Success of Bait Cars Inspires Laptop and Bicycle Spinoffs (That May Even Get a Reality TV Show)

Bait cars have been so successful in capturing thieves in BC that the system has inspired spinoffs for bait computers and bait bicycles. In fact, a team of youth in Vancouver is developing a reality television show based on a bicycle with a GPS-broadcasting device hidden inside the frame.

Meanwhile, RCMP in the Vancouver suburb of Maple Ridge this week announced the recovery of four laptops stolen from local schools, thanks to tracking devices installed by the school district. It was the technology's first real-world test and passed with flying colours.

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Instagram Clone: Facebook Launches Mobile Photo App for iPhone

With all the negative news swirling regarding Facebook's IPO and their inability to monetize mobile, the multi-millionaire Facebook developers have kept on working.

Today Facebook launched Camera, a new iOS app that enhances the Facebook photos mobile experience. With Camera, users can now view just photos from their friends in one feed, share multiple photos at once, and customize pictures with captions and filters before posting.

Considering Facebook's recent billion dollar purchase of Instagram, today's launch may come as a surprise.

Camera is an independent photo application with a few features extremely similar to what users of Instagram are already used to using. However with Camera users will not be able to share within the app only (as Instagram can do) or to other social networks all at once.

Camera is all about Facebook.

Camera will be available for the iPhone starting today and can be downloaded for free from the App Store.

Victoria's Chartbrain Transforms Music Charts into Automated Music Video Playlists

Want to stream an automated playlist of the best music videos for free? Victoria-born Chartbrain has your back.

A solo project built by Canadian developer James Gagan—who was involved in the somewhat similar Songspin startup—Chartbrain's premise is beautifully simple. First, select a music chart. There's Billboard, Last.fm, Hype Machine, and more. Next, choose a countdown (from the bottom of the list up to the top song), a top 10 countdown, or a shuffle. You can also start with a specific song.

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Canada Post Unveils High-Tech Calgary Stampede Stamps

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede, and as such, Canada Post has decided to mark the occasion with a couple of high-tech commemorative stamps.

The stamps, designed by Calgarian artist Xerxes Irani, are yet another example of using augmented reality (AR) to give customers a more interactive experience.

When used in conjunction with the Canada Post Stamps Alive app for smart phones and tablets, one stamp depicts a virtual horse you are able to interact with, pet, and change its colour, while the other stamp reveals a barrel-racing game, where you are able to try and beat your own time, or submit your score to facebook and twitter.

All in all, Canada Post seems to be innovatively looking for alternative revenue streams.

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Communitech's HYPERDRIVE Joins FounderFuel and JOLT in TechStars Canadian Network

Last month Techvibes reported that Toronto's JOLT had become a member of the Global Accelerator Network (formerly TechStars network).

The Global Accelerator Network (GAN) is an alliance championed by TechStars and originally created as part of the White House’s Startup America Initiative. JOLT was not the first Canadian accelerator to become part of the GAN - Montreal's FounderFuel has also leveraged the TechStars brand north of the border.

Today Communitech's new tech accelerator, HYPERDRIVE, announced it will become the third Canadian member of the GAN.

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Most of Your Online Audience is Invisible

Are you ignoring two-thirds of your online audience because they seem to be ignoring you?

While it might seem counter intuitive, your social media strategy should take into account that about two-thirds of social media users aren’t sharing much, but taking in quite a bit.

At mesh conference yesterday, Andrew Reid and Alexandra Samuel shared insights from the world’s largest study of social media usage for the first time ever. The study which had 55,000 respondents from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, who use one or more social media tools, revealed that a majority of users aren’t sharing, but lurking on Facebook and Twitter. To give perspective on the unprecedented number of respondents, the average Pew Research Centre study has about 2,500 respondents.

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