According to Mashable Disney aquired Marvel Entertainment today.
Disney CEO Robert Iger says “Disney’s marketing channels will help unlock Marvel’s ‘treasure trove’ of characters.”
It was a deal that found Marvel receiving $4 billion. Marvel Shareholders will receive $30 for every share they own plus 0.745 Disney shares.
From Mashable: Disney to Acquire Marvel for $4 Billion
The popular outfitters department store Mountain Equipment Co-op is well know for being a green company. From providing bike racks to building a self-sustaining prairie environments on their downtown Toronto department building, they have a track record for setting the green bar high.
Their latest store in Burlington, Ontario has taken going green to another level.
For starters their white rooftop detracts heat from the sun while their rooftop windows provide free, bright light. Additionally there are two massive solar arrays that provide heat in addition to electiricy.
Water is collected from the roof from rain and snow and used for their toilets and there is special reserved parking for energy efficient hybrid vehicles.
The building is 68 percent more energy efficient than other department stores of similar size.
Part of that is due to their new air conditioning system. In so many words, they will be using ice to keep their store cool during hot summer days.
They are using a system known as Ice Bear. It’s essentially a refrigeration system that freezes water in a large cube and then distributes the cool air from the ice.
MEC acknowledges that there is certainly no ROI on investing in the Ice Bear. It is double the cost of conventional air conditioners. But it’s much better for the environment.
As a result of all there greener innovations they have been awarded the LEED Gold Rating.
From TheStar.com: Utilities warming to ice-storage air-cooling systems
From The Urben Country: Mountain Equipment Co-op Takes Home Gold
Bell has finally announced a relase date in Canada. When Bell signed an exclusive aggreement with Palm earlier this year it was speculated that the phone would be available as early as September of this year.
As it turns out, they expect to release the phone on their 3G network this month. August 27th is the official release date.
You can pre-order the phone on Bell’s website as of today.
Obama’s administration passed a bill today that should revolutionize the credit card industry. The bill will enforce strict regulations on the monster finance companies.
Natuarlly, the credit card companies are not pleased.
In fact, they have gone so far as to threaten card holders that penalties will become stronger and be more severe, annual fees will be higher, and there will be less in the way of points programs.
The bill only has effect in the United States but like many fads down south this should find its way to Canada before long. Regulations are not excpected to kick in until July of 2010.
The Consumerist: Bankers Threaten To Punish “Good” Cardholders If Reforms Pass
In addition to resisting a takeover bid by Google and another one recently by Facebook (to the tune of $500 million) Twitter execs say they will not resort to placing advertisements on the website.
One of the owners of the popular social website said “serving up ads alongside Twitter messages could also annoy users.”
You might be wondering how Twitter expects to make any money.
Twitter intends to built a compliment of add-on services that it will sell to the public in order to generate a revenue stream. They are currently expanding their development team and expect to have twice as many employees by the end of this year.
It was just announced today that AbitibiBowater, the forestry company whose assests were confiscated by the provincial government when they pulled their operations out of the province, has been granted bankruptcy protection.
I was reading an article in Canadian Business recently when they were rated as one of the biggest losers in the country and it was unlikely that they would be eligible for bankruptcy protection. At the time I laughed joyfully to myself, but sure enough, here we are.
AbitibiBowater was a terrible company and deserves nothing of the sort.
They were a desctructive forestry company that, when they weren’t clear cutting the beautiful forests in Newfoundland or introducing coyotes to the province who fearlessly poached small game here to the brink of extinction, they were laying off dependant local workings with little to no severance.
This company has taken advantage of Newfoundland for almost 100 years. They hardly deserve to be protected against any debt collectors.