Village Gamer

Syfy has acquired both seasons (26 episodes) of the hit Canadian supernatural drama Lost Girl from Prodigy Pictures, it was announced today by Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies for Syfy.

Lost Girl stars supernatural seductress Bo (played by Anna Silk/The Ghost Whisperer), a Succubus (a powerful female entity in folklore) who feeds off sexual energy. Raised by human parents, Bo had no reason to believe she was anything other than the girl next door — until she “drained” her first boyfriend to death.

Bo has since hit the road alone and afraid. She discovers she is one of the Fae, creatures of legend and folklore, who pass as humans while feeding off them in secret, as they have for millennia. She is faced with choosing an allegiance between the Dark or Light Fae clans. Bo decides to take the middle path between humans and the Fae while embarking on a personal mission to unlock the secrets of her origin, protecting humans along the way.

Lost Girl co-stars Kris Holden-Ried as Dyson, a shape-shifting Fae, homicide detective and Bo’s love interest; Ksenia Solo as Kenzi, Bo’s human confidante and street-smart survivor, Zoie Palmer as Lauren, a human doctor who competes for Bo’s heart; Rick Howland as Trick, the mysterious owner and bartender at The Dal Riata tavern, with a secretive past that is yet to be unlocked, and K.C. Collins as Hale, a handsome male “Siren” who is the eternal bachelor, ultimate wingman and Dyson’s partner on the force.

Notable guest stars include Emmanuelle Vaugier as “The Morrigan”, the leader of the Dark Fae.

Said Vitale: “In one year, Lost Girl has electrified viewers in Canada and around the world. We’re delighted to bring this fascinating, high-octane series, which depicts a unique world and memorable heroine, to the Syfy audience.”

“We’re thrilled to have Syfy on board as our broadcast partner in the U.S. Lost Girl is a unique series that thrusts a strong, independent female lead into uncompromising circumstances. It’s a series that takes risks with unconventional storylines and provocative character development,” said Jay Firestone, Executive Producer.

This series is developed and produced by Prodigy Pictures, in association with Shaw Media and Showcase. This acquisition agreement was brokered by Tim Mudd of Mudd Media.

GROW is a unique three-day conference held in Vancouver that brings together the top minds in business, entrepreneurship, technology and startup investment to inspire and engage the next generation of disruptive entrepreneurs. This annual conference is the place for Canada and Silicon Valley’s leading entrepreneurs to brainstorm, innovate, and connect, giving them an opportunity to strengthen their networks, companies and broadening their scope of possibilities.

GROW Conference 2011 will be held on August 17th through 19th, and this year, there are lots of ways to get involved in GROW. Apply for the private networking afternoon in Day 1, enter the Launch@GROW contest to pitch your startup to Silicon Valley VCs, purchase a ticket to attend Day 2, and finally, explore a new outdoor adventure while networking with industry leaders.

GROW 2011 will showcase the Silicon Valley elite, Canadian success stories, and world-class innovators who are turning industries on their heads and engaging consumers in new ways – both online and in the real world. Featured speakers include:

Munjal Shah, General Manager for Google Boutiques
Matt Galligan, Co-Founder and CSO for SimpleGeo
Garrett Camp, CEO of StumbleUpon
Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio
Mike Ghaffary, Director of Business Development for Yelp

DAY 1: ENGAGE: This invite-only program brings together promising Canadian entrepreneurs with leading Silicon Valley founders, influencers and investors to meet, discuss, debate, and glean information to understand how to innovate in a web-fueled world. Apply now!

LAUNCH @ GROW: The official opening night party AND startup competition! Startups will get the chance to produce short two-minute videos presenting their startup and then voting will begin. Winning startups will get the chance to be showcased at the Launch Party opening night reception and possibly demo on stage at GROW! Nominate your startup before June 15!

DAY 2: INSPIRE: GROW 2011 Conference will provide inspiration for turning today’s entrepreneurs into tomorrow’s leaders. Speakers include founders of fast-growing companies, leading investors and influencers who will share lessons learned.

DAY 3: CHALLENGE: This is an open day for attendees to experience the best of outdoor adventure in Vancouver. Local insiders will take you kite-boarding, hiking, cycling/mountain bike riding and kayaking.

Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX:SJR.B)(NYSE:SJR) has agreed to issue, on a bought deal basis, to a syndicate of underwriters led by TD Securities Inc. and CIBC World Markets Inc. for distribution to the public, 8,000,000 Cumulative Redeemable Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series A (the “Series A Shares”). The Series A Shares will be issued at a price of $25.00 per Series A Share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $200 million. Holders of the Series A Shares will be entitled to receive a cumulative quarterly fixed dividend yielding 4.50% annually for the initial period ending June 30, 2016. Thereafter, the dividend rate will be reset every five years at a rate equal to the then current 5-year Government of Canada bond yield plus 2.00%.

Holders of Series A Shares will have the right, at their option, to convert their shares into Cumulative Redeemable Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series B (the “Series B Shares”), subject to certain conditions, on June 30, 2016 and on June 30 every five years thereafter. Holders of the Series B Shares will be entitled to receive cumulative quarterly dividends at a rate set quarterly equal to the then current three-month Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield plus 2.00%. Read the rest of this entry »

Intertainment Media Inc. has announced that its social media, real time, language translation platform Ortsbo has entered into an agreement with two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash to become an official spokesperson for Ortsbo. Leading Ortsbo’s global sports fan program, Nash will present and participate in a number of online fan chats with international athletes from a number of sports disciplines. Business partners Gene Simmons and Richard Abramson were instrumental in the introduction and facilitation of the business agreement with Nash’s representatives, BDA Sports Management.

Ortsbo will seek to engage Nash’s considerable influence and social media presence to help spread the word about Ortsbo’s unique, translator experience platform that integrates seamlessly with the most popular social media platforms to enable users from around the world to instantly send and receive messages in their native language.

“With the growth of social media and the increased access to technology, the world has become more inclusive. Language is one of the last remaining obstacles to uniting our different cultures and perspectives and Ortsbo bridges that divide, bringing us all closer together,” said Nash. “I am excited to be associated with Intertainment and with Ortsbo.”

In addition to Steve Nash, Ortsbo has announced a business partnership and spokesperson agreement with rock legend and global entrepreneur, Gene Simmons. Ortsbo, together with KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, will be hosting the world’s first interactive global fan chat in 53 languages – KISS Live & Global on May 20, 2011 at 7:30 am Pacific.

The Ortsbo platform eliminates the need to cut/copy and paste text into a translator by automatically translating typed text into the specified language instantly, unlike typical translation software. Users simply indicate the desired language for their intended recipient and Ortsbo does the rest. Ortsbo even lets users conduct multiple chat sessions simultaneously across multiple social networks in multiple languages in real time.

Free for consumers to use, Ortsbo.com is ideal for both personal/social communications, allowing users to chat with friends and family around the world or around the neighborhood, and for business communications. Global colleagues can use Ortsbo to collaborate and chat about projects in their native language for faster and more efficient communication that reduces the risk of misunderstanding due to translation errors.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with Steve Nash. Steve opens Ortsbo to the global sports arena where the challenge of fans and athletes speaking different languages can pose a significant obstacle in achieving global connectivity and consciousness,” said David Lucatch, President of Ortsbo Inc. and Intertainment CEO. “Ortsbo’s quick and easy automatic translation helps both consumers and businesses eliminate these barriers allowing people to interact and communicate freely regardless of the language they speak.”

Ortsbo is in the process of releasing its first beta application for mobile phones – Ortsbo for iPhone. Other Ortsbo mobile phones and portable computing apps, including apps for Android, Apple, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and tablet computers are scheduled to begin launching Summer 2011.

For businesses, Ortsbo provides multi-lingual global communications solutions via RSS, API solutions, private chat networks and custom services allowing organizations to provide seamless communications with their constituents.

Ortsbo will be launching its instant email translation plug-in Ortsbo for Outlook or “O4O” for the world’s largest email platform, Microsoft Outlook. Ortsbo will initially make up to 10 Million copies of O4O available on a global basis to consumers and businesses on an introductory basis from mid June through mid September 2011.

Participants and viewers of KISS Live & Global on May 20^th will get a sneak peek at the O4O software and user bonus program, Ortsbo Cruise Into Translation that will feature a host of exclusive prizes including major VIP packages. Pricing packages for Ortsbo for Outlook (O4O) will be announced at the event.

TRAC Records, Inc., a records management consulting firm based in New Westminster, has launched its DIY Records Management Series with the release of two new books. The books will focus on two important aspects of records management: records retention and file classification. Both titles, “DIY Records Retention & Disposition Schedule Workbook” and “DIY Functional File Classification System Workbook” are now available for purchase on the company’s web site, and for a limited time, TRAC Records will also provide one free hour of phone support with the purchase of the books.

Vice President Patricia Beelby said that the series was designed for organizations that have pressing records management needs but cannot afford to hire consultants.

“Much of the work in developing file plans and records retention schedules is labour intensive. We were frustrated that we couldn’t help organizations who didn’t have the consulting funds. This approach is for them,” she said.

The series will serve as a step-by-step guide to managing records in an efficient, cost-effective manner, and will explain the many legal requirements on how long to keep records. Many organizations often misunderstand these regulations and don’t have a proper retention strategy in place. In August 2010, a Symantec Corp study found that “Most enterprises (87%) believe a proper information retention strategy should allow them to delete unnecessary information. However, less than half (46%) actually have a formal information retention plan in place.”

Barrister and solicitor Gale Prestash said that TRAC Records’ new series will help organizations make better use of their legal budgets, regardless of their jurisdiction.

“They can do more for themselves in designing systems that comply with ongoing legal records requirements, and reduce their costs in the event of litigation,” Prestash said.

Marcel Roy, TRAC Records’ president, said that these books are the first in the field to use mind maps.

“In my forty years of records management experience, I’ve always struggled with getting clients to understand file plans and retention schedules,” he said. “Once I started using of mind maps, they completely understood what I was doing.”

Roy and Beelby will be presenting on mind mapping in records management at the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA) Canada conference June 6, 2011 in Charlottetown, PEI.

Absolute^® Software Corporation has announced that its commercial and consumer products, Computrace^® and LoJack^® for Laptops, have achieved a record number of more than 600 recoveries in the month of March 2011. Using persistence technology, combined with its team of skilled investigators and relationships with local law enforcement agencies, Absolute has reached nearly 20,000 successful mobile device recoveries for organizational and consumer customers.

“Organizations and consumers alike are concerned when it comes to protecting their laptops and the valuable data on them. When it comes to a solution to this growing security concern, customers depend on Absolute’s patented persistence technology combined with the years of experience and knowledge of our Theft Recovery Team, ” said Lyle Singular, Vice President of Recovery Services, Absolute Software. “After 17 years in the industry, we are proud to have helped customers around the globe recover their stolen laptops, recover and protect their invaluable personal data, deter theft in their environment, modify their security policies based on intelligence we provide, and contribute to safer communities by identifying criminals. It is due to these aspects of our services that we have become essential to our customers, and that we continue to generate more than 75% of our sales from existing customers.”

Since 2005 with the launch of our firmware-embedded technology with major PC OEM manufacturers and continued feature enhancements, Absolute has become the standard for device and data security as theft recovery is an essential element to protecting devices. Additionally, data obtained during the recovery process provides law enforcement agencies with the intelligence needed to return stolen mobile devices and, in some cases, pursue further criminal investigations. As a result, Absolute has successfully enabled recovered nearly 20,000 stolen laptops for customers in more than 75 countries. In 2010 alone, this amounted to the retrieval of more than $6 million dollars in assets and the arrest of 505 suspects.

Based on the intelligence gathered by the Absolute Theft Recovery Team, automobiles are one of the top locations for laptop theft. Our customers have used information such as this to helping them to set the right security policies, making their environments more secure. Guy Louthian, of Columbia, South Carolina, experienced this firsthand when he returned to his car to find that it had been broken into and his Dell laptop was stolen. After filing a theft report with his local police department, he also reported his laptop as stolen to Absolute, allowing the Theft Recovery Team to begin working to track and recover the device immediately.

According to Louthian, “My stolen laptop had been wiped clean, but luckily LoJack for Laptops was still intact and working.” Because persistence is a key feature of LoJack for Laptops, if the software is maliciously removed from a user’s hard drive, it can silently reinstall itself so that Absolute can continue to track the stolen device. For Louthian, that made the difference. As a result, police tracked down his laptop and recovered it—in another state. “The investigator assigned to my case stated hands down that LoJack for Laptops is the best recovery technology available. It is pennies compared to the cost of replacing a laptop,” said Louthian.

Cyber criminals are on the move again, and Canada is the preferred relocation haven. American-based internet security company Websense, Inc. recently conducted an analysis of Canada’s cyber security risk profile, and all trends pointed to Canada as the new launch pad for cyber criminals. IP addresses in China and Eastern Europe are highly scrutinized and undergoing intense evaluation. Hackers react by moving their networks to countries like Canada that have cleaner cyber reputations.

“Cyber crime in Canada is increasing,” said Fiaaz Walji, Canadian country manager for Websense. “Businesses today need to be able to defend against this new assault. A solution that provides content security and combines email, Web, and DLP security is key to fending off these modern threats, which often bypass traditional perimeter and endpoint security.”

According to the study, Canada saw a huge increase in the number of servers hosting phishing sites, jumping 319 percent in the last year. This tremendous increase over the last 12 months is second only to Egypt in terms of the growth of sites hosting phishing – but the US is still at number 1. Below is the breakdown:

1. USA – 2. Canada – 3. Egypt – 4. Germany – 5. UK – 6. Netherlands – 7. Russia – 8. South Korea – 9. France – 10. Brazil

“More malicious content is being hosted in Canada than ever before,” said Patrik Runald, senior manager of Security Research, Websense. “Cyber criminals are taking advantage of Canada’s clean cyber reputation, and moving shop. We’re seeing all time highs for both hosted phishing sites and bot networks. It is important for Canadian citizens to be extra vigilant on the Internet, taking extra precautions when clicking on links.”

Cyber criminals are moving their command and control centers to safer grounds. In the past eight months, Canada saw a 53 percent increase in bot networks. Canada is the only country that showed an increase in bot networks over the last eight months, when compared to the countries above. Overall increase in cyber crime – In 2010 Canada was #13 in the world for hosting cyber crime, and in 2011 Canada jumped to #6, while the USA remains in the #1 spot on both charts.  Read the rest of this entry »

Empire Theatres, a Canada-wide film exhibition company with 50 theatres, and IMAX Corp. have announced that Empire Theatres will be adding three new IMAX digital theatres to its network this year. In addition to an existing location in Halifax, the following theatres in the Empire Theatres network have been chosen to deliver The IMAX Experience^®:

Empire Theatres Country Hills, Calgary
Empire Theatres Kitchener, Kitchener
Empire Theatres Avalon Mall, St. John’s

The Empire Theatres Bayers Lake, Halifax IMAX screen will be converted from film to digital projection to allow for a greater range of IMAX blockbuster hits to be shown.

“We are excited to partner once again with IMAX Corporation to bring The IMAX Experience^® to our theatres in these markets,” says Dean Leland, Vice President, Studio & Media Relations, Empire Theatres. “IMAX delivers premium viewing experiences in both digital and 3D that our guests are looking for.”

“Today’s announcement highlights our commitment to expanding in the Canadian market, and to continuing our successful work with key partners like Empire Theatres,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “With these three new systems, we are scheduled to have 22 commercial theatres operating in Canada by November, more than double the size of our Canadian commercial theatre network as of November 2010.”

The Empire Theatres Country Hills, Empire Theatres Kitchener and Empire Theatres Bayers Lake locations will be open for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: An IMAX 3D Experience on July 15, 2011. The Empire Theatres Avalon Mall, NL location will be open in September 2011.

For those who don’t already have the original game and all of the DLC, 505 Games and developer Behaviour Interactive announced today that Naughty Bear Gold is available now for Xbox 360® and the PlayStation®3. Naughty Bear Gold combines the original game in all its glory, along with all the downloadable content in one adorably brutal package.

Naughty Bear Gold will include the original Naughty Bear game, which followed the titular “hero” as he cut his way through the cuddly denizens of Perfection Island, getting his bloody revenge for the ways in which they wronged him (namely, failing to invite him to a birthday party). Additionally, Naughty Bear Gold will feature the three downloadable content packs with episodes 8 through 10, which sees Naughty through a host of new misadventures against such foes as pirates, comic book superheroes, and of course vampire bears and zombears.

The added DLC packs ($25 value) double the content of the original game, adding in copious amounts of mayhem, improved multiplayer, and more weapons, costumes, and comic kills than ever.

“Now that we have the opportunity to present Naughty’s full story to fans of the franchise is definitely a great thing for us,” said Ian Howe, President, 505 Games North America. “We’re very proud of how all the extra content expanded the Naughty Bear universe, and we can’t wait for gamers to have access to all things Naughty in one slick package.”

Parents looking to teach their children aged 6-12 about the importance of saving money now have a new tool at their disposal: The Adventures of Saving, an educational web platform found designed to raise awareness on managing money in a fun way. The Adventures of Saving invites youngsters to take part in the adventure set in the animated universe of EkominiVille™. Participants who finish the four games by June 19 will automatically be registered to a contest with a $1,000 scholarship as the grand prize. In addition, 150 Ekomini™ Coin Savers will be drawn between May 10 and June 19. The Contest is open to Canadian residents who have reached the age of majority. The scholarship will be issued in cheque format. Approximate value of each coin saver: $39.99. No purchase required, the deadline is June 19, 2011.

“The sooner you can teach kids about the importance of managing their money, the more likely they are to become financially responsible,” said Sophie Ducharme, T.V. host, notary and Vice-President, Trust and Advisory services, National Bank Trust, and Clearfacts.ca ambassador. “The Adventures of Saving is an innovative and fun way to start talking about financial matters with your children, who are encouraged to become consumers at an ever younger age.”

These educational games will be featured in a promotional tour this summer with Alexandre Bilodeau, Gold medalist in the freestyle skiing – Moguls event at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and World Champion, who is also an ambassador of Clearfacts.ca. The tour, which will include Impact games at Saputo Stadium and the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium, will allow participants to try out the games and win instant prizes.