THIS ISSUE'S STREAM:
+++ Calling All BitStream Readers!
[-- NEWSPEAK: MULTIMEDIA INDUSTRY NEWS --]
+++ Call for 2001 Canadian New Media Awards Nominations
+++ Can Young High-Tech Execs Survive Roller Coaster?
+++ Industry Canada Launches Business Portal
+++ Cow Chip Offers Beefy Security
+++ The Tax Man Cometh Online
+++ New Streaming Technology Hopes to Cut Congestion
+++ MTS Offers Wireless Surfing Innovation
+++ Bell Canada Unveils Full-Motion Video Network
+++ U.S. Government Shuts Down Alleged Internet Scam
+++ Online Shopping Tally Not Nearly So Bleak
+++ Is Digital Gender Divide Diminishing?
[-- DIGERATI DATEBOOK: UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS --]
+++ The Future of B2B Executive Briefing
+++ Canadian New Media Awards
[-- HARD-WIRED: TOUGH TALK FROM A SKEPTIC --]
+++ You May Now Click the Bride
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[-- NEWSPEAK: MULTIMEDIA INDUSTRY NEWS --]
///// INDUSTRY //////////
+++ Call for 2001 Canadian New Media Awards Nominations
Organizers of the second annual Canadian New Media Awards
(CNMA) have issued a call for nominations from across
Canada. The CNMA were created in order to recognize the
accomplishments of individuals and companies contributing
to the new media sector in Canada. Nominations will be
accepted from February 19, 2001 until March 30, 2001 via
the CNMA Web site http://www.cnma.ca, and the awards
will be presented at a gala ceremony in Toronto on May 28,
2001. Categories include, "New Media Visionary", "Educator
of the Year," "Most Promising New Company" and several new
designations, including "Designer of the Year" and
"Programmer of the Year". "The Awards are an important
event for the Canadian new media industry," says Adam
Froman, President and CEO of Delvinia, producer of the
event. The Presenting Partners of this year's Awards
are Heritage Canada, Telefilm Canada, MultiMediator,
The Cultural Human Resources Council, Globe Interactive,
and CBC.ca.
http://www.cnma.ca
+++ Can Young High-Tech Execs Survive Roller Coaster?
Are today's high-tech executives ready for the current
economic downturn? Michael O'Neil, country manager for IDC
Canada (formerly International Data Corp) is not so sure.
He thinks many of the young executives currently running
Canadian IT companies might stumble in bad times. Very
few of them were in charge of very much at all during
the last recession, he points out, and most would have no
idea how to manage in such times. In good times, any
decision was pretty much okay, since the market was
growing and the stock market "was disconnected from
reality," he added. Michael O'Neil is 38 years old.
(Source: Toronto Star)
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///// CONTENT //////////
+++ Industry Canada Launches Business Portal
Minister of Industry Brian Tobin has announced the
creation of a new Web site, BusinessGateway.ca, which
Tobin calls an entry point giving businesses direct access
to key services and information from the Government of
Canada. BusinessGateway.ca will provide users with
streamlined access to relevant, frequently-used services
and information, all organized by subject areas meaningful
to business. Information will include e-forms, services
sections, publications and a list of government contacts
sorted by subject. "BusinessGateway.ca is a key component
of the Government of Canada's new service-delivery vision,
putting citizens first and delivering services and
information in a way that makes sense to Canadians," said
Minister Tobin.
http://www.businessgateway.ca
+++ Cow Chip Offers Beefy Security
With all and sundry concerned about "mad cow disease" and
the general quality of our beef, an Edmonton vet has found
a way to offer "barn-to-butcher security." (No, we're not
making this up!) Creator Jake Burlet, whose family has
been ranching since 1916, came up with the idea of a
tracking system that allows food producers to monitor the
complete history of cattle they might be interested in
buying. Starting this year, all producers must buy ear
tags from the agency to attach to newborn calves. The
information will then be input into Viewtrak.com, an
Internet-based system that allows subscribers to view
everything on file about a particular animal. (Source:
Montreal Gazette)
http://www.viewtrak.com
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+++ The Tax Man Cometh Online
Don't panic. You still have a few months in which to
procrastinate, but if you are expecting a refund from your
taxes this year you might want to consider filing your tax
return online. Last year, the first year in which the
Canada Customs and Revenue Agency opened its NetFile
system to the general public, over 443,000 electronic tax
filings were received. While users expecting refunds can
expect to receive their cheques within a couple of weeks,
filing over the Internet currently requires the purchase
of a software package that can cost between $30 and $60.
The CCRA says it saves about $2 million for every million
returns it receives electronically.
http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca
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MULTIMEDIA NEEDS MORE THAN "GEE-WHIZ" ANIMATION
It needs the right voice... Paul Boucher
More than a voice... a persona for your application
25 years of bilingual voice performance experience
Hear Paul Boucher at
http://www.therightvoice.com
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///// DEALS //////////
+++ Nortel Lands Multiple Deals in China
Nortel may be suffering from stock market woes, but that
hasn't stopped the company from winning three contracts in
China totaling over $260 million U.S. The deals include
one to set the foundation for wireless Internet in the
country, a large optical contract and another involving
one of China's largest wireless carriers. Robert Mao,
president and chief executive officer of Nortel Networks
China, was quoted as saying that the deals "are testimony
to the excellent levels of service and support we're
delivering to our valued customers in China and to the
strategic, fast-growing Asian market." Canada's Prime
Minister was on hand when the deals were signed. (Source:
Canada.Internet.com)
http://canada.internet.com/can-news/article/0,1087,141_587401,00.html
+++ New Streaming Technology Hopes to Cut Congestion
Bycast Media and Sympatico-Lycos have formed a strategic
alliance in order to launch a new streaming media platform
designed to overcome Internet congestion problems.
Sympatico-Lycos has launched a field trial that will use
Bycast's technology to stream CHUM Group Radio Ottawa's
signals at CD level quality to select broadband customers
across the country. "The field trial will [demonstrate]
several key aspects of Bycast's audio and video delivery
platform, including reduced transport costs, increased
quality of service, reliability and fault tolerance," said
Jon Festinger, President and CEO of Bycast Media Systems
Canada.
http://www.bycast.com
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+++ MTS Offers Wireless Surfing Innovation
Manitoba's MTS has joined forces with Zero Gravity to
offer Internet connection and other wireless services for
Palm customers in Manitoba. The new service, to be called
Zero Gravity, will allow viewing of virtually all Web
sites, including graphics (in a modified form), thanks to
an advanced server which formats Web content and graphics
for PDA screens using standard HTML Internet language.
"We're very excited to be the first telecommunications
company in Canada to offer an integrated wireless package
for Palm PDA users in Manitoba," said Roger Ballance,
Executive Vice-President Sales and Marketing of MTS.
http://www.mts.mb.ca/news/nr_2001_zerogravity.html
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DOWNSIZED BY A DOTCOM?
Our new media recruiting specialists can help!
For the best new media career opportunities, contact
MultiMediator PixelScout ... 'Great People - Great Careers'
e-mail: info@pixelscout.com or call (416) 410-7704
http://www.pixelscout.com
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///// INFRASTRUCTURE //////////
+++ Bell Canada Unveils Full-Motion Video Network
Bell Canada has launched a new service it hopes will allow
"broadcasters, film production companies and eventually
cinemas transport and distribute uncompressed, full-motion
video between cities." For digital transfers using current
technology the content must first be digitally compressed,
which often results in loss of quality. Using Bell's
Nexxia network, the information can now be transmitted at
270 megabits per second, or nearly 300 times faster than
Bell's High-Speed Sympatico service. The video network
service will be initially be offered in Toronto,
Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa as well
as Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Chicago.
http://www.bce.ca/en/news/releases/bc/2001/02/14/5725.html
+++ U.S. Government Shuts Down Alleged Internet Scam
The U.S. government has shut down a company that is
alleged to have duped at least 27,000 Web site owners,
including many Canadians, into registering assorted
variations of their domain names. The company, known
variously as National Domain Name Registry, The Electronic
Domain Name Monitoring and Corporate Domain Name
Monitoring, is said to have sent faxes to legitimate Web
site owners stating that "an unidentified third party had
tried to register a site with a near-identical name" to
their own (joeblow.net instead of joeblow.com). For a fee
of $70, the company would "halt" the application. There
was never any such threat, of course.
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///// FACTS & FIGURES //////////
+++ Online Shopping Tally Not Nearly So Bleak
Who knows where the economy is really going, but according
to Ipsos-Reid's Angus Reid, the online market is much
rosier than sometimes assumed. Chairman Reid says "easier
and less expensive access to the Internet will be the push
needed to recruit the second generation of Internet users
around the world." Recent doomsday predictions are little
more than "a backlash against the previous years'
unrealistic Internet mania," he says. And despite the
recent Dotcom crisis, he points out, there are 120 million
online Internet shoppers worldwide, one in four of whom
buy on impulse. (Source: Toronto Star)
http://www.angusreid.com
+++ Is Digital Gender Divide Diminishing?
A new study from market research firm Pollara seems to
indicate that "the digital divide along gender lines"
might be diminishing. The study found that women
constituted 44 per cent of Internet users who described
themselves as being "savvy", up from 30 per cent last
year. And 38 per cent called themselves "trendy", up from
33 per cent a year ago. Savvies are technology enthusiasts
who focus on business usage and info gathering, while
Trendies are said to be more interested in entertainment.
The increases were most marked in users aged 18 to 34.
(Source: Globe and Mail)
http://www.pollara.ca
||||||||||||| Please Support Our Advertisers ||||||||||||||
MULTIMEDIA NEEDS MORE THAN "GEE-WHIZ" ANIMATION
It needs the right voice... Paul Boucher
More than a voice... a persona for your application
25 years of bilingual voice performance experience
Hear Paul Boucher at
http://www.therightvoice.com
||||||||||||| Please Support Our Advertisers ||||||||||||||
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[-- DIGERATI DATEBOOK: UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS --]
+++ The Future of B2B Executive Briefing
March 13, 2001 in Toronto, ON
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Events/Upcoming/Overview/0,1550,337,00.html
+++ Canadian New Media Awards
May 28, 2001 in Toronto, ON
Nominations accepted from February 19 until March 30, 2001
http://www.cnma.ca
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[-- HARD-WIRED: TOUGH TALK FROM A SKEPTIC --]
You May Now Click the Bride
By 'The Hacker'
bitstreamhacker@bigfoot.com
I was surfing a popular U.S. wedding Web site the other
night (don't ask) when something caught my eye: "Chat with
our online wedding expert" the little button flashed. I
obviously had nothing better to do, so I took the bait and
clicked. Boom, I'm staring at a page describing how I can
get "live advice" on all things wedding-related from a
bona fide wedding planner. Clever, I think to myself.
What a great way to add value, make your site sticky,
and distinguish yourself from the competition. The
honeymoon was over when I noticed the online wedding
expert's hours of operation; she (or he, who knows
nowadays?) was only open for chats from 9 to 5 on
weekdays. Now I don't know about you, but from 9 to 5 on
weekdays I'm working (to pay for things like 'live
entertainment' for bachelor parties), not surfing wedding
Web sites for advice from wedding experts. Surely it would
be better to have the 'wedding expert' available weekday
evenings and on weekends ... you know, when most consumers
do their personal surfing!?!?!? This struck me as an all-
too familiar example of a company losing sight of its
customers, who are, after all, the single biggest
contributor's to its success (or failure). Sure,
technology allowed the company to offer a 'cool' new
feature on its Web site, but what good does it do if the
feature isn't available when the majority of its audience
is surfing the site?
/////
'The Hacker' is a veteran of the Canadian interactive
scene who, for obvious reasons, wishes to remain
anonymous. The statements and opinions expressed in Hard
Wired are solely those of the author and not BitStream's
publisher, its affiliates or advertisers. So don't kill
the messenger, OK?
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NEED A WEB GURU ... YESTERDAY?
Our new media recruiting specialists can help!
For the best and brightest new media talent, contact
MultiMediator PixelScout ... 'Great People - Great Careers'
e-mail: info@pixelscout.com or call (416) 410-7704
http://www.pixelscout.com
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