¶ Published Friday, January 30th In Environment, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
Environmentalists are notoriously pessimistic. They confidently claim, “We consume too much, there are too many people, capitalism destroys nature…”. I disagree. Over the past few years, I have become increasingly optimistic about our chances at not only survival, but prospering. I recently read an article about the automation of warehouses for major companies. Intelligent robots run around the wharehouse and fill orders that have been entered over a company’s website. An order that used to take over 3 hours to fill, now takes 12 minutes! Think about that. There are less humans involved, and the ones that are have an easierRead the Rest…
¶ Published Friday, January 30th In Environment - No Comments »
The Canadian Bar Association has invited legal futurist, Richard Susskind, to speak at a the Canadian launch of his new book The End of Lawyers: Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services. The event will take place at the National Club on February 11. Anyone can register here. His argument in a nutshell: lawyers have become too expensive, which is why the market will turn to those who can provide legal service at much lower rates thanks to technology and commoditization. Those who are most innovative in finding new ways to delivering legal services will reap the rewards. You can readRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, January 29th In Legal Issues - No Comments »
Here is a bulletin from our site, it was published on January 3rd, 2009. Under the new New Product Stewardship Regulations, the companies that produce or distribute product packaging or printed paper (stewards) in Manitoba are responsible for developing a program to manage designated wastes. The Regulation targets all product packaging and printed papers that would normally be managed through a municipal waste management system, but must now be included under a stewardship program plan. There are no product fees or levies identified in regulation. Industry will be required to determine an appropriate financial system and propose fees to ensureRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, January 29th In Environment - No Comments »
More commentary on the Federal budget from the National Post quoting Matthew Bramley, director of the climate change program the Pembina Institute. Bramley’s main issue seems to be that Canada is budgeted to spend about four times less per capita on clean energy than the US, which is looking into an ambitious upgrade of its electricity, clean power and renewable energy initiatives. In terms of dollars and cents, the conservative government in Canada is arguing that its $1-billion clean energy fund will promote carbon capture and storage, and $351-million will be directed to nuclear power, hardly items that generate aRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, January 28th In Environment - No Comments »
Next week is the TED conference. At this moment, I am too poor and too un-accomplished to attend. However, we can now get a live stream of the conference and that is exactly what we have done. Our office will be showing the conference live on a projector screen. Space is very limited and may already be full, but if you want to stop by for a coffee and talk, drop me an email.
¶ Published Wednesday, January 28th In Environment - No Comments »
The recent Federal budget has made some room for environmental initiatives. These vary from green infrastructure to regulatory changes. In total there are 51 mentions of “environment” and 23 mentions of “environmental” in the recent budget; not exactly overwhelming. Overall, it seems like a missed opportunity. In this time of uncertainty, the Federal government could have used their freedom to spend on initiatives such as clean tech, energy efficiency, government transparency, simpler regulations and other items which would create jobs and stimulate a 21st century economy. Instead, they seemed focused putting in enough token gestures to have it passed. NotRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, January 27th In Design & Features, Environment, Legal Issues - No Comments »
As previously mentioned, we are making video screencasts of the different parts of NIMONIK. Just finished a quick one on the legislation part of the site, take a look below and let us know what you think. Watch in high quality: Video Or watch in lower quality here:
¶ Published Monday, January 26th In Design & Features, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
This is a cross posting with visiblegovernment.ca My friend, Jennifer Bell over at visiblegovernment.ca, asked me to write about a recent and interesting presentation extolling the benefits of an “open city”, so here goes. The presenter, Mark Surman, outlines his idea for using collaborative technologies to improve the quality of life and efficiency of a city (Toronto). Based around the concepts of the open-source mouvement, he claims that if cities put the right tools in place, citizens will build low cost ways to access, share and enhance information. There are examples of this already working in different cities; but, heRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, January 22nd In Environment - No Comments »
With all the talk surrounding economic angst, the common theme emerging is uncertainty. Who knows what to global downturn will inflict in terms of pain, or how long it will last? But for entrepreneurs, here’s the upside: the bigger the upheaval, the greater the opportunity for businesses to develop effective solutions, especially when they act together. Which is why this an interesting and timely initiative: a group of stakeholders are set on transforming a 12,000 hectare commercial and industrial park around Toronto’s Pearson airport into North America’s largest eco-business zone. Partners in Project Green is the culmination of a partnershipRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, January 21st In Environment - No Comments »
Over the next few weeks we will be putting together some screencasts of different parts of the site. Here is the first one, a rapid fire overview of our Dashboard. Watch in High Quality HERE or below in a smaller version.
¶ Published Tuesday, January 20th In Environment, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
Plastic is one of the most useful things ever invented. It is everywhere. Without it, our modern society would not be possible. Take a look around your room, how much is made from plastic or has plastic components in it? Probably over 75%. Yet, plastic is very bad for the environment, it uses non-renewable resources, energy and takes a very long time to degrade – often producing toxic chemicals in the process. Recycling is good, but complicated. Replacement is better. Canada just banned Bisphenol A in many consumer products and that is just the beginning. Traditional plastics will die. There areRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, January 14th In Miscellaneous - No Comments »
Found via: Slaw
¶ Published Saturday, January 10th In Design & Features, Miscellaneous - 1 Comment »
One of the biggest challenges is prioritizing ideas. This applies to both business and life. Personally, I never buy anything on impulse. If I see something that appeals to me, I will make a mental note of it. If I still want it in a couple months, then I’ll buy it. The vast majority of things, I forget. Eventually, you get fewer and fewer purchase desires. At NIMONIK, we apply this to content and technology features. When a feature is originally proposed or thought up, we let it sit for a while. If it is still an appealing idea afterRead the Rest…
¶ Published Saturday, January 10th In Environment - No Comments »
The federal government invites Canadians to submit their comments on the upcoming January 23 budget. Common thinking says that in lean times, environmental concerns get short shrift. But does it need to be this way? Pundits anticipate the government will announce serious infrastructure spending. Instead of focusing entirely on the usual beneficiaries (transportation, government buildings, public utilities, etc.), why not also set significant funding aside to invest in something that will benefit the country in the long term, reduce our GHG emissions, and make us more competitive economically? Let’s invest in fossil-fuel independence and green technology. Many in the UnitedRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, January 8th In Environment - No Comments »
A good point was made below on the need for more humility — nuance even — in the debate on how to deal with the increase in greenhouse gases. What’s also needed is good reporting. There might be evidence of an increase in plant growth, but what does that really mean? Are they toxic algae, possibly responsible for depleting the sea of its oxygen and killing ocean life? The booming biosphere argument also fails to address other worrying threats, such as the acidification of the sea. There’s much about this complex ecosystem that we don’t understand, as the Economist arguesRead the Rest…
