Canada 'laggard' in communications:
University of Waterloo president
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 | 11:56 AM ET Comments16Recommend31
by Peter Nowak CBC News
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Canadian businesses are also well behind in adopting technology to improve productivity, Johnston said. At a time when most U.S. businesses are barreling headlong into interactive Web 2.0 sites, only 63 per cent of Canadian firms have gone to the trouble of setting up a simple website.
"They still haven't wrapped their heads around Web 1.0," he said. (Oh, I hate to be engulfed by this kind of digital divide. Canada, barrel ahead! --Alex Wang)
Much of the problem is the view by Canadian telecommunications companies that competition is bad. Competitors are viewed as "barbarians at the gate," said Johnston, who is a member of Ontario's Task Force on Competitiveness. (Let's hate monopolies. Freedom and availability of choices. Competition brings good to mass consumers. --Alex Wang)
Johnston stressed that access to the internet must be kept neutral so that university students can commercialize the innovations they come up with in the classroom and create new competition. "Canada should be a sandbox for digital innovation," he said. (Well said! "Should be a sandbox for digital innovation". --Alex Wang)
Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, also addressed the issue of net neutrality in his keynote speech. He said the CRTC ruling on a dispute between Bell Canada Inc. and the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, expected this fall, will only go part of the way toward finding a solution to the problem.
Full article at:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/06/17/johnston-telecom-summit.html?ref=rss
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Aerospace profit set to fly: economist
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | 11:07 AM ET Comments2Recommend4
CBC News
Bombardier makes commercial and corporate jets, like the Challenger 604 above. It calls the plane, which can carry up to 12 passengers, a 'high-altitude boardroom.' (Bombardier) Canada's aerospace industry is heading for five years of strong revenue and profit growth, according to a Conference Board report released Wednesday.
Demand for air travel — especially in markets like China and India — will more than offset rising fuel prices and the higher Canadian dollar, economist Valerie Poulin wrote in the board's spring outlook for the industry.
Transportation equipment builder Bombardier is optimistic about the potential for its proposed new smaller airliner, dubbed the CSeries, because mainline carriers need more fuel-efficient aircraft, she said.
But the plan to build the plane in Montreal will likely fall victim to the high dollar. Production may be shifted to the U.S., and last week, Missouri's governor was in Montreal, offering Bombardier incentives to locate in his state.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/06/18/aerospace-profit.html?ref=rss
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TRENDS
Business
Toyota is world's most reputable company: Study
Toyota No. 1, Google No. 2 on annual list from New York's Reputation Institute
Last Updated: Monday, June 16, 2008 | 8:45 AM ET Comments2Recommend20
By Matthew Kirdahy Forbes
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/06/10/f-forbes-reputablefirms.html
More from Forbes.com:
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Law bans cigarettes, clears pot in Dutch coffee shops
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | 09:14 AM ET
Rolling a joint in a Dutch coffee shop will remain legal but smokers who add a little tobacco to the mix will be breaking the law, under new rules that take effect in the Netherlands on July 1.
The ban outlaws tobacco in enclosed, public spaces but pure cannabis is exempt. The law was introduced as a health and safety measure for employees.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/comm-oddities/2008/06/law_bans_cigarettes_clears_pot.html
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IN DEPTH
Consumers
Online Canadiana: If you list it will they buy it?
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 | 4:50 PM ET Comments1Recommend7
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/06/11/f-canadiana-on-sale.html
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Rogers, Telus criticize consumer complaints agency
Canada's telecommunications consumer complaints agency came under fire from some of the country's largest telecom companies on Tuesday.
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Teens glued to screens, study suggests
Last Updated: Thursday, March 13, 2008 | 10:12 AM ET Comments6Recommend25
The Canadian Press
A study of Montreal teens shows some are spending a startling amount of time in front of a screen — be it attached to a TV, computer or video game.
'The more time kids spend watching television and playing on the computer, the more likely they are to become overweight.'—Tracie Barnett, researcher
And kids from lower-income neighbourhoods in particular seem to be spending a lot of time glued to screens, suggested the study, which was presented Wednesday at a U.S. scientific conference.
"Girls that lived in these more disadvantaged neighbourhoods, they were up to four times more likely to be in these high-viewing groups," lead author Tracie Barnett said in an interview. "Whereas for boys, it was about two to three times more likely."
The bulk of the kids studied — about 60 per cent — spent an average of 20 hours a week in front of a screen, whether that was to watch TV, play a video game or navigate the internet for recreational purposes.
But about a third spend closer to 40 hours a week in front of a screen. And between seven and 10 per cent of the teenagers logged 50 or more hours a week of screen time, the researchers found. The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends kids spend no more than two hours a day watching television.
"I'm not sure that all parents are aware that kids are spending so much time (in front of screens)," Barnett said from Colorado Springs, Colo., where she presented findings from the study at the American Heart Association's Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/03/13/teens-obesity.html
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