Village Gamer

Do you want to learn more about Deep Packet Inspection in Canada and who is using it? Deep Packet Inspection Canada is a website which is meant to be the largest repository of publicly accessible information concerning the use of deep packet inspection in Canada, so that Canadians gain insight into how the technology is used by Canadian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and why they are using the technology. I recommend this site if you want to learn more about service throttling and the hot issues being discussed around it.

Late last year, I was a participant in a conversation with game design students regarding freelance work. I came across a book today in my morning email travels which, while I haven’t read it (but I probably will), was written by Canadian freelance illustrator and author Holly DeWolf. While many students are lucky and easily find work at established studios, it has been a topic of conversation about how schools don’t really prepare their graduates for the freelance world.

Holly agrees with this line of thought, stating that “many institutions are not preparing students for the realities of the work world. It’s important for freelance creative types to see themselves as a business in order to make it. There is a real need for recent graduates, freelance illustrators and designers plus self-taught artists to have the proper resources they need to make it as a self-employed creative”.

To that end, Holly filled that need in the artistic community with her 2009 book, Breaking Into Freelance Illustration: The Guide For Artists Designers and Illustrators. This book helps readers to develop skills in the business side of artistic practice, addressing many questions which Holly found being asked throughout her many years as a post-NSAD graduate and mentor. This book has received some very good reviews on Amazon.ca, so I can feel confident in recommending this title even though I haven’t yet personally read it. I have a huge stack of books already waiting for my perusal, and I feel that this one needs to shared with students and grads now, not when I have time to finally buy it and read it – especially as someone else just recommended another title I should read.

Don’t forget that the Early Bird discount period for the Banff World Television Festival ends on April 20th – the festival is about far more than just television – check it out. Dentyne Gum has launched their new interactive site with a new AR contest – you could win $25 000.00 with the symbol on the pack of Dentyne gum you’ve purchased. Canada 3.0 Forum has just announced that David Usher (ex-Moist) has joined the great line-up of speakers for this year’s event which will be MC’d by Global TV news anchor Kevin Newman. Taking place in Stratford on May 10 & 11, Canada 3.0 offers a unique opportunity to engage in seminars and discussions about Canada’s future in the tech industry.

Congratulations are due to Waterloo tech company Dejero – creator of the new Dejero LIVE Platform, the company has been awarded a Broadcast Engineering Pick Hit award at the 2010 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) international tradeshow in Las Vegas. The Dejero LIVE Platform is a ground-breaking new way to broadcast live high-quality video without the high cost or complexity of satellite or microwave transmission. Dejero was selected from 1,500 companies that exhibited at NAB for their introduction of the Dejero LIVE Platform that is set to transform live television.

“Broadcast Engineering is a widely respected industry resource for broadcasters. It is very exciting for Dejero to win such a prestigious award at its first showing at NAB,” said Ron Neumann, Dejero CEO. “This award highlights that Dejero’s solution to go live faster, easier, and less expensively is resonating with the broadcast market.”

With a long history, Pick Hits are the most prestigious technical awards given at NAB. A panel of independent judges, who are working broadcast professionals, toured the show floor for three days, looking for innovative products and technology. The judges then met to make their selections based on several criteria, including the technical and financial improvements the product can bring to a facility’s operation. Broadcast Engineering editors and publishers have no vote in the selection process, and the Dejero LIVE Platform will be featured in a special article from the 2010 NAB Show that will appear in the June issue of Broadcast Engineering magazine.

Dejero’s revolutionary Transmitter is about the size of an average briefcase. One cameraperson and the Dejero Live Mobile Transmitter can transmit from any location in cellphone range. Using patent pending technology, the Dejero LIVE Platform improves live interview talkback – transmitting with as low as 1 second latency.

Toronto – Interactive Ontario has announced that award-winning kids content creators Peter and Paul Reynolds, co-founders of FableVision, will be keynote speakers at INplay 2010, a conference about the art and business of kids interactivity, taking place May 18 and 19 in Toronto, Canada.

Through their keynote presentation: Stories That Matter, Stories That Move, Peter and Paul Reynolds return to their birthplace (Weston/Toronto) to recount their creative journeys, which have now touched millions around the globe with their 200-year mission to use media, storytelling and technology to move the world to a better place.

“Clever, creative and inspiring, the dynamic duo of FableVision co-founders and brothers Paul and Peter Reynolds are a bull’s eye for the INplay closing keynote,” says Lisa Lyons, President, Kids Can Press and founding partner/steering committee member of INplay. “ The company name is exactly what they deliver; great content in the form of stories/fables for kids of all ages and a grand vision of the many platforms they can live on, all with a view to bettering the world along the way.”

Located at the Boston Children’s Museum, the FableVision team enjoys an international reputation for its unique brand of innovative, technology-delivered storytelling and learning told through websites, digital games, animation, and books.

Joining Peter and Paul Reynolds as keynote speakers at INplay 2010 is Jon Berrett, executive producer and Christian Jacobs, co-creator, director and writer of the hit kids TV show, Yo Gabba Gabba

More speakers you’ll meet at INplay 2010:

• James Jones, VP, Digital Media & Gaming, Hasbro, Inc.
• Scott Traylor, Chief Kid, 360KID
• Irene Weibel, VP International Co-Productions and Development at Corus Entertainment/Nelvana Studio
• Jacob Blackstock, CEO / Creative Designer / Lead Designer, Bitstrips Inc.
• Amar Varma, Co-Founder, Xtreme Labs
• Judy Perry, Research Manager, MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program
• Robert Ferrari, VP Global Publishing & Business Development, Sanrio Digital & Typhoon Games Studio
• David Kleeman, President, American Centre for Children and Media