October 8, 2009
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The Lead to Win program is accepting applications for the November session.
If you are interested in creating your own company – check out the program at http://www.leadtowin.ca.
Spaces are limited and the program has been over subscribed for every session held so if you are interested do not delay getting your application submitted.
Check out some of the companies that have successfully made it to Phase III of Lead to Win.
October 7, 2009
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I am involved in a new book that is now out. Members of the local Ottawa tech community have gotten together to produce a new book called “the Entrepreneurial Effect” with the foreword by Terry Matthews. It is a collection of practical lessons learned.
The book is meant to be a knowledge source for those decisions we face as we start and grow our companies, for example, the real story behind risk and investment, how to pick resellers, selling in China, and the only reasons to consider M&As.
It is also worth noting that all the authors have donated their knowledge.
All proceeds of the book will go to support student technology entrepreneurship!
Get implementable advice and support a great cause.
Check it out at: www.entrepreneurialeffect.com
Stay tuned for information on the book launch date which will be on an upcoming evening. It will be an evening worth going to.
August 26, 2009
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A new report Cellphone and Brain Tumors – 15 Reasons for Concern states that:
Studies, independent of industry, consistently show there is a “significant” risk of brain tumors from cellphone use.
Some of the findings published in the report include:
The full report is available online here.
August 22, 2009
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| Michigan | 15.20% |
| Rhode Island | 12.40% |
| Oregon | 12.20% |
| South Carolina | 12.10% |
| Nevada | 12% |
| California | 11.60% |
| Ohio | 11.10% |
| North Carolina | 11% |
| District of Columbia | 10.90% |
| Kentucky | 10.90% |
| Tennessee | 10.80% |
| Indiana | 10.70% |
| Florida | 10.60% |
| Illinois | 10.30% |
| Alabama | 10.10% |
| Georgia | 10.10% |
August 18, 2009
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A recently published research paper from professors at Carleton and Ottawa University has determined that
A zombie outbreak is likely to lead to the collapse of civilisation, unless it is dealt with quickly. While aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to coexistence of humans and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often. As seen in the movies, it is imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly, or else we are all in a great deal of trouble.
The research is said to have possible real-life applications to modeling allegiance to political parties.
The full text of this world leading research is available online – When Zombies Attack
For those looking for more practical advice:
Check out this app to spread word of the coming Zombie outbreak – ZOMBIEGRAM.
August 15, 2009
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Come “Jobnob” with cool new startups and other job seekers at this informal networking happy hour where unemployed people who want to keep their skills sharp are matched up with startups that could use their help.
- Bummed Out Job Seekers – are you willing to volunteer at least 5 hours a week for a startup? Help out a startup and you’ll get a leg up on the competition, keep your skills sharp and have some good experience to put on your resume. And when the giant gears of the economy start churning again, you could well be one of the first ones back on the payroll.
- Cash Strapped Startups – are you willing to buy a smart, talented, unemployed person a drink? Come with one or two specific projects that you need accomplished and we’ll help you find the perfect person to get the job done. And if you get funded you can always hire them!
They have run three JobNob events so far and have two more scheduled for August and September.
Related information and press coverage is available here.
This would be a great program to have running in Ottawa. Organizations such as Lead to Win, OCRI, The Ottawa Network, CATA or Ottawa Talent Initiative would be good sponsor organizations to make this happen locally.
August 12, 2009
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Purple Forge has two immediate openings:
Visit http://www.leadtowin.ca/jobs/app/ for more information.
August 11, 2009
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I took a COBOL course while in University (not sure why I did at the time, other then I found programming languages interesting (and still do)) and also subsequently took a part-time job as teaching assistant for COBOL courses back in the ’80′s. Unfortunately I never had occasion to use my COBOL programming skills in any meaningful way — although I found the database/records orientation of the language to be useful in other contexts.
I was recently surprised to read that COBOL – one of the industry’s oldest programming languages – still “equates to 80 percent of the world’s actively used code,” according to Stephen Kelley of Micro Focus.
August 1, 2009
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For you ex-Nortel and Nortel types – in case you haven’t seen it – Elizabeth Howell at the Ottawa Business Journal is running a three-part story on Nortel, the first two installments have been published (unfortunately the online versions don’t have the timeline graphics of the print version):
August 1, 2009
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If you are currently working in Nortel, Mitel or any of the other local tech companies that are under stress and under the threat of downsizing, then you are probably thinking about your “Plan B”. If your “Plan B” involves launching your own business, then you should take a close look at the Lead to Win program.
Past successful Nortel alumnus who have participanted in Lead to Win have included: Chuck Colford (Trigence (aka AppZero), Congruance IT), David Vicary (Nakina, Weyes Eyes), Jerry Everett (onconference), Brian Hurley (Liquid Computing, Purple Forge), and many others.
Lead to Win is now accepting applications for it’s 4th session which will occur later this year (Lead to Win is currently nailing down the exact date and will announce it soon).
The program is focused on helping enterpreneurs develop and grow their businesses.
The program is free to qualified participants.
Program details, application process, testimonials, FAQ’s, training materials, etc are available online at www.leadtowin.ca.
If you know others who might be interested in the program, please send them to www.leadtowin.ca!
August 1, 2009
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I spent some time recently looking at GUI mock up and associated requirements management applications. I grouped the tools into three categories: general purpose tools that could be used for mock ups, specialized tools oriented towards mock-ups and simulation, and hosted services for mock-ups and collaboration with teams and customers.
My research so far has identified the following -
General Tools for GUI Mock Ups
Specialized Tools for GUI Mock Ups
The feedback from several people who have used a variety mock up and simulation tools seem to favor the more general-purpose tools such as Visio and Omnigraffle for general GUI mock ups.
Relative to requirements management, I have never been a big fan of specialized tools (and there are a lot of them on the market, many with big price-tags) and have tended to favor tools such as MS Word, FreeMind mind mapping, Excel and powerpoint as means to capture, analyze and organize requirements.
Still some more research to do, so if anyone has any suggestions based on their experiences please let me know!
UPDATE:
HELLO THERE!
Are you an experienced User Experience designer? Drop me a line (brian@purpleforge.com) – we are always on the look-out for good people to work with on new projects at Purple Forge.
Like Zombies? Take a look at this!
August 1, 2009
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This website has some very interesting artwork that has been derived from the flight paths of airlines.
June 17, 2009
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Lead to Win held a reception on Monday evening for participants and supporters. Special guests included the Mayor of Gatineau and the acting Mayor of Ottawa. Both expressed their support for the Lead to Win program and new businesses the participants are hoping to launch.
Mayor of Gatineau, Marc Bureau
Acting Mayor of Ottawa, Michel Bellemare
Participants at the reception commented on the strong and growing support from the community for the Lead to Win program.
Past Lead to Win Alumnus David Vicary, CEO of Weyes Eyes and past CEO and founder of Nakina Systems announced that he had secured seed funding for Weyes Eyes, his second start-up venture. For more on this, please read the related Ottawa Business Journal article.
David Vicary, CEO Weyes Eyes
Photos from the event are available online.
The reception was hosted by Développement économique – CLD Gatineau (DE – CLDG).
June 17, 2009
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Industry Canada announced on Monday that they will be providing additional funding for BDC.
The funding allocation includes $350M for BDC‘s venture capital activities that will allow it to make additional direct investments of $260 million over three years in Canadian businesses already in the BDC portfolio, as well as investments in new seed technology companies and later-stage technology companies. It will also allow BDC to commit $90 million over three years to private, independent Canadian venture capital funds.
This funding is in addition to the $75 million in venture capital funds allocated in the Government of Canada’s Budget 2008, which is being used to support the creation of a privately run venture capital fund.
This is great news! BDC has been, and continues to be a key player in helping grow Canada’s innovation, economic growth and economic diversity.
June 16, 2009
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Robert Half Technology issued data on IT jobs outlook this week, key findings from their survey:
Technology executives attribute staff reductions largely to reduced IT budgets and company wide layoffs
Employers cite rising workloads as the primary reason to add IT personnel
CIOs in the finance sector are most optimistic about hiring
Project management is the job area experiencing the most growth
Five per cent of chief information officers (CIOs) expect to hire full-time employees in the next three months, while 11 per cent anticipate personnel reductions. The majority of respondents, 80 per cent, plan to maintain current staffing levels.
June 8, 2009
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According to the Globe and Mail today - the funeral industry is in decline due to a decline in the death rate.
June 7, 2009
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Here is a recent call for participants from Dr Tony Bailetti for the 3rd session of the Lead to Win program which starts on July 28th – please spread the word!
INTERESTED IN LAUNCHING A NEW TECH BUSINESS? LEAD TO WIN WANTS TO HELP YOU!
If you are serious about starting a profitable technology business in Canada’s Capital region, we invite you to apply to the next session of the Lead to Win program.
The Lead to Win program is free to qualified applicants – no strings attached, no small print, no surprises. Individuals from 37 organizations are investing to make Lead to Win participants successful for the benefit of the individual and our community.
Details on the program, including past success and testimonials from participants are available at www.leadtowin.ca. If you need additional information over what is at www.leadtowin.ca, please contact:
- David Hudson, dhudson1014@rogers.com
- Ian Graham, ian@thecodefactory.ca
- Ray Barton, ray.barton@vitesse.ca
- Rowland Few, rfew@sce.carleton.ca
- Serge Lafontaine, slafontaine@arrow.com
- Tony Bailetti, Bailetti@sce.carleton.ca
- Yannick Bouchard, bouchard.yannick@gatineau.ca
Spaces in the Lead to Win program are limited – so prospective participants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
Application instructions are available online at www.leadtowin.ca.
If you know of others who may benefit from Lead to Win, please forward this email to them – help get the word out!
Regards.
Tony Bailetti
Lead to Win Program
June 7, 2009
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A new study on cancer and cellphones is underway with final results expected to be published this year -
Interphone researchers are pooling and analyzing the results gathered from studies on 6,400 tumors sampled from patients in 13 countries. If the final results mirror the preliminary ones, the world’s three billion cellphone users might want to dial back their talk time. Israeli researchers participating in Interphone found that people who use cellphones regularly are 50 percent more likely than non-users to develop brain tumors. And a joint Interphone analysis from the U.K., Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland reported a 40 percent increase in tumor risk in people who use cellphones for more than a decade; the study found no discernable risk for people who have used cellphones for fewer than 10 years.
June 5, 2009
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June 5, 2009
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Latest unemployment numbers today:
Other interesting lists:
June 3, 2009
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Survey results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed some improving outlooks among small business owners polled:
June 3, 2009
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A recent report from OECD advocates government policy makers deploy stimulus funds and investment into broadband infrastructure -
Broadband infrastructure, in particular, can be a good target for economic stimulus spending because many projects can be initiated relatively quickly, are labour-intensive, can minimise economic leakages, and may promise stronger marginal impacts on supply and productivity than investing in established networks such as electricity, gas, water and transportation.
The full report is available here and in interesting to read. A wealth of related data on broadband deployments current as of December 2008 (including pricing, policies, penetration, etc) is available from OECD in detailed excel spreadsheets here.
My sense is that Canada’s economy would certainly benefit more from advancing communications infrastructure projects than it would by having another government building or public works project.
May 31, 2009
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The server market is getting hit hard these days – announcements in just the last few months:
My bet is on Cisco capitalizing on the turmoil and emerging stronger and more dominant then ever before.
IDC forecasts server market to decline through 2010
May 31, 2009
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Many years ago I remember visiting the Ontario Science Museum and watching a demonstration of a laser which would pop a balloon. The laser was huge -
Now anyone who can use a soldering iron and follow instructions can build their own inexpensive handheld laser flashlight which will pop a balloon or light a match:
May 22, 2009
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The 2009 Lead to Win program kicked-off this week. The program was originally planned to support 30 participants per session. Due to overwhelming demand from highly qualified candidates the program capacity was doubled and 61 participants were accepted into the May-June program.
The first three days of workshops went exceptionally well. All participants were highly qualified, highly motivated and highly committed. The workshop was intense and there was a lot of interaction between the participants and the program leaders. A breakdown of the participants company types, target markets, etc. is available: Lead to Win May 2009 Portfolio Snapshot
Photos from the first day of the program are available online -
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| Lead to Win (May 19, 2009) |
May 22, 2009
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Reports from Mercury Press highlight the continuing decline of Venture Capital in the US:
Nationally, VCs invested $3 billion into U.S. companies, down 61 percent from the $7.7 billion invested in the first quarter of 2008. It was smallest quarterly sum since 1997, and the sharpest decline on record.
In the Bay Area, the world’s leading hub of innovation, $1.2 billion was invested in 172 deals during the quarter. That was a 43 percent decrease in dollars and 26 percent decrease in “deal flow” from the previous quarter.
May 15, 2009
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‘SixthSense’ is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world with digital information and lets users use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.
It offers some interesting ideas for potential new applications.
May 6, 2009
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Visit the Lead to Win website at http://www.leadtowin.ca.
The program is free to qualified participants (no small print, no strings attached!).
April 27, 2009
1 Comment
According to a USA Today article, 41% of economists surveyed in April predict the unemployment rate will top out at 10% or higher. 58% of the economists surveyed said the economy will weaken in the next six months.
