Another unusual first have graced the streets of Vancouver, with the addition of  “blue box recycled plastics as asphalt mix on the city’s roads. “ Vancouver is now adding “old plastic milk jugs, yogurt containers, and other post-consumer recyclable material”  which will be ground up into wax and added into asphalt mix, which eventually ends up in the road.

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This addition will not only allow the city to apply asphalt in cool days (days that are truly uncommon in a city like Vancouver), but it will also result in significant savings. 20% less fuel will be used to operate asphalt plants because of the decrease in need. This material is also as as strong and durable as the current mix, which reduces any safety complaints that may be raised.

Vancouver truly is a leading city in environmental sustainability. With yet another innovative way to both reduce cost and decrease fuel consumption, Vancouver’s economic footprint is slowly declining. These methods should definitely be supported and more innovative ideas must be implemented for Vancouver to continue its trek towards a greener future.

Article: http://www.whatsonthorold.com/sites/default/files/field/image/bluebox.jpg

Some argue that they key to success is knowing the right people because they open doors that were previous padlocked. The only way to expand your contact list is by meeting new people, a method otherwise known as networking. For future young entrepreneurs, Young Entrepreneur is definitely the blog to follow. Young Entrepreneur allows young people to connect and share their ideas and opinions with others who share the same passion.

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Young Entrepreneur offers advice and tips that equip hopefuls with the tools necessary to start their own business. To name a few, there are 20 Must Have Tools for Young Treps, 3 Critical Elements of an Investor Pitch, and How to Never Miss a Chance to Start a Hype. There is also a forum available where there are discussions in which other entrepreneurs attempt to aid their peers. It is a supportive group in which young entrepreneurs can thrive.

A quick perusal of the website quick revealed how useful the blog is for anyone new who plans to create a business. With insights that would not have even been considered, otherwise, visiting this blog will allow you to bring yourself one step closer to a successful business venture.

Blog site: http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/

http://www.urthecast.com/#

“Everything is about to change”

Yet again, a revolutionary contraption will grace our daily lives. UrtheCast is “launching the world’s first high-definition video platform of Earth, streamed from space.” This video can be used to observe the daily events and lives of people on Earth. This video streaming will also be incredibly useful to humanitarian efforts during natural disasters while “educators will be able to harness rich videos for their lesson plans.”

The concept itself is incredibly abstract in that people who go about their lives will only be mildly interested in viewing the Earth as time passes by. However, the potential advancements humanity can take has increased exponentially with his new technology. Starting from being able to monitor environmental changes to seeing how activities vary in every culture in other countries, we will be able to see how this technology will further impact our lives.

This entrepreneurial quest shows how a team with an innovative idea with the right type of technology will be able to change society, while making the big bucks.

Website: http://www.urthecast.com/

Further Reading: http://www.urthecast.com/blog/camera/how-it-works-urthecast/ 

Our world is slowly being revolutionized by innovative technology that seeks to make our lives more efficient and a lot easier. Most of these technological advances have been born to be used in our cellphones, those little pieces of technology that most of us can’t function without.

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Smart phones are a form of management information systems and become a form of business technology management with the way they have implemented another method for paying for purchases. Canadians will now be able to use their cellphones as a “mobile credit card”. This idea is welcomed by almost 47% of Canadians spanning every age. This will allow faster transactions and another thing that Canadians can add to the ever increasing functions of their cellphones.

However, there is still some skepticism regarding the system’s accuracy and accessibility. This form of payment will only be available with a certain type of software and during the system’s test runs, it only had an accuracy rating of 19/20.

Despite these minor problems, this new piece of technology seems to be the future. It won’t be long before even credit cards and debit cards become obsolete.

As CIBC’s David Williamson said, “making the first mobile credit card payment means that we are one step closer to allowing Canadians to store everything they need, securely, in their smartphone.”

Article:  http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/personal-tech/Canadians+ready+smartphones+like+credit+cards/7489598/story.html#ixzz2BCN5ViBo

Class Notes: What are management information systems? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_information_systems 

What is business technology management? http://ccict.ca/ccict-strategy/btm