Net Gain

The MaRS mystery solved

By Michael Hammond, Record staff

I had heard what MaRS stood for before, but that piece of trivia had somehow managed to find its way back into my unconscious until this morning at a Communitech breakfast event. Ilse Treurnicht, chief executive officer of the Toronto-based MaRS Discovery District, spoke about her group's mandate.

When she finished her speech, her first question from the audience was an obvious one.

"What does MaRS stand for?" someone asked, with just a hint of derision in his voice.

Turns out, it initially stood for nothing, then stood for something, and once again stands for nothing. The name was given to the organization when its initial founders pooled their money together to buy an aging and crumbling Toronto hospital building to house a new organization much like Communitech, but with a decidedly more biotech focus. There's an interesting story behind how this group managed to acquire the property, which was slated to become a condominium project.

The group which aimed to start this group gave it the nickname the Mars project. At some point, the name took on the meaning of Medical and Related Sciences (which explains the small a in MaRS). At some point, the focus of the organization went beyond just biotech and the full name was dropped.

So, there it is. The mystery solved. That is, until I forget again.

mhammond@therecord.com

Martinrea and moving targets

By Michael Hammond, Record staff

After the market close today (Monday), Martinrea International will release its first quarter results. Early Tuesday morning, its executives will hold a conference call to discuss the results. These conference calls have taken on added importance of late since these calls provide clues as to what will happen to the beleaguered Kitchener Frame plant.

During Martinrea's fourth quarter conference call, the company's executives hinted that they still had faint hopes that something could be found for the plant, which employs 1,200 people. More recently, the company posted a notice at the Homer Watson Boulevard plant informing its employees that it intended to close the facility next spring.

Of course, there is a chance the plant could continue to operate until 2010, since it is under contract to provide frames for GM sport utility vehicles until then. GM has yet to sign off on an extension agreement, since production of SUVs has been suspended by the American Axle strike, which has cut off the axle supply to a number of GM models. That strike has all but idled the Kitchener Frame plant along with several other auto suppliers in the region.

Reports suggest some progress is being made to end the lengthy Axle strike, although there are reports that the company wants to close some of its plants, which has the United Auto Workers digging in its heels.

Like anything else in the North American automotive industry these days, Kitchener Frame's situation is complex and very much a moving target.

For more on Martinrea, read the print edition of The Record.

mhammond@therecord.com

The problems with the magnetic stripe

By Michael Hammond, Record staff

A reader sent me an email a few weeks ago telling me his new microchip-enabled credit card had been breached in the United States, which had him wondering why the people behind the Kitchener-Waterloo chip card trial have insisted the new technology has yet to be compromised by criminals.

The answer is quite simple, but I'll get to that in a second.

Regular Record readers will know that Canada's national banks and credit card companies have chosen the two cities to test the new chip cards, which are being touted as being much more secure than the old fashioned cards with just the magnetic stripe. The chips encrypt data in a way that makes it harder to skim information.

The only difference customers will notice is that their cards will not be swiped at point of sale terminals. They will be inserted into a slot and remain there for the duration of the purchase. Credit cards will now need PINs. Other than that, the process takes the same amount of time. To learn more, go to the chip migration website.

So, what of this reader who said his card was breached? Those behind the chip card told me his card was likely breached when its magnetic stripe was swiped through an older terminal not equipped with the microchip technology. It could also have been compromised through an online transaction. The lesson, I was told, was that these chip cards still are vulnerable, when the magnetic stripe is used. Consumers need to be careful when using a card in an older terminal that only accommodates the stripe. This means protecting your PIN and using common sense.

This isn't to suggest the reader who sent me the letter didn't use common sense. It might be he assumed the chip card offered superior protection in chip-enabled terminals and older terminals. This is not the case. Older point of sale terminals will continue to be in use for years since the migration to chip cards will take years. That means consumers will still need to use their magnetic stripes and be aware of the risks involved.

mhammond@therecord.com

Another Sprited investor

By Matt Walcoff, Record staff

Readers of Rex, our bimonthly magazine, may be familiar with Kelly-Sue Labus, whom we featured in the "After Hours" section last year. Labus, then vice-president of business development at the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, is one of the area's most dedicated golfers. And while she may not card in the 70s at Pebble Beach like Dennis Kavelman (the RIM chief operating officer/scratch handicapper famed for his skill and obsession with the links), she did help organize the Golf Fore Women workshops last year and is co-president of the local Executive Women's Golf Association chapter.

Labus recently joined Spirited Investors Corp., a Kitchener private-equity firm, as vice-president of commercial growth. Spirited Investors manages investments for some of the area's best-known professionals and retirees, including Mary Bales, Jim Beingessner, Ted Cross and David Horman.

After Hours, which appears opposite the inside back cover of Rex, features a local business person's hobby. Next month's issue highlights an accountant who maintains a cricket pitch on his home property and has travelled the world with bat and stumps.

mwalcoff@therecord.com

Boy Geniuses, RIM and clamshells

By Michael Hammond, Record staff

Last week provided a good lesson in the power of the internet as news broke that Research In Motion Ltd. is working on what was called a "clamshell" BlackBerry. In regular English, this means RIM is working on a flip phone. The story broke on a blog called the Boy Genius Report. The flip phone, which other blogs claimed to know about months ago, was unveiled to the world via this somewhat blurry photo on the Boy Genius website.

The story showed how traditional media organizations, such as The Record, need to keep a close eye on the blogosphere. There are a lot of people out there with highly specific blogs that make it their business to know as much as possible about a given subject.

The other lesson learned was to be careful with techno-speak. Most tech-specific blogs referred to the phone as a clamshell BlackBerry, which I found confusing, as did my colleagues. It looks nothing like a clamshell and only shares one thing in common with the mollusk in how it opens and closes. For the record, the photo below is a clamshell. Note the difference between it and the 'clamshell' BlackBerry.

A colleague of mine also passed along a blog entry about RIM and its apparent refusal to allow employees to enter their names into the LinkedIn business networking service. At the very least, the blog raises some interesting questions. You can read the entry by clicking here.

mhammond@therecord.com