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Toddler shoe empire builder nudges baby out of nest

K B — Thu, 7 Sep 2006 10:08 EDT

It's sad to see a beautiful little shoe company that makes beautiful little shoes get sold to a U.S. business...things will change for the employees, and probably not for the better. But, congratulations, Ms. Wilson, on a job well done in steering the company this far. I buy every new baby in my life a pair of Robeez! And congrats on seeing your baby grow into a high school student!

Couche-Tard chain raring to buy

silver paladin — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 22:53 EDT

Never heard of this store (chain) before, and 7-11 is popular here. The other popular c-store here in Calgary (Western Canada in general I would say) is the Macs. This is not mentioned whatsoever. What has happened to Mac's that it does not even get a mention in this article?

Bank of Canada holds rates unchanged

John McCaffery — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 22:17 EDT

If rates are being held steady to protect the Ontario and Quebec industrial base, let?s hope this does not have serious ramifications on western Canadians, by adding heat to real-estates prices. We?ve seen interest rates in Australia rising for the past 2-3 years and this has helped dampen the speculative real-estate market.

BlackBerry safe?

Jason Bassett — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 21:21 EDT

Not surprising that someone found a vulnerability. Anything with an OS and a way to connect to a network can be hacked. Would have been nice if the BES settings were linked on the article though.

Apple hints at movie download service

Bob Razz — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 15:35 EDT

You know why I will never get a Dick Tracy watch.... the picture is too small... HD quality on a BIG screen... or forget it.

Ethanol

R. M. — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 15:07 EDT

First, the person who wrote this article should be sent back for a refresher course, MTBE was displaced with ethanol as an octane enhancer and it has displaced one of the last great poisons floating around our country, ethanol on the other hand is spilled safely down the throats of Canadians daily. To describe ethanol as a energy mop should be held up litre for litre with an oilsand barrel of oil, the amount of natural gas required, the public expense, roads, pollution, bad political choices (read as federal government stand on Kyoto),What USA has learned about all of this is if they are going to pay farmers to grow grain, which they do in spades, and still have to stack up young bodies to get oil from an unappreciative world, with it's cheap food policy they may as well bring it all in house keep GDP for themselves, and to heck with the naysayers. Canada can stand on principle here if they like,, farms going broke, giving away food, pollute ground water with oil developement,, it has the luxury of cheap oil, and bad government policy. Enough already!

Auto firms enjoy best August sales on record

X. T. — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 15:03 EDT

Yet GM stlll manages to lose ground on sales YOY.

Sony delays PS3 European release until March

CPT America — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 14:44 EDT

What? Did Sony have Lithium Ion batteries in this product too?

Intel to slash 10,500 jobs

CPT America — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 14:43 EDT

hey wait....what we need is CDN voodo economics, how about a market control board, maybe a low stumpage fee, how about a CDN wheat board, nah, that has all been tried before and it is slowly becoming the Caliphate of the North!

Auto firms enjoy best August sales on record

P C — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 14:23 EDT

Wow. Even when GM and Chrysler tries to give away their cars, the numbers still continue to drop. And Ford basically paid people to take them off their hands but got the volume sales...but no profits. Start making quality products or Bye Bye Big 3.

Bank of Canada holds rates unchanged

Richard Hawrelak — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 14:22 EDT

Smart move, and one step ahead of 'beenie' in the U.S.

Sony delays PS3 European release until March

P C — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 14:17 EDT

Things aren't looking to good for Sony these days. Laptop batteries that blow up. Component production problems. I know I won't be taking a chance on buying the first one that comes out.

Apple hints at movie download service

shanon stevenson — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 14:08 EDT

If you thin that movies will not be viewed again and again obviously don't have small kids that know every line and every scene of their favourite movie by heart. iPods for camping? iPods for trips? iPods for quiet time? iPods for 'shut the hell up now mommy and daddy are busy' time? Parents are going to love the new iPod and movie service. Just wait til students start downloading video recordings of their professor to catch up and to study what is, what was, and what will be in thier classes. Teens and movies? Thats only the beach head buddy, D-day is coming and Apple is at the forefront.

Apple hints at movie download service

Swifty J — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 13:45 EDT

Although I haven't seen any iTunes TV downloads, I know that a movie can be encoded at acceptable HDTV viewing quality into a file that fits on a CD-ROM (using MPEG 4/DivX). Assuming Apple offers files in that 650 MB range, I don't think download times will pose a problem for the target audience (it should take no more than 30 minutes for most broadband users, and will be faster for many). If they make it possible to view the movies more or less anywhere and offer them at a price only slightly higher than a DVD rental, it should work out well for them. If the restrictions are too severe and the price is the rumoured $9.99, then I doubt it will amount to much. Competition from rentals and pirated downloads will be too stiff. As I understand it, the TV shows can be played on up to five computers and as many iPods as you like (hah!). Assuming it's the same for movies, this will probably be a reasonably profitable but unspectacular niche.

The law page

Clayton Burns — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 13:43 EDT

Beppi's good article brings into focus the need for the legal profession to adapt to changing circumstances, although I would like to see a slightly different approach. Law students usually identify first year courses in Public law as being of less value than their other courses. Almost all of them express strong interest in Evidence as being a fascinating subject of great practical value. Nobody can explain why law schools require LSAT, beyond inertia. Unless the legal profession undertakes a more global analysis, it will find that any gains made by spot checking will be undermined by macrotrends in education. It should be possible to ask why high school law courses are so weak and design better programs. High school law students should be working on real texts such as A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. They should be learning a deep reading cycle so as to develop intellectual curiosity about events in the UK, Australia, and Asia. How many schools are teaching honors social sciences students sytematically through the many excellent news sites in London? How many students have the stamina and skill in pattern recognition to follow legal issues in all the countries with legal systems similar to our own, and others? A pervasive spiral in education is the triviality in teaching our official languages, especially English. What are the downstream effects on law? The New Yorker Education Issue of Sept. 4th article by Dana Goodyear reports a discussion of Emily Dickinson's "Pain--has an Element of Blank--" at Deep Springs College. Dickinson could well have penned "It's" where she meant "Its." How can we prove it? Did Katie Peterson of Harvard tell her students about that? This is an excellent case of "Consider your evidence," but students cannot focus precisely, because the system of teaching English is so coarse-grained. If students habitually ignore micro-evidence, how will they be able to explain: Air-India? claytonburns@gmail.com

Bank of Canada holds rates unchanged

Jeremy S. — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 13:36 EDT

This just in! ... Nothing happened and probably won't happen for a while ... we now return you to your regularly schedueled life

Ford tips Boeing veteran to be new CEO

Robert Ross — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 13:10 EDT

To #8. Just because we are Canadians does not mean we don't have opinions about what Ford should do to turn things around. Where is your contribution to the conversation?

The law page

A E Hawthorne — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:59 EDT

My neighbour swears that the law society never publishes any decision of any matter it loses. 'Imagine going to a criminal court where the only research you can look at is where the Queen has won, he says. He says that Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons and the British Columbia Law Society replace names with random initials when a professional wins, so that they report every matter that is heard. Shouldn't Ontario tribunals do that also?

Sony delays PS3 European release until March

can I vote again — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:51 EDT

hmmm, BETA vs VHS again? Sony (DRM root kit buddies) are hedging that they will rule the content (at 50 bucks per disc...I don't think so)

Auto firms enjoy best August sales on record

Jeremy Frolick — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:32 EDT

Actually, sales are up for the last 6 months, so it is a trend. And like they say, in Alberta is where most of the new sales are occuring in growth. And people are buying lots of big trucks too, which is good, so we can run down all the hippies who dare step foot in Alberta! Hahaha.

U.S. productivity slows while wages post second large increase

Arnie Kist — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:29 EDT

Interesting that the New York Times reported last week that despite several years of economic growth in the US, record corporate profits, and increased productivity, workers real wages have actually fallen since 2003. Perhaps this robust increase in wages is just a bit of catching up?

The law page

A E Hawthorne — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:19 EDT

Will benchers and society counsel still be exempt from any discipline proceedings while they are involved in society business? Will personal and professional conflicts of interest of benchers ever be looked at? How about bencher competence? Competence of appointed lay benchers? Should society complaint notices describe relevant facts and regulations said to be breached, as in all other legal forums? I can't help but think that the society hammers its members to keep the spotlight off of itself, its management and its spending. Who will inspect the law society?

Ethanol

Thomas Karkson — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:19 EDT

I strongly agree with the Diesel option, having driven one in Europe a couple of summers ago - I did not even realize it was a diesel until it came time to fill it up. With 20% increased mileage per litre, and no ignition system to worry about, it's the obvious choice right now considering its lower cost relative to the new hybrid sytems. Too bad the diesel engine needs to be so much more robust and therefore heavier than the gas engine, otherwise we could be running disel lawnmowers, outboards, etc.

Intel to slash 10,500 jobs

andy c — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:08 EDT

Stephen McPherson, intel will hang around for the next little bit. AMD simply does not have the production capacity to meet global demand for cpu's on it's own. this is a similar situation when compared to Nvidia vs ATI, over the long run each company will have it's day in the sun while the other company struggles. in the end, us the consumers will benefit from the increased competition.

Apple hints at movie download service

J F — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 11:36 EDT

Hey Steve...it would help if your stupid ipod video could play more than 45 minutes of video without running out of batteries