Village Gamer

EA Montreal has released a new Army of Two: 40th Day trailer. This short video focuses on the multiplayer extraction mode. Army of Two: 40th Day is slated for release on January 12 2010.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4lPGdoe6o4]

Vancouver Film School is holding a Halloween makeup contest. Impress their judge, film industry veteran and Head of the Makeup Design for Film & Television program Stan Edmonds (The Butterfly Effect, I, Robot, Unforgiven), and you’ll have the chance to win some great prizes, including a selection of professional-quality makeup supplies! All you have to do is show your Halloween-themed makeup skills – and that can be anything you imagine as long as you’ve created the makeup yourself – on the photo-sharing site Flickr between October 26 and November 1. Once three finalists are chosen by our judge, the public will get to vote on the winner.

Ottawa – Corel has introduced Corel® Paint it!™ touch, a new digital art studio built explicitly for the Windows 7 platform. Corel Paint it! touch is optimized for use on touch-screen computers, Paint it! touch provides budding artists of any age with a unique artistic experience. Using the program, consumers can create original artwork with the touch of their fingertips. The program’s touch-enabled capabilities let consumers add artistic touches to photos or create art from scratch using a number of realistic brushes and effects.

“With Paint it! touch, it is now possible to bypass mouse clicks and interact directly with your digital canvas, all with the touch of your fingertips,” said David Toeg, Paint it! touch Product Manager for Corel. “Windows 7 and Windows Touch have enabled Corel to create new possibilities for our users by removing barriers and helping them to connect with their digital content in more personal ways. Whether they are creating painted masterpieces, photo projects, or home videos, it can now be an even more spontaneous and interactive experience.”

IUGO Mobile Entertainment has released information about their latest game which is headed for the Apple App Store – Implode, where players are tasked to carefully plant limited dynamite bundles in order to demo obsolete structures. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG! Implode! is a classic “easy to learn, hard to master” casual game that will pull you in and won’t let go. IUGO currently has three games in the pipeline for the App Store – Implode, Zombie Attack Second Wave and Cliffed.

Features include:

• 60 dynamite levels
• Reactive UI, touch and drag control options
• Fun chalkboard theme and clean graphics
• Two different types of bombs (traditional bombs and blast bombs)
• Varying structure shapes for ongoing challenge
• Submit score online (online score is the sum of all levels’ high scores)
• Grading system for high scores adding replayability to each level
• 3 Difficulties; Casual, Veteran, and Expert
• In-level help system: Learn as you play!
• IUGO VIP: Sandbox cheat gives you more bombs and you never fail! (high scores disabled with this feature)
• Watch buildings tumble with real physics!

Victoria – Island Tech 09 is looking for speakers. Island Tech takes place on November 13th at the Crystal Garden and will feature an afternoon of thought-provoking discussions, much in the style of the TEDx conferences. They are looking for people that have an interesting topic they would like to present. Talks should be rooted in innovation, or at least connected to technology. The organizers would prefer talks with a broad and/or unconventional scope. Do you have anything you’d like to say that fits this bill? The format for the talks is a 20 minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of Q&A with the audience. People should come away from this part of the Island Tech event thinking “I’ve never thought about it that way”, or “man, that was interesting”, or maybe even “that was brilliant!”. We want these talks to stretch the boundaries a bit, and make people think. Please email Island Tech 09 with a synopsis of your talk.

The MindShare Learning Report—Canada’s, Leading, Learning & Technology eMagazine and title sponsor Microsoft Canada Co., are set to officially launch the Microsoft – MindShare Learning Report™ 21st Century Digital Classroom Challenge (Contest Info – PDF). In its second year running, this event aims to inspire teachers, along with their students from across Canada to share their successful classroom practices using technology. Teachers from publicly funded schools can qualify to win one of three technology prize packs valued at over $15,000 for their school.

The office launch takes place at W.H. Day Elementary School in Bradford, Ontario, the site of one of last year’s contest winners, grade 5 teacher, Mali Bickley. “It is an honour to have the Mindshare Learning Contest launch hosted in my classroom. Winning the Mindshare Learning contest and having the technology for the class helped us connect with so many other classes throughout the world. The technologies were the tools that connected my students in curriculum based projects that truly made a difference in their lives and other students globally,” says Mali Bickley.

Through a video submission, K-12 educators from publicly funded schools across Canada are challenged to share their success stories using technology to support student success. Qualified entrants will be eligible to win one of three classroom technology prize packages, each valued at more than $15,000, from leading classroom technology providers, including: Microsoft Canada, Advanced Education, Dell, EPSON, FrontRow, ISTE, NECTAR Foundation, netTrekker, Pearson, SMART Technologies and MindShare Learning.

“Canadian teachers are excellent stewards in marrying technology with education and are critical in developing instructional environments that use technology to ignite the imaginations of students,” says Shann McGrail, Director of Education, Microsoft Canada. “Microsoft Canada is committed to helping educators to prepare students for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce with education-specific tools and technologies, and this contest maps to our belief that technology is one way to deliver enriched instruction to engage students and improve learning outcomes.”

“The awesome prize packages were carefully selected and represent best-of-class technology to enable 21st century digital learning in the classroom. I’m humbled by the generosity of our sponsors,” says Robert Martellacci, president and publisher, The MindShare Learning Report.

Toronto – Mobile application development pioneer, Cascada Mobile has announced iPhone and Android support for its popular Breeze mobile development platform, adding to its existing support for BlackBerry and Nokia smartphones. Now developers and publishers can use the Breeze Platform to easily create and distribute rich mobile applications that work on billions of mobile phones around the world, including iPhones and Android handsets, without having to rewrite their apps for each individual platform.

Using Cascada Mobile’s Breeze Platform, even the most novice web programmers and content publishers can write innovative rich mobile applications that can be installed on phones and sold in app stores. The Breeze Platform eliminates the enormous cost and complexities of writing mobile applications for thousands of different handset models and provides developers a one-stop shop for distribution across hundreds of wireless operators worldwide.

The combination of smartphones and useful and entertaining mobile applications has sparked a technology revolution, changing the way that consumers interact with and use their mobile phones. Downloads from all app stores will reach 6.67 billion applications by 2014, up from two billion this year, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan. As of August this year the Apple App Store boasted more than one billion downloads with 65,000 mobile apps available. Most smartphone users (62 percent) download one to five applications per month, and the share of iPhone users in the same category is even higher, at 82 percent, according to Goldman Sachs.

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Vancouver – The next Fair Copyright for Canada – Vancouver Chapter meeting will take place on September 2 at SFU Harbour Centre Room 2245 at 6:30pm. The Federal Government’s consultation process will be coming to an end on September 13, and if you haven’t had your say, please make sure your opinions are heard.

Michael Geist’s report on the latest Toronto consultation meeting doesn’t show a heavy involvement from the interactive media industry. He states that “Tonight the government held its second copyright town hall.  Only it wasn’t really a copyright townhall in the sense of bringing the community together to talk copyright in an open and balanced manner.  Instead, the music industry stacked the room to such a degree that little else was discussed.  There was the odd intervention from ACTRA, the Writers Guild, the education community, and software developers (and a self-professed pirate who may have worn a fair copyright shirt but did not discuss anything that resembled fair copyright), but the repeated music industry representation was the dominant theme of the night…”  You can read the rest of Michael’s report on his site.

Montreal – Eidos Montréal’s General Manager Stéphane D’Astous has put out the call for a new PR agency who can handle a national campaign for their upcoming titles Deux Es 3, Thief 4 and beyond. It is at a time like this that I wished I still worked in the industry, because I’ve found the creativity and originality required in the PR fields to have contributed to the best job positions I’ve ever held. The Montréal studio is also looking for people to fill a few job openings, including those of Senior Special Effects Artist and Programmers for Thief 4.

Vancouver – Wired Woman Network has partnered with Kontent Creative Group for a session on Creating Interactive Brand Stories this September 1. Wired Woman members will received a 20% discount on register for the seminar, which will look at examples of brand storytelling, identify what others stories are and how they are using the online space and social media to tell their brand’s story and engage with their audience. Just like the stories online, this workshop will be interactive and we will be doing some story building of our own. Please see the Wired Woman event page for further event and registration information.

Calgary – Autodesk has joined WorldSkills Calgary 2009 as a Platinum Sponsor and the Presenting Sponsor of the Mechanical Engineering Design (MED) competition. Autodesk’s sponsorship of WorldSkills Calgary 2009 compliments its status as a Global Industry Partner of WorldSkills International and further cements its ongoing support of the WorldSkills Movement since 2007.

“Autodesk is proud to be a sponsor of this very important educational undertaking,” said Joe Astroth, PhD, Autodesk Vice President, Learning and Education. “Being an integral part of WorldSkills Calgary 2009 represents a significant opportunity for Autodesk to inspire the next generation of architects, engineers and digital artists. We are confident the knowledge and experiences students gain using our software will prepare them to meet the demands they will encounter in the workplace.”

Autodesk’s role as a Presenting Sponsor of the MED competition also includes participation as a sponsor of the Polymechanics/Automation, CNC Milling competitions, Plumbing/Heating, Electrical Installations, Industrial Control and Joinery Competitions. As part of its sponsorship, Autodesk will provide its Inventor®, Maya® and AutoCAD® software for use by Competitors. It is through these seven competitions covering multiple disciplines that Autodesk is hoping to inspire students to develop their skill sets. Autodesk’s software used in the 40th WorldSkills Competition will be donated to Alberta schools, benefiting students across the province. For more information on Autodesk products, please visit our local premier Autodesk representatives and local event supporters at Annex Pro.

Seattle – For those interested in what’s happening across the border, enterpriseSeattle’s Washington Interactive Network will convene its 3rd annual Power of Play Economic Update Lunch. A panel of industry executives will explore the state of Washington state’s $4.2 billion Interactive Media Industry, the economy, and the Pacific Northwest region’s competitiveness compared with others in the US and Canada.

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Vernon – A new service has opened its BETA to the public today expecting to forever change the way websites are created. installAll.net is the first site of its kind to offer a database of fully automated script installations and upgrades, including one-click modification and template installations, completely free. With more than 300 scripts in its database–from shopping carts to customer relationship managers–installAll.net helps reduce the time it takes for web developers to create a website.

Its list of free features continues with unlimited installations to unlimited domains, compatibility with nearly all web hosting companies, no required branding or advertising, excellent speed and security, and more.

“As a web developer, I know the value of this service. I know the time and effort web developers will save by using this tool,” says Dan Nelson, president and CEO. “Plus, we’ve made the site so easy to use that even someone with no web development experience can create a fully functioning website in less than five minutes.”

The database of free scripts, modifications and templates they offer will continuously grow. “We already have dedicated staff managing the applications from developers and I think there will be an increasing interest in contributing works for installation using our service,” says Nelson. installAll.net does not charge developers to contribute free scripts that are open-source to its database.

installAll.net is a web-based service designed for experienced and amateur web developers alike. Based out of Vernon B.C., the company is committed to community investment and expects to donate more than 20 percent of its profits to local charitable organizations.

Vancouver – 3D3 Solutions, a cutting-edge developer of 3D scanning technologies, announced today the launch of FlexScan3D 2.5 , the latest version of its 3D scanning software. New features and upgrades reduce scan editing time while providing high quality results.

“The best way to improve a product is to listen to your customers,” said Thomas Tong, President of 3D3

Split Scan Mode

Solutions. “FlexScan3D 2.5’s new features and upgrades are a direct response to customers’ feedback and needs.”

FlexScan3D 2.5 new features include:

* New Split Scan mode: The new mode captures more data by scanning two sides of an object simultaneously and automatically merges the coverage area for more complete results. Ideal for face and foot scanning.

* Mesh alignment and merging tool: Users can skip the process of importing scans into third-party 3D scan data processing software with FlexScan3D’s alignment and merging capabilities.

* Supports 360° scanning with rotary table (sold separately): Automates the process of performing multiple scans of a single object and automatically aligns the scans to form a 360 model.

Upgrades to FlexScan3D help produce higher quality scans than its predecessor including higher accuracy single scanner calibration and advance color scan support.

FlexScan3D software is offered at $1,699 USD. 3D3 Solutions’ all-in-one HDI 3D Scanners are powered by FlexScan3D and start at $3,999 USD. These products can be ordered today at 3D3 Solutions website.

Toronto – The Toronto Agile Software Development Community will host Agile Tour Toronto as a one day conference that will take place Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency on King in the heart of downtown Toronto.

Agile Tour Toronto will provide a forum to learn about the techniques and practices of Agile software development where attendees can share experiences with the local and international practitioners. The conference program will provide multiple streams that will appeal to all experience levels, ranging from new-to-Agile novices to seasoned experts, as well as a stream for management. Registration fees have been set at an extremely affordable rate to ensure the conference is financially accessible anyone who would like to participate in, contribute to, or learn from the growing grassroots Agile movement in the Toronto area.

Lawrence Ludlow, an early adopter of Agile and one of the organizing committee members, states: “Agile folks really are focused on the people side of software development and are open about what they’ve learned”. After six years of heading the XPToronto/Agile User Group, Ludlow’s excitement surrounding Agile Tour Toronto is based in the progressive nature of the people he hopes to meet, “simply because of the valuable conversations that start up when you get a group of like-minded folks together in an open environment”. Gino Marckx, conference chair for this year’s event, adds “Agile software development is about valuing people, delivering results and encouraging learning, at a high but always sustainable pace”.

Today on Global TV BC’s morning news, travel consultant Claire Newell mentioned two sites that will be of interest to those in the industry who do a lot of traveling. These two sites enable you to be certain that you are getting the seat you want on a flight, because as we all know, not all airplanes have the same seat layout. If you want to be sure you’re sitting where you want to sit, visit Seat Guru and Seat Expert.

Some cool info from our friends in the Vancouver-based Unity 3D community – Unity 3D appears to be the most popular engine for iPhone game development.  There are currently 258 confirmed games in the App Store that have been made with Unity 3D. From games created by students to professional outfits Unity has been used to create a wide variety of visually stunning, innovative and engaging games – from the quirky to the more traditional – the flexibility and feature set of the engine allows developers to concentrate on content rather than technology.

Nicholas Francis, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Unity said, “There’s so many iPhone games made with Unity that its hard to keep track; we’ve got 258 confirmed releases, but the actual number could be much higher. This spans small titles to smash hits like Zombieville USA and Touch KO. Even if its ‘only’ 258, that still means that there has been a Unity iPhone game released every two days since we launched – a great success.”

Unity will release 1.1 for iPhone towards the end of August 2009. The Unity tools have been hailed as revolutionary for enabling high quality results in an easily accessible development environment. Unity is the fastest growing cross platform engine.

Congratulations as well to Pug Pharm, who has received additional project funding from the Canada New Media Fund (CNMF) administered through Telefilm Canada.

“With this financial contribution from Telefilm, along with our recently announced support from the IRAP-NRC program, Pug Pharm is building momentum and is well-positioned to execute on our current production plans towards a public beta launch,” stated Steve Bocska, CEO of Pug Pharm.

“With this investment, the Canada New Media Fund is supporting novel online games that combine the engagement of traditional video games with the technologies of social networking applications. We see opportunities to create innovative offerings that have global appeal,” continued Bocska.

Waterloo – The majority of people consider browser history to be private, but that is no longer the case. Any website you visit can determine your browser history by exploiting the very features designed to enhance your Internet experience, a fact many people are not aware of.

Sample Collage - Not From Our PC

Web2.0collage.com is a new site designed to illustrate how easily browser history can be sniffed by compiling a list of popular (and safe for work) websites illustrating which ones the user has visited. Once this list has been compiled it is used to produce a visual collage representative of the user’s browser history, providing an artful reminder to all who visit that their private history really isn’t all that private.

The first version of Web2.0collage.com was created in a weekend by Holden Karau (a.k.a. pantsd), a University of Waterloo student. What started as a quick hack to learn new programming techniques quickly gained momentum as interest in the privacy implications of the project spread by way of Slashdot. The University of Waterloo Computer Science Club (CSC) graciously provides the computing resources necessary to keep Web2.0collage.com online. As traffic to the site increased Anthony Brennan (a.k.a. hatguy), a fellow student and CSC sysadmin, quickly offered to help resolve critical scalability issues resulting from the crushing load of curious users. For the technically inclined the source code is made available for review under the terms of the AGPL.
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Vancouver – The new Vancouver Unity 3D Users Group is celebrating their official launch with a TGIF Networking Event on Friday July 24 at District 319 on Main Street.

dimeRocker.com in partnership with Unity Technologies invites all local game, web, and iPhone developers to a premiere industry Unity Networking TGIF followed the next day by a Unity Skills Workshop.

The entire initiative will be framed within a “web-ready” context, exploring how tools like Unity 3D in combination with a new breed of social gaming hives are enabling developers to create, market, and monetize console-like browser content for a growing audience of online and mobile gamers.

TGIF Schedule:

5:30pm – 6:30pm    Reception, drinks and appetizers
6:30pm – 7:30pm    Key Note followed by Q&A with Tom Higgins (Unity Evangelist, San Francisco)
7:30pm – 9:00pm+  Networking Social

Admission is $20 and includes a free drink, eats and chance to win a Unity 3D License.

The Unity Skills Workshop will be taking place on Saturday July 25 at Centre for Digital Media with Dmitry Shtainer (Unity Stealth Engineer, Vancouver). The workshop will be a day-long Unity 3D skills development event,  intended for students and professionals alike. Workshop curriculum and registration information have not yet been announced, but TGIF registrants will receive advanced email notification for the event.

Vancouver – Aftercad Software is pleased to announce the Beta signup for its ground breaking 3D Workspace for collaboration in Digital Prototyping and Building Information Modeling (BIM) projects.

The Aftercad 3D Workspace is a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering that allows businesses to upload, view, mark-up, manage and publish large and complex 3D CAD files onto the web, without the need for proprietary viewers, providing easy and instant access to 3D project information by non-CAD professionals.

“With the development of the 3D Workspace Beta we have achieved our goal of bringing a complete online file system to our customers so that they can collaborate on all project documents including stunning 3D visuals,” said Chris Boothroyd, CEO of Aftercad. “The goal of the 3D Workspace is to quickly centralize, visualize and annotate what it is you are trying to build so that your clients can come to decisions faster and easier. Each 3D Workspace has its own secure online file system, event notification and sharing tools so that you can easily invite clients or partners to collaborate with you on a 3D project.”
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