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Corruption, greed, violence, betrayal…and recess. HBO Canada, a multiplex channel of Astral’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada) brings the mean streets to the schoolyard in The Yard, a mockumentary series from The Movie Network and Movie Central, debuting Friday, July 8 at 9 p.m. ET/MT with two back-to-back episodes.

“Only on Pay TV can we provide a platform for a series that is as entertaining, and boundary pushing as The Yard,” said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Original Programming, Kids, Comedy, Drama, Corus Entertainment. “We’re pleased to be working with Paul Gross and the talented team at Whizbang Films, who produced an original Canadian series that is unlike anything else on television”.

“The Movie Network is known for working with distinctly Canadian voices to deliver bold, risk-taking original series for our subscriber and The Yard fits squarely into this framework,” said Aubie Greenberg, Director, Original Programming, Movie Services, Astral Television Networks. “Michael Mabbott and David Eddie and the entire team at Whizbang are to be congratulated for creating such a unique vision.”

In the six-part, half-hour miniseries viewers are taken inside a schoolyard by an unseen Documentarian (voiced by Paul Gross) who records students’ behaviour during recess. Through interviews with the kids, he sees adult-world scenarios played out by two schoolyard gangs: 12 year old leader Nick; his idealistic younger brother J.J., the brains of the outfit; weird pal Johnny, his lieutenant; big girl Suzi, the muscle; and his six-year-old little brother Adam, who just wants to play. Nick’s crew tries to keep the peace while defending their turf against: Frankie Miladic, leader of his gang of self-indulgent, cruel bullies; “Pork Chop” and his brother Mickey; while also fighting his affection for Frankie’s popular and influential sister Mary, leader of the girls.

Starring kids between the ages of 10 and 13, The Yard was created and written by Michael Mabbott (The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico) and David Eddie (House Broken, Globe & Mail‘s Damage Control). The series stars Quintin Colantoni, Keana Bastidas, Sarah Cranmer, Daniel Lupetina, Alex Cardillo, Shemar Charles and is Executive Produced by Paul Gross, Frank Siracusa, David Eddie and Michael Mabbott.

The Yard is developed and produced by Whizbang Films. The Movie Network and Movie Central developed, commissioned and invested in the series. It is produced with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation and distributed by Entertainment One.

Following its special two-part premiere, subsequent episodes of The Yard will debut Fridays at 9:30 p.m. ET/MT on HBO Canada. All episodes will be broadcast in High Definition. In Eastern Canada The Yard will also be available via HBO Canada OnLine with Rogers On Demand OnLine, Bell TV Online and Videotron’s Illico Web and in Western Canada via HBO Canada Online with Shaw Video On Demand and Bell TV Online.

Ferndale, Washington-based URL shortening service TrafficShaping has collaborated with British Columbia artist Wes Giesbrecht to create interactive wall sculptures that utilize QR codes to deliver custom messages.

The partnership with TrafficShaping allows collectors to modify the destination Internet address for their artwork. Viewers can enjoy the beauty of the fine wood tiles as a modern-day mosaic or scan the artwork with their smart phone. When scanned, the viewer will be redirected to an Internet destination of the collector’s choosing.

Each piece is constructed of thin one-inch aspen and thermally enhanced oak tiles. The one-inch tiles are each hand finished and secured to burlap canvas. Each sculpture hangs from a french cleat system located along the upper edge creating a special flow to the work.

“The ability to edit the destination Internet address for the pieces created by Wes is truly unique. A collector can change the destination based on current events, trends or interests as a form of artistic expression,” observed David McInnis, owner of Fairhaven Originals Gallery, in Bellingham, WA.

“TrafficShaping was selected as a collaboration partner for this project because their service allows the collector to make unlimited edits to their destination Internet address,” commented Mr. Giesbrecht.

The art is further enhanced by the use of TrafficShaping’s rules-based filters that allow the collector to redirect viewers based on a number of variables including time of day, day of week and device type used to read the QR code.

Each piece is tied to a custom domain name pre-paid and registered to the collector for a period of ten years. Each piece includes unlimited access to the TrafficShaping service and a script to allow the collector to host the technology on their own server resources should they desire.  Collectors can purchase these pieces from Fairhaven Originals Gallery online or through the gallery directly in Bellingham, Washington.

Hatch Inc., a North Carolina provider of classroom technology innovations for early learning and SMART Technologies Inc. have announced the creation of CoreFocus by Hatch^TM. The content solution, designed to work within SMART Notebook™ collaborative learning software, includes more than 2,500 research-based math and literacy activities for kindergarten and first grade and is aligned with the new U.S. national Common Core State Standards.

The robust set of activities will assist teachers in integrating SMART Board interactive whiteboards into their daily lesson plans and curriculum and also provide a content management system for all of their existing interactive whiteboard content. Early learning experts designed CoreFocus by Hatch to provide critical math and literacy skill development for young learners.

“Hatch is excited to work alongside SMART Technologies to develop a comprehensive content solution that supports teachers in accessing research-based math and literacy activities, with a focus on Common Core State Standards for kindergarten and first grade. The team who developed the TeachSmart® Learning System, the first interactive whiteboard solution proven to impact math and literacy outcomes for early education, led the development of CoreFocus. This product will have a definite impact on the development of children and provide teachers with proven strategies for success,” said Hatch President Ginny Norton.

“We are pleased to enter into a new phase of our relationship with Hatch, collaborating with their research and development experts in the creation of standards-based activities for SMART Board interactive whiteboards that educators can easily integrate into their curriculum,” said SMART Products Vice President Linda Thomas. “CoreFocus by Hatch supports our commitment to meet the needs of educators with innovative products and services to further engage their students with high quality content made in SMART Notebook software and fully aligned to Common Core State Standards.”

KPI Dashboard provider Klipfolio Inc. has made its first announcement regarding Klipfolio Dashboard for the cloud – a browser and mobile accessible real-time key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard delivered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution.

The public beta program seeks community feedback on the application’s usability, speed, scalability, and robustness. Participants have the opportunity to influence Klipfolio’s roadmap and vote on upcoming features.

The mobile and web-based product roadmap benefited from the collaborative effort of a dozen enterprise customers. These contributors helped shape the cloud-based dashboard’s requirements, priorities, and commercial model as well as being active participants in three months of alpha trials.

To qualify for beta-program participation yourself, please visit the beta information page. A limited number of Beta keys are being distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Toon Boom Animation Inc. has announced that Flip Boom Classic for K-6 students and its respective curricula, are now compatible with the SMART Board™ 600 series interactive whiteboard. Compatibility with the SMART Board 800 series will be completed in time for the International Society for Technology in Education Conference, to be held in Philadelphia from June 26-29, 2011. Demonstrations will be given at Booth 1403 during the conference.

Porting Toon Boom’s entry-level educational product to SMART Board interactive whiteboards is a natural step towards offering engaging creative applications on collaborative and interactive learning devices. Students will be able to create and export finished files for easy inclusion in the teaching resources of SMART Notebook collaborative learning software.

“Having Toon Boom products integrate with SMART Board interactive whiteboards raises the creative learning and visual communication potential,” says Linda Thomas, Vice-President, Products, SMART Technologies. “The combination of these products will create a more dynamic and stimulating classroom environment by getting students truly involved in lesson activities.”

“All our award-winning software applications and curricula targeted for K-12 are a perfect fit for SMART Board interactive whiteboards, which will surely make cross-curricular learning a whole new experience,” states Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom Animation Inc.

In conjunction with this announcement, Toon Boom is launching the Flip Boom Classic Teacher Kit for SMART Boards, which includes a license of Flip Boom Classic as well as its respective curricula for $149.99. A Classroom lab license is also available for $499.99. Flip Boom Classic runs on MAC and PC.

Today’s markets are all about velocity and differentiation. Businesses need to compete hyper-aggressively in a price driven environment that’s saturated with choices for the consumer.  In his new book Cloud CIO Strategy, Toronto author Bruce D’Sena describes the pivotal transformation that’s required if companies want to keep up the pace and stay profitable.

Social networks, The Internet of Things, Wireless connectivity and the Cloud are just some of the disruptive forces dramatically changing the way consumers and businesses interact.  Yet, despite technology’s progress, the chasm between what a business typically needs and the value that their IT department provides is widening. The fundamental approach to how businesses apply information technology as well as their operating culture needs to change.

“Cloudsourcing and the Cloud’s utility service models can bring simplicity, flexibility and speed to businesses, with significantly lower expenditures and a much better cost structure,” says D’Sena. “But many companies approach this the wrong way and make things difficult for themselves. This is not an IT project, but a better approach to IT itself. To succeed, a Cloud strategy must be executed through partnerships that are properly matched, and must deliver incremental value to the business right from the start. Cloud CIO Strategy shows how this can be done.”

Traditional approaches are simply no longer relevant.  Companies that rely completely on their internal IT infrastructure are putting themselves on a path to certain extinction. The knowledge and currency lag, ridiculously high expenditures and other management overheads will drive them to the ground. The social and product frameworks that drive consumer ecosystems are also transitioning to the Cloud, so companies that wait too long are just going to be left behind. The most dynamic new players are already taking advantage of opportunities that Cloud models provide, and getting ahead of the game.

This book is meant to be an eye opener for business and technology executives, as well as for the investment and entrepreneurial community in general. Cloud CIO Strategy conveys a sense of urgency and provides the direction and tools to get started. Filled with ideas and examples, the book addresses Cloud concepts and their relevance to business strategy as well as their application in practice. Topics covered include Cloud fundamentals and architecture, the unique characteristics of utility computing and Cloudsourcing partnerships, organizational aspects, distribution of responsibilities, strategic planning, and many other insightful perspectives on leadership, transition and culture.

The book also includes an engrossing commentary on the Cloud’s confluence with disruptive areas like Wireless Payments and Augmented Reality, and their related impacts on online commerce. Cloud CIO Strategy is available in hardcover and paperback from Lulu Press.

ComplyWorks is pleased to announce the release of ComplyWorks Management System 3.9. The new release includes multilingual capabilities, with English and French user interfaces available initially.

With the release of ComplyWorks Management System (CMS) 3.9, ComplyWorks improves its ability to provide contractor and supplier management to global industries. CMS is currently used on three continents in a wide variety of industries to conduct due diligence, improve risk mitigation and increase performance of employees, contractors and suppliers in relation to productivity, safety, health, environmental, financial and other indicators.

The multilingual capabilities of CMS 3.9 will allow user interfaces to be added in an unlimited number of languages as ComplyWorks and its customers enter new regions and countries. Currently, end-users can choose between English and French user interfaces.

“Contractor and supplier management is a global issue, and we’re providing global solutions,” says Cal Fairbanks, President and CEO of ComplyWorks Ltd. “The multilingual features of CMS 3.9 are a direct result of consulting with our customers, listening to what they need to manage contractors and suppliers around the globe, and meeting those needs. This release is an example of how ComplyWorks provides solutions that are relevant to our customers, their compliance requirements, the language they do business in, and the countries in which they operate. ”

The previous version of the CMS, 3.8.2, was released in January 2011 and included new Multiple-Level Compliance capabilities that are in use by 100% of CMS customers. CMS 3.8.2 also included significant enhancements to the TrackWorks tool that have resulted in its rapid adoption by ComplyWorks customers.

Calgary Scientific has released PureWeb® 3.0, the first platform solution that allows multiple users to interact with the same instance of a software application simultaneously. PureWeb’s new collaboration capability allows geographically distributed users to access any PureWeb enabled application and collaborate with other users on a real-time basis. PureWeb allows existing software applications to be used in new ways and places, for less time and money, while maintaining high performance and security.

“The goal of Calgary Scientific has been to provide solutions for our customers that allow them to extend how and where their solutions are used,” says Pierre Lemire, President and Chief Technology Officer, Calgary Scientific. “Breaking yet another significant technical barrier, PureWeb 3.0 raises the bar to an even higher level by allowing users to interact with a single computed location, from any device, in a secure, high performance manner.”

With PureWeb, software that was previously chained in place on workstations and desktops can be freed to work anywhere on the Internet. It can then be accessed on mobile devices like laptops, netbooks, tablets and smartphones in modern ways that feel native to each. PureWeb allows software applications to be used by any user from any location or device without having to completely rewrite existing application code for each new platform. Making applications available to users anytime, anywhere increases the productivity and value of the applications.

New technologies such as web, cloud and mobile devices, have changed how and where users deploy and access applications. PureWeb allows any software applications to be leveraged in new ways by expanding how and where it is deployed and how it is accessed. This allows existing software to be utilized in new ways and increases the overall value to customers by providing flexibility and extending software and hardware lifecycles. PureWeb 3.0’s revolutionary collaboration capabilities allow users to share and collaborate with each other and their applications in a real-time, high performance fashion. Software applications can be shared natively and controlled by multiple users without having to invoke third-party sharing facilities, such as conferencing and collaboration tools, that add latency, complexity, and cost.

PureWeb brings modern benefits, such as web, cloud, mobile devices and now collaboration, to existing software applications quickly and at a fraction the time and cost of alternate approaches by not changing what the software does or how it is written. PureWeb’s support of existing and emerging standards allows users to future-proof their application investments and quickly support new platforms and devices in the future.

The PureWeb approach to modernizing software for the web, cloud or other host environments, dramatically reduces software management costs. Unlike SOA projects that are difficult to manage and contain, PureWeb does not require changes to existing applications. PureWeb also eliminates the licensing, deployment and management costs of proprietary clients required by screen scraping and other desktop virtualization techniques.

PureWeb offers an ever-expanding list of options for legacy applications. PureWeb integrates directly into your existing C#, C++ or Java code, bringing the web to your application rather than your application to the web. And more importantly, adding support for mobile applications such as an Apple iPad, iPhone or Google Android devices is seamless.

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Data is always most secure when it is not unnecessarily moved or copied. With PureWeb, data is stored where it is in now and is accessed through the PureWeb-enabled application just like it currently does. Since PureWeb does not change or compromise these systems, it provides further cost savings by not transferring or duplicating the data to any client, including mobile devices. This allows users to leverage existing security and infrastructure while providing secure and compliant access to applications from any client.

High performance software belongs on high performance hardware and PureWeb doesn’t change that. It just makes software applications accessible from mobile devices that leverage the processing power of existing high performance infrastructure. By doing this, PureWeb puts the processing power of a server in every user’s hand.

OpenText™ has announced the availability of the next major release of OpenText Social Workplace, a fully integrated social collaboration environment designed to help purpose-driven teams assemble, stay connected, and achieve breakthrough results.

The announcement was made at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston. During a keynote presentation, Tyler Knowlton, of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for Canada (DFAIT), showcased how Social Workplace is helping the G-20 improve collaboration among delegates from member countries around the world. Also at the conference, OpenText announced the Prize for Purpose-Driven Business, a contest to recognize organizations that are effectively dedicated to a purpose.

The Prize for Purpose-Driven Business is an initiative to showcase those teams and individuals who embody what it means to be a purpose driven organization and have in-turn used social collaboration tools to help achieve their missions. The Prize for Purpose-Driven Business is open to all organizations, whether they are current OpenText customers or not.

OpenText Social Workplace is a new kind of people-centric enterprise application that works through either SaaS or on-premise deployment. It helps cross-functional teams form quickly and collaborate effectively with minimal training or technical support. The latest release has a number of new features including optional integration with OpenText ECM Suite 2010 for comprehensive records management and governance, chat, and important additions to the wiki editor, among other enhancements.

“In a purpose-driven organization, teams are not limited by geography, function, hierarchies or management structure.  They form by bringing the right people together for the right reason at the right time. These teams need new ways of collaborating and getting work done,” said James Latham, OpenText’s Chief Marketing Officer. “With this new release, OpenText Social Workplace is even more adept at supporting a fluid model of collaboration that allows teams to organize quickly and tap each person’s expertise to fulfill the team’s purpose.” Latham discusses how Social Workplace supports purpose-driven organizations in a new OpenText News Podcast posted today.

The Social Workplace experience is designed from the ground up to work the way people want to work, starting with a personal dashboard to drive personal productivity and provide easy access to everyone’s profile, status and blog. From there, community spaces unite distributed teams with the appropriate level of access. New microblogging capabilities provide an ambient level of awareness of activity throughout an organization. It now also incorporates chat to facilitate quick, real-time touches among one or more team members.

Compared to social media offerings from start-ups or smaller vendors, Social Workplace is backed by OpenText’s deep experience in delivering enterprise-class content management solutions. One way organizations can tap into that experience is to connect Social Workplace communities to OpenText ECM Suite 2010. This new option makes it possible for content created during a project to be automatically archived in compliance with an organization’s regulations and policies with full records management control to an enterprise content repository with minimal intervention from technical staff.

Inside the community, Social Workplace offers a number of tools for creating content using wikis, information feeds and document management, images and video repositories. With the latest release, wikis have been enhanced with support for tables and version comparison capabilities.  Document handling is more robust with advanced commenting, versioning and comparison functionality.

Modern workforces require flexible access to content. Social Workplace can be accessed from any Web browser and mobile devices. Pre-built apps for iPhone and BlackBerry devices are available with support for the new release and allow people to log-in from any location, check tasks, review project details, update status and search for information.

Beginning in June 2011, teams will be invited to submit their most compelling stories about how having a clear sense of purpose impacted their team’s success. Entries will be accepted through September 30th, 2011. The entries will then be screened and finalists judged by a panel that includes the speakers from the OpenText Purpose-Driven Speaker Series including Simon Sinek, Andrew McAfee and John Seely Brown.

The new release of OpenText Social Workplace, version 2.0, is available now either for download or as a cloud-based solution.  The Fast Start program offers a low risk way to get started and includes a 60-day full-version Social Workplace license for up to 950 users. OpenText also offers the public Social Workplace Sandbox community that allows people to experience the product at any time.

McAfee has extended its mobile device portfolio for consumers with McAfee Mobile Security and McAfee WaveSecure Tablet Edition.  These mobile device offerings change the mobile security landscape by offering security safeguards that help consumers secure their mobile devices for personal use, commerce and work.

A recent Leger Marketing survey of 1,500 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, was completed over the period May 24-26, 2011 for McAfee Canada. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The report results showed that Canadians overwhelmingly want security technologies to protect their mobile devices. Eighty three per cent (83%) of Canadians who use a mobile device want some (36%) or full (47%) protections (e.g. ability to remotely lock the device from unauthorized access; ability to remotely wipe the device’s memory; ability to locate the device using GPS technology; and ability to back up the device) to secure their mobile devices. Only 17 per cent of respondents do not feel the security of mobile devices is important.

According to a mobile security report released last week by McAfee and Carnegie Mellon University, titled, “Mobility and Security: Dazzling Opportunities, Profound Challenges,” respondents named their top three security concerns to be the loss of personal or work data through the accidental loss of a device, physical theft of the device, or loss of their data due to their device “crashing.” In addition, close to half of all respondents said they were using their smartphones both for personal use and work, demonstrating that consumers want more than just personal device security.

McAfee Mobile Security software, available for both smartphones and tablets, provides a comprehensive mobile security solution by combining three leading McAfee mobile security products:  WaveSecure, VirusScan Mobile and SiteAdvisor® for Android. It is ideal for users who want protection for their data and privacy in the event of loss or theft, protection against the growing threats of viruses and spyware targeting mobile devices and protection from Web- based threats, such as phishing sites that probe for personal and sensitive information. Read the rest of this entry »