Village Gamer

Social networking sites have become a popular platform for youth to stay connected. Although these sites have many positive benefits, some tweens and teens are using these channels as weapons to facilitate cyberbullying.

A new study from Norton Canada called The Norton Cyberbullying Survey polled parents from across the country about their children’s online experiences. One quarter of parents polled (26 percent), said their child had been involved in a cyberbullying incident. Of these, nearly three out of four (66 percent) parents said their child was the victim of the incident, 16 percent admitted that their child was the actual bully, and 18 percent said their child was a witness to a cyberbullying incident. In addition, a staggering 32 percent of parents stated they don’t completely know what their child does on the internet, but fear their child’s behaviour online could involve coming into contact with an online predator (44 percent).

The Norton Cyberbullying Survey also found that girls are more often involved in cyberbullying incidents than boys. In fact, 86 percent of parents revealed their daughters were victims of cyberbullies, compared to 55 percent of sons.

• Mobile access: Cell phones were another vehicle for cyberbullying, with 22 percent of girls experiencing it more than boys (14 percent); cyberbullying via cell phone was also most common with middle schoolers (ages 13-14) (52 percent)
• Social Networking: 43 percent of parents said they were comfortable with tweens (ages 8-12) having an account, as long as they were supervised by parents. (You have to be at least 13-years-old to access most social networking sites legally)
• Top vehicles driving cyberbullying: According to the survey, the top three channels children are using to cyberbully are social media (63 percent), email (25 percent), and phone (19 per cent) – boys are more likely than girls to become victims of cyberbullying through social networks.
• Lines of communication: 49 percent of parents claim to have a very open dialogue with their children about their online behaviour, but 32 percent of all parents feel that there are environments they can’t control (i.e. friend’s homes, what children do at school or Internet activity on his/her phone)
• Controlling the situation: More than 50 percent of parents claim to use online parenting software to monitor their children’s internet use. Meanwhile 42 percent of parents said they check their child’s browser history to get a sense of what they are looking up online.

The survey was conducted online with a random sample of 507 men and women in Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver who have a child between the ages of 8-18, all members of the Impulse Research proprietary online panel. The Impulse Research proprietary online panel has been carefully selected to closely match Canadian population demographics and the respondents are representative of Canadian men and women who live in those cities. Research was conducted in February 2011. The overall sampling error rate for this survey is +/-3% at the 95% level of confidence.

Moneyville.ca, a comprehensive financial resource for everyday personal finance, has partnered with the Investor Education Fund (IEF) to deliver high quality educational content that will help Canadians to make smart, informed decisions about money.  Adding to Moneyville.ca’s comprehensive editorial coverage on the financial issues that matter to Canadians, are hundreds of IEF articles, blogs and case studies.

“We have partnered with the IEF because we have the same priorities in mind,” says Adam Mayers, editor of Moneyville.ca. “Both organizations stand for the consumer and offer plain speaking, clearly written articles on all aspects of personal finance from budgeting and basic money management to buying a car, bringing up baby and buying a house.”

A non-profit agency set up by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the IEF is funded by fines and settlements from OSC enforcement actions and has a mandate to improve investor education and financial literacy through the web and in schools. The IEF’s Get Smarter About Money site is a treasure trove of practical financial information including everything from budgeting to investments to lifestyle angles such as finding and losing jobs, the cost and considerations of getting married, having children and the implications for divorce and retirement.

“The consumer wins with this partnership,” says Tom Hamza, President of the IEF.  “Greater awareness of high-quality, unbiased resources will help consumers get what they need and help to avoid the financial mistakes that are so common.”

The AMD Foundation today announced grants of more than $125,000 for educational programs that mark the non-profit’s expansion into Canada. The grants were awarded to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada and Friends of York University at the 2011 INplay Conference.  The awards support AMD’s education initiative, AMD Changing the Game, which is designed to inspire students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by creating video games.

“The AMD Foundation is committed to partnering with organizations that can help us meet students on common ground to build critical STEM skills,” said Allyson Peerman, President of the AMD Foundation. “The Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada and York University are innovators in the education space and the perfect partners to help us grow educational game design curricula in Canada.”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada will receive $45,000 to create two new computer labs with Acer computers powered by AMD Fusion APUs and $32,000 to deploy Game Tech pilot programs that will familiarize students with video game design principles and the STEM skills involved in the process.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand our technology learning programs for youth by enabling our Club members to access Game Tech,” said Pam Jolliffe, CEO and President, Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada. “Using game design to support youth in their learning and get them excited about learning is an innovative approach that we think will encourage our youth to be actively engaged.”

The Ontario grants are the most recent collaboration between AMD Changing the Game and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada. The Game Tech curriculum offers Club members ages 9-13 the opportunity to explore video game design and teaches systems thinking, introductory programming and problem-solving skills. The program is also designed to expose members to gaming career fields.

Friends of York University will receive $15,000 to create a computer lab equipped with AMD-based technology, and $35,000 to develop after school programs that encourage girls aged 13-15 to make use of video game design as a way to harness the power of new media development for under-privileged youth in the Greater Toronto/York Region.  After school programs will be enhanced with a summer camp opportunity that will provide access for additional students, supplemental mentoring and confidence building opportunities.

“York University researchers are making new breakthroughs in digital media and gaming,” said Stan Shapson, Vice-President Research & Innovation at York University. “We are excited to partner with the AMD Foundation to extend our research and outreach into the pedagogy of gaming to engage high school girls. These opportunities will provide students with technical skills while giving the participants insight into careers in the gaming and digital media industries.”

AMD Changing the Game is designed to take gaming beyond entertainment and inspire youth to learn critical education and life skills by equipping them to create digital games with social content. The program’s purpose is to promote the use of youth game development as a tool to inspire learning and improve science, technology, education and math (STEM) skills. The initiative is rooted in AMD’s long history of supporting education, along with the company’s passion and expertise in the graphics processor and gaming industries.

Since its launch in June 2008, AMD Changing the Game has:

• Funded 33 programs by 21 organizations in the United States, China, Malaysia, Germany and Canada that enable youth game development
• Co-sponsored the U.S. National STEM Video Game Challenge and joined Change the Equation in support of the US Educate to Innovate campaign
• Co-sponsored, along with the Entertainment Software Association, The Atlantic Intelligence Series Technologies in Education Forum
• Funded the creation and implementation of the Game Tech program at 10 local Boys & Girls Clubs across the country.
• Funded the creation of Level Up!, a comprehensive online teaching resource providing curricula and tools for middle and high school educators to teach students video game design and improve their STEM and language arts skills
• Funded the creation of a social impact game community within the Gamestar Mechanic game development platform
• Funded the creation of the AMD Game Zone within the Whyville.net virtual learning world
• Funded the development of the World Wide Workshop Foundation’s Globaloria game-design program for the Southwest Key’s East Austin College Prep Academy in 2009 and 2010
• Funded the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers new video game design category for the 2010 and 2011 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
• Funded Schmahl Science Workshop’s program to develop a sustainable fishing video game to communicate the danger of over fishing to long-term human survival
• Co-sponsored the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Games for Change Festival

Eidos-Montreal and Square Enix are offering Facebook users the opportunity to unlock a slew of exclusive Deus Ex: Human Revolution assets by encouraging other fans and friends to “Like” the official Deus Ex Facebook page.  As more users “Like” the page, over 90 exclusive updates – including new videos, behind-the-scenes footage, and other artwork – will be revealed. Fans can also pre-order Deus Ex: Human Revolution to receive exclusive downloadable bonus content from participating retailers.

“Deus Ex has one of the most passionate, vocal and dedicated communities in all of video games, so offering a program that rewards that loyalty – even before the game is released – is a great way for us to give something back,” said Kyle Stallock, Community Manager, Eidos-Montreal.  “The Facebook community now has significant control over the release schedule for some of our favorite assets.  We have a ton of surprises and unlockables planned, so fans should invite their friends to ‘Like’ the page and start collecting these rewards.”

The new program, which launched yesterday, offers more than 90 individual rewards for Facebook fans, including new wallpapers, screenshots and concept art as well as further details on in-game Augmentations, weapons and the story.

Previously, when the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Facebook page achieved 10,000 Likes, fans were rewarded with an exclusive wallpaper created by Eidos-Montreal Art Designer Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, that recreated the imagery from the highly collectible and super-rare PAX East 2011 tee-shirt.

The Deus Ex: Human Revolution Facebook page is where fans can keep up-to-date with the latest news, previews, videos and screenshots on the game; engage in discussions with other fans and development team members; and find out about other contests and promotions.  Fans can also visit the official site where they will find all of the game information and the official forums and join the human revolution on Twitter.

IT solutions and services provider Softchoice Corporation has announced that a group of 15 employees will take responsibility for directing the Company’s fundraising and charitable giving activities over the next 18-months. As members of the Softchoice Cares Board, their role will be to guide and support employee-led activities aimed at raising money for access to technology and computer literacy programs across North America and around the world.

“I would like to welcome our new board and give heartfelt thanks for the hard work and dedication of our outgoing members,” said Karly Pierce, a Technical Architect for Softchoice and the new Chairman of the Softchoice Cares Board. “With our new board in place, I look forward to continuing to inspire and engage the Softchoice community in a mission that goes beyond the day-to-day management of our business.”

Softchoice Cares’ mission is to use technology to create opportunities for education and personal advancement to help people of all walks achieve their potential. In 2010, Softchoice employees raised $250,000 dollars through trivia nights, a curling bonspiel, raffles, bake sales and more. This money has been used to support a number of technology-related causes, including the creation of a computer lab for 150 children at a local primary school in Tangalle, Sri Lanka. Softchoice Cares also undertook a joint partnership with Habitat for Humanity to provide home computers to 563 families across the United States.

“I am constantly inspired by the leadership and commitment of our people,” said David MacDonald, President and CEO of Softchoice. “Through Softchoice Cares, we continue to broaden our impact as a company by helping help those in need in our local communities and around the world.”

With digital development forming the next frontier of local search, Yellow Pages Group (YPG), Canada’s leading performance media and marketing solutions company, launched today a program devoted to supporting Canadian application developers and aspiring entrepreneurs in building location-based services they can take to market.

YPG’s YellowAPI Developer Program will help web and mobile application developers, across all platforms including iOS, Blackberry and Android, in producing their apps through BETA funding as well as access to internal YPG resources such as consultation on design, quality assurance, legal guidance and technical assistance.

“Entrepreneurship in Canada has long been a focus of ours as we’ve been helping small and medium-sized business grow through our marketing solutions. With the YellowAPI Developer Program, we continue to foster small businesses and also help drive forward local search innovation,” said Stéphane Marceau, Chief Marketing Officer at Yellow Pages Group. “It’s also a natural extension of our existing business model to extend the reach of our advertisers by feeding our listings to up-and-coming apps developed using our public platform.”

The program marks the latest step in the company’s commitment to fostering home-grown mobile and web-based innovation. YellowAPI.com, the open and public API (application programming interface) of YPG was launched last year, providing developers access to 1.5 million verified and regularly updated Canadian business listings, forming the most accurate source of local business information in the country.

Over the last year, YPG has sponsored and hosted a series of “hack-a-thons” across Canada under the banner of YellowAPI.com. These events saw developers gather and compete to produce a viable web or mobile application using a given API within a set period of time.

“It was from these events that the idea for a developer program was born,” continued Marceau. “We were seeing so many incredibly original and really cool apps being created in a matter of hours by local developers. However, these guys have day jobs and obligations. Often because of time or resource constraints, these amazing apps weren’t making it out of the event and into the app stores. With this program, we’re hoping more home-grown apps will make it into the hands of users.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT5RIQS2Dbw]

Five participants in these hack events have already been accepted into the YellowAPI Developer Program, with application concepts devoted to original search methods for restaurants, contractor and renovation services as well as location-planning for social events. The first four participants in the program, will push their applications live over the coming weeks:

• Reservely: An automated text to voice (speech) restaurant reservation system
• MoodFood: A restaurant discovery app based on users’ moods of the moment
• Rendezview: A social meet up and recommendation app which suggests convenient meeting locations for friends
• FinishMyBasement: A home improvement tool guiding users through the steps of renovation and provides contractor recommendations
• DealScanr: A shopping app devoted to locating the best deals near a given location

YPG expects to be accepting more developers into the program over the coming months.

Submissions to the YellowAPI Developer Program are accepted on a rolling basis and evaluated by a YPG selection committee based on criteria such as:

• Originality of concept
• Addressing a user need
• Ability to generate local search traffic
• Integration of YellowAPI
• Commercial viability
• Developer commitment to application support for a minimum 12-month period

The program also provides developers the opportunity to monetize their applications. If their app is successful in driving significant amounts of quality traffic, they can be compensated by YPG.

Calgary-based electronic payment processor E-Debit Global Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary Westsphere Systems Inc. has commenced transition of its communication network for its financial switching operations from analog to digital.

“Over the past 14 months WSI, our electronic payment processing unit has been working with our communication partner Shaw Communications to transition our switching communication from analog to digital (copper telephone lines to fiber broadband).

Our WSI business unit offers debit and credit payment processing solutions and connectivity to the Canadian Interac Network and Credit Facilitators. Our initial introduction of our ATM network to our fiber communication system has been exceptional. Our experience to date has met the challenge of the new requirements related to chip based card product processing and EMV protocols and at the same time has increase speed of transaction processing by a minimum of 25%,” advised WSI Chief Operating Officer Sonja Dreyer.

“Once we transition over our ATM and POS estates we will be able to expand our focus towards our custom payment solutions across a wide range of communication protocols including private-label, travel & entertainment and fleet cards as well as expanding our reach within the Canadian ATM and POS marketplace with contracted switching services to the Canadian ISO (“Independent Sales Organizations”).

With this transition we are now in total control of our communication protocols and significantly reduced our reliance on non affiliated contracted managed services to connect, operated and service our switching platform and to give our guarantee of the best of industry transaction processing in the most secure, stable, reliable and high performance environment to our existing client base and our future ISO potentials which we are going to aggressively pursue,” Ms. Dreyer stated.

On-Board Data Systems has announced the release of Aviation Docs™, a paperless flight deck solution for business jet fleet operators to securely and selectively route all documents, emails and flight plans to pilots’ Apple iPads. Pilots can now capitalize on electronic features, such as search, hyperlink and annotation support. This new release provides fleets with a new standard in document delivery that is economical, reliable and compliant with regulations for paperless operation.

Pilots around the world have discovered that the Apple iPad is an ideal device to replace traditional flight bags as an “Electronic Flight Bag” (EFB). Aviation Docs™ is a suite of tools and services offered by On-Board Data Systems (OBDS), leveraging advanced cloud technology to provide fast, reliable and secure delivery of documents to Apple iPads and traditional Windows-based EFBs anywhere in the world.

The system simplifies the task of ensuring that all electronic documents, flight manuals, training manuals, revisions and flight plans are in the pilots’ hands, up-to-date, well organized and that the process is compliant with FAA, Transport Canada and other jurisdictional regulations regarding paperless operation.

“I’ve been looking for something like this for 3 years. I can’t thank you enough for this tool”, says Joseph Mann, Manager of Flight Technology at XOJET a busy Silicon Valley Part 135 jet fleet, who recently began using Aviation Docs.

The software is intuitive and adapts to the unique requirements of fleet management. Fleet managers, jet librarians and flight dispatchers are provided with the Aviation Docs™ Ground Console that allows them to drag-and drop electronic copies of their manuals, documents, and notices into online routing folders that transfer the correct documents to the correct aircraft. Documents can be routed to one plane, all planes of the same type, the entire fleet, or to special libraries customized for the fleet. Another feature allows email to be similarly routed in this targeted manner. Pilots are automatically notified documents are waiting for them. By simply pressing one button, all documents are retrieved, organized in the appropriate folder, and an audit trail is generated.

Many fleets employ pilots to fly several aircraft. An “instant aircraft switch” feature allows the pilot to select the aircraft they’re flying from a list, and the document library switches instantly to that aircraft, thus allowing one iPad to serve several aircraft. Read the rest of this entry »

Digital Journal has reported a strong response to its updated content assignment and tracking technology, launched earlier this month across the Digital Journal media network. The technology allows Digital Journal to effectively manage and measure content assignments among its global group of freelance writers and bloggers, known as Digital Journalists.

“In a traditional newsroom, you have editors who work with teams of journalists to assign content and map out the content flow for the day,” said Digital Journal CEO, Chris Hogg. “But if you work with thousands of freelancers and bloggers, managing that workflow is far more difficult. Our Assignments technology improves the efficiency of a virtual newsroom and assists in executing on virtually any content goal.”

Digital Journal Assignments are editor-created content assignments that are pushed out to a network of Digital Journalists who file stories and complete assignments based on particular geography, content verticals or trending topics. Assignments can range from editorial to photographic to video. Digital Journalists who fulfill Assignments before their deadline are paid a bonus for their work, and Assignments can scale from individual to group reports around particular subjects. Read the rest of this entry »

Karta Mobile has announced the immediate availability of version 3.0 of its popular BlackBerry GTD software application Viira™. Designed for busy people who want to stay organized and get things done with their BlackBerry smartphone, Viira™ provides an easy-to-use yet powerful organizational system that makes staying on top of one’s to-dos, commitments, projects, communications and priorities a cinch.

Based on the principles of David Allen’s Getting Things Done® (GTD®) (great book, I recommend it), Viira empowers people to leverage the principles of GTD with a BlackBerry smartphone and helps them achieve an organized and productive life. Version 3.0 adds significant additions and enhancements to Viira’s feature set including an In-Basket for new or unassigned tasks, fast iterative search, task reminders, BlackBerry tasks integration and the option to quickly hide completed tasks, among many others. An In-Basket is a pivotal tool for the collection phase of GTD and enables the quick and effective gathering of all outstanding tasks and “loose ends” for their subsequent organization and classification.

The development team behind Viira has a long track record of pushing the limits of what is possible on a mobile device in order to bring the most comprehensive and intuitive portable solution for GTD on the BlackBerry platform. In addition to tasks, to-dos and reminders, Viira’s organizational system is the only one to incorporate appointments, events as well as email and SMS messages. The Viira product family is also the first to provide an integrated BlackBerry-Outlook solution for Getting Things Done. The Viira Outlook Suite is the first GTD Outlook software application to wirelessly synchronize Microsoft Outlook with a BlackBerry smartphone to provide one unified, accessible-from-anywhere organizational system for Getting Things Done.

“Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” is a best-selling time management book by David Allen that shows readers how to organize their tasks, information and commitments in an intuitive and effective way. The principles of the book have received global media attention and have been embraced by millions of professionals, entrepreneurs and executives around the world. BlackBerry smartphones are the productivity and communication platforms of choice for many busy professionals and fans of Getting Things Done.