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Date
Published:
December 2, 2013
Where: BBC News Title:
Amazon testing
drones for deliveries |
|
This editor recognizes that this story
received plenty of media attention. However, it's important to think about what
other uses drone deliveries could have. In Ontario, for instance, with its large
auto manufacturing sector, could "drone-type" deliveries prevent unexpected
shutdowns on the assembly line, or help reduce inventory supplies, or unexpected
stock outages? Competitive North American manufacturing depends on continued
efficiencies. That is why this article is worth thinking about. |
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Date
Published:
November 27, 2013
Where: CBC News Title:
Siracha hot sauce
factory ordered to partially shut down |
|
Why is this important? Because in almost every
one of our major Canadian cities, manufacturing resides side by side with
residential communities. And now, even though the Judge acknowledged that there
was a "lack of credible evidence" linking consumer complaints to breathing
trouble or watering eyes, he still upheld the partial shutdown of the factory.
This could become an important precedent. |
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Date Published:
Summer, 2013
Where:The Link Title:
SR&ED Rule Changes and What It Means To Your Clients |
|
We are a bit late posting this article to our
webpage; however, the rule changes hit the hardest in 2014. In essence, CRA is
in the process of re-defining their funding portion of new product and process
improvement down from close to 70% of many costs to approximately 52% of many
costs. While government help might not be as strong as it once was, it is still
very good. |
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Date Published:
October 2, 2013
Where: The Globe and Mail Title:
Rogers to offer
promotional ads by text |
|
Remember when we had to hire marketing firms
to hold focus groups to tell us who our customers were and how best to focus our
products to their desires. Well now, if our customers own cell phones, wireless
carriers can tell us where they go, what stores they shop in, and anything else
we might want to know. Big brother really is watching. Are you ready to take
advantage of this? |
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Date Published:
October 2, 2013
Where: CNN Tech Title:
5 problems with iOS
7, and how to fix them |
|
If you're one of those iPhone users who
struggles with improving your battery life when you're away from the office for
extended periods of time, then you need to know that iOS 7 has expanded its
ability to run apps in the background, a feature that you may or may not want,
depending on the app. This article gives you a tip on how to let iOS 7 know your
preferences, app by app. Thanks CNNTech. |
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Date Published:
September 18, 2013
Where: Reuters Title:
Apple iPhone
fingerprint scanner gets plaudits in early reviews |
|
On this page, on June 18, 2013, see below, we
highlighted an article that indicated that the theft of mobile devices - smartphones
and tablets - is now the "fastest-growing street crime" in the U.S. The
government asked manufacturers for their help and, Apple's fingerprint reader on
its top-end iPhone 5s has received an early thumbs up for ease of use from two
influential reviewers. This is an important step in the right direction. |
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Date Published:
September 3, 2013
Where: Yahoo! Finance Title:
Pace of US
manufacturing hit 2-year peak in Aug. |
|
U.S. manufacturing expanded in August at the
fastest pace since June, 2011 based on finding by The Institute for Supply
Management. That represents a 50% growth year over year. Orders from overseas
also rose, a sign that improving economies in Europe and China may be boosting
U.S. manufacturers. It goes without saying that what's good for the U.S.
economy, our largest trading partner, is good for Canada. |
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Date Published:
August 16, 2013
Where: Statistics Canada Title:
Monthly Survey of
Manufacturing (MSM) |
|
Manufacturing sales declined 0.5% in June, the
fourth decrease in six months. Manufacturing sales have been on a slow decline
since the spring of 2012.The decline in June mostly reflected lower sales in the
miscellaneous manufacturing, fabricated metal product and wood product
industries. Higher sales in the petroleum and coal product industry offset a
portion of the decreases. Constant dollar sales were down 1.3% as volumes fell. |
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Date Published:
August, 2013
Where: Rogers Connected Title:
Video: 3 Tips for
Taking Better Photos with your Smartphone |
|
It is summer and this editor thought you might
consider this to be valuable information to keep you informed. A 2012 study
showed that 77% of Canadians use their Smartphones rather than a point and click
camera for everyday photography. Here are 3 tips from professional photographer
Arash Mallemi on how to take better pictures. He calls them the Rule of Thirds
and they are tips on picture composition, subject cropping and lighting. |
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Date Published:
July, 2013
Where: Collins Barrow Indirect Tax Alert Title:
GET THE CREDIT YOU
DESERVE: DOCUMENT YOUR CREDIT AND DEBIT NOTES |
|
This is a must read for your accounts payable
department. To summarize, a company issued an invoice with Quebec Sales Tax. The
customer disputed the invoice, the company issued a credit note, and correctred
the erroneously charged and received back from Quebec, sales tax. However, the
company issued the credit note trashed it and the original invoice, and Quebec
did not believe it ever happened. See some tips on how to avoid this potential
tax liability problem. |
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Date Published:
July 5, 2013
Where: CBC News Title:
Ultrafast internet
service launched by Vancouver startup |
|
The key to ultrafast internet speeds is the
"last mile" of wiring that connects a building to the rest of a
telecommunications network. It must be made of fibre optic cables. So, this
service is easiest to provide to office buildings or apartment buildings that
have yet to be built. Nevertheless, the cost to provide this service is not
overly expensive, and provides us with another glimpse at the future. |
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Date Published:
June 24, 2013
Where: Reuters Title:
Rivals Microsoft
and Oracle team up on push into clouds |
|
This could be bigger news than a truce between
the Hatfields and the McCoys. Probably the two most prominent names in
technology agreeing to sharing something. It just proves that rivalries can easily
be forgotten in the business world, if looking the other way is good for
business. And this certainly looks like it will be good for business. |
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Date Published:
June 18, 2013
Where: StorefrontBacktalk Title:
Cyberthieves Are
Going Low-Tech, And The Only Way To Stop Them May Be To Go Even Lower |
|
Cybercrime continues to haunt industry. Here
is another example of how thieves are stealing payment card information, this
time, from unsuspecting store employees. While this example focuses on the
retail industry, the scheme could regretfully work with the accounting
department of any business. If your business accepts payment cards, this is a
must read article. |
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Date Published:
June 10, 2013
Where: CRA Website Title:
'SR&ED T661 Claim Form
- 2013 Revision |
|
In October 2013 the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
will be releasing a revised Form T661, Scientific Research and Experimental
Development (SR&ED) Expenditures Claim, to accommodate the legislative changes
coming into effect on January 1, 2014, and to make sure the form is consistent
with the consolidated SR&ED policy documents released in December 2012. |
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Date Published:
June 12, 2013
Where: NBC News Business Title:
'Kill switch' pushed
as solution to smartphone thefts |
|
The theft of mobile devices - smartphones and
tablets - is now the "fastest-growing street crime" in the U.S. Manufacturers
are now being asked to "find a technological solution to this crime wave."
Yesterday, Apple announced that they will be dealing with the problem in their
next operating system release, iOS7. The theft statistics in this article are
staggering and should make us cautious with flashing our technology. |
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|
Date Published:
June 3, 2013
Where: GSM Nation Title:
Asus Transformer Book
Trio Preview: A True All-In-One Device |
|
If you're like most of us, you're wondering
about if and how there will be convergence between tablets and PC's, and how
that can be accomplish. Well, here is a glimpse into the future. At Computex
2013 Asus has unveiled the first three-in-one notebook, tablet and desktop PC.
Now, if only they could simulate the E Ink environment of the ereader, we'd have
it all in one package. |
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|
Date Published: May 9, 2013
Where: RFID 24 - 7 Title:
American Apparel Says Goodbye to Handheld Readers; NXP and IMPINJ Unveil New Products at RFID Live |
|
The retail industry continues to find new usages for RFID technology. For example, American Apparel announced at the 2013 RFID Journal Live Show that it is in the process of setting up its stores for self checkout, thus enabling customers to make purchases from anywhere in the store if they have an account on their mobile device. This customer centric innvoation, enabled by RFID, will be rolled out beginning sometime next month. |
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|
Date Published: May 8, 2013
Where: CbC News On line Title:
Interactive National Household Survey highlights |
|
Statistics Canada has just begun releasing data from the 2013 Census. If we are to be successful consumer products manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors or retailers, it is important to understand the demographic to which we are selling. This editor is one of those people who think a graph tells 1000 words. And there are 9 very informative graphs on this interactive web page. Enjoy! |
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|
Date Published: April 17, 2013
Where: Ottawa Citizen Title:
Target facing price backlash |
|
The arrival of Target in Canada is being closely watched by all Canadian wholesalers / manufacturers and retailers. For the first two, it's a new market for their goods, and for the retailer, it's a new competitor in their market space. This article discusses how Target's performance to date is below expectations. Read it and weep, or read it and cheer, depending on your perspective. |
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|
Date Published: April, 2013
Where: New York Times Title:
Culprit in Heart Disease Goes Beyond Meat's Fat |
|
Needless to say, this is a serious departure from our traditional business related article. However, the topic is of great importance to each of us. The article describes research published in Nature Medicine, conducted at the Cleveland Clinic, which points to other factors besides fat that could lead to higher risk of heart disease in red meat eaters. Please read the report, come to your own conclusions, and do right by your health which will do right by your family and your business. |
|
|
Date Published: March, 2013
Where: ComputerWorld Title:
Two charged with gift-card hacking scheme |
|
This is an interesting article about how the Subway hackers were able to hack into the Subway POS system and managed to steal gift cards in 3 different states by simply installing a program that takes control of a remote PC. Each of us needs to be careful about who we allow access to our computers. Forewarned is forearmed. |
|
 |
Date Published: March, 2013
Where: techradar.computing
Title:
Office 2013 |
|
While we've never before used this forum to talk about a specific app, Microsoft Office is so widespread amongst the business community and Office 2013 is such a leap in technology that we thought you should be aware of this change. Office 2013 is cloud based, licensed on a per user basis, with each user having access to their documents on up to 5 devices, and an automatic update to all future Office enhancements. Welcome to the future. |
|
 |
Date Published: February, 2013
Where: CNN Tech
Title:
From 3D graphics to biometric scans: How your smartphone will get smarter |
|
One thing we can be sure of when it comes to technology is that change is the norm. Believe it or not, it's only been 6 years since Apple changed the smartphone from a phone with email capability to a computer in your pocket. This article lists 6 things that you should expect to be the norm in the near future for your smartphone. |
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 |
Date Published: February, 2013
Where: The Toronto Star
Title:
Will 3D printing revolutionize the way we live? |
|
We've been hearing alot about 3D printing lately. This editor finally got it. Imagine being able to build prototypes simply by 'printing' your CAD design. Now, imagine if your prototype requires several components to fit together and only by integrating them with existing products/machinery can you confirm the correctness of the prototype. Now imagine that instead of spending weeks to design and refine your prototypes, you can do it in days. I GOT IT. |
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 |
Date Published: January, 2013
Where: MRO Magazine
Title:
Manufacturing sales increased 1.7% in November |
|
As you can see from the headlines, manufacturing sales are up a surprising 1.7% based on November data just released by Statistics Canada. Reading further, you will see that this article analyzes longer term trends in Canadian manufacturing data. Specifically, inventories, which continue to rise year to year. So, the good news is, manufacturing sales are up in most provinces, while the bad news is, so are inventory levels. |
|
 |
Date Published: January, 2013
Where: The Bottom Line
Title:
AC Company
wins appeal vs CRA |
|
Our first article this year concerns a Tax Court
ruling which The Bottom Line asked our Director, Elliot Schiller to
help interpret the significance thereof. He was interviewed in late
December and the article was published in the first edition of
January, 2013. It's the story of an Air Conditioner company who were
denied over $300,000 based on an interpretation of SR&ED that the
Courts ruled too narrow. |
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 |
Date Published: December, 2012
Where: CTV News
Title:
Many cyber criminals shifting focus to smartphones |
|
Canada’s privacy commissioner says Canadians aren’t doing enough to protect their mobile communications devices, like cellphones and tablet computers. One recent threat, Finfisher, takes over a phone, allowing it to be controlled and monitored remotely. Multiple anti-virus software companies, including AVG, have protection products ready for the threat. It looks like we’re all about to install virus protection software onto our cellphones. |
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 |
Date Published: December, 2012
Where: The New York Times
Title:
Taking a Stand for Office Ergonomics |
|
Two recent studies published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine and in Diabetologia conclude that people should be sitting less at work. While this is nothing new to most of us, the disturbing finding is that even if you live a healthy life style when not at the office, staring at your computer, that doesn’t inoculate you from the perils of sitting. However, the good news is that entrepreneurial solutions are already starting to appear in the work place. Read on. |
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Date Published: November, 2012
Where: www.Inc.com
Title:
The Real
Productivity Killer: Jerks |
|
This statistical / graphical article reminds us how
important it is to have the right people promoted to management.
They put a price tag on the cost of bad bosses at $360 billion every
year in lost productivity. Of course, while we all already know the
problem with our bad managers, it never hurts to be reminded, and
perhaps this article will motivate us to tackle this problem sooner
rather than later. |
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 |
Date Published: October, 2012
Where: www.WikiHow.com
Title:
How to
Avoid the Potential Risks of Geotagging |
|
This editor learned a new word this week, Geotagging.
Geotagging is the information that is attached to a picture taken on
a smartphone or similar device. It contains information about where
the picture was taken. So, what's the problem. Imagine your young
child posting a picture taken from her room. Once posted on the web,
the whole world knows where she lives. This article needs to be read
by anyone with children or grandchildren. |
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 |
Date Published: October, 2012
Where:Toronto Manager Magazine Fall 2012
Title:
How to
Make Your Board of Directors a Strategic Advantage |
|
The Fall 2012 edition of Toronto Manager Magazine
features an article by our very own Richard Taylor. Richard is a
graduate of the Dr. John Carver Policy Governance(r) training academy
and has worked with boards from the Not for Profit sector, the
public sector (police services boards) and institutional (college
and school) boards. This article will be of interest to any firms
that have a Board of Directors . |
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 |
Date Published: September, / October, 2012
Where:Moneyville.ca / The Toronto Star
Title:
How to
retrieve accidentally deleted computer files |
|
This article which originally appeared on line in
Moneyville was reproduced in The Toronto Star. It explains that
deleted files, even ones deleted from the recycle bin take a while
to actually disappear from the hard drive. It provides recommended
solutions on how to recover those files. But, remember, when it
comes to deleted files, time is of the essences. |
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Date Published: September 26, 2012
Where: Harvard Business Review
Title:
Ten Reasons
People Resist Change |
|
This article points out why organizations often fail
when it comes to implementing change. As the article points out,
"the best tool for leaders of change is to understand the
predictable, universal sources of resistance and then strategize
around them." Hats off to the Teeger Schiller Inc. Systems
Consulting Division who are masters at helping organizations get
user buy-in as step 1 in managing the change. |
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Date Published: September, 2012
Where: CA Magazine
Title:
When the
birdies go tweet, tweet, tweet |
|
As each of our firms continues to expand our
footprint in the digital world, being told by our marketing
consultants that we need a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
and on and on, we all need to be aware that our digital word needs
to be proofed and edited for absolute accuracy as the courts
continue to rule that your digital word is truly your digital bond. |
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Date Published: August, 2012
Where: USA TODAY
Title:
Why
shopping will never be the same |
|
Intel has designed a high-tech mirror that shows how
clothes look on a consumer who simply stands in front of an LCD
monitor. This technology simulates body type and fabric fit (based
on weight, height and measurements). Think of it as a digital
fitting room. The concept is three to five years from fruition but
could change apparel retailing in the same way that Amazon changed
book retailing. Forewarned is forearmed. |
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 |
Date Published: July, 2012
Where: Financial Post
Title:
Top 5
takeaways from the Bank of Canada's decision |
|
The Bank of Canada turned slightly more dovish on
July 17,2012 as it trimmed its growth outlook for Canada and
warned that the global economy has weakened. In this article,
Financial Post reporter John Shmuel listed the top 5 takeaways that
Canadian businesses should learn from this decision . |
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Date Published: June, 2012
Where: Moneyville (Toronto Star online eMagazine)
Title:
Man fired
for 'working at home in Mexico |
|
The B.C. Supreme Court just ruled in favour of this
company having the right to fire a home worker who moved his home
from Alberta to Mexico. That's the good news. The bad news is that
the reason for the firing was breach of contract, not moving to
Mexico. Many of us have out of province employees working from home
doing sales, etc. Does your contract specify that they must remain a
resident of a specific province or country, if not, are you prepared
for Mexican payroll issues? Read on! |
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Date Published: June, 2012
Where: SME Financing Data Initiative (Industry Canada/ Statistics Canada/ Finance Canada)
Title:
Q4 2011 |
|
Canadian VC
investment experienced its strongest annual performance since 2007
as $1.51 billion was invested in 504 deals. This represents a 34
percent increase over the $1.13 billion invested during 2010.
While overall investment has recovered from the historic lows
experienced in 2009 it continues to remain shy of the $2.05 billion
invested in 2007. |
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 |
Date Published: May, 2012
Where: CRA Website
Title:
Federal
SR&ED legislative proposals status as at March 31, 2012 |
|
CRA just posted their summary of the changes
introduced in the March 29, 2012 budget. The most significant
changes affect large corporations, not CCPC's. Nevertheless, the
handling of capital equipment and contractor costs, which affect
every corporation, should be noted when strategizing how to approach
innovation. |
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 |
Date Published: May, 2012
Where: Machinery & Equipment (Digital Edition)
Title:
Business
confidence improved in early 2012 in Canada |
|
The Conference Board of Canada’s Index of Business
Confidence rose 6.6 points in the fourth quarter of 2011 and gained
another 2.5 points in the first quarter of 2012 to reach 101.8 (2002
=100). These results follows 3 straight quarters of declining
confidence. Of course, with the European debt crisis far from
resolved and the upcoming U.S. election in the fall, the good news
might be short lived. Let's hope not. |
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 |
Date Published: April, 2012
Where: Industry Canada
Title:
9 tech
resolutions for your business |
|
This article begins with "Investing in technology can
be a challenge for entrepreneurs. But if done properly, information
and communications technology can be a game-changer for your
business. It can boost productivity, accelerate sales, and even open
up new markets. Here are nine resolutions to help ensure your
business reaps the benefits." It's worth the read. |
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Date Published: April, 2012
Where: The Washington Post
Title:
Flashback
trojan shows Macs do get viruses |
|
For those of you working on a Mac, please note that
you too are subject to those annoying viruses. Dr. Web has put up a
website that enables you to enter your Mac info to see if your
system is infected. The Dr. Web website can be found at
https://www.drweb.com/flashback/ Good Luck! |
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Date Published: March, 2012
Where: New York TImes
Title:
As New iPad
Debut Nears, Some See Decline of PCs |
|
Tablet sales continue to soar even though the
business functionality from a word processing/ spreadsheet point of
view is still inferior. Nevertheless, the size, convenience, price
point and other fun apps make the businessman want to own one, even
if it's just for whiling away the endless hours spent in airports,
on planes and in away from home hotel rooms. This is an interesting
look at a future that may be closer than we think! |
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Date Published: February, 2012
Where: New York TImes
Title:
Traveling
Light in a TIme of Digital Thievery |
|
Following the recent Canadian Trade Mission to China,
if your company is planning on opening up relations, or already have
personnel travelling back and forth between the two countries, this
article is a must read. In this age of digital phones and laptops,
we forget that these devices can easily be hacked, especially in
countries that have distinctly different views than ours on
intellectual property. Forewarned is forearemed! |
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 |
Date Published: January, 2012
Where: Bankrate.com
Title:
www.bankrate.com |
|
This month, rather than provide you with a single
article, we thought you might enjoy being made aware of Bankrate.com.
For example, in the past month Bankrate.com, originally a print
publisher for financial information, has provided readers with
articles including The 4 Risky Places to Swipe Your Debit Card,
and 12 Credit Card Tips for 2012. Enjoy! |
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Date Published: December, 27, 2011
Where: The Canadian Press
Title:
BlackBerry
maker Research In Motion enters 2012 with a lot riding on its name |
|
The future of RIM is of great concern to Teeger
Schiller Inc. Our Funding Division, with staff across multiple
cities in Canada relies heavily on BBM to make sure we are in
constant contact. We continue to look at the iPhone and Android
Smartphones, but keep concluding that RIM makes the most business
functional phone for us. Or, as one of our consultants recently said
"The BlackBerry is the best phone for work, and the iPhone is the
best phone for the rest of my life. Looks like another BlackBerry
for me". |
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Date Published: December, 2011
Where: Canadian Intellectual Property Office Website
Title:
Intellectual Property for Exporting Businesses |
|
Intellectual property is an important component to
ensuring your innovation remains your property. The Canadian
Intellectual Property Office recently added this informative 8 step
guide to their website. It's worth the time spent to read it. Pay
particular attention to the employee / employer IP ownership issue,
and if need be, develop a new employee contract to ensure that your
company owns the IP! |
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Date Published: December, 2011
Where: CRA Website
Title:
Changes to
the rules for deducting Canada Pension Plan Contributions |
|
If you are over 65 and have elected to start
collecting CPP, be aware that you are personally responsible for
filling out and submitting form CPT 30 to CRA, and a copy to your
employer in order to stop having contributions to CPP deducted from
your pay. This changes goes into effect on January 1, 2012. |
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Date Published: November, 2011
Where: BizActions
Title:
What Type
of Relationship Exists |
|
Many companies make the mistake in believing that the
way an individual is paid, either by contract or salary determines
if they are a contractor or a salaried employee in the eyes of
Canada Revenue Agency. Not so. This article provides you with a list
of questions that depending on the answer determine if you should be
paying Employment Insurance for an individual regardless of the way
you pay them. |
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Date Published: October, 2011
Where: McKinsey Quarterley
Title:
Competing
through data: Three Experts offer their game plans |
|
A recurring theme with consultants is business
intelligence, i.e. the ability to use your existing data as a
strategic advantage against your competition. Many companies,
especially the small, to medium sized businesses (SME's) don't feel
that they have the time or staff who have the ability to query data
for intelligence. Still, we harp on the theme. Why, because it's a
valuable tool that is dramatically under used! So, here we go again.
Read and think about how this applicable to your business. |
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 |
Date Published: Fall, 2011
Where: Statistics Canada
Title:
Projected
trends to 2031 for the Canadian labour force |
|
This report originally published by Stats Canada in
August, 2011 has now been analyzed and reported on in various
industry magazines. While the report is quite large their is a
highlights and introduction section that are small enough to easily
read and give an excellent overview of where our labour force is
headed (hint: by 2031, 1 in 3 workers will belong to a visible
minority and 1 in 4 workers may be over 55). It is an interesting
read! |
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 |
Date Published: September, 2011
Where: CanadaOne
Title:
7 Programs to Protect and Find Your Smartphone and Mobile Devices |
|
We all worry about losing our smartphones. Nowadays,
they contain way too much sensitive information that we wouldn't
want to lose control of. Of course, we have passwords and locked
safe applications, but with the kinds of things that hackers seem to
be able to easily do, it isn't much peace of mind. Check out this
article and see if you are doing what you need to do to be proactive
in securing your smartphone information. |
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 |
Date Published: August 29, 2011
Where: The Globe and Mail
Title:
Ten Ways to
Improve Cash Flow |
|
This article suggests ten ways to improve cash
flow, including leveraging consumable spending, ordering online,
negotiating corporate cell phone plans, switching to VOIP service,
purchasing second hand office furniture, utilizing outsourcing
opportunities for selective tasks, negotiating contract terms, courier service, and in general, developing successful habits to control operational cost. |
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Date Published: August 3, 2011
Where: BBC Mobile News Technology
Title:
Online
photos can reveal our private data say experts |
|
Retailers have been struggling for years
to know their customers. In fact, an entire industry of products
called CRM have been developed for this purpose. Scientists at
Carnegie-Mellon University have just announced a breakthrough in
facial recognition technology. Combine that with all of the social
media software that the average consumer subscribes to, and
retailers will soon know lots more than just buying habits when a
potential customer crosses their threshold. It's a brave new world! |
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Date Published: July 6, 2011
Where: Storefront Backtalk
Title:
Albertsons
LLC Ditching Self-Checkout Chainwide |
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This article once again highlights the
subtle differences between the Canadian and American cultures. While
Self-Checkout has become a mainstay amongst the major grocery stores
in Canada, the U.S. is struggling with its implementation. And, it's
not just Albertsons who are having trouble getting the consumer to
see the advantages, but Krogers is experiencing a similar reaction
amongst its customers. |
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Date Published: June 30, 2011
Where: Canada Revenue Agency Website
Title:
SR&ED
Service Standards Annual Report |
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The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Annual
Report concerning its ability to meet or exceed its milestone
service standards is now available on the CRA website. And, as we
saw in the December, 2010 quarterly report, CRA continues to reduce
its average processing times for SR&ED files since the introduction
of the revised T661 reporting structure. |
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Date Published: May 11, 2011
Where: Tax Court of Canada-Recently Released Judgements
Title:
Jentel
Manufacturing and Her Majesty The Queen |
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This is a very informative ruling that
gives insight into two important topics. First, the importance of
ensuring that SR&ED claims focus on the technological objective of a
project, not the business objective. Second, the five criteria that
have been used by the Courts to assist in determining whether a
particular activity consists of SR&ED. |
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Date Published: May 24, 2011
Where: Infosec Island
Title:
Could the
IT Staff Hold Your Company Hostage? |
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At the April 2011 Infosecurity Europe
Conference, Venafi, Inc. surveyed over 500 I.T. executives with
frightening results. Based on access to various company sensitive
data security keys, and documents, 36 percent said that they could
hold their organization to ransom if they wanted to. Further, 43
percent said they could cause chaos even after leaving the
organization. |
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Date Published: May 5, 2011
Where: The Boston Consulting Media Center
Title:
Made in the
USA Again: Manufacturing Is Expected to Return to America |
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This provocative report predicts that
with the closing of the wage gap between Chinese and American
workers, the strengthening of the Chinese yuan, and aggressive U.S.
government incentives to business in various states, the U.S. is
heading for a manufacturing renaissance within the next five years. |
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Date Published: April 7, 2011
Where: The New York Times
Title:tThe
Long and Wireless Road to a Home Router |
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This is an excellent article to save for
future reference when your latest router burns out, or you're ready
for an upgrade. It discusses what G, N, N+, 11g, 1n single band and
dual band all mean and what to look for depending upon your
requirements. . It makes the point that spending your money on the
most expensive may not necessarily get you the best router for your
needs. |
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Date Published: March 15, 2011
Where: e-News A. Pichelli RBC Dominion Securities
Title:
Cost
Control |
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This monthly e-Newsletter focuses on
ways to control costs. Like many articles that we read as business
people, it doesn't really tell us anything new, but it serves as a
good reminder of things that we know, but may not necessarily be
doing. It's a refresher article that reminds us that in tough times,
profits are made not only from increased sales, but from better cost
control. |
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Date Published: February 11, 2011
Where: Machinery & Equipment (Digital Edition)
Title:
Safety
trumps privacy under new workplace violence law |
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This web posting discusses changes to
the Ontario Health and Safety Act that now require employers and
fellow employees to be much more vigilant with respect to analyzing
and assessing problems such as violence and harassment both inside
and outside the workplace. The article discusses the blurring of the
lines between privacy and workplace duty. An interesting read and
another glimpse into the future. |
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Date Published: January 31, 2011
Where: Moneyville (Toronto Star online eMagazine)
Title:
Is a U.S.
-dollar credit card worth it? |
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This web posting discusses the pros and
cons of companies with frequent business travelers to the U.S.
obtaining a U.S. dollar credit card rather than continue to be
charged a premium U.S. dollar conversion rate when utilizing a
Canadian credit card in the U.S. If your company maintains a U.S.
dollar account, this article is worth reviewing. |
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Date Published: January 10, 2011
Where: RFID 24-7
Title:
Retailers:
Item level RFID could be ubiquitous by the end of 2012 |
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This article explains that many major retailers including Walmart, JC
Penny, Kohls, Jones Apparel, Macy's, Dillards, Levi Strauss and
others intend to begin item level RFID trials within a few months
with very aggressive targets to implement RFID tags across their
chains. |
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Date Published: January 6, 2011
Where: Canada Revenue Agency Website
Title:
Updated
SR&ED Service Standards -Success Rate and Processing Times |
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This web posting
documents CRA statistics concerning claim processing time frames.
According to CRA, 96% of refundable claims are completed within 120
days of submission. Further, there is no longer a distinction
between claims that are submitted within 6 months of your year end,
and those that are submitted via a re-filing or a late filing. |
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Date Published: December 30, 2010
Where: The New York Times
Title:
10 Ways to
Get the Most Out of Technology |
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This article recommends 10 easy things
that we all can do to improve our technological lives. Hints on cell
phones, music, back ups, antivirus software, to buying lots of extra
charging cables on ebay can make our lives easier. We all know most
of this, but there might be one or two things that we can pick up or
remind ourselves of that could prove useful. |
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