BC Business
TED and Monica Social activist Monica Lewinsky along with more than 70 other thinkers, dreamers and mavericks, ranging from Vancouver architect Bruce Haden to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, are in town for TED, which opened Monday at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Themed “Truth and Dare,” TED2015 talks will also be streamed live to people around the globe, the TEDActive Conference in Whistler, Vancouver secondary schools, universities, libraries, community centres and NGOs. An online live video stream of Tuesday’s TED Prize session will be streamed free this Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Just how big is TED for Vancouver? Check out our latest infographic.
Look smart, work smart Smart glasses have moved into the workplace. Recon Jet eyewear will enable workers in industries like manufacturing, field service and oil and gas to communicate clearly and access critical data at a glance. Jet eyewear is a collaboration between Vancouver’s Recon Instruments, the technology company behind the world’s first consumer smart eyewear for sports and high intensity environments, and U.S.-based APX Labs, producer of Skylight software for smart glasses.
What, me worry? A consumer debt study focused on Vancouver and the Fraser Valley reveals that while 57 per cent of participants felt they had a good or excellent grasp of financial skills and concepts, just 3 per cent correctly answered all questions regarding knowledge of debt and debt solutions. And those 3 per cent had learned the hard way: all had previously filed a personal bankruptcy or consumer proposal. Warning signs that respondents’ debts were a problem included making only minimum payments (64.9%), collection calls (42.1%), bouncing cheques/missing payments (26.3%) and wage garnishments (8.5%). The 2014 BC Consumer Debt Study was conducted by Sands & Associates, B.C.’s largest firm of licensed credit counsellors, proposal administrators and trustees in bankruptcy.