#1. Facebook opens small business pop-ups in nine Macy's stores

Facebook is bringing around 100 digital-native brands and small businesses that have found success on the social network and Instagram to physical retail locations. It's opening pop-ups at nine Macy's stores as the holiday shopping season gets underway.

The Facebook Small Business Pop-ups opened Monday in New York City, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, and they will be available until early February. The brands featured at the pop-ups include Love Your Melon, an apparel brand that's helping the fight against pediatric cancer; Charleston Gourmet Burger Company, which sells a burger marinade; and Two Blind Brothers, a clothing company that donates all of its profits to research for a blindness cure.

The Macy's partnership could be a case of Facebook testing the water for broader retail efforts. The company is making a push into the hardware market, including with its Oculus VR headsets and Portal video chat displays. If the Macy's pop-ups go well, it's not difficult to imagine a scenario in which Facebook opens stores for its own products. The Macy's collaboration follows Amazon growing its own physical retail footprint, such as with its Amazon Go shops, Whole Foods business and its new 4-star stores, which stocks new and trending items on Amazon as well as products that users have rated four stars or more.


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Kris Holt

Nov. 05, 2018






#2. Big opportunity for Ocean Wall concept in North America

After a multi-year legislative battle, a bill to outlaw keeping cetaceans like whales and dolphins in captivity has cleared the Senate — all but ensuring the end of a once-popular theme park attraction in Canada.

S-203 — first introduced by now-retired Liberal senator Wilfred Moore in December 2015, with the backing of Green Party Leader Elizabeth May — would ban keeping and breeding these marine mammals in captivity through amendments to the Criminal Code.

Fines of up to $200,000 could be imposed on parks flouting the law — a sum set deliberately high as a deterrent.

The bill finally cleared the Red Chamber Tuesday night after nearly three years of debate and study. It now will be shuttled through the House of Commons by May.

The bill has the support of MPs from across the political spectrum, including Liberal Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Conservative Michelle Rempel and New Democrat Fin Donnelly.

The bill's passage in the upper house comes after years of advocacy work by animal welfare advocates, who have long argued that holding these highly intelligent creatures in concrete tanks is a cruel and perverse form of entertainment.

The fight for cetacean rights picked up considerable public support after the release of the 2013 documentary film Blackfish, which documented some of the perils involved in holding whales, dolphins and porpoises in parks like Sea World.

The Senate bill really has two targets in mind: the Vancouver Aquarium and Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont.

The Vancouver Aquarium once defended holding these mammals in captivity on both scientific and educational grounds, but recently said it would no longer display whales or dolphins at its facility as protests over captivity have become a "distraction" for the business.

Marineland has been a vocal opponent of the Senate bill, saying it would devastate attendance — and threaten conservation efforts — at theme parks where these animals are on display. It has also said the bill threatens the seasonal employment of hundreds of local residents during the summer months.

Marineland's owner, John Holer, testified at a Senate committee before his death last summer, asking senators to halt the bill. Today, Marineland issued a statement calling S-203 anti-science.

"Bill S-203 was not supported by the relevant ministries or the credible scientific community," says the statement. "Sadly, it impairs legitimate scientific and research programs and is explicitly targeted to close Marineland.

"The bill and the debate around it (have) been highly emotional, lacking in fact-based or science-based analysis and mired in unnecessary conflict incited by radical animal rights groups from the United States."

The Senate bill would, through the breeding ban, phase out captivity over time. That means Marineland would still be able to keep its current stock of some 55 cetaceans even if the legislation is passed by the Commons.

The hope of many activists is that some or all of the marine mammals currently in captivity in Canada eventually would be moved to an open water seaside sanctuary in either B.C. or Nova Scotia.

The bill would also prohibit the importing of cetaceans, or their sperm, tissue cultures or embryos.

Holler had an ally in Conservative Manitoba Sen. Don Plett, who has steadfastly opposed the Senate bill. Plett continually sought to put off a vote through the creative use of some parliamentary procedure.

The Senate fisheries committee, of which Plett was a member, studied the bill for some eight months over 17 committee meetings with more than 30 witnesses — considerably more time than a Senate public bill typically spends under scrutiny at committee.

Plett relented Tuesday night — but not without defending the record of these facilities.

"I asked the sponsor of this bill, Sen. Moore, and other members of the fisheries committee whether any of them had ever made a trip to Marineland to inspect this 'horrendous' facility that everybody is talking about — to inspect this small little bathtub that these whales are swimming around in," he said.

"I have been there. I have been to the Vancouver Aquarium. I see the joy on these cetaceans faces' — on the belugas' faces — when they come out and get food."

Meanwhile, another Manitoba senator, Independent Sen. Mary Jane McCallum, painted a vivid picture of these parks as terrible places for marine mammals.

"An adult female beluga whale lying motionless below the body of her dead baby calf; an orca lying motionless on her side, floating towards the top of the tank, heavily sedated from an accidental overdose of Valium; a sharp, rust-coloured, steel-edged grate covered in blood, the result of carelessly transporting a beluga whale between tanks," she said.

"Finally, an indoor tank lacking both natural light and quality air ventilation, and now a sickly green colour caused by a breakdown in the disinfection unit ...

"These disturbing visuals I have painted for you are actual photographs submitted to the standing Senate committee on fisheries and oceans by a former marine mammal trainer."


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John Paul Tasker

Oct. 24, 2018






#3. Canadian Government Launches Intellectual Property Strategy for Innovators & Small Businesses

Yesterday, the federal government launched a national Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy aimed at innovators and small businesses.

The government will invest $85.3 million over five years to help Canadian businesses, creators, entrepreneurs and innovators understand, protect and access IP through its comprehensive strategy. Navdeep Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, unveiled the details in Ottawa on April 26 - World IP Day.

The government's approach will enable Canada's innovators to compete on the world stage, the minister announced, noting that IP is a key component of an innovation economy. The new strategy is expressly intended to help Canadian entrepreneurs better understand and protect their IP, and gain greater access to shared IP.

The announcement features changes in three key areas, with specific policy goals:

1. Legislation:
- Key IP laws will be amended in ways that are intended to remove barriers to innovation, particularly targeting perceived loopholes that are identified as allowing those seeking to use IP in bad faith to inhibit innovation.
- An independent body will be created to oversee patent and trademark agents. This is intended to reinforce professional and ethical standards in the provision of quality advice from IP professionals in Canada.

2. Literacy and Advice:
- A suite of programs will be launched by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office to help improve IP literacy among Canadians.
- Support for domestic and international engagement between Indigenous people and decision makers will be included in the strategy, along with support for research activities and capacity building.
- Training for federal employees who deal with IP governance will be a part of the strategy.

3. Tools:
- Tools will be provided in the strategy to support Canadian businesses as they learn about IP and pursue their own IP strategies.
- A patent collective is being created by the government to bring together businesses to facilitate better IP outcomes for members. This is envisioned as a coming together of firms to share in IP expertise and strategy, including gaining access to a larger collection of patents and IP.

Taken together, these measures, along with the Innovation and Skills Plan, have the express purpose of helping Canadian innovators to maximize the value of their creations and enhance further innovation from coast to coast to coast.


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Canada Intellectual Property

Apr. 27, 2018






#4. Airport display promotes Victoria tech with steam-punk flair

It had been open to the public for less than 10 minutes before there were young kids pushing buttons and flicking switches.

And as for the noises, colours and dynamic images of the newest installation at Victoria International Airport made impressions on young eyes, although it might also have instilled some understanding among older visitors about the kind of technological innovation Victoria had inspired for more than a century.

That’s by design, said Dan Gunn, chief executive of the Victoria Innovation Advanced Technology and Entrepreneurship Council, the driving force behind the Tectoria Innovation Station, unveiled in the arrivals lounge Monday.

Gunn said the $50,000 display — which has the feel of a mad scientist’s lab a century ago — is what happens when you ask the tech sector how it would like to show itself off.

“I said I’d build an exhibit that was fun for kids while being enlightening and informative for adults,” he said, adding that the early branding exercises that established the Tectoria name and efforts to promote Greater Victoria’s tech sector highlighted the region’s natural and historical advantages.

“We wanted [the Innovation Station] to do that and tell the story of innovation and entrepreneurship on top of that,” Gunn said.

The display, which takes up about 330 square feet of space at the northeast end of the arrivals area, is an interactive exhibit that takes people on a journey through the region’s technological history.

There are diagrams and timelines showing the length and breadth of the region’s history of flight and ship-building enterprises.

Light boxes and dioramas highlight such star innovative companies as Axys Technologies and Viking Air, along with links to a website (whYYJ.ca) offering information for anyone considering Victoria as a new home or place to invest.

“A lot of people come to Victoria and fall in love with the climate and lifestyle, and they get a sense of some of the character and feel of the place, but they often don’t understand the opportunity that exists here when they leave,” Gunn said.

Like the tech sector itself, which operates fairly quietly, the display is understated. That too is by design.

“It’s not an overt or blatant shouting message. It’s just a: ‘Hey, did you know?’ And those ‘hey, did you knows’ tend to get repeated a lot more than any shouting message,” Gunn said.

Artist Russell Papp started work on the design in April 2016. He wanted to create something that would intrigue people of all ages.

He also wanted it to be dynamic and capable of being changed and adapted to suit new events with the evolution of the tech sector.

The project is a result of a financial partnership including the South Island Prosperity Project and the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce.

Emilie de Rosenroll, executive director of South Island Prosperity Project, said the steam-punk-inspired laboratory showcases the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Greater Victoria.

It highlights history that might come as news to many people, de Rosenroll said.

“We are particularly proud of the website, which is a way we can make some conversions here for people that might come and take a look and see [Victoria is] a place they can come and work,” she said.

“They may not have seen this place as somewhere with so much opportunity.”

The space was donated by the airport authority, as something of a thank you to the tech sector.

“This is a great way of showcasing the tech sector in the region. And if there’s a way we can do that and give back, it’s the right thing to do,” said airport chief executive Geoff Dickson. “We are more than happy to [donate space] because tech has been a big reason and driver behind our growth.”

Dickson said Victoria International Airport sees more than 1.86 million people come through its gates annually, and has witnessed 20 per cent growth over the last three years.


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Andrew Duffy

Feb. 21, 2017






#5. What is the Ocean Wall?

The OceanWall is the first of its kind in Canada, a 3646 mm by 2058 mm (12 feet by 7 feet) series of screens featuring technology that allow viewers to explore under the ocean and engage in interactive educational activities focused on the sea life living in the Salish Sea. The OceanWall is a community project that invites individuals, local businesses and large corporations to share their research and personal experiences while on the ocean.

Made up of eleven screens, the top nine are side-by-side with just a 5.3 mm bezel between each screen. The top nine screens display pre-recorded or live video footage of life under the sea. The two lower screens are iboards, interactive technology that promotes education and engagement – kindergarten through grade 12. The iboard on the left-hand side controls the footage on the screens above. Children can select videos they are interested in and ‘swipe’ the image onto the large screen or into the queue. The iboard on the right will provide interactive learning opportunities for children through education applications. Viewers will see underwater footage, pre-recorded or live, of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding waters. Local organizations and individuals can submit video footage of their underwater experiences which will then be shared with all via the OceanWall. Video footage can be sent to #OceanWalls. Contributing to the OceanWall content includes partners Ocean Networks Canada, University of Victoria, BC Ferries, Centre of Whale Research, Underwater Encounters, Eagle Wing Tours – whale watching and many others.

The OceanWall is located in the food court. Grab a coffee, sit back and experience Hillside’s OceanWall!


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Hillside Mall

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