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    <description>Business Solutions provider that assists clients in Marketing, Sales, Human Resources, Communications and Technology for their daily operations</description>
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      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;The role of consumers--the end point in the complex chain of the power grid--is coming into sharper focus, as the country tries to modernize its electrical infrastructure. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;As part of the government stimulus program, millions of smart meters will be installed over the next three years, providing a two-way connection between utilities and their customers. But despite the focus on hardware in the &lt;strong&gt;multibillion-dollar smart-grid program&lt;/strong&gt;, both utilities and advocacy groups are starting to sing the virtues of consumer involvement. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy on Tuesday released results of a survey finding that energy use feedback tools are more important than smart meters in reducing consumers' energy use. Analyzing 57 residential feedback programs since 1974, the ACEEE concluded that no utilities have sufficient end-user tools, such as more detailed billing or giving real-time feedback through Web pages or in-home displays. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&amp;quot;Advanced metering initiatives alone are neither necessary nor sufficient for providing households with the feedback that they need to achieve energy saving; however, they do offer important opportunities,&amp;quot; John &amp;quot;Skip&amp;quot; Laitner, director of Economic and Social Analysis at the ACEEE, said in a statement. &amp;quot;To realize potential feedback-induced savings, advanced meters must be used in conjunction with in-home (or online) displays and well-designed programs that successfully inform, engage, empower, and motivate people.&amp;quot; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;Programs that give people more control over their household electricity use and help them reduce waste can ultimately cut consumption 4 percent to 12 percent, according to the ACEEE, which said the savings could add up to $35 billion over 20 years. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;Smart-grid companies are also getting on the &amp;quot;consumer engagement&amp;quot; bandwagon. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative&lt;/strong&gt;, a group formed earlier this year to better understand &lt;strong&gt;consumer needs in the smart grid&lt;/strong&gt;, on Wednesday announced a number of new members, including Accenture, Intel, American Electric Power, Itron, Progress Energy, the Texas Office of Public Counsel, the Vermont Electric Power Company, and the United Consumer Advocacy Network. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;Another new member is well-known design firm Frog Design, which will be leading two sessions for the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative around energy and consumer awareness. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;b&gt;User interface to grid &lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Tools, such as in-home energy displays or Web portals, are important to educate consumers who, on the whole, don't have a &lt;strong&gt;good understanding of the home energy management capabilities&lt;/strong&gt; that digital technologies enable. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;At last week's Kema Utility of the Future conference, utility executives recognized that &lt;strong&gt;lagging consumer involvement in the smart grid&lt;/strong&gt; poses a risk to meeting energy efficiency goals. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;In one example of a utility coupling energy management programs with smart meters, Duke Energy on Tuesday announced that &lt;strong&gt;Cisco Systems will provide a home energy &amp;quot;controller&amp;quot; for Duke's smart-grid programs&lt;/strong&gt; in Charlotte, N.C., and Cincinnati. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;The touch-screen display, designed to stand on a countertop, is essentially a tablet computer that gathers usage information from network-enabled devices, such as two-way thermostats or large appliances connected to so-called smart plugs to convey data to the controller. This trial, which will give appliance-by-appliance information, is one of a number of &lt;strong&gt;consumer-facing Duke smart-grid trials&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;In the case of Duke, the smart meter will transmit energy data regularly to the display and to the utility, so it can view changes in electricity demand over its territory. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;But there are a number of home energy management systems that can get regular energy data without a smart meter by using a gateway device, home network, and broadband connection. &lt;strong&gt;The Energy Detective&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Powerhouse Dynamics' eMonitor&lt;/strong&gt; gather circuit-by-circuit energy data using sensors attached to clamps on a circuit box. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;Consulting and research company SBI Energy this week released a study saying about 80 percent of money invested in the smart grid is on the utility side, such as upgrades to grid equipment and computer technology to &lt;strong&gt;handle the spike in data&lt;/strong&gt;. But that mix will change, as more equipment, including smart meters, is installed on the consumer side, analyst David Cappello said. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;J.D. Power and Associates on Thursday released a study finding that utilities have a long way to go in educating consumers about smart-grid technologies, particularly in certain regions. In many cases, regulators, too, need to &lt;strong&gt;change the rules&lt;/strong&gt; on how utilities recoup their investment in technology. But smart-grid programs also present an opportunity for utilities to improve customer relations. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&amp;quot;As state governments and utility companies develop infrastructure and implementation strategies for smart grids and smart meters, it will be critically important for them to incorporate the voice of the customer in their plans,&amp;quot; Jeff Conklin, senior director of the energy and utility practice at J.D. Power, said in a statement. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Technology-BLOG.page?ArticleID=51763</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Consumers getting more attention in smart grid</title>
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    <item>
      <description>&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;A very effective model at &amp;quot;pricing&amp;quot; the cost of what is called&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Work Ethics Deficiency Syndrome (or WEDS) is called the Cost of the Status Quo. &amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;The Cost of the Status Quo examines the life cycle of an employee. In the 1st stage, an employee is generally Highly Motivated but Not Yet Competent.&amp;nbsp; Costs associated with Stage 1 employees include those associated with recruitment, selection and training.&amp;nbsp; Most managers agree with the costs to hire a new employee: from a low of &amp;frac12; annual salary for entry level, low-skilled positions to multiples as high as 20 times annual salary for senior executive positions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;After some training and on-boarding, usually 3 to 6 months, the employee is acclimated to the job and moves on to the 2nd stage: Motivated and Competent. This is the most profitable and productive stage for both the employee and employer and where retention should be focused. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;Unfortunately, many employees over time slide into a very high maintenance and less productive stage called Demotivated and Competent.&amp;nbsp;These employees can be described as &amp;quot;retired on the job&amp;quot; and do just enough not to get fired. These unhappy employees require a lot of manager time which only adds to the cost and loss of productivity.&amp;nbsp; Worse than the effects of their individual unhappiness, they work hard to recruit other workers to join their &amp;quot;team.&amp;quot; This creates a grass-roots effort to become &amp;quot;unemployed while still collecting a paycheck.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;If the employee stays in the Demotivated and Competent stage long enough, they eventually enter the end-stage of the employee life cycle: Demotivated and No Longer Competent. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;These 3rd and 4th stages bear enormous costs to any business.&amp;nbsp; For instance, let's assume an organization has 100 employees and 30 percent of the employees are operating at only 70 percent of their potential. &amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; tab-stops: 312.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;To determine the high cost, consider the following formula: &amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt; margin-top: 0in"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;1. Total number of positions in the organization =100&lt;br /&gt;
2. Number of unhappy employees performing at less then full potential = 30&lt;br /&gt;
3. Average monthly compensation for these unhappy employees = $4,000&lt;br /&gt;
4. Percentage of lost effectiveness = 30%&lt;br /&gt;
5. Estimated monthly cost of the unhappy employees = $84,000 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;At an average monthly compensation of $4,000, the Annual Cost for Doing Nothing is $1,008,000!!! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;The cost of employees becoming less &amp;quot;picky&amp;quot; about choosing a job is nearly irrelevant when you consider the hidden cost that the unhappy and not very productive employee carries in an organization. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="line-height: 12.75pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Verdana&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"&gt;A first step in stemming the high cost of the demotivated and unhappy employee begins with finding out if your organization has a problem or not.&amp;nbsp; The easiest way to do this is with an employee engagement survey.&amp;nbsp; The low-cost and high effectiveness of online employee morale surveys nips that contagion of WEDS from spreading.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Arial&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; color: #313131; font-size: 9pt"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"&gt;Contact &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: #00ffff"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.focusedhr.ca/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;www.focusedhr.ca&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;for solutions to WEDS and other productivity issues.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=51762</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Are they motivated?</title>
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    <item>
      <description>&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;A Leadership Organization creates and sustains a leadership centered culture where leaders develop leaders from the top down and the inside out. It also develops people and refines technical systems in a balanced way, to maximize the potential of both. And it equips and develops leaders to optimize individual, team and organizational performance. How does your organization measure up to these challenges?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Review your answers to the questions below with your Executive Team. It could be an early diagnosis to the long term health of your organization. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;ol type="1" style="margin-top: 0in"&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Name three ways your organization creates and sustains a leadership centered culture? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;What methods do leaders use to develop leaders in your organization? (Informal mentoring, formal mentoring, training, modeling, other.) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;How does your organization practice the development of leaders from the top down and the inside out? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;What programs does your organization have in place specifically to develop &amp;ldquo;soft&amp;rdquo; people skills, such as self-management; communication; counseling and problem solving; consulting; and versatility skills? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;What level of annual expenditures (dollars and percent of annual revenues) does your organization spend on technical systems, compared to developing people? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;What systems has your organization set in place to ensure that maximum potential is achieved from both people and technical systems? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Name three ways your organization actually equips leaders to optimize performance.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Describe two examples in the past year where actual individual performance was improved or optimized. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Describe two examples in the past year where actual team performance was improved or optimized. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;10.Describe two examples in the past year where organizational performance was improved or optimized.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;To obtain more insight into optimizing your organizational, professional and personal performance, enquire about the suite of web based tools that we can offer through Profiles International. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;FocusedHR Solutions &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:info@focusedhr.ca"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;info@focusedhr.ca&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&amp;nbsp;- &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small"&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.focusedhr.ca"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;www.focusedhr.ca&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
416-848-0249&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=49298</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>The Leadership Organization Challenge</title>
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      <description>&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;How well do you know your customers?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Click on link for a captivating article &gt; &lt;a href="/_mndata/for/uploaded_files/Lior Yitzhaky Article.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;Article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Author: Lior Yitzhaky - 540solutions.com</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=50100</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>How well do you know your customers?</title>
    </item>
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      <description>&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;Taking Control Of Your Financial Future&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;By Curt Wu, TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;Necessity is the mother of invention. &amp;nbsp;Long gone are the days when employees could count on an employer or the government to provide for their retirement income. &amp;nbsp;We live in a &amp;ldquo;do it yourself&amp;rdquo; world and Canadians, recognizing this, are taking control of their financial futures, especially when it comes to planning for their retirement. &amp;nbsp;Today&amp;rsquo;s longer life expectancies make planning even more important. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;Consider this. &amp;nbsp;Back in the 1920&amp;rsquo;s, when Canada established a retirement age of 65, life expectancy was only 61. &amp;nbsp;Very few people survived beyond 65, much less collected a pension. &amp;nbsp;Times have changed. Life expectancy is 78, and rising. &amp;nbsp;On average, Canadians will need to depend on benefits and investment income for at least 10 years after they retire. &amp;nbsp;For many, this could be a frightening prospect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;As a result, increasing numbers of Canadians are relying on regular personal investing as a way of ensuring they have enough income to support them comfortably during their retirement years. &amp;nbsp;And in making this decision, many are considering stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other kinds of investments as a means of securing their future. &amp;nbsp;There are good reasons for this. &amp;nbsp;By choosing well-diversified investments, investors can spread their risk and take advantage of the peace-of-mind that comes from having their investments monitored by a professional investment advisor.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;Until quite recently, many investors tended to hold &amp;ldquo;low-risk&amp;rdquo; investments, such as Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) and Canada Savings Bonds. &amp;nbsp;While such investments offered the advantage of exceptional safety, the returns they delivered were rarely enough to keep pace with inflation and pay tax. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;Times have changed. &amp;nbsp;Increasingly, Canadians are turning to higher risk investments to put them in a more favourable financial position in the long run.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;And Canadians are beginning to invest regularly, putting money aside as part of their monthly budget, just like paying the rent or the mortgage. &amp;nbsp;A pre-authorized contribution plan (PAC) is your easiest way to do this, deciding on a regular amount of money to be deducted from your bank account. &amp;nbsp;This method gives your money more time to grow and, if your focus is saving for your retirement and you are putting your money into an RSP, it can grow tax-free. &amp;nbsp;That tax-free growth can be remarkable. &amp;nbsp;Suppose you put $250 per month into an RSP over 25 years. &amp;nbsp;If your fund grows 6%, you&amp;rsquo;d end up with an investment of $169,484 or $5,254 more than if you made an investment of $3,000 at the end of each year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;The key is compound interest, and it&amp;rsquo;s vital to your investments. &amp;nbsp;Compound interest is one of the most powerful money making devices around. &amp;nbsp;It&amp;rsquo;s like having an uninterrupted wind behind your back, pushing you forward. &amp;nbsp;With compound interest, you earn interest on both the principal (the amount you save) and the interest that principal produces. &amp;nbsp;In other words, this means that an investment of $300,000 earning simple interest at 6% annually would deliver $36,000 after two years. &amp;nbsp;With compound interest that same 6% would deliver $37,080 interest. &amp;nbsp;Doesn&amp;rsquo;t sound like much? &amp;nbsp;Wait. &amp;nbsp;After three years at simple interest you get $54,000. &amp;nbsp;With compound interest, you get $57,305. &amp;nbsp;And, as the years progress, the compounding effect multiplies. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt"&gt;Get started. &amp;nbsp;He (or she) who hesitates is lost. &amp;nbsp;Talk with an investment advisor and establish a strategy that maximizes your regular monthly contributions. &amp;nbsp;And make investing a priority. &amp;nbsp;That is where your investment advisor has an invaluable role to play. &amp;nbsp;Keeping your investment strategy consistent with your personal needs is vital. &amp;nbsp;Your investment advisor can help you do just that. &amp;nbsp;It is never too soon to put an investment strategy in place.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&lt;font face="Consolas"&gt;Curt Wu&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&lt;font face="Consolas"&gt;TD Waterhouse - Private Investment Advice&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Calibri&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"&gt;416-307-8048&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 9pt"&gt;This article was prepared by TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice for Curt Wu who is an Investment Advisor with TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 9pt"&gt;and is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase and sale of any investment fund, security or other product and does not provide individual, financial, legal, investment or tax advice. Please consult your own legal and tax advisor. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 9pt"&gt;TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice is a division of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc., a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. &amp;ndash; Member CIPF. TD Waterhouse is a trade-mark of The Toronto-Dominion Bank, used under license.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=48886</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Taking Control Of Your Financial Future</title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <description>Innovative new technology-changing the manufacturing sectors, with the touch of a button.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Driven by passion for Design and Engineering, one company is revolutionizing multiple sectors, with an innovative new product. The future has arrived and is about to prove itself beneficial to multiple sectors.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
Proto3000 Inc. is a 3D Engineering Solutions company that has successfully made their mark with product development in this market. With passion for excellent customer service, this organization provides innovative technology to manufacturing professionals.&amp;nbsp; Utilizing advanced 3D Engineering Technologies, Proto3000 accelerates the product development process. &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;3D Computer Aided Design (CAD), Rapid Prototyping and Handheld 3D Laser Scanning technologies can be used synergistically to provide a cost efficient product development process&amp;rdquo; according to Eyal Geiger, Engineering Manager at Proto3000.&lt;br /&gt;
Product development is a key aspect of any market, and to ensure the success of the company or product, quality assurance and testing are ever growing necessities. Proto3000 takes this necessity to the next level and combines the latest technology along with ease of use. &lt;br /&gt;
The product development process begins when several conceptual drawings are developed; they are then designed in 3D CAD.&amp;nbsp; Rapid Prototypes of the CAD data are built and then utilized for field testing in order to confirm the 3D CAD data.&amp;nbsp; Proto3000 presents a cost effective solution; Reducing costs and keeping quality at its highest through the use of the 3D Laser Scanning for inspection purposes.&amp;nbsp; The 3D Scanner digitizes the part surface in real-time to its computer software.&amp;nbsp; The original 3D CAD data and the digitized surface mesh are then merged to produce full inspection reports.&amp;nbsp; Further post-processing of the scanned data can be used for Reverse Engineering.&amp;nbsp; This allows the product to be redesigned and improved prior to final inspection. This action alone can save weeks of laborious and cost intensive processes prior to production. &lt;br /&gt;
Handheld 3D Laser Scanning is quickly growing into a new phenomenon among national manufacturers in multiple industries, (Product Development, Aerospace, Automotive, Archaeology, Medical, just to name a few) &amp;ndash; with limitless potential. A growing roster of clients is proof that these scanners are an engineering solution, that offers: &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;increased productivity and efficiency&lt;br /&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;High accuracy and resolution&lt;br /&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;Flexible scanning capabilities with no mobility limitations&lt;br /&gt;
Based out of their office in Concord (Ontario) Proto3000 is going above and beyond the call of duty. This organization helps customers use and maintain the product, in addition to the professional services they offer. What does this mean to clients? This means quality, safety, dedication, and a stepping stone to a new generation of handheld 3D laser scanning and its multiple uses.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;Proto3000 has managed to assist their clients to save money and eliminating unnecessary production wait times. By combining customer service, product knowledge and passion for the industry, Proto3000 has proven to be a growing success in this industry.&lt;br /&gt;
Proto3000 recently exhibited its handheld 3D Laser Scanner and Rapid Prototyping Processes at this year&amp;rsquo;s Canadian Manufacturing and Technology Show which took place from October 19 &amp;ndash; 22, 2009. These trades were received with great success and are a staple for manufacturing and product development services.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;For further questions or comments, as well as media inquiries please email &lt;a href="mailto:info@proto3000.com"&gt;info@proto3000.com&lt;/a&gt; or call 905-738-1779.&lt;br /&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=48793</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Product Development Simplified !</title>
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      <description>&lt;h1 style="font-family: tahoma; color: #000000; font-weight: bold"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;3D Printers by Objet - The Alaris&amp;trade;30 Desktop 3D Printer - The smallest details create the real design.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img alt="3D Printers by Objet &amp;ndash; Alaris30" src="http://www.objet.com/Portals/0/images/alaris30/alaris_3D_Printer.gif" /&gt;&lt;img alt="Objet Vero enhanced mechanical properties - Vero 3D Printing Materials" style="border-bottom: #c0c0c0 0px solid; border-left: #c0c0c0 0px solid; width: 150px; height: 153px; border-top: #c0c0c0 0px solid; border-right: #c0c0c0 0px solid" src="http://www.objet.com/Portals/0/images/Sculp_white.jpg" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img alt="VeroBlue enhanced mechanical properties, withstands bending - Vero 3D Printing Materials &amp;ndash; Objet Geometries" src="http://www.objet.com/Portals/0/images/Materials/1150-2.jpg" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img alt="Objet Vero materials - Opaque surfaces, enhancement visualization - 3D Printing Materials by Objet" style="border-bottom: #c0c0c0 0px solid; border-left: #c0c0c0 0px solid; width: 150px; height: 150px; border-top: #c0c0c0 0px solid; border-right: #c0c0c0 0px solid" src="http://www.objet.com/Portals/0/images/Ball.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Alaris30 Desktop 3D Printer delivers a unique combination of high-quality, finely detailed printed models available in a compact office-friendly system. Creating smooth surfaces, complex geometries, small moving elements, fine details, stand-out text and whatever else the design demands.&amp;nbsp; Just the solution that companies need to shorten their design cycle and propel their businesses forward, using 3D printers.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;The Alaris&amp;trade;30&amp;nbsp;- bringing 3D printers to your desktop&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
Based on Objet&amp;rsquo;s proven PolyJet&amp;trade; Photopolymer Jetting Technology, the Alaris30 creates true-to-life parts of any kind with superb accuracy, for 3D printers. It can build models simply, cost effectively and precisely as you design them. &lt;br /&gt;
Models produced on the Alaris30 are smoothly surfaced and finely detailed; the strong model material and highly accurate printing enable thin walls and small moving parts. The models are ideal for painting, functional, fit and form testing, and vacuum forming.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Alaris30 operates as a network printer, allowing multiple designers in the office to send their files to be printed. The 300 x 200 x 150 mm (11.81 x 7.87 x 5.9in)&amp;nbsp; build tray enables large models or many small parts to be built simultaneously, saving time and cost. The Alaris30 is small and lightweight enough to fit in any office, on a desk or with the stand Objet offers with the printer. It uses sealed 1kg cartridges of resins and the printed models are fully cured on the build tray.
&lt;h2&gt;Alaris30 Desktop 3D printer - Key Benefits&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Alaris30 Desktop 3D Printer produces precise details&lt;/p&gt;
Excels in printing exceptional detail by combining thin 28&amp;mu; layers with a very small drop size and a high resolution of 600 x 600 dpi. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Alaris30 Desktop 3D Printer enables high productivity&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Alaris30 Desktop 3D Printer is ideally suited for an office environment&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;Small and lightweight, the Alaris30 is a desktop 3-D printer that is perfect for any office, anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;
The Alaris30 Desktop 3D Printer is intuitive and simple to use&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;The Alaris30 is designed to be easy to use, with simple printer management and operation.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"&gt;
    &lt;tbody&gt;
        &lt;tr&gt;
            &lt;td&gt;
            &lt;ul&gt;
                &lt;li&gt;Turn any 3D CAD file into a part with just a few mouse clicks &amp;ndash; Intuitive Objet Studio&amp;trade; software ensures easy operation&lt;br /&gt;
                &amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
                &lt;li&gt;Fast and easy support removal &amp;ndash; Just minutes from printing to finished parts&lt;br /&gt;
                &amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
                &lt;li&gt;Easy, error-free loading of Model and Support materials&lt;br /&gt;
                &amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
            &lt;/ul&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff00"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff00"&gt;For additional&amp;nbsp;information about these products&amp;nbsp; please fill out the&amp;nbsp;information request. For purchase or quote inquiries&amp;nbsp;please&amp;nbsp;write to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.proto3000.com/contact.aspx"&gt;info@proto3000.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff00"&gt;CALL NOW 1-888-88-PROTO (77686)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=47575</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Lease your 3D Printers - Lease it for as little as $899/Month</title>
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      <description>&lt;h1&gt;For Sale: Fitbit. Like New.&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;p class="date"&gt;March 7th, 2010 &lt;!-- by Christopher Fahey --&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;!-- (DUNNO WHY IT USES 'entrytext' and not ENTRY WHICH LOOKS BETTER --&gt;
&lt;div class="entry"&gt;
&lt;div class="picture medium"&gt;&lt;img id="image1271" alt="fitbit_short_new.jpg" src="http://www.graphpaper.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fitbit_short_new.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After waiting six months on a pre-order waiting list, I finally got my Fitbit two months ago. I was really looking forward to it &amp;mdash; as a big fan of the Nike+ running tracking system, I was excited about Fitbit&amp;rsquo;s promise to not only track my running and walking, but to track my sleep patterns as well. And the design was extremely seductive &amp;mdash; small in size, elegantly combining form and function (it doesn&amp;rsquo;t &lt;em&gt;have&lt;/em&gt; a clip, it &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; a clip), and with a magical blue led screen that is invisible when the device is off. How could I resist?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And I was right: I &lt;em&gt;love&lt;/em&gt; the Fitbit!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But I don&amp;rsquo;t want to use it any more. How is that possible?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;First, though, you may be asking &amp;ldquo;What is Fitbit?&amp;rdquo; Fitbit is a personal health tracking system consisting of a small electronic device that you clip to your body to track your movements and a web site that uses the data from those movements to give you detailed reports and analysis of your fitness and health. The Fitbit device contains an accelerometer to detect anything from a single running stride to tossing and turning in your sleep, and it wirelessly syncs to your computer via a small radio transmitter. The Fitbit has a small digital display indicating the number of steps you&amp;rsquo;ve taken, how far you&amp;rsquo;ve walked or run, and how many calories you&amp;rsquo;ve burned.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class="picture medium"&gt;&lt;img id="image1270" alt="fitbitpants.jpg" src="http://www.graphpaper.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fitbitpants.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Basically, you clip the Fitbit on your waist all day long, and to a wristband at night, to collect 24/7 data about your body&amp;rsquo;s movements. The Fitbit web site then slices and dices that data to present some pretty fascinating insights into your personal health.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sounds simple? It&amp;rsquo;s supposed to. There is an emerging trend in personal electronics and software to stop bothering users with long explanations of &amp;ldquo;how it works&amp;rdquo;, and to instead keep the interactions simple and just make sure the damn things work.&amp;nbsp; Fitbit is right on that wave. The documentation doesn&amp;rsquo;t say much about how it works, the web site doesn&amp;rsquo;t have a big &amp;ldquo;how it works&amp;rdquo; page. You&amp;rsquo;re just supposed to start using it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So Fitbit cuts to the chase in most of their user experience designs. In fact, I can&amp;rsquo;t find anything on the Fitbit home page that says &amp;ldquo;Fitbit is &amp;hellip;&amp;rdquo;. Fitbit &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; what it &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt;, which is count your movements and interpret that information.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I think that&amp;rsquo;s part of Fitbit&amp;rsquo;s strategy: to experiment with giving users a minimal level of explanation to get people focused on changing their behavior and thus their health, and not on requiring users to constantly be manipulating the technology.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Getting Fitbit&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s first discuss the centerpiece of the Fitbit system, the Fitbit device itself. It&amp;rsquo;s about the size of a money clip or a small pack of gum, clips easily to clothing and fits easily in a pocket. Some users complain that it is easy to lose, and while I managed to hold on to it for two months, I can only attribute that to luck. I am really impressed by the &amp;ldquo;clip&amp;rdquo; form factor (versus a wristband, a strap, a card, a keyfob). Given the required size, it&amp;rsquo;s a clever solution.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The digital display is incredibly nice to look at. When it&amp;rsquo;s off, it&amp;rsquo;s just a detail-less smooth black surface. When you press the Fitbit&amp;rsquo;s single button, however, the display shines through the now-translucent plastic like shining a flashlight through your fingertip.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class="picture medium"&gt;&lt;img id="image1268" alt="fitbit_charger_shorter.jpg" src="http://www.graphpaper.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fitbit_charger_shorter.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When you bring the device near the charging/base station, it automatically uploads the latest data from the device. The base station is clever, but I think it over-fetishizes the Fitbit itself by literally placing it on a pedestal, as many upright docking stations do for the iPhone. And its 18&amp;Prime; cord is overkill. While it is quite clever to allow the device to sync automatically, you still have to turn your computer on in the first place, and if you&amp;rsquo;ve got a laptop you have to plug in the base station anyway. So syncing isn&amp;rsquo;t invisible for most people, I suspect, but is rather a conscientious and deliberate daily act.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A syncing solution like the original iPod Shuffle&amp;rsquo;s, where the device itself had a USB plug built-in, would permit charging and syncing without an additional base station device and, as I contend, without adding an additional sync action for most users. A Bluetooth version to sync with high-end laptops without charging would be even better.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class="picture large"&gt;&lt;img id="image1259" alt="fitbit_dash_00.jpg" src="http://www.graphpaper.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fitbit_dash_00.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The web site is fantastic. The data displays are lovely, and it&amp;rsquo;s easy to get around and play with your data. I do have problems with many of the specific information design and charting decisions, but I am not going to complain because the Fitbit folks are constantly evolving and improving the site, tweaking features, responding to user feedback, adding new stuff.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Interestingly, you can use the Fitbit web dashboard without owning a Fitbit. First of all, the site lets you manually enter your food consumption information in order to establish your caloric intake each day. Also, it lets you manually enter your exercise activities as well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I actually suspect the designers must have conscientiously kept the site device-agnostic, to support future Fitbit devices and to invite non-Fitbit users to join the web community.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class="picture medium"&gt;&lt;img id="image1260" alt="fitbit_dash_01.jpg" src="http://www.graphpaper.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fitbit_dash_01.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Using the device as a pedometer, which is by far Fitbit&amp;rsquo;s core function, is simple. I can see the distance I&amp;rsquo;ve walked at any time during the day, and when I get home I can see a day-by-day report on the web of how far I&amp;rsquo;ve walked, and how far I walk each day on average. The device&amp;rsquo;s step-counting accuracy is astonishingly accurate: I did a test, walking and counting up to 1000 steps in my head, then checked the Fitbit and saw it counted 1004. That&amp;rsquo;s plenty accurate for me.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For running, Fitbit detects the nuances of difference between a running and walking motion, and then recalculates your distance traveled (based on longer stride length) and calories burned accordingly. There is simply need to tell Fitbit that you&amp;rsquo;re running and not walking. It&amp;rsquo;s smart enough to tell, based only on the nature of the data it&amp;rsquo;s collecting. As for running accuracy, I wasn&amp;rsquo;t able to do a counting test, but the distances Fitbit reported on several over-5-mile runs were 10-20% different from the distances reported in Google Maps. Far from ideal, but on par with the similar inaccuracy of Nike+.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Where Fitbit gets really clever, however, is with sleeping. Obviously a motion sensor isn&amp;rsquo;t able to tell if you are sleeping or just lying on your ass watching TV. Fitbit requires you to press and hold the devices&amp;rsquo;s single button for a few seconds, putting the device into a kind of &amp;ldquo;special activity&amp;rdquo; mode. Fitbit comes with a surprisingly non-obtrusive wristband that holds the Fitbit device while you sleep. As you sleep, the Fitbit detects your body&amp;rsquo;s movements and uses these cues to determine how long it took you to actually fall asleep, how many times, and precisely when, you moved around in the middle of the night, and when you woke up. In the morning, you press and hold the button again to indicate that you&amp;rsquo;re awake and walking around again.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class="picture medium"&gt;&lt;img id="image1261" alt="fitbit_dash_02.jpg" src="http://www.graphpaper.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fitbit_dash_02.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The sleep data collected is fascinating, and this alone is worth the price of admission. You probably have no idea about how long it takes you to fall asleep, or how often you toss and turn. I certainly didn&amp;rsquo;t, and was delighted to see the results. I found it incredibly interesting to see the day-by-day durations of my sleeps for an entire month (little more 2 hours more than a few times, around 6 hours most of the time, and 12 hours on one blessed Friday night).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For other activities, such as cycling or weightlifting, Fitbit isn&amp;rsquo;t so smart. For such things, Fitbit literally requires you to manually manipulate the data. Again, for people in highly-structured weight loss programs where counting calories in and out is important, Fitbit&amp;rsquo;s web dashboard offers the ability to manually enter your non-walking or running activities to make sure your overall caloric burn rate is kept accurate.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;An amusingly large number of people in the forums ask about the fitbit&amp;rsquo;s ability to measure calories burnt during sex, some with a measure of sexual bravado (&amp;rdquo;wear on my hip?&amp;rdquo;), others innocently but rather seriously dedicated to counting every calorie burned. While I admire the free spirited nature of these inquirers, I cannot offer any additional insight into this matter as I, perhaps overly romantically, still beleive that some things remain well beyond quantification.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;The Fitbit Ecosystem&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Fitbit web site is constantly changing, and they keep adding features to the site, extending the functionality of the fixed hardware system. This is part of the clever concept that the features entirely lie in the interpretation of data. It&amp;rsquo;s a radical simplification of what software is all about: Fitbit&amp;rsquo;s one motion sensor and one binary button (ternary if you count the long 2-second press, and potentially more if you add longer presses, or even double and triple presses as on the iPhone earbud controller) have the potential to enable a lot more interaction and communication than one might think at first blush.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In a way, they are squeezing as much functionality out of the tech as possible. Fitbit is a small embodyment of Don Norman&amp;rsquo;s recent claim that technology leads and design follows. For Fitbit, it&amp;rsquo;s an inspired &lt;em&gt;design&lt;/em&gt; response to the question &amp;ldquo;how many things can we do with just this one bit of technology&amp;rdquo;?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To contrast this with Nike+ for a moment, Fitbit feels far more like a living thing, run by engaged people dedicated to incremental changes in response to the actual usage by their community and feedback in their incredibly active and helpful forums. It&amp;rsquo;s a Web 2.0 product. Nike+, however, is a more traditional product, with huge and infrequent X.0 product launches. Nike+ stagnated with the same beautiful and innovative &amp;mdash; but buggy and slow &amp;mdash; web site for years, only to upgrade this year to a new, buggier, and unfortunately even more awkward user interface. Nike+ still never remembers users passwords, for example. I wish Nike+ would follow Flitbit&amp;rsquo;s lead when it comes to incremental, simple improvements. Focus on a UI that can scale and evolve, and not on one that is sexy and &amp;ldquo;bold&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h2&gt;Product Conclusions&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are probably two kinds of Fitbit customers. First, casual users: people who want to know more about what they do with their bodies, people who are curious about their health and the potential to use technology to keep closer tabs on how well they&amp;rsquo;re doing. This describes my interest in Fitbit.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The second group is serious users: people who are actively trying to change their personal health behaviors and want a way to measure those changes. If you&amp;rsquo;re trying to change an overly-sedentary lifestyle, to lose weight through careful monitoring of calories burned versus consumed, Fitbit might be a huge help. For people involved in a structured weight loss program, a device that adds to that regime is perfectly normal. But I walk plenty each day (4-5 miles every day). I am an athlete and run often, but I don&amp;rsquo;t count calories. I&amp;rsquo;m not trying to lose weight. I use Nike+ to measure my special activities (running), but I don&amp;rsquo;t want a new device attached to me all the time just to give me data about my &lt;em&gt;normal&lt;/em&gt; activities, just to satisfy my curiosity.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So while I found Fitbit useful and delightful, it was only temporarily. But that&amp;rsquo;s okay. It&amp;rsquo;s a fantastic tool for self-analysis, to get to know your sleep patterns, your typical daily walking distance. Great information. But once you have that information, if you&amp;rsquo;re not engaged in a program to change those things, you&amp;rsquo;re done with Fitbit. I know everything Fitbit can tell me. Maybe I&amp;rsquo;ll try it again in six months or a year, to see if I&amp;rsquo;ve changed. I&amp;rsquo;m a casual user.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Fitbit is not what I and other casual users might have hoped it would be. It&amp;rsquo;s not going to be a permanent part of your life, a constant and consistent way to monitor your health. The biggest obstacle to this, I think, is unfortunately still technological. It&amp;rsquo;s just too big to carry with you in every possible context, so you end up taking it on and off over and over again all day. When you change clothes, you have to move it from one garment to another. At night, you have to strap on a wristband and clip it to that. You have to take it off in the shower.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Inevitably, I ended up forgetting to bring it to work occasionally. Or I&amp;rsquo;d have it unclipped for part of a day. Which is far worse than it sounds: If you miss a day of walking in a week, it completely ruins the accuracy of your weekly average. Miss a few days in a month, and your monthly average is shot to hell. Fitbit lets you manually enter your information, but I&amp;rsquo;ll be damned if I&amp;rsquo;m going to do Fitbit&amp;rsquo;s job for it! You&amp;rsquo;ve got have your Fitbit on your person almost 90% of the time for it to produce accurate trends and summary results, the kind of results that justify integrating it into your life in such a serious and committed way.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If the Fitbit was the size of a fingernail, attached with waterproof glue or embedded under my skin, well, then we&amp;rsquo;re talking. But because of its size, it becomes one more thing to inhabit my intimate attention space, something I have to remember to never leave home without, like my phone, my wallet, and my pants. It&amp;rsquo;s like having a little adopted pet you have to take care of all day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In short, you just can&amp;rsquo;t lead a normal life with Fitbit. If there&amp;rsquo;s one thing I&amp;rsquo;ve learned from the Fitbit experience, a lesson about the future of personal informatics, it&amp;rsquo;s that we simply won&amp;rsquo;t have accurate and reliable personal systems until the devices themselves are immune to these everyday emergencies and accidents and inconveniences. Until they&amp;rsquo;re virtually invisible and forgettable, probably embedded under the skin, we will be forced to consider personal informatic hardware as intrusive medical devices rather than as the ethereal, ambient data sources I think many people envision.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you want an informatically-based weight loss program, with increased walking as a core element, and if you want to count calories in and out, Fitbit is for you and might help you with your program over the months and years.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you are interested in just finding out about your body and how you use it, it&amp;rsquo;s great for that, too. Give it a spin, then hand it off to another person. Want mine?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Technology-BLOG.page?ArticleID=47448</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>FITBIT - GET E-HEALTHY</title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;Ontario Provincial Police laid 470 charges and issued 468 warnings to drivers caught breaking the rules in the first month of the province's new distracted driver law.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;Drivers are banned from using cellphones, iPods or other hand-held devices or electronic display screens while driving. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;The rule came into effect Oct. 26, and a three-month grace period offered to educate drivers ended in January. OPP officers issued 3,300 warnings during the grace period.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;Officers can still give drivers warnings on a discretionary basis, Const. Graham Williamson said.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;Charges and warnings from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28 do not include those issued by local police departments. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;&amp;quot;We've noticed a reduction in drivers using devices, so there are more people complying, but there are also more people trying to conceal their use of cellphones while driving,&amp;quot; said Const. Hugh Smith of Toronto's traffic services.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;&amp;quot;It's not so much crafty at all. It's just dangerous. They're lowering their phones out of view of the window and before they'd hold it by the steering wheel so at least they could look ahead.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;Williamson said there was only &amp;quot;anecdotal&amp;quot; evidence of safer roads because drivers disobeying the law usually see a police cruiser first and put their phones away.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;The OPP handed out the most fines &amp;ndash; 155 &amp;ndash; in the GTA. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;Drivers can challenge the $155 ticket in court, where a judge can lower the penalty to $60.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;In Halton, which covers Oakville, Burlington and Milton, officers charged 245 drivers in a month.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large"&gt;A Milton officer caught a driver turning left at a major intersection with his right hand holding his phone to his ear and his left hand clutching a piece of paper on the wheel, said Sgt. Brian Carr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=47276</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>OPP charges 470 drivers in first month of phone ban</title>
    </item>
    <item>
      <description>&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;OCC Key Messages&lt;br /&gt;
Federal Budget 2010&lt;br /&gt;
March 4, 2010&lt;br /&gt;
Overall, the Federal Budget is a play-it-safe plan to reduce Canada&amp;rsquo;s deficit to $1.8 billion by 2014-15 from its current $53.8 billion level. The OCC is concerned that spending restraint over the next five years is modest at best; a more aggressive plan to control spending over the next several years would have been welcomed given the severity of the record-level deficit and the projections of modest economic growth; any meaningful reduction in spending will not begin until 2011 and beyond.&lt;br /&gt;
Government operating expenses have dramatically increased in the last three fiscal years. Although the OCC applauds the announced reduction in overall operating expenses between 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, there is concern that expenses are set to return back to their current record high in 2014/2015, well after stimulus programs come to an end.&lt;br /&gt;
Spending &amp;amp; Deficit Reduction Plans&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
While a deficit plan as projected is welcome, the OCC is anxious to see the federal government return to balanced budgets.&lt;br /&gt;
o&lt;br /&gt;
the deficit is projected to be cut by almost half to $27.6 billion in 2011&amp;ndash;12 due to the wind down of the stimulus spending, and cut by two-thirds to $17.5 billion in 2012&amp;ndash;13.&lt;br /&gt;
o&lt;br /&gt;
Debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio is expected to peak at 35.4 per cent in 2010&amp;ndash;11 and then fall to 35.2 per cent 2011&amp;ndash;12 and 31.9 per cent by 2014&amp;ndash;15.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Program spending as a share of GDP is expected to decline from 15.6 per cent in 2009&amp;ndash;10 to 13.2 per cent in 2014&amp;ndash;15.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
A much needed review of government spending will be conducted, in conjunction with a freeze in department budgets. Unfortunately the results of the government wide review will not be available until the 2011 Budget.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
The bulk of the $6.8 billion savings from administrative costs of government occur after 2011, when collective agreements are done.&lt;br /&gt;
Tax Measures&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Welcome measures for personal tax relief, with an increase in the personal income tax exemption - $3.2 billion in relief&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
EI Premiums will continue to be frozen until 2011 &amp;ndash; after which rates will be set by an independent arms length Crown corporation, the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB).&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
The OCC is pleased to see the elimination of the remaining tariffs on manufacturing inputs and machinery and equipment, totaling $1.3 billion. This measure will assist Canadian industry by lowering the costs of manufacturing inputs and machinery and equipment that are imported from outside North America.&lt;br /&gt;
Infrastructure&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Good news for the Detroit River International Crossing partnership, with a much needed injection of $10 million over 3 years to support the legal, financial and technical work required to advance a new international crossing at Detroit-Windsor &amp;ndash; the key lifeline to Ontario&amp;rsquo;s economy.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Another $7.7 billion in stimulus funds will be dedicated to infrastructure improvements;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
The budget does contain welcome initiatives aimed at modernizing transportation infrastructure, including investments in passenger rail and ferry services, new resources to enhance aviation security in Canada, and funding to ensure the continued safety and reliability of bridges.&lt;br /&gt;
Regulations &amp;ndash; a modest approach to addressing the overwhelming regulatory burden on business, but no significant measures other than plans to review.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Establishment of a Red Tape Commission &amp;ndash; similar to the commission established by the Ontario Government in the 1990s, to review regulatory burden on the business sector. No concrete plans other than a commitment to review &amp;lsquo;red tape&amp;rsquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Advisory Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship &amp;ndash; to provide advice to the Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) on ways for small business to improve access to federal programs and information. Once again, business will have to wait for the advisory process to unfold.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Reduction in some administrative processes in the tax system&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
Welcome measures to accelerate regulatory reviews of major energy projects, while continuing to protect the environment&lt;br /&gt;
Energy&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
The OCC is pleased to see a continued commitment to Canada&amp;rsquo;s nuclear industry, with $300 million dedicated to AECL's operations in 2010&amp;ndash;11 to cover&lt;br /&gt;
anticipated commercial losses and support the corporation's operations, including the continued development of the Advanced CANDU Reactor.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
The budget includes $362 million in new spending commitments toward green jobs and growth up to the end of 2012. The Budget does not specify how these jobs will be created. However the Budget proposes tax measures that encourages taxpayers to spend on green energy and diversify the country&amp;rsquo;s energy supply.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&lt;br /&gt;
$50 million has been allocated from 2010-12 to support research and development in the forestry sector for clean energy technology, to help companies in the industry make their operations more efficient and less polluting.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font color="#00467e" size="6" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font color="#00467e" size="6" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font color="#00467e" size="6" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;Budget 2010&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span id="1267800625789S" style="display: none"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;The Canadian Chamber welcomes the federal government&amp;rsquo;s strategy to stay the course on the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;recovery plan, its approach to balancing the books over the medium term, and its emphasis on laying&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;the foundation for a more innovative and competitive economy. The government recognizes that the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;substantial program spending increases over the last decade are not sustainable. It plans to limit&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;increases in program expenses to 0.8% per year over the 2010-11 to 2014-15 period. This will not be&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;easy. Since fiscal 2000-01, growth in program expenses has been averaging a little more than 6% per&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;year. The Canadian Chamber will watch closely to ensure Ottawa lives up to its commitment to rein&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;in spending and improve efficiency in the government sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Revenues are projected to increase approximately 6.5% per year over the forecast period. With&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;nominal growth in the economy expected to average about 4-5 % per annum, growing our way out of&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;deficits will be challenging.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;In the final analysis, we need to get our fiscal house in order so we can provide the economic&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;flexibility needed to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow and meet the challenges posed by an aging&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;population.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Going forward, it is crucial that the government refrain from increasing taxes that hinder job creation,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;entrepreneurship and investment. We can't afford to erase the hard-earned progress we have made&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;in improving our international tax competitiveness. While Budget 2010 explicitly stipulates that &amp;ldquo;the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;government will not raise taxes,&amp;rdquo; the projections in the Budget suggest Employment Insurance (EI)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;premiums will rise significantly (the maximum of 15 cents) over the 2011-2014 period to recover the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;deficits incurred by the EI program during the recession. Thereafter, premiums will be set at the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;break-even level. Increasing payroll taxes will discourage employers from hiring just as the economic&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;recovery matures. Over the long-term, these costs are ultimately passed on to employees in the form&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;of lower wages, taking a bite out of personal income. The Canadian Chamber urges the government&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;to keep rate increases at manageable levels by devising a workable financing scheme for EI &amp;ndash; i.e.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;amend the present rate-setting formula with a view of balancing the EI Account over the business&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;cycle of up to ten years &amp;ndash; to help smooth out increases in premiums.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Lastly, small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our economy, accounting for about&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;98% of all businesses in Canada and employing more than 5 million people. Advances in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;communications and information technologies, the accelerating pace of global economic integration&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;and intensifying competitive pressures are creating ongoing adjustment pressures and challenges&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;especially for small- and medium-sized businesses. We applaud the government&amp;rsquo;s focus in Budget&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;2010 to support innovation in Canada&amp;rsquo;s small business sector, reduce the regulatory burden, improve&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;credit availability, and continue to reduce the tax compliance and administrative burden facing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;businesses. These initiatives will result in higher performing businesses and higher paying jobs for&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Canadians.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#ffffff" size="1" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font color="#ffffff" size="1" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font color="#ffffff" size="1" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;The Canadian Chamber of Commerce 2&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;We also welcome the government&amp;rsquo;s focus on advancing the digital economy which will help raise&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;business productivity, and contribute to a more prosperous and competitive Canada. Canadian&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;businesses lag their international competitors in the development and adoption of innovative ICT. In&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;the knowledge-based economy, Canada must be a world leader, not a laggard.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;The Throne Speech contained important additional commitments in areas such as strengthening&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;intellectual property rights. The Canadian Chamber analysis of the Throne Speech can be viewed at&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;chamber.ca.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font face="BookAntiqua-Bold"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Canadian Chamber of Commerce:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Budget 2010 Analysis&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span id="1267800642224S" style="display: none"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;The Canadian Chamber welcomes the federal government&amp;rsquo;s strategy to stay the course on the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;recovery plan, its approach to balancing the books over the medium term, and its emphasis on laying&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;the foundation for a more innovative and competitive economy. The government recognizes that the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;substantial program spending increases over the last decade are not sustainable. It plans to limit&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;increases in program expenses to 0.8% per year over the 2010-11 to 2014-15 period. This will not be&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;easy. Since fiscal 2000-01, growth in program expenses has been averaging a little more than 6% per&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;year. The Canadian Chamber will watch closely to ensure Ottawa lives up to its commitment to rein&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;in spending and improve efficiency in the government sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Revenues are projected to increase approximately 6.5% per year over the forecast period. With&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;nominal growth in the economy expected to average about 4-5 % per annum, growing our way out of&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;deficits will be challenging.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;In the final analysis, we need to get our fiscal house in order so we can provide the economic&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;flexibility needed to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow and meet the challenges posed by an aging&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;population.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Going forward, it is crucial that the government refrain from increasing taxes that hinder job creation,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;entrepreneurship and investment. We can't afford to erase the hard-earned progress we have made&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;in improving our international tax competitiveness. While Budget 2010 explicitly stipulates that &amp;ldquo;the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;government will not raise taxes,&amp;rdquo; the projections in the Budget suggest Employment Insurance (EI)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;premiums will rise significantly (the maximum of 15 cents) over the 2011-2014 period to recover the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;deficits incurred by the EI program during the recession. Thereafter, premiums will be set at the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;break-even level. Increasing payroll taxes will discourage employers from hiring just as the economic&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;recovery matures. Over the long-term, these costs are ultimately passed on to employees in the form&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;of lower wages, taking a bite out of personal income. The Canadian Chamber urges the government&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;to keep rate increases at manageable levels by devising a workable financing scheme for EI &amp;ndash; i.e.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#ffffff" size="1" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font color="#ffffff" size="1" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font color="#ffffff" size="1" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;The Canadian Chamber of Commerce 3&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;&lt;font size="2" face="BookAntiqua"&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;amend the present rate-setting formula with a view of balancing the EI Account over the business&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;cycle of up to ten years &amp;ndash; to help smooth out increases in premiums.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Lastly, small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our economy, accounting for about&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;98% of all businesses in Canada and employing more than 5 million people. Advances in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;communications and information technologies, the accelerating pace of global economic integration&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;and intensifying competitive pressures are creating ongoing adjustment pressures and challenges&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;especially for small- and medium-sized businesses. We applaud the government&amp;rsquo;s focus in Budget&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;2010 to support innovation in Canada&amp;rsquo;s small business sector, reduce the regulatory burden, improve&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;credit availability, and continue to reduce the tax compliance and administrative burden facing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;businesses. These initiatives will result in higher performing businesses and higher paying jobs for&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;Canadians.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;We also welcome the government&amp;rsquo;s focus on advancing the digital economy which will help raise&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;business productivity, and contribute to a more prosperous and competitive Canada. Canadian&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;businesses lag their international competitors in the development and adoption of innovative ICT. In&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;the knowledge-based economy, Canada must be a world leader, not a laggard.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;The Throne Speech contained important additional commitments in areas such as strengthening&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id="1267800642105E" style="display: none"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: medium"&gt;intellectual property rights.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description>
      <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/Business-News.page?ArticleID=47265</link>
      <pubDateParsed>2010-09-06T09:32:57.8954111Z</pubDateParsed>
      <title>Reaction to the 2010 Federal Budget from the Ontario and Canadian Chambers of Commerce</title>
    </item>
    <lastBuildDate>9/6/2010 5:32:57 AM</lastBuildDate>
    <link>http://www.fortknoxis.com/</link>
    <title>Business Solutions, Managed IT Support, CMS websites, VoIP Lines Canada and USA</title>
    <pubDate>9/6/2010 5:32:57 AM</pubDate>
    <webMaster>john@fortknoxis.com</webMaster>
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