Village Gamer

British Columbia representatives are in the spotlight as tens of thousands of participants converge on Anaheim for SIGGRAPH 2013, the place to be if you work with computer graphics and interactive technologies. B.C. is preparing to host SIGGRAPH 2014, the 40th anniversary edition of the influential event next year in Vancouver, which became the first location to host SIGGRAPH North America outside of the United States in 2011. That event welcomed 15,872 artists, research scientists, game developers, filmmakers and researchers from 74 countries. SIGGRAPH 2011 broke the city’s previous conference attendance records and, according to the Vancouver Convention Centre, generated an estimated $38.5 million in direct spending for the local economy. Read the rest of this entry »

Established in 2007, the MPPIA Short Film Award provides one filmmaker with the opportunity to further develop their directing career by realizing a unique creative vision in a short film project.  Applicants will be short-listed into a field of candidates who will pitch their projects at the 2013 Whistler Film Festival taking place December 4 to December 8. The successful candidate will receive a $15,000 cash award plus services ‘in-kind’ valued up to $100,000 from across the industry, enabling the filmmaker to complete their project with the guidance of experienced industry professionals and support services provided by the top supply houses in British Columbia. The completed film will have its world premiere screening at the 2014 Whistler Film Festival. Read the rest of this entry »

A University of Calgary faculty member will speak at the world’s largest face-to-face gathering of elite hackers. DEF CON, the biggest conference of its kind, brings together over 15,000 professional and amateur computer security experts every year to discuss the latest tech vulnerabilities. It’s the first time a University of Calgary professor will present at the conference and it takes place August 1 to 4th in Las Vegas. Read the rest of this entry »

A Joint Federal-Provincial-Territorial Report report on Cyberbullying and the Non-consensual Distribution of Intimate Images was released earlier today by the Canadian government. The Report is divided into two parts, with the first part of the report addressing the issue of cyberbullying, including information relating to the scope of the problem, the impact of cyberbullying on victims, existing legislative and policy responses and options for Criminal Code reform to address the issue. The second part of the Report addresses the issue of the non-consensual distribution of intimate images and contains information about the scope of the problem, existing Criminal Code responses and options for a new Criminal Code offence. Work on this report began in October 2012, when the Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) Ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety directed senior officials to identify potential gaps in the Criminal Code on cyberbullying and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images and report back to Deputy Ministers. Read the rest of this entry »

With its latest stamp release in the Canadian recording artists series, Canada Post is paying tribute to music’s living legends, and making history in the process. For the first time, bands – rather than individual performers – are being featured on its stamps, including RUSH, The Tragically Hip, The Guess Who and Beau Dommage. Collectively, the featured bands have sold tens of millions of records worldwide and achieved critical success that has earned them an array of awards. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has announced that 17 interactive digital media projects received a total of $12.1M in funding as part of the first round of production support from the Experimental Stream.  The Experimental Stream encourages the creation of innovative, interactive digital media content and software applications. Read the rest of this entry »

Access to domestic violence training for police advanced today with the launch of a new online course developed to help police better protect vulnerable women and families. The new course, the second in a three-phase training program, provides an in-depth look at how police assess domestic violence risk, with a focus on victim-safety planning. This course will also help to further improve and standardize practices around inter-agency co-operation, risk assessment, bail hearings and safety planning for families. Topics include: Read the rest of this entry »

Telefilm Canada wishes to advise its clients that the Canada Feature Film Fund (CFFF) resources for low-budget French-language projects (budgets of less than $1.5 million) have been allocated for 2013-2014. The CFFF Production Program was open to low-budget French-language projects on May 3, 2013. Due to the implementation of a new faster decision-making process as part of our Program Redesign initiative, the funds assigned to this portion of our clientele were allocated sooner this year compared to previous years. However, all projects already submitted will be analyzed. Read the rest of this entry »

BC’s provincial government has announced a new technology pilot project that will give BC Corrections‘ inmates and community corrections clients direct, secure and easy access to legal documents, client histories, discharge dates and medical appointments – all at the touch of a fingerprint. The innovative project, called the Integrated Corrections Operations Network (ICON II), is the first of its kind in Canada and is being tested by a select group of inmates and clients in two correctional centres and five community corrections offices throughout B.C. Read the rest of this entry »

After months of anticipation, the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) has announced the re-launch of its popular small business grants for hiring program. The program, formerly known as ICTC Career Focus, has been rebranded as ICTC CareerConnect, capping off a host of alterations aimed at giving small and medium-sized businesses greater access to the program while increasing the maximum funding amount for eligible applicants. Read the rest of this entry »