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On June 27th 2014, Aboriginal Leaders were brought to ‘cheers and tears’ after the supreme court ruled that the Tsilhqot’in First Nation has title 1,750 square kilometres of land in south central B.C. The tribal park would cover about 3,120 square kilometres and protect cultural, heritage and ecological values, according to the Tsilhqot’in, while connecting to five surrounding provincial parks. Although the ruling also made it clear that economic development would continue with consent, if not then the crown has proven that the project has a “compelling and substantial” public interest.
From personal perspective, the First Nations were deprived of their lands and properties before and I think this is a great progress in the Canadian-First Nations relations. I agree with Jody Wilson-Raybould, regional B.C. chief of the Assembly of First Nations, when she says “This will be a game-changer in terms of the landscape in British Columbia and throughout the rest of the country where there is unextinguished Aboriginal title,” said Jody Wilson-Raybould, regional B.C. chief of the Assembly of First Nations. This has to be the wake-up call for governments, both the provincial and federal governments, and we look to Mr. Harper to actually see this as the fundamental impetus to sit down at the table and truly and meaningfully move towards reconciliation.”

I read this article on The Guardian, posted on September 18, 2014.

The article states that most of the Nova Scotia firms in the United Kingdom seem to have very little or no concern about the outcome of the vote on Scottish independence and stand firm on the fact that no matter what the outcome of this voting may be, Nova Scotia companies will continue to do business with Scotland. Scotland is a significant trade partner for Nova Scotia, including in the energy, fisheries and ocean tech sectors,” says Frazer Egerton, director of trade policy in the Department of Economic, Rural Development and Tourism. “We look forward to continuing and growing our trade relationship, whatever the decision of the Scottish people.”

Scott Long, Music Nova Scotia’s executive director, said the mission to Glasgow was an important market research effort.“As a province we have been targeting the UK as a strategic music market for some time, but with particular emphasis on London. Glasgow is increasingly becoming a major epicentre for the discovery of new music. Connecting with buyers in Glasgow is the next logical step to a successful export strategy in the U.K.”

I reckon what caught my attention to this article was that no matter what the final outcome of a huge decision of freedom for Scotland, the firms from a province in Canada would still carry on it’s trade even if there will be a whole new set of regulations if Scotland did separate.

I got the reference for this article from class when the Professor mentioned about milkshake marketing, an intriguing and newly innovative way to sell products.

The milkshake was hired in lieu of a bagel or doughnut because it was relatively tidy and appetite-quenching, and because trying to suck a thick liquid through a thin straw gave customers something to do with their boring commute. Understanding the job to be done, the company could then respond by creating a morning milkshake that was even thicker (to last through a long commute) and more interesting (with chunks of fruit) than its predecessor. The chain could also respond to a separate job that customers needed milkshakes to do: serve as a special treat for young children—without making the parents wait a half hour as the children tried to work the milkshake through a straw. In that case, a different, thicker milkshake was in order.

Personally, I consider this as a very creative, innovative and intriguing method of marketing, the fact that a consumer would purchase thick milkshakes to quenche not just thirst, but also boredom.

Even though major retailers like Target and Home Depot made the most headlines in the past year because of data breaches, companies of all sizes face similar dangers. Overall, 43 percent of U.S. businesses suffered at least one cyber security incident this year, up 10 percent from 2013, according to a study from the Ponemon Institute, which conducts independent research on privacy, data protection and information security policy, and Experian Data Breach Resolution.These incidents have data security in U.S. businesses at an all-time high. Nearly three-quarters of the businesses surveyed now have a data breach response plan in place, up 12 percent from last year. Additionally, 48 percent of organizations have increased their investment in security technologies in the past 12 months. Since employee errors are a frequent cause of data breaches, more and more businesses provide their staffs with data security training. The study discovered that 54 percent of companies have privacy and data-protection awareness training for employees and other stakeholders, up 10 percentage points from 2013.

I read this really great news article in The Guardian, about the product that everyone is buzzing about, the IPhone 6. To be specific, this article was related to an App in the new IPhone with Nike as its fitness partner, HealthKit. So how this App works is, when a patient takes blood pressure reading, HealthKit automatically notifies their App, and the App checks whether that reading is in that patients’ personalized healthcare parameters threshold. And if not, it can contact the hospital proactively, notify a doctor, and that doctor can reach back to the patient, providing more timely care. In other words, it acts as a nurse, checking illness and vital signs and notifying the doctor incase of amiss.  This App is also integrated into the new Apple Watch and could potentially monitor everything from the user’s heart rate to their chronic conditions. Personally I find the idea of such an App intriguing and really ethical. It shows that Apple cares about the society, rather than just focusing on making profits by increasing it’s sales and encourages a healthier environment. It also will help to recognize any abnormalities and get them fixed before any problem arises.