Tag Archives: Vancouver

Vancouver political pundits puzzled by small business question; evolving theory about science, innovation, and business in Canada

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They gave me ‘Bambi eyes’ in response to my question about Vancouver city council’s performance vis a vis supporting small business. It happened on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, when I attended Michael Geller’s “That Was the Year That Was”  1st anniversary review of Vancouver’s city council performance since its election. (I will link this to my evolving theory about science, innovation, and business but first I have to tell the story.)

It was a very interesting and very civil discussion. I was particularly thankful for the civility since I have been to political meetings where people rant and scream at each other. It was also very much an insider’s meeting. Most people knew each other and the majority were from the NPA. As you’d expect with people who know each other a nicety or two was forgotten. The first speaker did not identify himself and he introduced the 1st panel’s moderator so quickly that I missed the name although I did remark that the moderator is an architect.

The first panel offered a good review of the projects and problems that have been addressed since the election and panel members (Michael Geller, Gordon Price, and Jim Green) provided contrasting insights into various situations. The presentation could have done with a little editing.  Too long and a bit repetitive.

The second panel was on Vancouver’s economic development and the green economy. The moderator was Peter Ladner and panel members were Gordon Price (again), John Tylee, and James Fletcher. I was a bit disappointed in this one. Fletcher’s comments were on the academic side and at times vague; Price was cogent although he didn’t have any big revelations; and Tylee was focused on attracting big business (technology industries, I think) and developing ‘sticky’ relationships. (sigh) Do the marketing types really want to reference Madonna and/or poor sanitation practices? Or are they more scientifically minded and going for a reference to particle physics? It’s beside the point anyway. Large businesses care about their bottom line and when times get tough they cut employee numbers and/or facilities regardless of ‘sticky’ relationships. Since many of the technology businesses in Vancouver have headquarters in the US where the newly elected Democratic administration has committed to a ‘Made in the USA’ policy/protectionism, you can assume that they will cut in Canada first and more deeply.

(For some insight into the new US protectionism check this story about the City of Sacramento digging up newly laid pipe that had Made in Canada stamped on it. The irony: the pipes were made of materials imported from Texas. Go here for more.)

There wasn’t much about the green economy and virtually no detail  was offered.

The third panel featured media pundits Miro Cernetig, Jonathan Ross, Monte Paulsen, and Mike Klassen as panelists and Frances Bula as the moderator. This was the panel that responded with ‘Bambi eyes’ when I asked a perfectly simple question which I have to paraphrase as I don’t recall the exact wording. “What is your take on city council’s support for small business?” In my preamble I referenced the previous panel’s focus on big business and noted that small business owners contribute hugely to neighbourhoods and their character.  Klassen was the only person who attempted a response or even seemed to grasp the nature of the question. While he didn’t have anything substantive, he did note some of the problems that come with a strong focus on hosting big business facilities (i.e. branch plants) mentioning Kodak. If y0u want more proof that there is no such thing as a ‘sticky’ relationship with larger enterprises, check out this blog entry from someone working at Kodak’s facility in Burnaby (before its purchase this was the local business,  Creo Products).

I was shocked. Quite frankly I expected more of this panel. If nothing else they could have noted that it’s not on the agenda at the moment or …  Although how they’ve missed the fact that a lot of small businesses are having problems (I’m seeing vacancies (Edie’s Hats, Big News, etc.), departures (Jackson’s Meats, McKinnon’s Bakery, etc.)  coupled with some very large US retailers (American Apparel, Williams and Sonoma,  etc.) moving into my neighbourhood).

On another matter, Bula’s moderation was problematic and I should note here that she had the most challenging panel of the morning. Back to the problems. First, she seated herself in the centre of the table with panelists on either side of her in contrast the other two moderators stood a little removed and to the side of their panels. (Sitting in the center of the panel makes it harder to establish eye contact with individual panelists and makes it harder to manage them.)  She had a difficult panel member with Klassen who highjacked the discussion a few times.

Another problem with sitting in the middle of the panel is that you tend to forget that you’re moderating and not a member of the panel and so,  Bula forgot a few times. However, my biggest disappointment was that she didn’t shut down questions and comments that really had nothing to do with the topic at hand, the pundits’ perspective on the current city council’s performance. Instead, there was a substantive period of time devoted to the state of journalism, newspapers and newspaper writing, the roles of bloggers vis a vis journalists, and the question of how one makes money by blogging. Then, she had to cut off questions at the end because there wasn’t enough time. (As for the two other moderators, the first one had a smoothly oiled machine as panels go and needed only to keep time [I think he could have been a little more aggressive about that] and the second one, Peter Ladner, gave a mediocre performance with a low energy panel. He could have dome more to provoke comments  and/or questions from the panel and the audience.)

This all got me to thinking about business, science, and innovation. I’ve discussed in the past my issues with Canadian businesses not having their own commercial research labs and their general reluctance to invest in innovation.

Until this meeting, I hadn’t realized how little interest there is in Canadian business of any size. The plan for Vancouver’s economic development is to attract big business which generally means a business from the US (or another country). How are we going to encourage innovation and risk taking if we don’t support business large and small? It seems to me that we need to create a kind of business ecosystem which supports businesses and we need to start with the small ones, those local retailers that add so much to the experience of a neighbourhood. I think we need to change the mindset about business at every level and that focusing on Canada’s larger businesses and asking how we can get them to take more risks and become more innovative misses the point. We need to develop a culture around all of our businesses.

For anyone who’s interested in more comments about Geller’s event or Vancouver politics, you can visit: civicscene.ca, citycaucus.com, Michael Geller’s blog, and Frances Bula’s blog. My reservations notwithstanding, it was a worthwhile event and as these things go, came off remarkably well, Bravo to the organizers!

Nano augments reality; PEN’s consumer nano products inventory goes mobile and interactive; Two Cultures; Michael Geller’s ‘Look at Vancouver’ event

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There was a nanotechnology mention hidden in a recent article (Augmented Reality is Both a Fad and the Future — Here’s Why by Farhad Manjoo in Fast Company) about a new iPhone application by Yelp, Monocle. From the article,

Babak Parviz, a bio-nanotechnologist at the University of Washington, has been working on augmented-reality contact lenses that would layer computer graphics on everything around us — in other words, we’d have Terminator eyes. “We have a vast amount of data on the Web, but today we see it on a flat screen,” says Michael Zöllner, an augmented-reality researcher at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research. “It’s only a small step to see all of it superimposed on our lives.” Much of this sounds like a comic-book version of technology, and indeed, all of this buzz led the research firm Gartner to put AR on its “hype cycle” for emerging technologies — well on its way to the “peak of inflated expectations.”

Manjoo goes on to note that augmented reality is not new although he’s not able to go back to the 1890s as I did in yesterday’s (Nov. 11, 2009) posting about using clouds to display data.

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) has produced an exciting new iPhone application, findNano which allows users to access PEN’s consumer products inventory via their mobile phones. From the news item on Azonano,

findNano allows users to browse an inventory of more than 1,000 nanotechnology-enabled consumer products, from sporting goods to food products and electronics to toys, using the iPhone and iPod Touch. Using the built-in camera, iPhone users can even submit new nanotech products to be included in future inventory updates.

That bit about users submitting information for their database reminds me of a news item about scientists in the UK setting up a database that can be accessed by mobile phones allowing ordinary citizens to participate in gathering science information (I posted about it here). I wonder how PEN will track participation and if they will produce a report on the results (good and/or bad).

One thing I did notice is that PEN’s consumer products inventory has over 1000 items while the new European inventory I mentioned in my Nov. 10, 2009 posting has 151 items.

I finally finished reading The Two Cultures: and A Second Look (a publication of the text for the original talk along with an updated view) by C. P. Snow. This year is the 50th anniversary. My interest in Snow’s talk was reanimated  by Andrew Maynard’s postings about the anniversary and the talk in his 2020 Science blog. He has three commentaries starting here with a poll, and his May 5, 2009 and May 6, 2009 postings on the topic.

I had heard of The Two Cultures but understood it to be about the culture gap between the sciences and the arts/humanities. This is a profound misunderstanding of Snow’s talk/publication which was more concerned with raising the standard of living and health globally. Snow’s second look was a failed attempt to redress the misunderstanding.

From a writer’s perspective, his problem started with the title which sets the frame for his whole talk. He then opened with a discussion of literary intellectuals and scientists (bringing us back to the number two), their differences and the culture gap that ensues. Finally, over 1/2 of his talk was over by the time he started the serious discussion about extending the benefits of what he termed ‘the scientific revolution’ globally.

It’s an interesting read and some of it (the discussion about education) is still quite timely.

Michael Geller,  local architect, planner, real estate consultant, and developer in Vancouver (Canada), has organized an event to review the happenings in the city since the last election in 2008. From the news release (on Frances Bula’s blog),

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14, 20009 marks the one year anniversary of the last election day in Vancouver; a day that resulted in a significant change in the political landscape and leadership of our city.  The purpose of this event is to mark this anniversary with a review of the highlights of the past year in Vancouver municipal politics, particularly in terms of the accomplishments of Council and staff in the areas of housing, planning and development; fiscal management and economic development; and leadership.

The event will be held at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue (lower level) at 515 West Hastings from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm. Admission by donation. Geller has arranged a pretty interesting lineup for his three panel discussions although one of the commenters on Bula’s blog is highly unimpressed with both the speakers and anyone who might foolishly attend.

Nanotechnology in Manitoba; petition for a National Day for Canadian Research; Word on the Street Festival

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I wasn’t expecting to find that researchers in Manitoba were working with researchers from Johns Hopkins University, two biopharmaceutical companies, Dartmouth College, and researchers from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to study sugar-coated nanoparticles. In fact since I don’t cover nanomedicine very often, I almost missed the item which is about how these particles might be used in cancer therapy .

From the news item on Science Daily,

In cooperation with colleagues at The Johns Hopkins University, Dartmouth College, the University of Manitoba and two biopharmaceutical companies, the NIST team has demonstrated that the particles—essentially sugar-coated bits of iron oxide, about 100 nanometers wide—are potent cancer killers because they interact with one another in ways that smaller nanoparticles do not. The interactions, thought by many bioengineers to be undesirable, actually help the larger particles heat up better when subjected to an alternating magnetic field. Because this heat destroys cancer cells, the team’s findings may help engineers design better particles and treatment methods.

Sometimes it seems to me that there is a drive to work with smaller and smaller bits of matter so this realization that the larger particle could be prove to be more effective is interesting and mildly amusing to me since I get caught up in this ‘drive to smaller and smaller’.

I recently received notice of a petition for a National Day for Canadian Research being organized by graduate students (presumably across the country).  From the notice,

Myself and others are trying to establish a National Day for Canadian Research to help support and recognize the achievements of researchers in Canada. This is a non-partisan and cost-free approach that the government should have no difficulty accepting.

For this to occur, it must be enacted by Parliament and we must petition them formally. In this effort, we have set up a website where hard copies of a petition (in either French or English) can be downloaded and signed (www.canadianresearchday.ca). In addition, an online petition can also be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/NCRD/petition.html or through the link found at www.canadianresearchday.ca. The CSBMCB has also posted our links on their advocacy website.

Signing the online petition is good but if the effort is to be successful, hard copy petitions must be signed and sent. If you want to read the full notice, you can go here to the Don’t leave Canada behind forum.

The Vancouver (Canada) edition of the Word on the Street Festival is this Sunday, Sept.27, 2009. It goes from 11 am to 5 pm and is being held in the blocks surrounding the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library (at 350 West Georgia St.). There are maps on their website as well as other information. They do advise using public transit since they do close  a few blocks to car traffic for the festival.

Vancouver’s new poet laureate

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I just saw and heard Brad Cran’s first event as Vancouver’s poet laureate. The inaugural poet laureate, George McWhirter was present at the City of Vancouver chambers today (May 5, 2009) at 3:45 pm along with the city council, mayor, and many of Cran’s supporters.

I enjoyed the poetry (both Cran’s and that of the children from grade two [not sure which school]). I gather he’s a community activist of some sort although I haven’t come across him before. His first poem was about the violence we’ve had recently. I’m not sure what the title was other than it had the word bullet in it. His poems are relatively brief and the few I’ve heard or read concern themselves with contemporary urban life. Cran made a point of mentioning the Downtown Eastside before reciting his poem about community. Then, it was the kids’ turn. It was about what you’d expect from a group of seven and eight year olds. Charming, funny, ofetn concerned with candy, ice cream, and pets, and with an occasional reference to contemporary social issues e.g. homelessness. Apparently, this is a preview of a longer piece with children that Cran plans to work on as part of his duties as Vancouver’s poet laureate.

Cran thanked everybody and their uncle and made special mention of a new book that George McWhirter edited,  A Verse Map of Vancouver. I think it was one of McWhirter’s poet laureate projects. Cran’s appointment, like McWhirter’s, is for three years.

Sporty nano in Vancouver, Canada

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As soon as I saw the title I knew it had to be a nanotech product. “The new ‘no sweat’ science” was an article in the Sunday (Dec. 21, 2008) edition of The Province daily paper. A local company, Firstar Sports (based in Surrey), makes a shirt that wicks away your sweat and never smells. The current CEO, Keith Gracey, wore the shirt over a period of months for his workouts and never washed it. Plus, he never had any complaints about the smell.

The ‘no smell’ part was the clue. There’s been a lot of talk about silver nanoparticles and their anti-bacterial properties which can be used in bandages to combat (infection and in clothing to combat smell.  Interestingly, nobody used the word nanotechnology or any of its variants in the article,

Throw in some anti-bacterial silver ions and Firstar’s garments have a 99.9-er-cent kill rate for bacteria after 50 washes, Gracey  (CEO) and Thom (Founder and VP) say. [emphasis is mine]

Certainly the marketing and PR folks seem to be backing off from using the nanotechnology or any of its variants. I commented on this development in my Talking nano posting. I also gave a link to an article by Alex Shmidt about this.

The article in The Province did not mention any risks but i don’t expect the reporter knew enough to ask the question. For the record, I have seen material which indicates that the silver nanoparticles (or ions) wash off, which means they could end up in our water supply. As far as I know, there’s no definitive data whether or not this feature could pose risks.

Vancouver as a literary city

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Back in April 2008 there was a big noise about Vancouver applying to UNESCO for designation as a UNESCO Literary City. Alma Lee who founded the Vancouver International Writers Festival was leading the effort. I haven’t heard much about it since but it turns out that Melbourne (Australia) just received their designation in August 2008. They were second city to receive it after Edinburgh. Somewhere in my internet travels, I saw that there are currently three other cities (in addition to Vancouver) with applications: Kolkata, Iowa City,  and Dublin (I can’t confirm this last one).

Further investigation showed that the Literary Cities are part of something bigger, the Creative Cities Network. Apparently UNESCO has a whole series of designations, Cities of Design, Cities of Music, Cities of Gastronomy, etc.

The April publicity was in aid of a public meeting to garner support locally. At the same time, city council was asked to support the effort. These were the last steps for completing the application. So far, there’s no word as to Vancouver’s current status.

Meanwhile, the Word on the Street (WOTS) festival is coming up on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008. Heather Haley (her website is here) will be appearing at the Poetry Tent on Homer St. and Georgia St. at 2 pm. For more on the festival, go here.

Cafe Scientifique, wiki project, and more Bonifacho

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Just found this today. There’s a science get together in Vancouver that sounds like it’s modeled on the Philosopher’s Cafe events they run through Simon Fraser University. It’s 7:30 pm tonight at Steamworks (brewpub), 375 Water St., Harbourview Room and it features three scientists giving  a somewhat eclectic mix of presentations ranging from Pathogenomics, to climate changes, to DNA Nanotechnology. The last one sounds a little bogus to me. It smacks of someone in the biotech field deciding to rebrand their work as nanotechnology in the wake of the anti-GM (‘frankenfood’) movement.  I will go see for myself and report on it tomorrow. The Vancouver Cafe Scientific folks have a site here but there are more details for this event here.

Yesterday, I mentioned my wiki project, which is called The Nanotech Mysteries: an initiation into the science and the technology. It’s my dissertation project (MA at De Montfort University, UK) and I’ve been gathering information for about 1/1/2 years now and writing papers and even presenting them all in preparation for my wiki. I put up a prototype for workshop review a few months ago and Sunday I created the project wik at PBWiki.com but I’m running into some problems. I sure they hope resolve them soon or I’m going somewhere else. (I created the wiki in their 1.0 version and then, under the impression that it would be easy to accomplish,  asked to move it to their 2.0 version. I’m still waiting for a reply. Fingers crossed that they can do this in a timely fashion. So I can have something happening there soon.

Couple things regarding Bratsa Bonifacho and his street banners. I got a few things wrong. The banners are going to be all over Vancouver and not just on Cambie St. and it was the 24 Hours newspaper and not Metro News which claimed the banners on Cambie St. were in support of anti-homophobic rally. For anyone interested in a better image (than the jpeg I have here) of the work appearing on the banners you can go to Bratsa’s website here. Just click on a Habitat Pixel (the collection he used as the basis for  the banners)  image for a closer view. Although, you should see one of the paintings…if you get a chance. A digital image just doesn’t convey the texture of the work, how he builds layers, cuts into them, and the more subtle use of colour. (He’s represented by the Bau-Xi Gallery on south Granville St., Vancouver.)

Nano Oreal, Bonifacho, and Krazy

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I received an invitation to a nanotech event “Small is Beautiful” just yesterday for a June 5, 2008 at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC. Luckily they webcast their events so you can tune in 1pm – 2pm EST here. And in case that link doesn’t work, you can try here in the invite and click in the right sidebar under Webcast Live. And, here’s why you might be interested. They’re featuring a representative from L’Oreal, Dr. Francis Quinn, and the Chief Science Officer for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Dr. Andrew Maynard. Apparently, L’Oreal ranks sixth in nanotech patents in the US. So, the beauty and cosmetics sector has embraced nanotechnology and introduced it into their products. I will be interested to hear about any risk assessments L’Oreal has made for people slathering nanoparticles onto their skin. Maynard should be interesting too. He writes a about risk on a Safenano Community blog here.

On another note, an artist I know, Bratsa Bonifacho, just had a launch event for his latest project, a series of street banners that have been placed along Cambie St. and its eponymous bridge in Vancouver. He was invited to Vancouver City Hall and feted by mayor Sam Sullivan and various city councillors yesterday for the launch. (late breaking…here are some links to articles about Bratsa and his banners…Vancouver Sun and Metro News…despite Metro News, the banners are not about anti-homophobic rallies…Bratsa did a series of paintings about computer viruses and that’s what you can see on the street banners)

Tomorrow I’m off to a press preview of Krazy! The delirious world of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art at the Vancouver Art Gallery. More about that afterwards.

I was out of commission for a few days. Twisted ankle on Saturday, May 10 and tooth extraction yesterday, May 13. I should be back to normal in the next few days.