Tag Archives: canada

Study finds more than 52 percent of organizations turning to the cloud for business growth

By Guest PostMay 29, 2013Technology451 research llc, business growth, canada, cloud, cloud based computing, datacenter initiatives, digital infrastructure, france, future businesses, Germany, hosted services, hybrid cloud solutions, it environments, lync, marco limena, michelle bailey, Microsoft, microsoft sql server, new era, organization, sharepoint, uk, united states, US, windows azure, windows platform

Microsoft-commissioned study highlights opportunity for hosting providers as companies look to achieve growth with hybrid cloud solutions.

REDMOND, Wash. — May 29, 2013 — Companies and organizations are increasingly turning to the cloud as a strategy for business growth, according to The New Era of Hosted Services, a Microsoft-commissioned study conducted by 451 Research LLC. As they look ahead to the next two years, more than 52 percent of organizations identify the cloud as beneficial for either growing their business or realigning their organization to a new company strategy. Along with this drive for growth comes significant opportunity for Microsoft hosting partners as customers look to grow their business with a hybrid cloud consumption model.

“The next two years will be the era of hybrid cloud, with 68 percent of customers planning to adopt hybrid cloud models — up from 49 percent today,” said Marco Limena, vice president, Hosting Service Providers Business, Microsoft. “In addition, the survey found that as customers begin to move their IT environments into the cloud, software is sticky and brand is even more important.” (more…)

Highly logical: Microsoft and Paramount Pictures team up to promote new ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ film

By Guest PostMay 15, 2013Technologyaka scotty, australia, bad robot production, beam me up, bing, bing translator, canada, darkness, Facebook, film, imax, j j abrams, james doohan, jen buckmaster, klingon, leeanne stables, logical pairing, los angeles, Microsoft, movie adventure, msn, paramount pictures, rick rashid, san francisco, seattle, star trek, starfleet academy, toronto, trekker, Twitter, windows 8, windows phone, xbox, xbox live, xbox smartglass, xbox video awards

A new Star Trek app for Windows 8 and Windows Phone kicked off an unprecedented cross-company partnership to promote “Star Trek Into Darkness,” the new film from Paramount Pictures. Star Trek movie-themed content will materialize across Microsoft’s consumer products and services leading up the May 16 release of the highly anticipated new movie.

REDMOND, Wash. – May 15, 2013 – Star Trek and Microsoft — a logical pairing, Spock might say.

Paramount Pictures thought so. (more…)

New dark matter detector begins search for invisible particles

By Guest PostMay 12, 2013Sciencecanada, cf3i, chicagoland observatory, coupp, coupp 60, dark matter detector, dark matter experiment, dark matter particles, earth from space, fermilab, fire extinguishers, galaxies, hugh lippincott, ingredient, invisible particles, juan collar, massive particles, neutrons, ontario, purified water, rotational velocities, snolab, telescopes, underground particle physics, universe, university of chicago

Scientists heard their first pops last week in an experiment that searches for signs of dark matter in the form of tiny bubbles.

They will need to analyze them further in order to discern whether dark matter caused any of the COUPP-60 experiment’s first bubbles at the SNOLAB underground science laboratory in Ontario, Canada. Dark matter accounts for nearly 90 percent of all matter in the universe, yet it is invisible to telescopes.

“Our goal is to make the most sensitive detector to see signals of particles that we don’t understand,” said Hugh Lippincott, a postdoctoral scientist with Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Lippincott has spent much of the past several months leading the installation of the one-of-a-kind detector at SNOLAB, 1.5 miles underground. (more…)

IBM Master The Mainframe Contest Prepares Students With In Demand IT Skills For A Smarter Planet

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2013Technologyanalytics, austria, benjamin paul, big data, canada, certificate programs, cloud rise, ibm, India, it skills, mainframe contest, master, michael todd, miles nosler, mobile, mobile computing projects, poland, smarter planet, social business, spain, students, sushain cherivirala, system z job, US, william cunningham

Over 4,600 students compete from US and Canada

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – 29 Mar 2013: Throughout the last 49 years, the IBM mainframe has advanced, anticipating both the present and future needs of businesses. Organizations are moving more cloud, mobile, big data and analytics computing projects on to mainframes and joining them with traditional projects like transaction processing, operational analytics and database management to develop solutions that can empower a Smarter Planet. Because of these trends, today’s mainframes are growing in popularity, requiring a new generation of mainframe experts. (more…)

Proximity to Coal-Tar-Sealed Pavement Raises Risk of Cancer, Study Finds

By Guest PostMarch 28, 2013Environment, Healtharizona, asphalt pavement, barbara mahler, baylor university, benzoapyrene, california, canada, cancer, Chicago, coal tar, continental divide, csa, elevated risk, higher rates, hydrologis, pahs, peter van metre, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, sealant, sealcoat, spencer williams, texas, university in waco, usgs, volatilization

People living near asphalt pavement sealed with coal tar have an elevated risk of cancer, according to a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Much of this calculated excess risk results from exposures in children, age six or younger, to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the sealant.

“The increased cancer risk associated with coal-tar-sealed asphalt (CSA) likely affects a large number of people in the U.S. Our results indicate that the presence of coal-tar-based pavement sealants is associated with significant increases in estimated excess lifetime cancer risk for nearby residents,” said E. Spencer Williams, Ph.D., principal author of the study and Baylor University assistant research scientist at the Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. (more…)

Strange phallus-shaped creature provides crucial missing link

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2013Nature19th century, acorn worms group, biodiversity, burgess shale, cambrian period, canada, characteristics as chordates, chris cameron, christopher cameron, enteropneusts, fibrous tubes, fossil beds, graptolites, hemichordate evolution, jean bernard caron, phallus shaped creature, pterobranchs, scientific discovery, seawater, simon conway morris, spartobranchus tenuis, taxonomy, university of cambridge, university of montreal, yoho national park

Christopher Cameron of the University of Montreal’s Department of Biological Sciences and his colleagues have unearthed a major scientific discovery – a strange phallus-shaped creature they found in Canada’s Burgess Shale fossil beds, located in Yoho National Park. The fossils were found in an area of shale beds that are 505 million years old.

Their study published online in the journal Nature on March 13, 2013, confirms Spartobranchus tenuis is a member of the acorn worms group which are seldom-seen animals that thrive today in the fine sands and mud of shallow and deeper waters. Acorn worms are themselves part of the hemichordates, a group of marine animals closely related to today’s sea stars and sea urchins. “Unlike animals with hard parts including teeth, scales and bones, these worms were soft-bodied, so their fossil record is extremely rare,” said author Dr. Chris Cameron of the University of Montreal. “Our description of Spartobranchus tenuis, a creature previously unknown to science, pushes the fossil record of the enteropneusts back 200 million years to the Cambrian period, fundamentally changing our understanding of biodiversity from this period.” (more…)

App Offers Flurry of Exciting Features for Skiers

By Guest PostMarch 18, 2013Technologycanada, China, colorado, heavenly mountain resort, kevin ashley, lake tahoe, Microsoft, nokia collection, randy guthrie, ride app, silicon valley startup, snowboard instructors, windows phone, windows phone 8, winter ski, youtube videos, zoomable

Winter Ski & Ride app for Windows Phone helps you plan ultimate outings, keep track of your friends on the slopes, and beat your personal best.

REDMOND, Wash. – Winter Ski & Ride, a new Windows Phone app in the Nokia Collection, is taking skiing and snowboarding to a new altitude.

Say you’re riding a ski lift to the top of a snow-covered mountain, be it in Colorado, Canada or China. You touch the screen of your Nokia device, with frosty, gloved hands, and pass the lift time by looking at your stats. How many runs have you done? What was your top speed? You look at your contacts, and note what friends are still on the mountain. You decide to ski a mogul-heavy double black diamond run next, and watch a short video by a professional instructor to brush up on your bump skills. (more…)

2013 Summer Could be Similar to Last Summer, MU Researcher Says

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2013Environmentair temperature, below normal levels, canada, climatic features, driest summers, dry summer, el niño, hottest, la niña, last summer, northeastern path, pacific, pacific ocean, rain producing, soil moisture, the midwest, tony lupo, university of missouri, weather pattern

Farmers should prepare for possible drought conditions through July

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Last summer, the Midwest experienced one of the hottest and driest summers on record. While a few rain showers have occurred across the Midwest the past few weeks, it appears that the region is in for another dry summer. A University of Missouri researcher says that an opposing weather pattern could bring more favorable weather conditions to the Midwest, but won’t be here until after this summer. (more…)