THIS ISSUE'S STREAM:
+++ Alliance Atlantis to Alter Reality With U8TV
+++ CAB Offers Opportunity to Converge With Broadcasters
+++ Look Launches Broadband Streaming Media Portal
+++ Canadian Radio Webcaster FMcanada.com Goes Online
+++ Wireless Telco Clearnet Acquired by Telus
+++ Digital Video Pioneer PixStream Scooped Up by Cisco
+++ Report Says 1 in 10 Canadian Homes Surf Net Using Cable
+++ Canada Post to Offer Expanded Delivery Service
+++ E-Learning Kit Takes the Pain Out of Web Publishing
+++ Audstuff is Simple But Powerful MP3 Player
+++ Olympic "Factoids" From CBC Summer Games Web Site
+++ $10K Up For Grabs at The CAB's Dotcom Showdown
+++ The Spadina Bus Census Needs Your Input
+++ A Special Invitation for BitStream Subscribers
+++ Digital Media Innovations Conference
+++ New Media Business Conference
+++ Digital Media Toronto
+++ Editorial: Crawling Through the Global Village....
+++ Rush Job: New Employment Opportunities
+++ Featured Job: Senior Interactive Marketer
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[-- NEWSPEAK: MULTIMEDIA INDUSTRY NEWS --]
+++ Alliance Atlantis to Alter Reality With U8TV
Alliance Atlantis has announced a new venture they say
will redefine the barriers between television and the
Internet. U8TV, set to launch in the fall, will broadcast
around-the-clock reality-based TV on the Internet with
live, original entertainment originating from a broadcast
centre in downtown Toronto. The set will consist of a loft
that will serve as both a studio and a home to eight
Canadians, called "Lofters," who will "laugh, create, eat,
sleep, host and live from within the loft." Canadians
between the ages of 19 to 34 who wish to be Lofters on
U8TV will soon be invited to audition on tape via mail or
as part of a national casting call. Since U8TV will be
seen via the Internet and not television, the channel will
not be regulated by the CRTC. "We've applied for a channel
[license]," Phyllis Yaffe, president of Alliance Atlantis
Broadcasting is quoted as saying in The Globe and Mail.
"This is what the CRTC said they didn't want to regulate.
They said go for it. We did."
http://www.allianceatlantis.com/PressReleases/AAC00_61.html
http://www.u8tv.com
+++ CAB Offers Opportunity to Converge With Broadcasters
Broadcasting 2000 on-air.on-line, the annual convention of
the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), is opening
its doors to interactive media companies seeking business
with private radio and TV broadcasters. The nexus of the
CAB Convention, to be held in Calgary, Alberta from
November 12 to 14, 2000, will be the On-line Business
Exchange (B.Ex), the networking hub of Broadcasting 2000.
B.Ex offers interactive media companies the opportunity to
set up a personalized, on-site corporate headquarters at
the convention and welcome the broadcasting world to their
door. Other key programming components include the
Interactive Media Forum, a half-day active exchange and
dialogue with experts in critical areas such as copyright,
advertising, gate-keeping and privacy. The CAB is inviting
interactive media companies to delve into the key issues
that define and drive interactive media and help shape the
CAB's Interactive Media Action Plan. For more info on how
to participate, sponsor, register and to be added to the
Broadcasting 2000 mailing list, visit the CAB's Web site
at http://www.cab-acr.ca or contact the CAB's Stefanie
Siska at ssiska@cab-acr.ca.
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+++ Look Launches Broadband Streaming Media Portal
Look Communications has launched Looktvi.com, what it is
calling "Canada's first streaming portal and the next
generation in new media and content services for high
speed Internet." While traditional text portals offer a
finite amount of streaming content, Looktvi.com "provides
the platform and the functionality to showcase more than
200 Web properties from Canada, the U.S. and around the
world." Searches of audio and video streaming content can
be done using a wide range of criteria -- everything from
the title of a song or the director of a movie to a song
lyric or key phrase.
http://www.look.ca/press/aug232k.html
http://www.looktvi.com
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+++ Canadian Radio Webcaster FMcanada.com Goes Online
Another new kid on the block is Martz Communication's
FMcanada.com, an ambitious collection of Internet-only
radio stations across the country. The company says
FMcanada will be live and on the air in Montreal, Ottawa,
Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver,
streaming CD-quality radio with local and national news
and information from 50 Internet radio "stations" in each
city. Local stations will provide information such as live
traffic reports, weather, TV listings, maps and more.
http://www.fmcanada.com/nr8-14-00.html
+++ Wireless Telco Clearnet Acquired by Telus
In a deal said to be the largest acquisition in Canadian
telecommunications history, Telus has agreed to acquire
Clearnet, the national digital wireless company. The $6.6
billion deal will see the creation of the largest wireless
company in Canada in terms of annual revenue, customer
growth and wireless spectrum position. "This deal is
significant not only in its scale, but, more importantly,
it signifies Telus's strong commitment to becoming
Canada's preeminent data and wireless communications
company," said Darren Entwistle, Telus president and CEO.
The deal is anticipated to accelerate the rollout of
wireless Internet services across Canada.
http://www.telus.com
http://www.clearnet.com
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+++ Digital Video Pioneer PixStream Scooped Up by Cisco
Cisco Systems of California has announced plans to acquire
privately held PixStream of Waterloo, Ontario. PixStream
is a leading provider of hardware and software solutions
to distribute and manage digital video across all types of
broadband networks. Under the terms of the agreement,
Cisco common stock worth an aggregate value of
approximately USD$369 million will be exchanged for all
outstanding shares and options of PixStream. Cisco's
acquisition of PixStream will accelerate Cisco's plan to
deliver broadcast-quality video over broadband networks.
PixStream was founded in 1996 and employs 156 people.
http://www.pixstream.com
+++ Report Says 1 in 10 Canadian Homes Surf Net Using Cable
Statistics Canada reports that roughly one out of every 10
households with an Internet connection in 1999 subscribed
to high-speed access from a cable company. The 61 cable
companies in Canada that were offering Internet access in
August 1999 had 64,081 subscribers to the service, or 5.0
per cent of the 7.3 million subscribers to their basic
cable television services. These subscribers represented
about 11 per cent of the 3.3 million households connected
to the Internet in Canada. The service is most popular in
Western Canada; the region accounted for 42.8 per cent of
cable Internet subscribers, although the area is home to
33.7 per cent of all household Internet subscribers. The
Atlantic region accounted for 3.1 percent of cable
Internet subscribers with 6.3 per cent of all household
Internet subscribers.
http://www.statcan.ca:80/Daily/English/000825/d000825c.htm
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+++ Canada Post to Offer Expanded Delivery Service
Canada Post has announced that it is offering expanded
delivery options for online shoppers. From August 10 until
September 30, Canada Post will implement what it is
calling the first phase of its new delivery service by
offering "delivery of online orders on Saturdays from 9 AM
to 1 PM and on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5 PM to
9 PM." The e-retailers participating in the first phase
are Indigo.ca and BabyUniverse.ca. Customers ordering
items from these e-retailers (through the eParcel Shipping
Module) for delivery in the initial metropolitan areas
will also be able to choose how and when their parcels are
delivered. "Canada Post is the first to offer flexible
home delivery options in Canada for Internet shoppers,"
said Francine Conn, general manager, Distribution
Business. "Consumers are not interested in having their
goods delivered to a central location for pick-up.
Shoppers who buy on the Internet are looking for
convenience, and what's more convenient than having your
goods delivered to your home on a day and time selected by
you."
http://www.canadapost.ca/CPC2/corpc/newsrel/internet.html
+++ E-Learning Kit Takes the Pain Out of Web Publishing
Newfoundland's IDON EAST has launched NewMediaMentor
Version 1.0, a versatile toolkit that allows creative
content experts, trainers, teachers and other instructors
to publish their learning material to the Web without
worrying about the technical aspects of programming. The
template-based HTML editor allows for cost-efficient
development of learning material for the Web. The point-
and-click new media content development tool automatically
generates new media content in HTML and dynamic HTML
format for use over the Internet and corporate intranets,
and creates online interactive coding (testing, statistics
gathering, etc.) compatible with the TeleMee learning
management system. The St. John's company was named one of
the 25 Up & Comers for the Canadian software industry as
per the Branham Group/Financial Post listing for 1999.
http://www.idoneast.com/newmediamentor/news/news_022900.htm
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+++ Audstuff is Simple But Powerful MP3 Player
Pankhurst Algorithmics of Victoria, BC has launched a
freeware MP3 player that it hopes will appeal to average
computer users. The Audstuff player not only plays MP3
music, but also features a database capable of holding up
to 3000 recordings. There are only eight buttons on the
display, and you don't even need to use all of them!
http://www.audstuff.com
+++ Olympic "Factoids" From CBC Summer Games Web Site
You may have heard that the Olympics are on the way. [grin]
Before we all become inundated with facts and figures, we
thought we'd share a few Olympic "factoids," courtesy of
the very comprehensive CBC Olympic Web site. Did you know,
for example, that "more than 100,000 condoms have been
made available for competitors at the athletes' village in
Sydney. They will come in three colours: gold, silver and
bronze?" Choice of colour is important in all things. Or
that "George S. Patton, who would later become famous as
American General Patton in the Second World War, missed
out on a medal in the 1912 modern pentathlon competition
because he insisted on using his army pistol for the
shooting competition instead of the more accurate target
pistol?" Serves him right. A new factoid will be posted on
the CBC site each day.
http://cbc.ca/olympics
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[-- PLUG: INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS --]
+++ $10K Up For Grabs at The CAB's Dotcom Showdown
$10,000 in 10 minutes. 10 minutes to catch their eye, get
their ear, land the deal. 10 minutes to blast off or blow-
up. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is
inviting the interactive community to enter The Dotcom
Showdown at Broadcasting 2000 on-air.on-line, to be held
in Calgary from November 12 to 14, 2000. Be one of the 5
companies or entrepreneurs to vie for the prize. Pitch
your interactive media content idea or your new
technological solution (broadcast-friendly, of course) to
a panel of TV and radio broadcasters and venture
capitalists before a room full of broadcasters eager to
propel their businesses into the digital age. You could
walk away with $10,000 and/or a deal! The Dotcom Showdown
is brought to you by the CAB in conjunction with your
friends at MMSG. It may be the best 10 minutes you ever
spend. To find out more about The Dotcom Showdown, the
criteria, submission requirements and deadlines, visit
http://www.multimediator.com/info/showdown.shtml. For
more information about Broadcasting 2000, contact the
CAB's Stefanie Siska at mailto:ssiska@cab-acr.ca or
visit the CAB Web site at http://www.cab-acr.ca.
+++ The Spadina Bus Census Needs Your Input
The Spadina Bus interactive business group is developing a
comprehensive survey of the Greater Toronto Area and, more
specifically, the King Street & Spadina Street
neighbourhood. The Spadina Bus Survey aims to create a
picture of the new economy in order to better understand
the size, growth and composition of the local "e-cluster."
This information will be made available to all
participants in an easy-to-use form, and will help in
promoting the cluster to recruits, investors, partners,
and clients. If you would like to participate, please
click on the link below:
http://www.thepowertoknow.com/ottis/spadinabus
+++ A Special Invitation for BitStream Subscribers
You're invited to The Canadian Institute's New Media
Business conference to be held in Toronto on November
20-21, 2000. Sponsored by MultiMediator, this practical
two-day conference is full of valuable information and
insights to help you run a profitable new media business
in Canada. MultiMediator is proud to be a sponsor of the
New Media Business conference, and since you are a
subscriber to BitStream, you're entitled to a special 10%
discount off the conference fee when you register. It's
our way of thanking you for subscribing to our newsletter.
As an added bonus, conference attendees will receive a
complimentary hard copy of the Executive Summary of
MultiMediator's Canadian New Media Producers' Survey 2000.
If you are interested in learning how to grow your new
media business and networking with fellow new media
entrepreneurs facing the same challenges, you won't want
to miss this event. For more information, please click on
the link below:
http://www.multimediator.com/info/nmconference.shtml
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[-- DIGERATI DATEBOOK: UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS --]
+++ Digital Media Innovations Conference
October 26-28, 2000 in Oakville, ON
Sheridan College is hosting this conference which will be
organized into three streams: Animation, 3-D Visualization
and Multimedia & Telecommunications Convergence. For more
information, please visit
http://www.sheridanc.on.ca/scaet/digitalmedia.html.
+++ New Media Business Conference
November 20-21, 2000 in Toronto, ON
Sponsored by MultiMediator, this practical two-day
conference is full of valuable information and insights to
help you run a profitable new media business in Canada.
For more information, contact The Canadian Institute
directly by phoning (toll-free) 1-877-927-7936, faxing
(toll-free) 1-877-927-1563 or surfing
http://www.multimediator.com/info/nmconference.shtml.
+++ Digital Media Toronto
November 21, 2000 in Toronto, ON
A partnership between NewMedia.pro Magazine and Liberty
Village New Media Centre, Digital Media Toronto will
feature techniques and technologies for the Digital Media
Industry. Experience the media arts converging with the
computer, the Internet, telecommunications, and
e-commerce. Showcase your new products, build brand
recognition, and network with prospects and industry
colleagues. For more information, please visit
http://www.digitalmediatoronto.com or call Kevin
McWhinnie (toll-free) at 1-888-461-2244.
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[-- GEEKERS' CORNER: EDITORIAL --]
+++ Crawling Through the Global Village at Top Speed
By James Porteous
mailto:jporteous@multimediator.com
I've always had a terrible sinking feeling that much of
what Marshal McLuhan wrote was often little more than what
I like to call a stream of unconsciousness ("mud sometimes
gives the illusion of depth") but I have always had a soft
spot for the concept of the Global Village. All for one
and that sort of thing. Instant communication as a bowl of
instant rice, as MM himself might have said.
To the point, dear reader. Recently I ran across a Web
site describing the antics of The Lomographic Society. The
Lomo is a very inexpensive Russian camera that, because of
its intrinsic flaws, happens to take rather neat
photographs. Its users employ what could only be called
guerrilla tactics, running about madly, taking pictures of
people and things in rapid succession.
This week I received their monthly newsletter inviting all
and sundry to attend the "last major German qualification
round in the Lomolympics, the ultimate photo shooting
contest," where anyone could "join the Lomo crawl (at top
speed) and shoot the most awesome clubs in the party
metropolis of Berlin... Meeting at 22:00 at Hackescher
Markt S-Bahn station (where films will be handed out)."
Sounded like fun. Heck, if I lived in Berlin I'd go, even
if I didn't own a Lomo!
I remembered that I have an e-pal named Hans-Dieter who
lives in Germany and so I sent him the newsletter on the
off chance that he was not aware of The Berlin Lomo Club
Marathon.
Of course he wrote back and told me that had not heard
about The Berlin Lomo Club Marathon but that he thought he
might well attend, given that he lives only two stops from
the Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station! How odd, I thought to
myself. We really are brothers in a Global Village.
In his reply, he asked me if I had ever heard of a singer-
songwriter named Tim Lawson. Hans-Dieter knows that I
listen to all kinds of music and he thought I might have
information on this particular singer because, of course,
this particular singer happens to be a Canadian.
I had never heard of Tim Lawson. Which is sort of odd,
because I have since learned that Lawson has a following
in a variety of places, including Ireland, the UK and --
it would seem -- Germany.
Well, thanks to my German friend (who I've never actually
met) I am familiar with a Canadian folk singer, and now,
thanks to his Canadian friend, he could soon be joining a
Lomo crawl at top speed in Berlin.
As Marshal once said: "We are all brothers and sisters
crawling through the Global Village at top speed." Okay,
so he never actually said that, but you have to admit it
sounds like something he might have said.
Marshal McLuhan Quotes
http://www.mcluhanmedia.com/m_mcl_quotes_003.html
Tim Lawson Web Site
http://www.timberholme.com
The Lomographic Society
http://www.lomo.at
James Porteous, BitStream's editor, also contributes Web
site reviews for Yahoo Internet Life and writes the
syndicated column NetNomad for AlterNet.
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[-- RUSH JOB: NEW EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES --]
JUMPSTART YOUR CAREER WITH MULTIMEDIATOR PIXELSCOUT!
You work hard. You play hard. You know your stuff.
Now all you need is to take your career to the next level.
MultiMediator PixelScout is here to help. Simply register
yourself in the PixelScout New Media Database and one of
our recruiters will do their best to match you with the
right job. Rest assured, your information is not shared
with anybody without your prior approval. Register today!
http://www.pixelscout.com/seekers
+++ Featured Job: Senior Interactive Marketer
MMSG (MultiMediator Strategy Group Inc.), a leading
interactive brand solutions firm based in downtown
Toronto, is looking for a Senior Interactive Marketer. You
will report to the VP of Interactive Strategy & Marketing
Services, but will have, and be expected to have, a great
deal of autonomy based on your extensive expertise in this
area. In addition to having profit-and-loss responsibility
for the Interactive Marketing division, you will be
expected to lead and grow the division. You will work
closely with clients, internal teams, and third-party
vendors to strategize, plan, develop and manage the
execution of strategic interactive marketing campaigns.
The successful applicant must have: in-depth knowledge and
understanding of the entire range of interactive marketing
tactics; 4+ years working in a strategic interactive
marketing capacity; a college or university degree in
marketing; ability to multi-task and manage several teams
and projects simultaneously; understanding of brand
marketing, brand management, and translating brands into
the interactive space; exceptional spoken and written
communication skills; ability to stay focused and meet
deadlines; excellent understanding of interactive and the
interactive landscape; familiarity with interactive
production and technology; demonstrated experience dealing
with, and presenting to, clients; and strong negotiation
skills. To apply, please e-mail an ASCII (text only)
resume to mailto:webmarketer@multimediator.com. Only
those candidates who qualify for an interview will be
contacted. No phone calls please.
RUSH JOB is sponsored by:
MultiMediator PixelScout
Great People Great Careers
http://www.pixelscout.com
Evolved from the extensive participation of MultiMediator
and MMSG in the new media industry and their respective
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
http://www.pixelscout.com.
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[-- ABOUT MULTIMEDIATOR'S BITSTREAM --]
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