By Knowlton Thomas Nash

oogle, a company with market
jensen exceeding the total

economic output of all of Canada
combined (except for Ontario), is no
stranger to having its name thrown around.
Google is the cool kid on the block—on
every block.

Recently, Google stated that they
expect to do at least one acquisition deal
every month. Yes, that’s right: once per
month, they are going to subsume another
company. Blazing fast, to be certain, but a

 

 

| When your baby’s first word is “Google,”
you know you’re in trouble

denies it somewhat, but ultimately doesn’t
care, After all, their growth and profits are
explosive and nothing around can stop
them.

Google is not the first company
to rock the acquisition-based business
model. One might have heard of a certain
company called Microsoft, which deploys
a strikingly similar manner of doing
business. These mega-corporations gobble
up companies that don’t even have a
chance to get their name out, so consumers
have no idea that, for example, Google
didn’t actually develop its world-famous

“Google stated that they expect to do at least one acquisition
deal every month. Yes, that’s right: once per month, they are
going to subsume another company.”

new record for the company? Not really;
Google is an expert on devouring smaller
companies. In fact, that’s how Google
advances.

The globally renowned innovative
advances of this multinational giant are
actually a bit of a mirage. You see, Google
itself doesn’t really do very much. They
simply take some pocket change from
their multi-billion dollar wallet and buy
out a couple of small—but genuinely
innovative—companies that have services
Google could benefit from. A minor tweak
here, a subtle adjustment there, a Google
trademark stamp, and voila... you have
Google’s newest creation!

Google has what these tiny guys
don’t: savvy marketing and bottomless
resources. And by resources, I’m talking
cash money of epic proportion. Google has
not so innovatively, but very effectively,
brought in billions upon billions of dollars
in revenue thanks to online advertising.

In fact, it accounts for an estimated 97 per
cent of their total revenue. Often criticized
for being an advertising company, Google

 

Maps feature from the get-go.

The only acquisition Google has
made in recent years that a typical Googler
might recall is that of YouTube, which is
perhaps the one acquisition Google didn’t
necessarily buy for its innovation, but
rather for the extreme advertising potential.
And therein, many business analysts were
disappointed with how Google was only
able to utilize YouTube for advertisement
revenue. Beyond that, Google snags little
baby businesses like Jaiku, which was
a micro-blogging company, and Picasa,
which developed image organization
tools. Those were the smart guys. But still,
you ask, “Who?” Well, it doesn’t matter
anyway. It’s all Google now.

So when your young one’s first
utterance eerily resembles “oogle” with
a “G” in the front, don’t think it’s a first.
And when Google knocks on the door of
your revolutionary business with an empty
stomach and a wad full of cash in its hand,
don’t think it’s a first. It happens every
month.

 

Milestone medals

Bar

 

2010 Olympic medals represent more than just athletic achievements

By Trevor Doré, Acting Opinions Editor

T= 2010Winter Olympic medals
have set many milestones. They
are among the heaviest medals
in Olympic history, their unique design
insures that no two medals are alike and
their wavy form is a first.
The Royal Canadian Mint produced the
Olympic medals. According to Ian E.
Bennett, president and CEO of the Royal
Canadian Mint, “The Mint assembled a
tremendous pool of talented engineers,
engravers, die technicians, and press
operators to channel decades of experience
into bringing the Vancouver 2010 medals to
life.” The expertise and years of planning
that have gone into the medals has resulted
in a truly breathtaking finished product.

These medals are symbols of and
synonymous with the environment. Their
rolling shape represents the rolling ocean,
cascading mountains and drifting snow.
The Olympic Medals are the standard gold,
silver and bronze. They are, however, also
green; meaning while the metals are made
from materials derived from the earth, they
are also made of recycled material.

The recycled metal comes from just
outside of Trail, B.C. at Teck Cominco’s

e-waste recovery plant and is extruded
from electronics that have reached the

end of their usable life. The circuit

boards contain various precious and rare
metals. The plastic, glass and metal are
separated and the circuit boards are sent to
a separator. The metals derived from the
e-waste were melted down and combined
with metals from other sources to produce
the Olympic medals.

The great thing about the e-waste
conversion facility is that it not only
keeps electronics out of landfills; thus
continuing the cycle, but it also conserves
and prolongs natural resources. Teck’s
president and CEO, Don Lindsay says,
““We’re also excited that these medals will
contain recycled metal recovered from
end-of-life electronics, consistent with the
sustainability philosophy of the Olympic
and Paralympic Games.”

The Olympics are an athletic
inspiration and the medals represent the
reward for years of hard work on the part of
the athlete. The Games have the power to
inspire and lift spirits. Thanks to ingenuity
and environmental sensibility, the medals
now also represent sustainability —an ideal
we should all be inspired to achieve.

 

A case of the blues

Could SAD be affecting you this winter?

         

Trevor Doré
acting opinions editor

ling down in the dumps lately? As
R= cold dark winter slowly greets us,
it is normal to feel a little gloomy.
This is perhaps because historically,
humans have only ever worked outdoors.
With the invention of the electric light bulb
however, humans have been able to work
at all times of the day. Going to work in
the dark and coming home in the dark is a
common winter ritual for the majority of
the population. The result is that we aren’t
getting enough sunlight that in turn, throws
off the body’s natural rhythms.
Throwing the body’s rhythm out
can leave you feeling down or even a
little SAD. What is SAD? SAD stands
for Seasonal Affective Disorder and
according to the Seasonal Affective
Disorder Association (SADA), it “affects
an estimated half a million people every
winter between September and April.” It
can be particularly strong in the months
of December, January and February— you
know, the months where you could swear
that it never stopped raining. So what is it
exactly?
Technically, “it is caused by
a biochemical imbalance in the
hypothalamus due to the shortening of
daylight hours and lack of sunlight.” A
biochemical imbalance— sounds bad. Well,
for some it can be. For some, SAD can be
serious, preventing them from functioning
normally without continuous medical
treatment. For others, the effects can be

 

mild. The technical term for this milder
version is “subsyndromal SAD” more
commonly known as the Winter Blues.

So what are the symptoms? Well,
they range from depression to sleepiness
and lethargy. I am sure everyone has
experienced sleepiness and lethargy in
some way shape or form and whether or
not it was caused by SAD or that late night
bender are two different things. Many of
the symptoms described by SADA are
symptoms that seem to be come along
naturally with the winter season. “SAD
occurs throughout the northern and
southern hemispheres but is extremely rare
in those living within 30 degrees of the
Equator, where daylight hours are long,
constant and extremely bright.”

So if you think that you may be
suffering from a case of SAD what can you
do? Well, although I am not a doctor, it
sounds like a move to a tropical destination
could be the cure. If, however, you are in
no position to pick up your bags and get
out of Dodge, another suggestion is light
therapy. Light therapy has been shown
to be effective in up to 85 per cent of
diagnosed cases. That is, exposure, for up
to four hours per day (average 1-2 hours)
to very bright light, at least 10 times the
intensity of ordinary domestic lighting.

So if you think SAD is a big bluff and
are not into giving light therapy a shot,
wipe those winter blues away knowing
that last weekend we got an extra hour of
sunlight and in a couple months the days
will start getting longer again.

Fuming? Nodding? Tell us your opinions;
contact opinions @theotherpress.ca