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Ottawa’s Klipfolio, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of Klipfolio Dashboard version 5.5. This latest release, which offers a fully-functional 30 day trial, provides additional charting and formatting options, keyboard shortcuts and support for varied depth drill down analytics, adding flexibility and depth to the real-time presentation of critical business data.

“As the only pure play operational dashboard, we’re uniquely suited to address the needs of fast-paced teams. We enable some of the industry’s leading healthcare, financial, technology and transportation companies to stay on top of what matters by presenting meaningful and actionable data to those that need it,” said Allan Wille, Klipfolio President and CEO. “To remain competitive, operational data needs to be visible to the right audience, at the right time, to accelerate decision making based on empirical data, not gut feel.”

The amount of data being stored by the enterprise is increasing year over year. The ability to leverage this information and provide operational visibility into meaningful performance metrics is driving profitability. According to a recent study by Aberdeen Group, companies that employ operational dashboards and ensure intra-daily metrics are visible to employees, are more than two times better than the average for both financial operating performance, and year-over-year sales pipeline performance.

Best Buy Canada released an official statement today to directly address a false claim circulating through email chain and spam letters regarding a “re-stocking fee” for product returns. Any suggestion of a “re-stocking fee” is completely false and Best Buy Canada wishes to confirm that they do not nor have they ever charged this “re-stocking fee” to customers.

Director of Communications, Christopher Bennett clarifies, “The information circulating about a 15 per cent re-stocking fee issued on returns at Best Buy is false. Best Buy Canada Ltd has never issued and does not currently issue a re-stocking fee on return items. This is a popular spam chain-letter we see resurface each year likely created by individuals looking to create a negative story around our brand in advance of the holidays.”

Best Buy Canada return policy:

* If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with a product you have purchased, we will gladly give you a full refund (except for certain items described below) or exchange if you return it to any Best Buy store within 30 days after you receive it (14 days for computers, monitors, printers, notebook computers, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, cellular and wireless devices, portable DVD players and air conditioners) in its original condition (including all packaging, accessories and manuals). Read the rest of this entry »

Attention game developers: Microsoft has launched its App Hub for Windows Mobile and Xbox Indie Games. This new hub will provide free tools, sample code, community support, and educational resources to help you develop your apps and games for Windows Phone and Xbox 360. Remember though, that while the tools are free, and just like the iTunes store, there is an annual subscription fee for those wanting to submit games and apps to the Windows Phone Marketplace or Xbox LIVE Marketplace, whether your app will be free or for sale. According to the site, you will be able to?

Publish your apps and games to App Hub and reach every Windows Phone 7 user.

* Develop your app using Silverlight or XNA Framework in Visual Studio 2010 or Expression Blend
* Unlock connected experiences with Location Services, Web Services, and Windows Azure
* Free or pay apps – it’s your choice with Windows Phone Marketplace
* Apps are certified through Windows Phone Marketplace submission

Reach 25 million Xbox LIVE members worldwide over Xbox LIVE Indie Games.

* Use XNA Game Studio and Visual Studio 2010 to unleash high-definition graphics and multiplayer play over Xbox LIVE
* Easily develop and test your game on Xbox 360 using XNA Game Studio Connect
* Choose a price point and sell your game on Xbox LIVE Indie Games
* Games are peer-reviewed by developers just like you

Vancouver’s Themis Solutions, Inc. announced it has integrated its cloud-based practice management application Clio with Google Apps™ and has added Clio to the Google Apps Marketplace™, Google’s online storefront for Google Apps products and services. Clio is a feature-rich web-based practice management system that allows lawyers and other legal professionals to easily manage client information, matters, contacts, time-keeping, bills, documents and other aspects of their law offices.

Clio’s integration with Google Apps includes calendar and contact sync between Google Apps and Clio. Additionally, Clio’s recently-released e-mail integration feature fully integrates with GmailTM. Google Apps users will also be able to access Clio directly with Single Sign-On (SSO) via the Google universal navigation bar.

“We are very happy to have Clio in the Google Apps Marketplace,” adds Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead for Google Enterprise. “Through the Google Apps Marketplace, software vendors like Themis Solutions are helping us build a rich ecosystem of integrated apps that work seamlessly with Google Apps, allowing IT administrators to leverage the benefits of cloud computing and extend Google Apps to meet more of their business needs. We are excited to make legal practice management easier for the millions of Google Apps users who have embraced the cloud.”

Clio Co-Founder and President Jack Newton adds, “We are extremely excited to bring the first cloud-based application for the legal industry to the Google Apps Marketplace. We have seen tremendous demand from our customers to deeply integrate Clio with Google Apps, and we’re happy to address that need with today’s announcement. As more lawyers choose to put their practices in the cloud, we expect they will find Google Apps and Clio to be a perfect match.”

The Google Apps Marketplace makes it easy for more than three million Google Apps businesses to discover, purchase and deploy integrated business applications and related professional services. By integrating with user account and application data stored in Google Apps, these cloud applications provide a simplified user experience, increase business efficiency, and reduce administrative overhead.

The women of the PROFIT W100 have been through it all—including a nasty recession—and have honed their business skills in the process to come out the other side as formidable business leaders. Take Gabrielle Chevalier of Mississauga, Ont.–based Solutions 2 Go Inc., a video game distribution firm that has grown to become the biggest in North America. The grandmother of four has had her share of challenges in this competitive arena, but still has ambitions to grow sales from $750 million to $1 billion company—and is beginning to look beyond the games market.

Top-ranked Chevalier is the subject of just one of several stories of successful women entrepreneurs recounted in the pages of the November 2010 issue of PROFIT magazine. All told, the W100 firms generated an impressive $2.2 billion in revenue and provided the equivalent of 10,792 full-time jobs. Over the past three years, their businesses have grown by an average of 115%. A full 95% turned an operating profit last year—impressive numbers that illustrate the determination, skill and business savvy of the 2010 W100. Read the rest of this entry »

Violence in the media is pervasive. The destructive influence of violent music videos, video games, music lyrics, the Internet, and television programs is absorbed daily by our children and youth and is directly linked to safety in schools and in our communities. A coalition from trustee, parent, teacher federation, principal and student organizations from both public and Catholic systems, has been working together to build effective strategies to confront the problem.

“There is no question that parents and professionals who work with children and adolescents are gravely concerned about the potential harmful effects of media violence,” said Dr. Peter Jaffe, professor at the Faculty of Education, Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children, University of Western Ontario. “Media Violence is increasing and becomes more graphic every year.”

Solutions to the problem of media violence and its consequences rest in large part in prevention and education. To that end, the Ontario Teachers’ Federation is sponsoring a conference titled When Violence Becomes Entertaining: Recapturing Childhood and Adolescence from the Toxic Influence of Violent Media which will be held from October 15 to 16 at the Doubletree by Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel, 655 Dixon Road. Registration for the the conference is now closed, but teachers representing every part of the province will be in attendance. Read the rest of this entry »

Scooby, Shaggy and the gang bring a dose of mystery to the TELETOON schedule in the highly anticipated premiere of the brand new live-action movie Scooby-Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster on Saturday, October 30 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Leading up to the film premiere, TELETOON will broadcast a nightly lineup of spooky Scooby-Doo specials and other Halloween programming from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET/PT every weeknight starting on October 18. Viewers can also catch special Halloween programming Saturdays starting at 4 p.m. ET/PT and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET/PT throughout this period.

Scooby Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster is an all-new, live-action sequel to the 2009 smash hit Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins. The film follows Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo to their summer jobs at a country club owned by Daphne’s uncle. While there, the Mystery Inc. gang stumbles upon some strange happenings around the local lake – including mystical moonstones, creepy characters and a Frog Monster on the loose. Viewers can catch the action a second time during an encore presentation of the film on Sunday, October 31 at 9 a.m. ET/PT and 12 p.m. ET/PT.

Continuing on the spooky Scooby theme, the brand new animated feature Scooby Doo! Abracadabra-Doo has its TELETOON premiere on Saturday, October 23 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Scooby-Doo and the gang go on a trip to visit Daphne’s sister, Madelyn. She has been studying magic at the Whirlen Merlin Magic Academy, where sightings of a giant dragon have been scaring all the students away. The gang smells trouble and sets out to investigate. Encore presentations of the film will be broadcast on Sunday, October 24 at 9 a.m. ET/PT and Thursday, October 28 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Read the rest of this entry »

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is launching the fourth edition of Get Animated!, a series of free animation screenings and activities from October 26 to November 7, 2010, in cities across Canada. An internationally renowned producer of auteur animation, the NFB created Get Animated! as its contribution to International Animation Day, October 28.

Get Animated! will feature new releases from the NFB’s Oscar-winning animation studios, a Fairy Tales for All program for all ages, master classes by renowned NFB animators as well as additional programming in selected cities. The NFB website will also offer a special Get Animated! playlist.

Get Animated! kicks off in Toronto at the NFB Mediatheque, where it runs from October 26 to 31, followed by Montreal at the NFB CinéRobothèque (October 28–31), Winnipeg (October 28–31), Edmonton (October 28), Halifax (October 28–29, November 6–7), Vancouver (October 28–November 1), Moncton (October 31) and Calgary (November 6–7). Please visit the Get Animated! site for the complete schedule.

New releases

Ten new animated releases will be featured in Get Animated! this year, including Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life, a puppet-animated work by Oscar nominees Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (Madame Tutli-Putli), based on the book by Maurice Sendak, featuring the voices of Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker and produced in association with Warner Home Video. Read the rest of this entry »

Join Wired Woman and four fantastic, experienced guest speakers for an evening of interactive roundtable discussions focusing on issues facing technology start-ups. At Growing Your Business: Tips for Entrepreneurs, topics will be focused on financing, legal issues and knowing your market. The evening will conclude with a couple of start-up success stories to finish off the night so you will leave with lots of energy and momentum to take with you into your business.

Date: Monday, November 1, 2010
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Place: ING Direct Café 466 Howe Street, Vancouver
Cost: $35 for members and $40 for non-members (but membership is free)

Speakers and Topics:

Bob de Witt, New Ventures BC on financing your business
Valerie Mann, Lawson Lundell LLP on legal issues for the entrepreneur
Bill Tam, CEO in Residence (Vancouver) on knowing and understanding your market
Jeanette Jackson, CEO , Light-Based Technologies an entrepreneural success story

KPMG has released its KPMG App for iPad on the App Store. This free app was developed in response to KPMG clients’ desire for faster and easier access to the KPMG’s insight and thought leadership while on-the-go.

The new KPMG App for iPad hosts hundreds of articles, publications, surveys and studies, providing instant and interactive access to a robust library of insightful business thought leadership covering a wide range of topics including Industry, Advisory, Tax and Audit. Every week, new global publications will be added to the app, so users will always find something new, current and relevant. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re looking for a game jam, the Winnitron 1000 will be taking place in Winnipeg at the New Media Manitoba office, 1000 Waverly Street (back entrance) beginning on Friday, October 22nd and running until Sunday, October 24th. The jam’s web page needs updating with finalized date and location, but you can register for the jam. You can also get more information about the jam on Infinite Ammo’s blog.

There is still a bit of time to get your Masterclass submissions in for Merging Media. The deadline is October 15th, so if you want to attend what promises to be a great event led by international transmedia specialist Anita Ondine-Smith, head over to the registration page to check out the eligibility guidelines.

The Merging+Media Masterclass and Workshops will bring together media producers who have cross-media projects and concepts in development, to fine-tune their cross-media proposals and business plans. The small group sessions mentored by a group of international and local industry professionals will ensure access to high level advice and attention.

All BC participants are eligible to pitch for the Merging+Media BC Film Award of $10,000 if they have a cross-media idea in hand, plus the top five pitches will receive a pass to Whistler Summit 2010 (formerly known as the Whistler Filmmaker Forum), which will take place during the Whistler Film Festival, December 1st – 5th. The Top Five will have the opportunity to pitch at the Merging+Media Pitch Session during the Summit to an International Panel.

Tickets for Toronto’s GamerCamp are now on sale. Taking place on November 13th at the Toronto Underground Cinema and 14th at the School of Design at George Brown College, GamerCamp is a celebration of the art, creativity and fun of video games, and with an offering of over 50 games and 30 guest speakers, GamerCamp offers a great return on investment with tickets for the entire event priced at only $30.00 each.

Attendees will have the opportunity to take part in demo and concept talks from developers with a property currently in development, get in on some arcade action, as well as screen short films whose focus is on games and party the night away at the 1UP Bash with Anamanaguchi and Star Scream (tickets for the Bash are sold separately).

Meanwhile, back in Vancouver, Anomaly H2O has confirmed the addition of a new keynote session, Starcraft 2 “The Making of Kerrigan”, presented by Blizzard Entertainment’s Senior LookDev Artist, Steven Chen, and Cinematic Character Supervisor, Xin Wang.

Other featured artists include: Anna Fehr, Cesar Rizo, Craig Mullins, Daryl Mandryk, Jake Collinge, Jason Stokes, Jesse Turner, Marco Menco, Matthew Barrett, Richard Anderson, Thomas Scholes, Tran Nguyen and Ty Shelton.

Anomaly H2O, an event which melds together a dynamic showcase of talented 2D/3D artists from across North America, an art workshop and a party is an evening of shared inspiration and creativity. This year’s event will take place on October 30th at the Vancouver Aquarium. Tickets are $65.00 each ($55.00 for students) and include:

* Admission to Anomaly presentations and party
* One year CGmovement membership
* Raffle ticket for door prizes
* Complimentary event t-shirt
* Snacks throughout the event

EA Sports™ has announced the signing of global tennis superstar Venus Williams as North American brand ambassador for EA Sports Active 2, an innovative line of interactive fitness products that feature personalized, customizable workouts. Williams will act as the franchise spokesperson and will join the EA Sports Active family along with David Beckham, who was recently named brand ambassador in Europe and Australia. EA Sports Active 2 focuses on improving muscular strength, endurance and flexibility, while providing an intense cardio workout; it will combine a heart rate monitor and wireless motion tracking data to deliver a fitness experience that achieves authentic, measurable results. EA Sports Active 2 will be available on Kinect™ for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 and Wii™, in North America on November 16 as well as iPhone® and iPod touch® at a later date.

“Venus is one of the most recognizable, popular and accomplished tennis players in the world; her success can be attributed to both her talent as well as her dedication to fitness,” says Jon Slavet, EA Sports Active Vice President, Product Strategy. “Her commitment to healthy living and ability to inspire others makes her a natural fit for EA Sports Active 2.”

On the court Williams has achieved great success since she turned pro at the age of 14 with 41 career titles, including seven Grand Slam Titles as well as three Olympic Gold medals. In July 2008 Venus won her fifth Wimbledon® singles title and joins Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the only ladies in the Open-era to have won five or more Championships. She is currently ranked third in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

DHX Media is pleased to announce the US television premiere of its pre-school hit TV series Animal Mechanicals. The preschool series premiered today at 10:00am EST on the new Hasbro/Discovery Communications children’s network ‘The Hub’.

The Hub will air Animal Mechanicals Monday-Thursday at 10:00am and 12:00pm, as well as Saturday mornings at 7:30 EST. The series consistently achieves high ratings amongst 4-6 year olds in many territories around the world.

Animal Mechanicals is produced by DHX Media for CBC in Canada, where the series is one of the highest-rating preschool shows. The Disney Channels in the UK and Asia; Radio-Canada, Discovery Latin America, Romania’s HOP, EBS in Korea; okto Singapore; Al-Jazeera Children Channel have all licensed the series along with Prava I Prevodi, who acquired the title for Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. Animal Mechanicals is an action adventure series for preschoolers that combines fantastical worlds, mythical animals and cool quests.