Tuesday November 2, 2010

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Ted Talks

Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain

We're bringing gameplay into more aspects of our lives, spending countless hours -- and real money -- exploring virtual worlds for imaginary treasures. Why? As Tom Chatfield shows, games are perfectly tuned to dole out rewards that engage the brain and keep us questing for more.

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Appointment

Thomas A. Bernes appointed Executive Director of CIGI

Waterloo – The Board of Directors of The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) today announced the appointment of Thomas A. Bernes to the position of Executive Director. As Executive Director, Mr. Bernes is responsible for over-all strategy, programs and management of CIGI, a Waterloo-based think tank on international governance innovation. He was appointed Vice President of Programs in November 2009 and Acting Executive Director in December 2009. “Over the past year, Tom has significantly strengthened CIGI

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Pension

Canada Revenue Agency Announces Maximum Pensionable Earnings for 2011

OTTAWA - The Canada Revenue Agency announced today that the maximum pensionable earnings under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for 2011 will be $48,300-up from $47,200 in 2010. The new ceiling was calculated according to a CPP legislated formula that takes into account the growth in average weekly wages and salaries in Canada.

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Human Resources

'UN'-DO LIST - Survey: CFOs Would Hand Off Administrative Duties First

TORONTO - No job is too small for finance executives, a new survey suggests. But if chief financial officers (CFOs) could get one thing off their plates, it would be administrative tasks. Nearly one-third (30 per cent) of CFOs interviewed said that if they could eliminate one responsibility, it would be basic clerical and administrative work.

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Art & Culture

Music and care come together at unique Laurier conference Nov. 6

WATERLOO — In a first-of-its-kind in Canada, Wilfrid Laurier University is hosting a unique Music Care conference that brings together a cross-section of community stakeholders in music and care to provide information and inspiration that will have far-reaching impact on how the effective therapeutic use of music can make a difference to quality-of-life and well-being.

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R&D 2 Commercialization

OGI Invests in Personalized Medicine for Age-related Macular Degeneration

Toronto – Through its Pre-Commercialization Business Development Fund (PBDF), the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) has invested in molecular diagnostics company, ArcticDx, Inc. Established in 2007 and based in Toronto, ArcticDx has developed a test, Macula Risk®, the first of its kind and specifically designed to determine one's inherited risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common form of acquired blindness in the developed world, affecting over 10% of individuals.

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Education

University of Waterloo's fall open house invites students and parents

WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo will offer an in-depth look at the university and campus life for prospective students and their families at an all-day event on Saturday, Nov. 6

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ISO Guidelines

WSPA hails new ISO Standard as first to promote animal welfare

World News - The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) celebrates the inclusion of animal welfare in the newly launched ISO Standard 26000. The International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) new guidelines are internationally accepted standards on social responsibility for all organisations, public, private or third sector.

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Recognition

Wilfrid Laurier University announces winners of MBA Alumni Awards

WATERLOO – Laurier’s School of Business & Economics has announced the six winners of the MBA Alumni Awards. Recipients will be honoured at the fourth-annual awards dinner at the Toronto Board of Trade, 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 4.

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Sustainability

The Co-operators creates social media-based program to engage staff and agents in sustainability

GUELPH, - The Co-operators wrapped up the first part of CSR: Co-operators Sustainability Race, an innovative staff and agent engagement project developed in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation. More than 330 people from offices across Canada registered for the first part, the Transportation Race, which took place over three weeks in October.

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Global Census

China Starts Counting Its Wary Population

World Bank - "China launched a once-in-a-decade census on Monday in an exercise that will form a basis for policy-making in the world's most populous country, but is likely to face resistance from residents wary of government officials. Six million census-takers will fan out across the country from the booming cities on the eastern coast to the remote mountains of restive Tibet as they try to visit some 400 million households over a 10-day period...." [Reuters]

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Art & Culture

CAFKA and The Musagetes Foundation Present

Kitchener - Reece Terris at Kitchener City Hall, Wednesday, November 10, 7:30 p.m. The Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area and the Musagetes Foundation present Reece Terris as our second guest in the Big Ideas in Art and Culture series.

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Travel & Tourism

Compared to Four Other Nationalities, However Change May Be In Sight

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - According to a survey commissioned by Intrepid Travel, Americans are the least adventurous on vacation compared to four other nationalities, Californians tend to be game for the most adventure compared to the rest of the US, and New Englanders are twice as likely (10.6%) than the national average to try deep fried tarantulas.

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PSA

November is National Adoption Awareness Month

“One day every child in Waterloo Region will have a family.”

Waterloo Region - November is National Adoption Awareness Month, a time to celebrate all forms of adoption, to educate our community about adoption, and to find permanent families for children.

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PSA - Healthy Living

Health Happenings November 1st Edition

Waterloo/Wellington - Community Support Connections provides a number of services that promote independence and safety for seniors. The Meals on Wheels program delivers 200 meals to seniors, every week day.