Scott Marshall's Blog

The popular hot sauce Sriracha may soon be in short supply if their factory is shutdown. The “Huy Fong Foods” company is being sued due to its primary factory releasing strong odors that are a public nuisance. Approximately 100 million pounds of peppers are processed here a year, so pungent, spicy smells are released into the environment that causes many people to hide indoors to avoid headaches and coughing.

The city of Irwindale, California, is suing for the smell that is hurting the city’s residents. They want the factory to be a good neighbor and increase air filtration methods or have it closed down to prevent further harm to the residents. Strangely, the man suing the company speaks highly of the product itself, but is overcome by the smells and its effects on the community.

Huy Fong Foods should increase its air filtration techniques. Residents can smell the odors from over half a mile away, and those who are close have burning eyes, coughing, sneezing, and many other symptoms which are a nuisance. The quicker they do this, the less legal problems they will encounter.

As a UBC resident, I rely heavily on Sriracha for making cafeteria food edible, so I hope the company maintains its production.

http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/product.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/30/calif-town-sues-sriracha-chili-sauce-maker-over-smell/

Bitcoins are a digital currency that has been growing in popularity since its release in 2009. The world’s  first bitcoin ATM machine is to be introduced in Vancouver next week. On this new ATM, users are required to use a palm scanner and are limited to a maximum of $3000 exchanged per day. Cash is basically exchanged for bitcoins which are placed into your bitcoin wallet online. The introduction of this ATM, (and others soon across Canada), is to attempt to make bitcoins better known, more accessible, and overall easier to exchange.

Bitcoins have their drawbacks, such as their lack of control from a bank and their ability to be more anonymous than other currencies. They have been involved in a popular online drug marketplace that used bitcoins as currency.

I do not see a digital currency becoming overly popular to most people. Why would somebody go through the hassle of exchanging Canadian dollars to bitcoins to purchase online? Paypal already accomplishes this task, and is substantially more convenient that bitcoins. The dark past of bitcoins being involved in anonymous drug purchases will hurt its ability to move forward as a socially accepted currency as well.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/world-s-first-bitcoin-atm-goes-live-in-vancouver-next-week-1.2251820

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2AjPfHTIS4

I recommend that you watch the video link above before reading the following blog post.

Mobile giant Samsung is releasing a new product: Samsung SmartWatch. Basically, a mini computer that connects you to your Samsung phone via bluetooth technology so you do not have to constantly take our your phone with every “beep” you hear.

How successful will this product be? I would anticipate not very. From a student’s point of view, there is no possibility of paying a large sum of money just so I can have the availability of my phone functions on my wrist, even though my phone is merely in my pocket. The only market I really see for this product would be high income/ business groups that would like to increase efficiency, and by increase efficiency, I mean “Now I don’t have to take out my phone as much”. As well, I anticipate the watch having some technological bugs at first that will create inconvenience for many.

The technology on the watch is nothing too revolutionary either. You can call, text, and use voice control, but the watch itself does not connect to any data network or anything of the sort. In the big picture, the watch really does not add much convenience to normal phone users.

In my opinion, the SmartWatch will not be a success. Watches are made to tell time, and that thought is integrated into most humans heads. If we try to replace the “watch to time” relationship with a new “watch to phone” one in peoples’ heads, I do not see that as a successful marketing strategy whatsoever. Samsung should continue doing what they are doing well, and that is offering a quality product that actively competes with apple.