Paul Dhaliwal recently commented on my post about the Tar Sands. I’d like to clarify my stance on the subject, because I felt that he misunderstood my opinion when writing his post.

My purpose was to show that although the tar sands have eco-problems, hoping that the industry will shut down is irrational- the best option available now is to work with the industry so that we can try to make it as green as possible. Seeing as paul’s final paragraph is essentially re-worded from my final statement, I am confused as to why if we have come to the same conclusion, he disagrees with my post.

Paul asserts that there is no way for the industry to be sustainable at all, and that trying to do this would be too costly. However, in my linked article there is no evidence of this. Adding cheap scrubbers to smokestacks would greatly reduce air pollution. Up to 40% of habitat could be saved by the restoring method mentioned in my post, which wouldn’t affect oil production. This is 40% that otherwise would not be saved. Steps can be taken to make the industry greener while having a negligible impact on company profits.

A theatre-esque setup is more appealing to some than a 13-inch laptop

Reading Troy Ochipinti’s blog, I was in agreement with his post “Netflix Jumps the Gun” which concerned Netflix’s change in price layout due to the separation of it’s streaming and DVD rentals.

I largely agree with what Troy has stated. Streaming movies is obviously, as he puts it, “the way of the future”. It is rapidly increasing in popularity, and there is no doubt that it will soon become the dominant way to watch films.

However, I would contend that there is a future for a greatly downsized DVD delivery industry. It needs to be taken into account that we are leaving an age where virtually every household has rented DVD’s. It’s true that a massive amount of the DVD market has been eaten up by streaming videos, but I believe that after the dust settles there may be a significant, albeit smaller, demand for DVDs. They can be easily played off of TV’s, which are bigger and better for watching movies on than computers. Netflix may still be able to capitalize on being the dominant company in a much smaller market.

I recently came across a blog from the economist about the re-opening of Marks & Spencer in Paris, which hasn’t been in europe since 2001. The store’s product focus this time around to primarily “women’s clothing and convenience food”. To my surprise, the blog describes how parisian masses (who were largely female) were lined up outside the store. Although this is a company that has been out of the local market for a decade, it had made such an impact on customers that they were willing to stand in a long, crowded line on a weekday to browse the shop. Marks & spencer have powerfully established themselves as a niche market that is made possible to the company’s attention to very different and specific conditions.

The blog asserts that multiple changing conditions have drawn even more french support to the store. Some of these situations, such as the rising demand for a quick lunch break and the convenience of food and shopping for a new target market of young office workers are fairly obvious. others, such as the link to smoking bans in cafes which necessitates a quicker lunch, would’ve been much harder for the company to forecast.

Ottawa unveils plastic money

The Bank of Canada has started to introduce new plastic bills that have more security features that will make them harder to counterfeit. I find that my opinion is divided regarding this decision, mostly because I don’t specific information concerning the upgrade is available yet.

Initially, I was enthusiastic about the switch. The new currency is more practical and durable- not only is it waterproof and harder to rip but it also can be recycled after its use. As well, the heightened security of the bill has instinctive appeal, because it would limit the problems associated with the circulation of counterfeit bills.

However, in looking into the counterfeiting problem in Canada I was surprised to find that counterfeit bills make up less than one percent of all bills circulated. This lead me to thinking, “how much will this introduction of the new bills cost?”. The answer is not very clear, especially if you factor in the effort put into taking older notes quickly out of circulation. Although the benefits might well outweigh the costs, it would be interesting how much the new money is worth. All things considered I would say I am for the introduction of the new currency.

This article is concerned with Steve Jobs’s Stanford commencement address, in which he discusses his belief about the importance of loving your occupation, and believing in “what you do” to achieve success. The writer asserts that loving your work may not be as dependant on your area of work, but rather how you tackle the job. As is the case with Jobs, people who bring imagination and enthusiasm to their job will place more value on it, regardless of what their occupation is.

I agree with the article that there is just as much of an impact on job happiness from work enthusiasm as there is on the type of occupation, but I would also go a step further. I would contend that being stylish and innovative in your job is a crucial quality of an entrepreneur. Being intellectually invested in a business will mean that the entrepreneur will be intrinsically motivated to do what is best for the company, rather than being motivated by personal gain. Also, there is a rising importance placed on companies to be innovative, so if an entrepreneur has these qualities, it can send a strong message to the people about the company.

http://www.economist.com/whichmba/mba-careers-jobs-worth