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Teletoon Canada Inc. has announced its lineup of new and returning Canadian original series recently green-lit or currently in production. The announcement was made at the Banff World Media Festival where Teletoon is a Gold Partner, sponsoring the Kids & Animation program.

“Teletoon has always been proud to showcase the great animation and kids television talent that our country has to offer and we’re thrilled to announce our new lineup of Canadian programming,” said Alan Gregg, Director, Original Content, Teletoon Canada inc. “With four new shows and three more renewed Canadian-made series, Teletoon continues to expand its repertoire of animated and live-action/animated series for kids 6-11, co-view audiences and adults.”

Highlights of Teletoon’s new lineup of Canadian original productions are as follows:

New Series:

FUGGET ABOUT IT
9 Story Entertainment • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon at Night

Teenager Petey Falcone’s father, Jimmy Falcone, was once the head of a large crime syndicate. But when Jimmy refused to whack his good ol’ Uncle Cheech, the Falcones were forced into witness protection in Canada. Petey, who was finally starting to figure out life in New York, now lives as Petey “McDougal” in Regina, Saskatchewan. In their new life, the Falcones must come to terms with the fact that they are no longer respected neighbourhood big-shots – they’re just regular schmucks. Fugget About It is an animated comedy aimed at teens and young adults that was originally developed for the Teletoon At Night Pilot Project in 2007.

JUST KIDDING KIDS
Just For Laughs Gags • 6 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Winter 2013 on Teletoon

From the creators and producers of the smash TV hit, Just for Laughs Gags, comes Just Kidding Kids, an all new spinoff with an age-old difference. Just Kidding Kids puts kids in the driver’s seat and lets them loose to concoct preposterous pranks on unsuspecting adults. The kids work together to ensure that one victim after another falls for the ploy. The audience is in on the scheme and won’t be able to resist roaring with laughter as unwary victims take the fall and their candid reactions are all caught on camera. Just Kidding Kids is sure to be a favourite for the whole family.

SPLATALOT
marblemedia • 26 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2011 on TÉLÉTOON (French)

Splatalot is a hilarious family-friendly medieval-themed physical game show featuring a larger-than-life extreme obstacle course with more splats and spills than ever imaginable. Each episode features a different group of 12 thrill-seeking teen contestants, dubbed Attackers, competing in three hilarious rounds: Cross the Moat, Escape the Stockade and Capture the Crown. The Defenders of Splatalot, an international squad of nine costumed gladiators, do their best to protect the castle from the Attackers – leaving only one to be crowned King or Queen of Splatalot.

ROCKET MONKEYS
Breakthrough Entertainment • 26 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon

Meet Wally and Gus. Best friends and NOSA-trained monkeynauts on an odyssey through outer space. Blasted into strange new worlds on a unique and specially equipped rocket, these two simians experiment with new technologies and discover alien species never seen before. Despite Dr. Chimpsky’s instructions for space travel, neither the optimistic Wally nor the brainy Gus has a clue as to how to pilot their ship, but somehow they have the right stuff to complete their mission. New life forms, techno-gadgets and collisions with space pirates all add up to a zany, fun-filled series for kids 6-11. It’s close encounters of a primate kind.

Renewed Series:

CRASH CANYON (Eight additional episodes ordered)
Breakthrough Films & Television • 8 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon at Night

When the Wendell family leaves for a vacation in their camper trailer, only one thing can happen: disaster. Motoring between tourist attractions, scenic vistas and the occasional point of interest, the trip turns to catastrophe when the family vehicle goes off a cliff. As the Wendells stumble out, they realize that not only are they alive, but also that they are not alone as the same fate has befallen several others before them, forming a community known only as Crash Canyon. This comedy series is produced by Breakthrough’s Ira Levy, Peter Williamson and executive producer Joan Lambur with Joel Cohen (Co-Executive Producer, The Simpsons). These eight additional episodes bring the total to 26 for the Crash Canyon series on Teletoon. Crash Canyon premieres on Teletoon in fall 2011 as part of the adult-oriented “Teletoon at Night” programming block.

DETENTIONAIRE (Season Two)
Nelvana • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon

Lee Ping is about to start grade 10 – the best year of his life – when he is blamed for pulling off an epic, mind-blowing practical joke and sentenced to spend the rest of the school year in detention. It’s goodbye freedom, goodbye girls and hello worst year of his life. Detentionaire follows Lee in his attempts to uncover the mystery behind the practical joke and clear his name. Detentionaire is created by Daniel Bryan Franklin and Charles Johnston and produced by Tracey Dodokin. The addition of these 13 episodes brings the total to 26 for the Detentionaire series aimed at kids 8-12, with the first 13-episode instalment premiering in fall 2011 on Teletoon.

MUDPIT (13 additional episodes ordered)
Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2012 on Teletoon

This animated and live-action comedy series tells the story of four teens who form a virtual rock band in hopes of becoming real rock stars. Using a new high-tech videogame called Muzika, ubergamer Reese and power drummer Geneva create avatars to rock the online world for a chance to win a recording contract and world tour. This kid-friendly series stars Jesse Rath, Carleigh Beverly, Vas Saranga and Daniel Magder. These 13 additional episodes bring the total to 26 for the Mudpit series on Teletoon. Mudpit premieres on Teletoon in winter 2012.

Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, and Kim Cameron, a leading digital identity expert, have released a new joint publication called “Wi-Fi Positioning Systems: Beware of Unintended Consequences – Issues Involving the Unforeseen Uses of Pre-existing Architecture.” In this white paper, launched at the SC Congress Canada 2011 Conference in Toronto today, Cavoukian and Cameron call for the use of Privacy by Design to protect the privacy of mobile device users.

Mobile devices are becoming more crucial in our daily lives, with people now carrying them and using them practically everywhere. Whenever an individual uses location-based services on his or her mobile device, a unique identifier of nearby traceable Wi-Fi access points called a Media Access Control (MAC) address is relayed. This raises privacy concerns because this location information may be compiled into a profile of an individual over time, such as where they have travelled to, shopped, eaten or banked.

In addition, potential unintended consequences stem from the intrinsic nature of MAC addresses that are at the core of current networked communications. For instance, with minimal time and resources, one may be able to associate MAC addresses of mobile devices to physical addresses, and then to a specific individual.  Furthermore, depending on future developments, it may even be possible that individuals using geolocation services could inadvertently report the MAC address (and, simultaneously, location) of mobile devices belonging to friends, family or co-workers – creating an unintended ‘unknowing informant’ model of data collection.”

“Privacy must be designed into Wi-Fi positioning systems to prevent unintended consequences,” says Commissioner Ann Cavoukian. “I’ll repeat the message I gave about the Apple and Sony controversies – don’t practice privacy by chance. Companies should practice Privacy by Design – they should address privacy proactively and put control squarely in the hands of the users, where it belongs.”

“What companies, government departments, people and systems will be able to follow our physical movements and activities, five or ten years from now?  How will what they see change the way we are treated? Will individuals have any protections?  That is what location technology is about,” says Kim Cameron, co-author of the paper. “When you look into this, it becomes clear that location technology must embrace our human need for privacy.  In this paper we try to point to ways that can come about.”

The authors caution that when designing an architecture (e.g. wireless networks), the question of unintended uses, inadvertently introduced through the existence of that architecture, should form part of a privacy threat risk analysis. In no case, should the MAC address of end-user devices be collected or tracked without the consent of the owners of such devices.

McGill University today announced an $8.3-million CDN contract with IBM in Canada to acquire a supercomputer cluster able to support the data-intensive research activities of the CLUMEQ High Performance Computing Consortium, making it the most powerful supercomputer in Quebec and the second-most energy-efficient data centre in Canada, based on the current Top500 list which was announced in November 2010.

The first phase of this McGill project, funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), aims at building Canada’s capacity to undertake world-class research and technology development to strengthen its position in today’s knowledge economy. According to a recent report issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the province of Quebec is a hotbed of research and development, making the city of Montreal an ideal location for the project

Gaining an efficient, relevant understanding of mountains of data will be one of the biggest challenges for organizations in the 21^st Century. McGill’s CLUMEQ will provide high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities to fully support the research activities of the Quebec and Canadian university communities in several data-intensive sectors. McGill’s focus includes high-energy physics, nanotechnologies, computational fluid dynamics, climate research, brain imaging, biology and life sciences. The cluster will leverage the processing power necessary to facilitate the efficient capture, storage, search, sharing, analysis, and visualization of vast amounts of industry data. CLUMEQ will also support the Atlas research project linked to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) project. Read the rest of this entry »

Canada’s relatively low number of people with advanced qualifications— such as PhDs—could be contributing to our failing grade on innovation, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s latest How Canada Performs analysis.

“The education and skills of the labour force are the underpinnings of innovation. Canada gets excellent results from its education system as a whole. However, Canada’s performance begins to slip as we climb the educational ladder. Indeed, Canada falls to the back of the pack when it comes to advanced knowledge and skills, such as graduates from PhD programs and science and engineering disciplines,” said Michael Bloom, Vice-President, Organizational Effectiveness and Learning. “Our analysis finds a link between a country’s innovation performance and the number of PhDs and science and engineering graduates.”

Canada ranked 14^th out of 17 peer countries in overall innovation performance in the Conference Board’s How Canada Performs Innovation report card (published in 2010). Moreover, Canada has obtained consistent “D” grades in innovation performance since the 1980s. Yet Canada is a consistent top performer overall in the Education and Skills report card, ranking second only to Finland in the most recent release. Canada’s ranking slips, however, as we move from high-school completion (second) to university completion (fifth) to PhD graduates (last of 17).

The Conference Board found a positive relationship between higher PhD graduation rates and a country’s patenting activity. Patents are a commonly used measure of innovation activity, tracking how knowledge is being transformed into invention. Countries that rank high on patents – such as Switzerland, Sweden and Germany – also have high PhD graduation rates. Canada ranked 14^th out of 17 countries on patents by population and last on PhD graduates. Read the rest of this entry »

Toon Boom Animation Inc. has announced that the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) granted the Distinguished Achievement Award (DAA) in the Curriculum/Arts category to Toon Boom’s Flip Boom Classic Art Curriculum for K-5 and Flip Boom All-Star Art Curriculum for Grades 6-8.

Focusing on educational excellence for both teaching and learning, AEP, a national, nonprofit organization serving the educational resource community, runs this annual awards program that defines the industry standard for quality educational products and excellence in education marketing.

The DAAs, the largest branch of the program, recognize the year’s best products according to subject area and grade level in the categories of Curriculum, Periodicals, Professional Development and Technology. The awards highlight the standard of excellence other developers can measure their products against.

In the Curriculum/Arts category, the Flip Boom Classic Art Curriculum competed with the Disney English Winter Camp Music Program from Disney Publishing Worldwide for K-5 while the Flip Boom All-Star Art Curriculum competed with Connections Education for Grades 6-8.

“We feel truly honored by this prestigious recognition which testifies to our commitment to education. We’ll make sure to let all our customers know about this wonderful accomplishment,” states Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom Animation Inc.

Canadian registered charities have five chances to earn complimentary admission to Canada’s premier professional development conference for sponsorship marketers: Strategic Sponsorship Marketing: The Canadian Summit® – also known as the Sponsorship Summit.

Pay it Forward, an innovative program launched last year by The Sponsorship Report and Hilborn eNEWS, invites registered charities to apply online for one of five complimentary passes to the Sponsorship Summit. For applicants outside the GTA, airfare is included courtesy of WestJet.

Last year’s Pay it Forward program drew 108 applications from deserving charities across the country.

“Charitable organizations often struggle when introducing corporate sponsorship to their revenue stream,” says Mark Sabourin, Publisher of The Sponsorship Report. Charities compete with sophisticated sponsorship marketers from sports, arts and culture, but often find themselves overmatched when corporate sponsors weigh competing proposals.

Organizations that attend the Sponsorship Summit can gain a year’s worth of learning in just two days.

“Corporate sponsorship is not philanthropy. Sponsorship solicitation requires a completely new approach, a new skill set, even a shift in culture within the charitable organization,” says Sabourin. “But the rewards can be staggering. Last year Canadian companies invested more than $1.5 billion in sponsorship.”

Strategic Sponsorship Marketing: The Canadian Summit® is hosted by The Sponsorship Report, and features two days of programming delivered by the top sponsorship experts from across North America. This year’s Summit will be held October 18 and 19 in Toronto.

Apply now for a Pay it Forward bursary, the deadline for applications is June 19.

Astral’s Family Channel and Disney Junior have ordered new episodes of four Canadian original productions for the 2011/2012 season. Family Channel has ordered second seasons of the live-action comedies Really Me and What’s Up, Warthogs!, from Fresh TV and Dolphin Entertainment/Aircraft Productions respectively, as well as a third season of Temple Street Productions’ Wingin’ It. Disney Junior has commissioned a second season of the new animated series Justin Time from Guru Studio, for both the English and French language Disney Junior networks. All four series will begin production in Toronto later this summer.

“To be able to support these shows and encourage the talented teams behind each one is an incredible privilege. We are eager to see how each series develops, or in the case of Justin Time, debuts across our networks,” said Michael Goldsmith, Director, Original Programming. “Our new Canadian live-action productions have grown to be real hits with our viewers. Really Me has captivated the Family audience with its smart writing and innovative concept while What’s Up, Warthogs! and its off-beat comedic style is proving not only popular on Family and Family.ca but is also rating well on the newly launched Disney XD. Also playing a key part in the Disney XD schedule, Wingin’ It continues to engage fans on the new channel as well as on Family. Justin Time, with its focus on imagination and its unique style, is sure to charm younger viewers when it premieres on Disney Junior.”

Series Synopsis – Family Channel

REALLY ME (13 episodes x 30 minutes)
Maddy (Sydney Imbeau, Marley and Me: The Puppy Years), is an ordinary-turned-famous 15-year-old who has won the ultimate prize of starring in her own reality TV show with her best friend Julia (Kiana Madeira, Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars). The girls quickly realize that actually getting on the screen can be tough when surrounded by a family of scene-stealers and working with a ratings-hungry producer. Created by Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, Really Me is produced by Fresh TV (6TEEN, Total Drama Island, My Babysitter’s A Vampire) in association with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME). FME has worldwide distribution, brand licensing and home entertainment rights (excluding Canada). New episodes from the first season of Really Me currently air Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT on Family Channel. Read the rest of this entry »

Quebec’s Laurentian Bank kicked off the month of June with the launch of a summer contest on its Little Heroes Club web site. By indicating what they plan to do to stay active this summer, young contest participants have a chance to win a Wii game console, complete with controllers and games. In addition to contests like this, the Clan’s site offers children the opportunity to play interactive games, draw and explore the world of science with a number of experiments.

Through its various involvements, Laurentian Bank’s Little Heroes Club is committed to enhancing youngsters’ self-esteem by highlighting their accomplishments large and small. Once again this summer, the Club will be on hand at numerous family festivals and soccer tournaments to amuse and entertain. This initiative assembles the majority of the Bank’s activities in the area of donations, sponsorships and social involvement under a single umbrella. All geared toward children and families, these activities strive to encourage youth to actively participate in their communities’ sports, cultural and artistic life.

The contest is open to residents of Quebec, and runs until 4:00PM September 30, 2011.

Strangeloop has announced that it is the first company in the world to provide a commercial product that automatically offers the benefits of Google’s experimental SPDY protocol without requiring changes to the site owner’s code or servers. The release, which is available immediately to all Strangeloop customers, comes after months of close collaboration between Strangeloop and the Chromium Project team at Google.

“Our goal is to make the web faster for everyone,” said Mike Belshe, Lead Software Engineer at Google. “Strangeloop engineers embraced SPDY from the beginning and provided key data and feedback about their experience. They then integrated SPDY with their Site Optimizer product and moved rapidly from concept to code to product, demonstrating an impressive speed-up in their customers’ site performance.”

Strangeloop’s integration of SPDY within its Site Optimizer suite of products and services have resulted in:

• At least 50% reduction in page load time.
• Minimizing the complexity of deployment. Site Optimizer automates Web Content Optimization (WCO), delivering the benefits of SPDY to customers without making changes to their servers or code.
• Bringing together like-minded people interested in using the power of open-source collaboration to explore protocols as a way of solving latency problems.

“At Strangeloop, we’re passionate about pushing the performance envelope, and we’re always looking for opportunities to collaborate with other industry leaders to do this,” said Strangeloop CEO Jonathan Bixby. “This is just the first phase of our SPDY integration work.” Read the rest of this entry »

OpenText™ has released a new version of OpenText Integration Center featuring an enhanced, native connector to OpenText ECM Suite 2010. Customers can help better leverage their structured and unstructured content to reduce costs and improve efficiency. OpenText Integration Center unifies access to multiple sources of disparate information from OpenText ECM Suite for applications such as business systems integration, legacy decommissioning, in-place content management and content migration.

Most integration technologies focus on either structured data in databases or content in document repositories, but not both. Now with OpenText Integration Center, which inherently understands both structured data and unstructured content, customers can give business decision makers easy access to corporate information assets through ECM Suite 2010. This allows them to take advantage of powerful analytics, semantic search and rich interactive user interfaces to boost productivity and improve decision making.

“The current economic conditions are forcing organizations to reduce the number of information sources by bringing structured and unstructured content together under the roof of a single business process and repository,” said Eugene Cherny, General Manager for OpenText’s Connectivity Solutions. “By combining these worlds in the OpenText ECM Suite, we give customers a powerful solution that helps them reduce costs during a tough economy, while enabling them to do more with their information.”

The latest release of OpenText Integration Center, together with OpenText ECM Suite 2010, provides enhanced, integrated ECM support making it easier to design, integrate, and implement content integration projects. Typical applications include:

Content Migration — OpenText Integration Center offers complete migration features to move content from one or many repositories to any new destination with all its metadata and context. It helps to automate the movement of content while delivering content integrity and operational efficiency.

Legacy System Decommissioning – Finally turning the off switch on old systems can lead to substantial cost reduction. Customers can archive data from any application and automatically apply lifecycle management rules, such as records management classifications, retention rules, and schedules through ECM Suite 2010.

Data Archiving — With a global policy to integrate retention of structured and unstructured content into one archiving system, customers can be assured of speedy and accurate collection of historical information with a full audit history.

Systems Integration — OpenText Integration Center represents a new generation of integration solutions that transforms, cleanses, enriches and directs information across the entire spectrum of decision support systems and corporate applications, for integrations that include data warehouses, data marts, mainframe systems, ERP systems, CRM systems, and content management platforms.

Leading industry analysts such as Susan Feldman, IDC’s Research Vice President for Search and Discovery Technologies, have identified unified information platforms as a new and fast-growing segment in enterprise software. Facilities like OpenText Integration Center will support enterprise strategies to implement such platforms.

“Businesses of all sizes are wallowing in too much information, without being able to make sense of it. Our survey of IT buyers demonstrates that they are eager to fix the information quandary by investing in software that gives them a single access point to all their information silos. We expect this demand to fuel a new wave of growth in information access software,” writes Feldman in a report published in April 2011 titled “Unified Access to Information: Less Seeking, More Finding.”