, and can also be purchased on a pay-as-you-go basis.

On Friday, May 20, family literacy practitioners in Alberta will roll up their sleeves and build their social media capacity. They’ll learn how to leverage the power of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get connected in a digital age to other non-profit organizations and to the community.

Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton, a specialist in marketing of language and literacy programs will present at the Food for Thought conference, organized by the Centre for Family Literacy. (note: registration is now closed for this event)

Eaton will deliver a hands-on workshop designed to teach program directors, administrators, practitioners and volunteers how to leverage the power of social media in a literacy program. Participants will bring their laptops and spend time registering for and using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

“Typically, literacy experts have deep knowledge about teaching learners to read and write, and are somewhat hesitant to delve into the world of new media literacy,” says Eaton, who has presented internationally on the topic of social media in the education and non-profit sectors. “By getting them to open an account, create a Facebook page and try their first Tweet in a collaborative environment, we can engage in meaningful conversations about how to use social media constructively to promote the good work they do in literacy to help our local communities.”

Eaton, who holds a PhD in Educational Leadership,  is one of the world’s top experts on marketing and promotion of second language and literacy programs. She founded Eaton International Consulting Inc. in 2001 to help educational and non-profit organizations. She is the author of 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program and is an international speaker, who has presented on her work in seven countries.

The conference happens in Edmonton on May 19 and 20, 2011 at the FantasyLand Hotel.

Almost half of Canadian executives still say the amount of information they have overwhelms them, showing no statistical improvement from last year, though there has been some change at the provincial and industry level, with some showing improvement while others are facing an uphill challenge. These are just some of the findings from a SAS/Leger Marketing survey released yesterday. Overall, 45 per cent of executives in 2011 said they are overwhelmed by information, compared with 47 per cent last year.

This year, executives from Ontario and British Columbia are far less likely to say they suffer from information overload. In 2010, 52 per cent of B.C. and Ontario-based executives said they faced information overload, versus 38 and 44 per cent (respectively) this year.

While most provinces and business sectors showed little change, there were a few that saw things deteriorate. Those in the academic and education sectors were far more likely to say things have gotten worse – 42 per cent in 2010 versus 61 per cent in 2011 saying they suffer from information overload.

“Organizations often need to make significant procedural changes to effectively address information overload,” said Kathryn Brohman, Professor, Management Information Systems, School of Business, Queen’s University. “For organizations to be successful combating information overload they need both the right technology and the right procedures.”

Canadian executives understand that in today’s information age it is not about having all information, rather having the right information. Eighty per cent said they’d make better informed business decisions if they had the right tools in place to analyze information more effectively, yet 1 in 4 (24 per cent) say they do not have the right information to make effective business decisions about their business performance. Read the rest of this entry »

Burnaby’s 3D3 Solutions has announced the official launch of FlexScan3D 3.0, the latest version of its 3D scanner software. The company developed the proprietary 3D scanning technology to power its line of HDI 3D Scanners. The software is also available exclusively for engineering and development companies to build custom white light 3D scanners for industry applications.

“FlexScan3D has the ability to interface directly with off-the-shelf cameras and a projector to build a custom 3D scanner,” said Thomas Tong, President of 3D3 Solutions. “There is a wide range of supported hardware options available so users can choose the best combination of speed, accuracy, and cost for their particular application. With the release of FlexScan3D 3.0, we want to offer advanced 3D scanning at an affordable price.”

Major developments for FlexScan3D 3.0 include:

* Photogrammetry Alignment: Align 3D scan data automatically and accurately using photogrammetry dots by eliminating the tedious task of manual data alignment.

* Multi-head 3D Scanning Using Multiple Scan Heads from a Single PC: FlexScan3D has the ability to control multiple 3D scanners from a single PC to acquire data from several directions. The scanned data is then automatically aligned and merged.

* 64bit Native Core: Process 3D scan data faster and at higher resolutions compared to previous versions of the software.

* Newly Designed User Interface: The new user interface generates complex 3D models fast with a streamlined work flow.

* Deviation Analysis: Advanced reporting feature with mesh to mesh comparison.

* High Resolution Color Texture Capture: Automatically generates ultra high resolution color maps using a Digital SLR as a texture camera.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STVohz-W8YA]

FlexScan3D 3.0 Software and the HDI 3D Scanners, which includes with the new version of the software, are now available for purchase. 3D3 Solutions will showcase FlexScan3D 3.0 at Rapid 2011 Conference & Exhibition, which takes place in Minneapolis this May 24th through 26th.

Dave Shworan, the CEO of QuoteMedia Ltd., an Arizona-based company with offices in Parksville, Vancouver and Toronto, along with Ungad Chadda, Senior Vice President of the Toronto Stock Exchange, opened TSX  trading today in celebration of the selection of QuoteMedia as the market data and applications provider for TSX InfoSuite™.

“Toronto Stock Exchange is excited to have QuoteMedia open the market today to celebrate the recent launch of TSX InfoSuite,” said Mr. Chadda. “We value QuoteMedia’s expertise as a Canadian data aggregator and their robust and dynamic financial solutions, which is why TSX decided to partner with them on this value-added initiative for our issuers.”

TMX Group Inc. and QuoteMedia, Inc. previously announced the launch of TSX InfoSuite, a new market data and shareholder solution powered by QuoteMedia, which was introduced to enhance the suite of services for TSX and TSX Venture Exchange listed companies.

“We are very proud to have been selected to work with TMX Group to create, host and manage the new TSX InfoSuite services,” said Mr. Shworan. “The selection of QuoteMedia to be the market data and service provider to TMX Group and its issuers is a gratifying validation of our company’s abilities.”

Exceptional Webinars Made Easy by Calgary author Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton was released globally this week by Amazon as a Kindle e-book. Designed for trainers, entrepreneurs and small business owners,  Exceptional Webinars Made Easy helps readers understand the basics of what is needed to develop and deliver marketing webinars and basic e-learning training sessions, combining practical “how to” tips with solid best practices for both elearning and business.

This is Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton’s fourth book, but is her first book book on e-learning and her first Kindle book. Eaton founded Exceptional Webinars in 2010 to help independent services professionals and small business owners become more tech savvy in their work and use the power of webinars to become 21st century entrepreneurs and business people.

An international professional speaker, Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton has presented to thousands of people around the globe. With a PhD in Education, she has been working with educational technology since the turn of the millennium and giving webinars since 2005. She is passionate about webinars and the potential they create for business and non-profit organizations. Her passion is effervescent, leaving audiences inspired and ready to take action.

Dr. Eaton has authored hundreds of articles and three previous books. Her work has been featured on radio and numerous websites. In 2009-10, she received a Pinnacle Award Honourable Mention from the Centre for Interactive Learning and Collaboration for her virtual training programs.

Dovico Software has announced significant updates to both of its project and time management softwares; Dovico Timesheet and Dovico Planning & Timesheet. In these new releases, customers are now able to track time and expenses in multiple currencies. And with each expense entered into the system, you can now attach a receipt.

The new multiple currency features have already impressed long time multinational customers like Allianz and AON Global. These companies, which have staff employed all over the world, can now review, compare and analyze their costs in any currency. For a company like Technology Engineers, Inc. whose employees all stay close to home, and which has world-wide clients, the multi-currency features are equally beneficial when preparing contract bids or invoicing.

“Dovico’s goals in these product releases were to assist companies in managing, not only their time, expenses and projects, but also help them manage these in the reality of corporate expansion and outsourcing.” said Yves Doucet, CEO at Dovico.

Available as either a hosted service or an on-premise installation, both products are available for a free 30 day trial.

Features

• Analyze and bill projects when you use more than one currency to pay employees, or to bill your international clients.
• Track and budget project costs in any currency.
• Analyze and report on any project, in any currency.
• Enter expenses purchased from anywhere in the world.
• New simplified navigation with frequently used views just one click away.

Don’t miss your chance to vote for Game of the Year for the 2011 Canadian Videogame Awards.  Voting is open to the public until midnight, Friday, May 13th (note: Facebook Connect is required to vote).

The five 2011 Game of the Year finalists are:

·       Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
·       Dead Rising 2
·       FIFA 11
·       Mass Effect 2
·       Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction

There are still great seats available for the 2011 Canadian Videogame Awards – and tickets start at just $30.00.  Come out next Wednesday night and enjoy an evening with the top developers and publishers in Canada! The show will be hosted by Victor Lucas and his team from The Electric Playground, and you can even get some autographs post-show!  Internationally renowned Video Games Live will be back to provide the musical entertainment AND Nintendo will be offering attendees a special opportunity to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for Nintendo 3DS.  

Don’t miss the 2011 Canadian Games Conference – there is still time to register.  This year’s event features sessions in business, production, design, programming, social games, and iPhone games, as well as a special line-up of “Best of GDC” speakers, and offers visionary keynotes, an expo hall, and evening networking events.  The Conference takes place May 19-20th at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Just over a month ago Tiny Hippo became part of the RIM family, and the developers have announced that they are adding support for BlackBerry WebWorks 2.0.0 to their flagship product, Ripple Mobile Environment Emulator. This support includes most of the APIs in the WebWorks stack as well skinning for 3 supported BlackBerry devices (The BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Bold, and the BlackBerry PlayBook). Check out Ripple’s docs page to see the extent of the WebWorks support as well as what else is new in this release.

Decapod Studios has released a free version of its hit match 3 title Murphid for Windows Phone 7. The full version of Murphid is also available for 99 cents.

• Engaging Campaign spawning more that 70 levels of marble blasting madness.
• Three game modes for players to choose from to suit their playing style.
• More than 10 powerups to help players redefine the game field and wreak havoc in a blink of an eye.
• 8 exclusive Awards to boost the replay value further by throwing extra challenges at the player.
• Pre-filled Leaderboard to give the game nostalgic, old-school touch.
• Awe-inspiring HD visuals with full widescreen support.
• Charming sound effects to create the ambience.
• Adaptive gameplay technology for challenging and fun gaming expirience for players of all ages.

If you don’t have WP7, you can always play Murphid on your Xbox 360, too – it’s available in the Games Marketplace for only 80 MS Points.

Roaring Penguin Software Inc. has announced the release of CanIt 8.0.5. which adds several major improvements to the CanIt Archiver software. Several major new features were added including:

• CanIt-Archiver keeps an audit trail of searches and message accesses. Administrators and end-users can see the audit trail. (End-users can only see audit trails relating to their own archive.)
• CanIt-Archiver has a hook for archiving internal email that normally would not be seen by CanIt.
• CanIt-Archiver stores only one copy of duplicate messages received on a given day for a given realm.

CanIt Archiver, “The Uninteruptible E-mail Supply”, is a highly configurable e-mail archiving solution focused on e-mail continuity. CanIt Archiver ensures that e-mail is accessible in the event of a mail server outage and queues e-mail to make sure that it is delivered when mail service is restored.

CanIt 8.0.5 is available as:

* CanIt-PRO, an anti-spam software solution suitable for small and medium business.
* CanIt-Domain-PRO, spam filtering software for MSPs to host anti-spam for their customers.
* Hosted CanIt, a fully outsourced, hosted anti-spam service.

Scott is a retired volunteer firefighter and my grandfather, father and two uncles were volunteer firefighters, so we are both very happy to see that construction has officially begun on a permanent, national memorial to pay tribute to Canada’s fallen firefighters, thanks to an investment by the Government of Canada. The announcement was made today by Pierre Poilievre, Member of Parliament (Nepean-Carleton), on behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, as part of an official sod-turning ceremony alongside the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

“No job is more important than protecting the lives of Canadians and their families,” said Minister Moore. “This memorial will be a permanent reminder of the sacrifices firefighters across Canada make to keep us safe.”

“Our gratitude to those who put their lives on the line to make Canada safer is often difficult to express,” said Mr. Poilievre. “This memorial will serve to remind all Canadians of the men and women who put their lives at risk for their communities.”

The Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation is building the monument in the Lebreton Flats area of the National Capital Region, near the Canadian War Museum. This monument, the only official memorial to Canada’s firefighters, will be located at the exact location where the Great Fire of 1900 was finally brought under control after destroying 1400 buildings and killing seven people in Ottawa, and destroying 1300 buildings in Gatineau.

The Government of Canada announced funding of $2,529,800 for the construction of this monument in 2009. This funding is being providing through the Commemorate Canada component of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Celebration and Commemoration Program. This component provides financial support to initiatives of national significance that commemorate various aspects of Canadian history.