Village Gamer

Softchoice Corporation, a provider of technology solutions and services, is pleased to announce the appointment of Carol S. Perry and Mary Ritchie to the Board of Directors for the Company.

“It gives me great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to the newest members of our board,” said Bill Linton, Chairman of the Softchoice Board. “Ms. Perry and Ms. Ritchie bring exceptional experience in corporate finance, governance and strategic planning. Their expertise and leadership will be especially valuable as we expand both the scope and scale of our business across North America.” Read the rest of this entry »

Cineplex Entertainment has announced plans to build a new entertainment complex in the Town of Markham, Ontario. Cineplex Odeon Downtown Markham and VIP Cinemas will be an approximate 58,000 square foot theatre which includes 10 traditional auditoriums, three VIP auditoriums and 2,400+ seats. This entertainment destination will be located in the new Downtown Markham development at Highway 407 and Warden Ave. Cineplex Odeon Downtown Markham and VIP Cinemas is scheduled to open in 2013.

“Downtown Markham is a very exciting new lifestyle development and the ideal location for us to build a new state-of-the-art theatre featuring our VIP Cinema experience,” said Ellis Jacob, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cineplex Entertainment. “The new theatre will showcase our traditional Hollywood movies but will also feature alternative programs such as the Met Opera, Broadway and National Theatre productions, concerts, sporting events and more, making this a true entertainment destination for Markham residents and tourists alike.” Read the rest of this entry »

Just as movies are no longer delivered to theaters on celluloid, a new web- and mobile based service aims to provide a 21st century solution for Hollywood to test nascent film and television projects, while giving fans an unprecedented opportunity to be part of the green-light process.  FilmFunds, which is based in Los Angeles, launches today at the Toronto International Film Festival® as an official sponsor, providing exhibiting filmmakers gratis research and marketing services.   A new R&D paradigm for the entertainment industry, FilmFunds affords content owners and producers access to a database of 60 million moviegoers, utilizing crowd-sourced market research to replace the costly live test-screening model used since Hollywood’s Golden Era.

“Over the last decade we’ve seen how social marketing can make a film or TV show successful,” explains Co-Founder Shelly Palmer, a respected television producer, host and technology/media expert.  “FilmFunds posits a new form of social marketing that occurs before a project is made.  It offers a barometer and helps move content through the pipeline by creating an audience for it, giving millions of entertainment fans a stronger emotional connection by letting them become part of the creative process.  FilmFunds effectively lowers the velvet rope between Hollywood and the public at large.” Read the rest of this entry »

Scribendi has created an application programming interface (API) that will change the way corporate clients are able to have their documents edited. The editing services API will allow clients and colleagues to search for services and receive quotes, place and manage orders, review the status of orders, and review completed documents from any user interface (web site or application). Using the editing services API will ensure that clients’ documents are professionally edited and proofread through their own interface, allowing them to focus on their core strengths and offerings. They can be confident that their documents can be sent from anywhere—whether on the web or a mobile device—to be edited.

“Our mission is to help people around the world communicate clearly in English,” said Terence Johnson, Vice-President of Scribendi. “Opening up our editing services API is a natural way to allow people to access our services faster, to build copy editing into publishing workflow and content management systems, to bundle and resell our services, and to build creative new applications.” Read the rest of this entry »

On September 1, 2011, the Canadian Technology Accreditation Board (CTAB) granted national accreditation to four of the Information Technology programs at Centennial College’s School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science. This brings the total number of CTAB accredited programs offered by Centennial to 21, putting the College in the number one slot for nationally accredited Engineering Technology and Applied Science course offerings.

“Centennial College applies quality standards through rigorous program evaluation tools and continues to earn the highest number of external accreditations for our programs,” says President Ann Buller. “We are committed to preparing people for the new world that awaits by offering students programs with national accreditation that is portable across the country and internationally. Accreditation makes it easier for students to complete their certification and to gain employment in these disciplines.” Read the rest of this entry »

Telescopes can see light from distant galaxies; but it takes a supercomputer to see why the centre of our own is so dark. The intense gravity near black holes makes for a violent, active region of space. Gas or stars that wander too near are torn apart, their energy released as X-rays. In the centre of the Milky Way, 26,000 light years away, is a black hole over four million times heavier than our Sun, but only modestly brighter.  It’s eerily quiet — too quiet.

This mystery may have been solved by an international team of scientists lead by researchers at the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, and the University of Toronto Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, in work published in the current issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, which is available by paid download. The team used supercomputers at SciNet, University of Toronto, to carry out the largest computer simulations ever performed in Canada so they could test out their new theory. Read the rest of this entry »

ViXS Systems Inc. has announced that it is the first silicon vendor to implement the CryptoFirewall™ security core by Cryptography Research, a division of Rambus, and demonstrate it with the SypherMedia International (SMI) Kernel security code. CryptoFirewall™ and SMI technology will be demonstrated on XC4210 Soc in the ViXS Suite at IBC.

“The collaboration with Cryptography Research and SMI demonstrates our leadership and commitment to develop next generation platforms with advanced security solutions for the Pay TV market,” said Sally Daub, president and CEO of ViXS. “We plan to work closely with Cryptography Research and SMI to enable manufacturers and service providers to maintain high levels of security at the platform level.” Read the rest of this entry »

YANGAROO Inc. has appointed industry veteran Brent Finkelstein to the position of Vice President Sales, Advertising Division.  Based in New York, Brent will lead all sales activity to advance the company’s growth and help ad agencies and media companies realize the opportunities and value enabled by YANGAROO’s DMDS platform.  The platform represents the most technologically advanced integration with broadcasters, allowing for seamless delivery of high definition video ads without the added expense of ancillary production charges.  He will report to Karen Dealy, YANGAROO’s President of Advertising Operations.

“Brent is a seasoned veteran, top performer and heavy hitter with senior level agency relationships,” said Karen Dealy, President Advertising Operations. “I am extremely pleased to have someone with his talent and expertise join our team.  His drive along with savvy executive level sales and management experience will quickly drive additional growth for YANGAROO.” Read the rest of this entry »

BCIC and Wavefront have announced the twelve companies chosen to participate in year two of the entrepreneurship@Wavefront program. This 12-month program is designed to support and nurture early-stage B.C. wireless companies from product concept to market entry. The successful applicants were evaluated and selected by a panel comprised of individuals from Wavefront, BCIC and the investment community.

“We were impressed with the range and quality of solutions presented this year,” commented Jim Maynard, President of Wavefront. “We saw cross-sector wireless innovation with concepts ranging from enterprise Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications for the agriculture and health sectors to consumer applications spanning education, gaming and fashion.” Read the rest of this entry »