September 2006 Edition
THEFT
If you work for a mid-sized to large Canadian business, there is almost a one-in-three chance that management is telling you to leave your Ipod at home. There is even less chance you'll be allowed to bring in your personal laptop computer or one of those thumb-sized USB storage devices. A rising fear of data theft is prompting Corporate Canada, as well as governments that store sensitive information, to target small computing devices. A recent survey of IT managers found that 30 per cent had banned MP3 players from the workplace.
LINE-UPS
Fed up with waiting for hours to pay their telephone bills in China, customers emboldened by the country's new spirit of capitalism have started a trade in line-up tickets at its cumbersome financial institutions. In a bizarre black market, "numbers dealers" trade on the bank's forecourts selling scores of tickets for a few cents to would-be queue jumpers. The tickets are bought early and then sold several hours later. Despite automation, most Chinese still prefer to wait for a human teller.
SECURITY
According to Strategy+Business magazine, four times as many of the world's top chief executive officers were forced from their jobs last year as in 1995. The survey included the world's 2,500 largest corporations. Meanwhile, C-level management turnovers, which include chief executive officers, chief financial officers, directors and vice-presidents, continues unabated with 8,194 during April, May and June, more that double the 3,354 in the same period in 2005. A key factor is increased shareholder activism.
PRICE-FIXING
California and 33 other states have filed a price-fixing lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from seven major makers of computer memory chips. The lawsuit alleges that consumers and state governments overpaid for computers, servers and other electronic products from 1998 to 2002 because the chip makers artificially inflated prices.
REFERENCES
More than one-third of executive recruiters (35 per cent) say they have eliminated candidates because of dirt discovered about them on-line. While a strong majority (82 per cent) of those surveyed expect companies and recruiters to conduct background checks by trolling for on-line information, one-in-three have never conducted searches of their own names to check on the accuracy or relevance of their cyber-personas 16 per cent of executives surveyed fear that information found on-line could eliminate them from consideration for a new job. 13 per cent have taken measures to add positive information to the digital record.
MELTING
Hot weather has long been the bane of chocolate fans. Now, scientists in Nigeria claim to have come up with a type of chocolate that does not melt in the heat. Researchers mixed corn starch with cocoa to produce a heat-resistant chocolate which stays firm up to 122F (50C) while normal products melt at temperatures between 77F (25C) and about 91F (33C). The starch acts as a chocolate thickener and prevents the cocoa butter running in the heat.
MOVIES
Cinema attendance in Canada rebounded slightly between the spring of 2004 and 2005. Movie theatres and drive-ins sold 120.3 million tickets, a 0.5 per cent increase over the previous year. The upward trend reverses the 4.6 per cent decline in ticket sales in the comparable 2003-2004 period. However, despite the small gain in attendance, the industry reported a 97.6 per cent increase in operating profit to C$108.2-million. So far this year, box office sales are up five per cent over last year.
ALTITUDE
At the height of 4,400 metres above sea level, a small water bottling factory on a Tibetan mountainside is believed to be the world's highest-altitude bottling plant and faces unique challenges. A new production line was delayed when an engineer fell victim to altitude sickness. Motors in the factory need 20 per cent extra capacity because of oxygen shortage. Special bottles are required with stronger plastic to withstand the altitude. Production must halt in the winter when the water freezes. An entrepreneur from Hong Kong invested about US$63-million to develop the mineral water factory.
STORMS
There are, on average, about 1,800 thunderstorms in progress at any one time around the world, with 100 lightening strikes every second. The chance of being hit by lightening is about one in three million.
COMMUTING
Statistics Canada reports that the average Canadian spends close to 12 full days a year travelling between work and home. The 2005 study found Canadians spent an average of 63 minutes a day commuting compared to 54 minutes in a similar survey in 1992. In the Atlantic provinces workers spend 63 minutes commuting, up sharply from 39 minutes in 1992. The study found that in British Columbia there was only a one minute increase over 1992. Torontonians spend the most time commuting, 79 minutes per round trip followed by Montrealers who spent 76 minutes.
TEA
While tea production in the United States is minuscule, consumption is booming. Sales have more than tripled in the past 15 years, exceeding US$6-billion last year. Some 85 per cent of tea drunk in America is served iced. Lately, sales of "ready to drink" bottled teas have been growing particulary fast. The popularity is explained by its health benefits. Tea contains less caffeine than coffee, and the industry touts studies that suggest it can help with heart problems, blood pressure and even cancer.
INSURANCE
Lloyd's of London, the oldest maritime insurer has launched a new coverage to protect crews which are now in as much danger of getting highjacked as their cargo. The latest figures show that global piracy has risen 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2006 from a year earlier. last year, there were 650 kidnappings at sea.
FUEL
In the U.S., it is cheaper to make fuel ethanol from maize because of the high domestic price for sugar. The Agriculture Department forecasts that America will use 34 per cent more maize in ethanol production next season, some 20 per cent of the harvest.
EMIGRATION
More Germans are emigrating than at any time since the war, driven from home by unemployment or the search for better jobs. Around 145,000 mainly young people left the country last year. The favoured countries were America, followed by Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Britain and France. Doctors and academics constitute the largest group of those leaving.
MERCOSUR
Venezuela has now joined Mercosur, the South American trade bloc. Oil-producing Venezuela's entry is expected to boost the clout of the trading bloc bringing Mercosur's total combined gross domestic product to US$1-trillion a year, more than three-quarters of South America's total economic activity. Under the agreement, Venezuela will be required to adopt a common external tariff system within four years.
WINE
In 1991 the sales of British Columbia wines was C$6.8-million (748,000 litres) and was worth around $9.15 per litre. In 2004\05 sales were $112-million (5.6-million litres worth $20.17 per litre. The increase in sales over the previous year was 22 per cent with a market share of 19 per cent. The increase in market share of Australian wines was 2.6 per cent. Close to 100 wineries are driving the industry's growth in B.C. In 1988 there were just 14.
DOZING
The sleep-deprived Japanese have found a cure for nodding off at inappropriate times. The "nap alarm" is a device fixed to an ear that buzzes the moment the wearer's head nods forward. Japanese politicians are notorious for sleeping in parliament. The inventor of the $20.00 device came up with the idea after he dozed off at the wheel and crashed into a parked car.
AUTOMATION
Vending machines spitting out cheap DVD rentals are appearing in subway stations, pharmacies and other handy locales, posing yet another challenge to the traditional video store. Entrepreneurs are racing to set up DVD vending machines, charging as little as $1.00 for a six-hour rental. Customers make the purchase with a credit or debit card and return the movies to the machine. Industry insiders predict the dispensers will become as common as automated banking machines.
EXPENSES
More companies are adopting sophisticated new technology to help track and crack down on employees' expense accounts. Using new software, corporate travellers can more easily track their expenses on the road and find out in real time whether they are following company policies. Their bosses can also keep tabs on their travel spending as transactions occur.
SAVINGS
A global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world's hydro bill by nearly one tenth. This is the conclusion of the first global study of lighting uses and costs. The carbon dioxide emissions saved by such a switch would, it concludes, dwarf cuts so far achieved by adopting wind and solar power. 19 per cent of global electricity generation is used for lighting. The biggest consumer of lighting electricity is the fluorescent tube.
BOOKS
Revenues in Canada's book publishing industry exceeded C$2-billion in 2004, up 12.5 per cent from 2000. Foreign controlled companies accounted for almost half of the industry revenues. Book publishers had a total industry profit of $235-million in 2004, for a profit margin of 10.9 per cent. Publishers produced 16,776 new titles and reprinted 12,387 existing titles. Educational books accounted for about one fifth of new titles.
WORK
In the past decade there has been a sustained increase in the importance of part-time work, notably in the Netherlands, where it now makes up 36 per cent of total employment. Mostly it is done by women, who account on average for 73 per cent of such work across the OECD. Many governments are taking steps to promote part-time jobs as a means of raising overall employment rates.
PEARS
A clever New Zealand company has created a package that both protects fruit and tells you when to eat it. The package features an "intelligent label" with a paper dot that changes colour as the pear moves from "crisp" through "firm" and "juicy. The biosensor technology measures levels of ethylene gases given off by ripening fruit.
GIFTS
It's the perfect gift for the child who prefers to play with the packaging rather than the present. Manufacturers in the UK have unveiled one of this year's unusual Christmas toys, a large piece of molded plastic that comes with no batteries, no rules and no instructions. Resembling a giant potty or an oversized builder's hat, the Bilibo is part of an industry-wide shift away from complicated electronic gadgets to more innocent toys. Some children use the Swiss-designed Bilibo as a seat or a hat while others turn it into a box, tunnel or boat. The possibilities are endless.
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