THIS ISSUE'S STREAM:
+++ CBC Targets Young Canadians with Radio Web Sites
+++ Chapters Joins Canada Post for Saturday Delivery
+++ Internet Language Learning Project Launched
+++ Bell Brings Toronto Film Festival Online
+++ Teen's Site Makes Helping Easy
+++ Ottawa to Invest $700 Million on Atlantic High Tech
+++ MaxLink Investing in High Speed Connections
+++ ARC and AT&T Canada Form New Network Venture
+++ Cell-Loc Delivers "Next Big Application" for Wireless
+++ Hydro Mississauga and Stream Form Network Alliance
+++ No Cure in Sight for Digital Distress
+++ New Media Prize for Toronto
+++ Government Online
+++ National Post Design Exchange Awards
+++ NewMedia/INVISION Awards
+++ Geekers' Corner: The Mother of All E-mails
+++ Gourmet Spam: Your Brain is Challenged
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[-- NEWSPEAK: MULTIMEDIA INDUSTRY NEWS --]
+++ CBC Targets Young Canadians with Radio Web Sites
CBC Radio has introduced an online and interactive service
it says will bring "the qualities and characteristics of
CBC Radio to young Canadians." R3 will showcase young
Canadian talent that will reflect the "cultural
expression, thoughtfulness, new voices and integrity of
Canadian youth 15 years and older." R3 will eventually be
comprised of three Web sites, the first of which,
120seconds.com, launched on June 27. This site includes a
combination of work from online contributors as well as
pieces from R3 producers and editors, covering a wide
range of subjects, style and opinions. The site is 100 per
cent Canadian and is highly interactive. Future phases of
R3, to be launched this fall, will include
justconcerts.com and newmusiccanada.com.
http://www.120seconds.com
+++ Chapters Joins Canada Post for Saturday Delivery
Chapters Online and Canada Post joined forces on July 8th
to provide Saturday shipping for the new Harry Potter
book. Canada Post was expected to deliver up to 10,000
pre-ordered copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
on the first official day of publication, which happened
to be on a Saturday. Chapters Online had guaranteed that
any order for the book placed prior to July 5th would
qualify for Saturday delivery at no extra charge. Francine
Conn of Canada Post was quoted as saying that they were
"thrilled to meet Chapters Online's need for Saturday
delivery of these cherished books for young Canadian
readers. Delivering Harry Potter's latest adventure on a
Saturday is a great example of how Canada Post is working
to make its home delivery services more flexible."
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpc2/corpc/newsrel/potter.html
+++ Internet Language Learning Project Launched
Tyndal Stone Media of Regina, Saskatchewan have announced
an interactive educational language learning project that
will use new technology and proprietary software. Based on
a contextual learning model, the program will be delivered
via the Internet through a "comprehensive language
learning Web portal." The first phase of the $5 million
initiative will see the development and production of an
initial series in four languages with a production value
of $2 million. Production of this language learning
product is slated for summer 2000.
http://www.tyndal.com
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+++ Bell Brings Toronto Film Festival Online
Bell Canada has announced a new element will be added to
the annual Toronto International Film Festival Web site.
Using Bell Sympatico High Speed Edition Internet Service,
this year the Web site will feature Webcasting of festival
activities. Live coverage during the Festival will include
up-to-the-minute information, including daily recaps,
celebrity photos, film previews and video clips from films
screened at the festival and daily "best bets" for
tickets. Mobile film lovers will also be able to use
".com-ready" Bell Mobility phones to wirelessly access
festival information through their Mobile Browser.
http://www.bell.ca/filmfest
+++ Teen's Site Makes Helping Easy
Andriy Mishchenko, a 16-year old Web site designer living
in Toronto, was quite certain that people would donate to
charities if it was made more convenient. Mishchenko
created SearchToHelp.com in an effort to help those who
want to help others. Each time a visitor to his site
clicks on a banner ad, sends a greeting card, or signs up
for a variety of free offers, a donation is made to
charity. (Mischenko's site is not dissimilar from the
"click-to-donate" The Hunger Site
(http://www.thehungersite.com), but SearchToHelp is not
focused solely on eradicating hunger.) "If just one
percent of all Internet users used our search engine and
visited our sponsors once per day, SearchToHelp could
raise over $65 million annually," Mishchenko says.
"SearchToHelp is unique in that visitors can choose the
charities they'd like their contributions to go to."
SearchToHelp also provides its visitors with useful links
to other sites that promote charitable giving on the
Internet.
http://www.searchtohelp.com
Speaking of handouts...
+++ Ottawa to Invest $700 Million on Atlantic High Tech
The federal government says it will spend $700 million on
Atlantic Canada's high tech industry. Prime Minister Jean
Chretien has said the five-year Atlantic Investment
Partnership program will spur needed growth in the area's
emerging technology sector. "This is a start here on the
new economy in Atlantic Canada," Chretien said. "The very
nature of the new economy makes knowledge, skills and
innovation -- not geography -- the keys to opportunity and
prosperity." Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
is expected to issue a call for proposals in the fall.
(Source: National Post)
http://www.acoa.ca
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+++ MaxLink Investing in High Speed Connections
Toronto-based MaxLink has announced that it has signed
deals with owners of more than 1,700 buildings in five
major cities with an eye on providing what it is calling
"the country's first high-speed wireless data network."
The company has also said it will invest $1 billion over
the next three years in order to extend the network across
Canada. MaxLink's network will carry data over airwaves
and is said to be faster that anything else on the market.
"No company can come close to matching our two-way,
simultaneous 10 megabits per second transmission speed to
virtually every building in a community," founder Joel
Bell told the Toronto Star. "We are the first." MaxLink's
major shareholders include Seymour Epstein, a founder of
Global TV, Jim Meekison of Trimin Enterprises, Philippe de
Gaspe Beaubien of Telemedia, the Caisse de depot et
placements du Quebec, and the Bronfman family. (Source:
Toronto Star)
http://www.maxlink.com
+++ ARC and AT&T Canada Form New Network Venture
Allied Riser Communications (ARC) and AT&T have formed a
new venture that will provide high speed, broadband data
applications and services to businesses across Canada. The
venture, named ARC Canada, has secured access and license
agreements with three Canadian real estate companies. ARC
Canada plans to design, build, own and manage its state-
of-the-art ARC LightSpeed Network, which will provide
Canadian-based businesses in commercial office buildings
access to an "always-on'' high speed Internet connection
at speed 175 times faster than standard dial-up services.
In addition, as part of the agreement, AT&T Canada will be
the telecom supplier to ARC Canada under a multi-year
contract to purchase a full suite of voice, data and
Internet telecom services.
http://www.attcanada.com
+++ Cell-Loc Delivers "Next Big Application" for Wireless
Calgary's Cell-Loc has joined forces with six companies in
a move that will allow the company to deliver what some
sources are calling the "next big application." Using
wireless technology, the service will allow some mobile
phone users to receive electronic coupons as they pass
retailers, or use their Palm digital assistants to find a
list of ATMs within 100 metres of where they might be
standing. The technology will also enable the tracking of
the "precise whereabouts of mobile device users" allowing
businesses to push information and services directly to
the handsets. (Source: The Toronto Star)
http://www.cell-loc.com
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+++ Hydro Mississauga and Stream Form Network Alliance
Hydro Mississauga and Stream Intelligent Networks have
entered into a joint venture that will utilize hydro power
line poles and underground conduits to create a high speed
hybrid fibre optic and wireless network. The network will
provide services to high volume enterprise data users and
service providers such as Internet Service Providers,
Application Software Providers, and business recovery
services and is expected to cover the equivalent of over
1000 fibre kilometers over the next five years. "It's our
plan to partner with as many hydros as we can," Stream
president Steve Spooner told the Toronto Star.
http://www.hydromiss.com/news_050700.html
+++ No Cure in Sight for Digital Distress
Are you feeling listless? Tired? Suffer from sweaty palms?
Maybe you've come down with a case of Digital Distress. A
new Harris Online study indicates that more than one-third
of American consumers admit to suffering from "digital
distress," a new form of digital depression. It is said to
strike consumers as they try in vain to keep up with the
latest technology in digital home entertainment products.
Researchers say the so-called ailment creates a digital
phobia in some individuals standing in home electronics
departments, and might also be unleashed by a futile
effort to keep up with the "digital Joneses" (whoever they
are). The end result is confusion and misconceptions about
what it means to "go digital." Consumers want
manufacturers to keep things simple. The "good news,"
according to the study, is that "people find themselves
equally thrown off by new technology both at home and at
work." Try telling that to the boss the next time you go
out trolling for a raise.
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[-- PLUG: INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS --]
+++ New Media Prize for Toronto
The Toronto Arts Council Foundation will soon announce the
creation of a New Media Endowment Fund. The income from
this fund will be used to finance the biennial Marshal
McLuhan Prize that will recognize outstanding achievement
in a leading-edge technology in the Toronto area. Both the
endowment and the prize were conceived by Myles Kesten,
founder of cdromstore.com. "Too often we get caught up in
the business implications of technological innovation and
we forget the role of creators," says Myles Kesten. "The
most dramatic ideas often come from people who live and
work outside the business mold. We have to make these
people feel welcome in our community, to show them we take
their contribution seriously, that we really are
interested in what they do and who they are." The prize
will be announced officially at Toronto City Hall on July
17, 2000.
For more information, e-mail mkesten@cdromstore.com.
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[-- DIGERATI DATEBOOK: UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS --]
+++ Government Online
September 13-14, 2000 in Toronto, ON
Applying online technology to create free and fast access
to government services.
http://www.iqpc.com
+++ National Post Design Exchange Awards
September 28, 2000 in Toronto, ON
The deadline to enter what is being billed as "the
premier, Canadian, multi-disciplinary design competition"
is September 28, 2000.
http://www.dx.org
+++ NewMedia/INVISION Awards
November 2-3, 2000 in San Francisco, CA
Entries are now being solicited for the NewMedia/INVISION
Awards Festival 2000 in 78 different categories. Awards
organizers are seeking the "coolest and most innovative
projects being created right now for the high-tech and
Internet industries. We want the best and brightest World
Wide Web site, Online Service programs, CD-ROM and DVD
titles, kiosks, wireless applications and creative
excellence in all forms of interactive programming." The
submission deadline is August 1, 2000 and the first of two
peer-judged rounds starts August 25. Visit the Awards Web
site for categories and additional information.
http://www.newmedia.com/invision
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[-- GEEKERS' CORNER: EDITORIAL --]
The Mother of All E-mails
by Bill Sweetman
E-mail: bsweetman@multimediator.com
I recently received the most astonishing e-mail message
ever. What was so special about this message? It was from
my mother. You see, until that moment, I never thought I'd
live to see the day that my mother would send me an e-mail
message.
Now don't get me wrong, my mother is one sharp lady; it's
just that she abhors computers and most of the trappings
of the digital world. She even hates just looking at
computer screens -- "How can you stare at that thing
without getting a headache?" - and she still does all her
correspondence by writing longhand on engraved stationary.
But I also saw how frustrated my mother would get trying
to stay in touch with my father when he traveled to Africa
and Asia on business, where phone and fax communication is
spotty at best. She would literally spend hours trying to
get through to my father's hotel to send him a fax.
Between the three of us, we did come up with a primitive
workaround; if my father had access to e-mail, he'd send
messages for my mother to me via e-mail and I'd relay them
to her via fax.
Convinced there had to be a better way, I began to
investigate how I could allow my mother to send and
receive e-mail from my dad without having to use a
computer. Using the Internet to do my research (natch), I
soon uncovered a whole sub-strata of new consumer products
known as 'e-mail appliances' that are designed to bring
the power and convenience of e-mail to people (like my
mother) who will never use, let alone own, a personal
computer.
Last month, I gave my mother an early birthday present,
the Landel MailBug, a small, keyboard-sized device that
does one thing and one thing only: send and receive
Internet e-mail. Before giving the MailBug to my mother, I
spent a week putting it through its paces, and let me tell
you that whoever designed this device had a vision (or a
technophobic parent). If there were a Nobel prize for
making complicated technology simple, then the inventor of
this gadget gets my heartfelt nomination.
Still, I was only the 'Beta tester'. The true test would
be to see if my mother would use the darn thing. And, of
course, I was nervous about the whole scheme ... I knew how
much my mother hates electronic gadgets; she won't go near
an ATM and the notion of a mobile phone is her worst
nightmare. But three cheers for my mother; after
festooning her new MailBug with colour-coded stickers --
"I don't read manuals." -- she was happily ping-ponging e-
mail back and forth with my dad (in Indonesia) several
times a day. There were a few hiccups I hadn't expected.
While I knew my mother could type, she had never typed on
a computer keyboard, so a few things most of us take for
granted were alien to her, such as the cursor keys. Of
course, typewriters don't have cursors!
My mother still doesn't understand what her "Internet
strategist" son does for a living (then again, neither do
I sometimes), but at least she can send me an e-mail
message whenever she wants. And I, for one, salute her for
embracing a new form of communication.
(FYI, if you're curious about the MailBug, you can find
out more about it at http://www.mailbug.com/. While it's
not sold in Canadian stores, you can purchase it from
Amazon.com and use it anywhere in Canada and the United
States.)
Bill Sweetman is the Executive Producer of MultiMediator
and the VP of Internet Strategy & Marketing Services of
MMSG, Canada's leading interactive media consulting firm.
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[-- GOURMET SPAM: REAL-LIFE E-MAIL DELICACIES --]
+++ Your Brain is Challenged
Most money-making Spam messages not only fail in actually
helping anyone to make money, but they also lack a certain
level of imagination. Anyone can stuff envelopes (at least
for an hour or so!) but how many of us know how to collect
Judicial Judgements? Better yet, how many of us even know
what that means?
This recent Spam Hall of Fame nomination begins with a
"thank you for your interest in our training course." A
sly move, but you have to admit that, at least for a
moment or two, you can't help but wonder if perhaps you
actually did solicit such information.
We move on to discover that "if you ever sue a company or
a person and you win, then you will have a Judicial
Judgment against them." Your happiness, we soon discover,
will be short-lived. "Its (sic) now up to you to collect
on the Judgment" Oh dear. It seems that it is up to you to
"trace the loser down, find their assets, their
employment, bank accounts, real estate, stocks and bonds,
etc." If you've ever tried to trace a loser you know how
time-consuming that can be. "Right now in the United
States there is between 200 and 300 billion dollars of
uncollected Judicial Judgment debt." Shocking figures.
But all is not lost. In fact, someone's loss could be your
gain. "By following the steps laid out in our course and
with reasonable effort you can become very successful in
the processing of Judicial Judgments." In fact, they now
have "associates who have taken our course and are now
working full time making $96,000.00 to over $200,000.00
per year."
You could be rolling in the dough in no time. And if you
get tired of tracing losers, you can take a month off.
Just like that. "None of your days will be hum-drum. Your
brain is challenged." And as we all know, a challenged
brain is a terrible thing to waste.
Got any gourmet Spam? Send it to the chefs at
mailto:bitstream@multimediator.com
and maybe it'll make it onto the next BitStream menu.
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Copyright 2000 MultiMediator. All rights
reserved. "BitStream" is a trademark of MultiMediator
Partnership. The content of BitStream may be reproduced
in any medium for non-commercial purposes as long as
proper credit is given.
No electrons were harmed in the making of this newsletter.
Evolved from the extensive participation of MultiMediator
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job placement activities, MultiMediator PixelScout is a
recruiting company pleased to devote itself exclusively to
the new media industry. For more information, call (416)
410-7704, e-mail recruiting@pixelscout.com, or surf
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