Ladies Learning Code launches the cross-country Tour of the Code:Mobile

Ladies Learning Code will be at Parliament Hill to mark Science Odyssey Week and launch their newest and biggest initiative - the code:mobile.  The code:mobile is Canada’s first-ever traveling computer lab on wheels, which will drive across Canada this summer to inspire and empower Canadian youth to not only use technology but to create with technology and become our future innovators.

“Today’s event highlights the growing importance of digital literacy for Canadians. Organizations like Ladies Learning Code are helping to teach Canadians, in particular young women, the necessary skills to succeed and become passionate builders of technology,” said the Hon. Kirsty Duncan, the Minister of Science. “These types of hands-on experiences with technology transform the way youth engage with computer science and lay the foundation for future pathways to discovery and innovation.”

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Apple Pay expands to Canada with support from major banks this June

Apple's SVP for Apple Pay Jennifer Bailey demos the features of Apple Pay which is coming to Canada this JuneBy Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple Pay is available to all active Interac debit cards issued by CIBC and RBC. Your debit card does not have to be an Interac Flash enabled card. In stores, Apple Pay works with iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. You will first need to add your debit card to the Apple Wallet to make mobile transactions.

Interac can be used with Apple Pay to buy goods and services across Canada in the hundreds of thousands of Canadian stores wherever contactless payments 

Apple Pay, which securely uses iPhone and Apple Watch to enable contact less payments, has been in Canada for some time now but limited to customers of American Express credit cards. That is all changing shortly as major banks and other credit card companies have been announced as partners and are looking to offer the functionality to their iPhone and Apple Watch-toting users. 

Apple has confirmed that Apple Pay will be coming to CIBC (credit and debit), ATB (credit, debit coming later), Canadian Tire Financial Services (credit), RBC (credit and debit) and of course American Express has enjoyed the first-mover advantage since late last year. 

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An introduction to VR through the HTC Vive

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

I've long been a skeptic when it comes to Virtual Reality or VR. I've covered the technologies and evolution of virtual reality since the mid-90's when the idea was that the internet and VR could easily create a connected, immersive and interactive reality alongside reality itself.

But like many widely heralded buzz-worthy technologies, VR always felt like a hollow promise mired by compromise at every turn. It required expensive and enormous headsets, a ton of wires connected to a supercomputer, and the content was, for the most part, as low-rez and blocky as what one could get out of a PlayStation One console.  It is now 2016 and companies are flying high the VR flag again, what's different this time is that there are actual consumer products as well as content generated specifically for VR.

HTC invited me to try their HTC Vive VR headset in a Toronto hotel a few days ago and I brought a healthy dose of skepticism with me. Here's what I learned.

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IBM makes quantum computing available to the public via the cloud

IBM today opened up its cloud-powered quantum computing capability to the public. Because of this never done before move, researchers and scientists will have access and can run experiments on an IBM quantum processor connected to the cloud. They will be able to explore the vast possibilities of quantum computing, and help discover new applications for the technology that could lead to solving problems that are impossible to solve with today’s supercomputers. 

The cloud-enabled quantum computing platform, called IBM Quantum Experience, will allow users to run algorithms and experiments on IBM’s quantum processor, work with the individual quantum bits (qubits), and explore tutorials and simulations around what might be possible with quantum computing. 

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