Weird & Wonderful

Have you ever been out somewhere and thought, I wish someone would bring me a coffee?

Well, now you can turn that thought into reality by harnessing the people power of the strangers you pass by everyday.

There are a few ventures popping up on the web that take advantage of the so called "mobile marketplace." These ventures take the "People are basically good" philosophy of eBay and combine it with the online classifieds aspect of Craigslist, while adding something entirely fresh and innovative.

Now, strangers from your community can be recruited in real-time through your mobile phone or direct through the website to complete tasks, provide services or exchange goods and all it takes is a negotiated electronic payment to the volunteer. Suddenly, you can hire someone to get what you need, or get what you need done, instantly and no cash has to physically change hands.

This is the concept behind the new mobile marketplace, but there are many online options to choose from and slight variations of the concept in each one, so let us help you sort out the three heavyweights in the market and outline the pros and cons of each one.

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There's hardly been any job growth in Canada in the last little while -- in fact, a recent Statistics Canada report shows that employment growth has stagnated. Meanwhile, nobody seems quite sure where the economy's heading. As a parent of two young boys I find myself worrying about what opportunities will exist for them when they're ready to embark on their own career paths.

What I'm realizing is that when it comes to kids and their future, there's no time like the present to start teaching them skills that could eventually turn into employment. There are many classes and camps for kids offered as after school programs or on weekends that could be fun ways to learn skills or spark an interest that will help them find their way to a career later in life.

When art thieves pull off a daring heist, we're once again reminded of all the valuable treasures locked away in dusty university and museum vaults. This time around it appears that burglars were after ancient Chinese jade, and they must have been very motivated indeed, striking twice in two weeks at two separate universities in the UK.

Our colleagues at Luxist.com takes a peek inside the world of the uncommon and elusive. From wine, coins and jewels to jeans, pets and food -- they reveal the world's rarest items in each of 18 categories. Click through the gallery to see which prized possessions made the list -- and what makes them so special.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO LAUNCH WORLD'S RAREST ITEMS GALLERY

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It's that time of year when no matter how busy we are, we get the
urge to exile every last stale winter dust specimen from our homes. Perhaps it's the extra light we're getting throughout the day that shows up the excess particles floating around. Or could it be with the arrival of spring comes the instinctual urge to renew and refresh? Whatever it is, a thorough clean is something that takes a lot of time, which most of us don't have. I spoke with Molly Maid franchise owner and cleaning expert Amelia Mackie to get some tips on how to be efficient and pick priorities during a spring clean.

1. Set goals and get organized
Being prepared and setting attainable goals are important to keeping your sanity. Make sure you have all the necessary cleaning tools before you start and make sure you have time to finish each task. Organize your work into smaller jobs, like cleaning level by level or room by room.This way, focusing on smaller areas can be less intimidating. Draw yourself a cleaning task map, so to speak, and your journey will be a smooth one.
Helpful tip before you start: Decluttering is probably one of the most important tasks to perform prior to spring cleaning -- it's the only way to clean efficiently and effectively.

Marc Springer used to sell Harley Davidson motorcycles, but then the economy took a dive and people didn't buy as many man toys as they used to. Springer's income was dwindling rapidly, so it was time for him to move on -- now what?

"I was a teamster truck driver back in my early 20s and I always had this burning desire to drive the big trucks. It was something I always wanted to do and it just never happened. So, when I began to strike out on my own I thought, 'Well, I've got zero income and zero working capital, how do I start a company?"

His wife reminded him that he had a leaf blower sitting in the garage and suggested he go clear the lawns in the neighbourhood. But Springer thinks big, so he began extrapolating how many employees he'd need to do all the surrounding neighbourhoods and quickly realized he'd need a trailer. But when he went on Craigslist looking for a trailer, he found a 1999 frieghtliner truck with a 20 foot flat-bed.

"They wanted $20,000 for the [trailer] and I thought, 'You know, I think I'm just going to buy a truck.'"

He booked a load the day he bought the truck and was just going to use his contacts in the scrap metal business to haul scrap metal in Seattle and the surrounding area, until he hit the internet and found a veritable trucker's Shangri-La.

"I was looking to fill the truck with scrap and I was doing pretty well at that, making decent money and one day, I was on the computer wondering, 'How do you find loads? There's got to be a better way to do this. How do these guys find the freight to get on their trucks?'"

That's when he stumbled onto uShip.com. It opened all the doors to all of the business opportunities he enjoys today, including becoming a reality TV star as the handlebar mustache sporting, big-rig driving, cast member of A&E's Shipping Wars.

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They're the products you use everyday - and never think twice about. But you'd be surprised to learn how these 10 products came to be. Some were by accident, some were by necessity, but all share an element of random genius and the spirit of entrepreneurship that brought them to market. From the little blue pill that's enlivened many a sex life to the magical money dispensers we hope to find on every corner, these 10 everyday items all had curious beginnings.

CLICK TO LAUNCH SLIDESHOW:

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Many cities in Canada have placed their bets on casinos to help drive economic activity and stimulate development. With the economy continuing to sputter along, many places are looking to felt covered tables and one-armed bandits as saviours. Once thought of as 'Toronto The Good', Ontario's capital is the latest municipality thinking of going Vegas, but is the glitz and glamour all it's made out to be? Let's take a look at how a casino can help or hinder a city.

Tax Revenue
Gambling in Canada is big business. Last year, all legalized gambling contributed $13.7 billion in net revenue to governments. Casinos contributed 34% of that total. While this certainly sounds great, some research shows that governments that build casinos don't always spread their new wealth as expected. Instead of building roads and schools, for example, there is evidence that governments use gambling revenue on other priorities like debt reduction, which don't have the same immediate impacts on the people living in the shadow of the casino.

In the career world, there are myriad choices - that is, if you do the sensible thing, and go to school, get training or a degree and follow a conventional career path. But not all of us are so fortunate, and sometimes we have to take what we can get.

And in the annals of employment choices, we have to say these jobs are some of the ickiest.

Take the self-explanatory chicken sexer. Staring at the genitals of decidedly cute and fluffy baby chicks can't be very satisfying after a few hours, let alone a few months. But people do it. Let's face it, in this world of high unemployment, some of us have little choice.

Have a peek at some of these jobs that we found on employment sites. Click on the photo below to find out what you could be doing for a living, but only if you really had to...

Sometimes you just gotta make a buck, and if a yard sale isn't going to cut it, why not try one of these alternative methods for boosting your net worth?

For instance, would you consider moving provinces to be able to afford a home? Saskatchewan is booming, and in need of workers. So the government will actually pay you to move there - to the tune of $20,000 towards your home - as long as you live and work there for the next seven years.

For more ideas on how to make money in ways you probably hadn't thought of, click here, or on on the image below, to launch the gallery.

The world is going down in a wheelbarrow and there's no turning it back. Thus accepted wisdom, supported – until very recently – by what was called scientific evidence.

Turns out this evidence has been as suspect as the evidence of global warming had been.

Cognitive reserve and lifestyle, a study by Nikolaos Scarmeas, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Columbia University, and Yaakov Stern,Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology in the Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Psychology, published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, reveals some perfectly shocking news.

As we age, we're not getting dumber. The opposite is true, in fact. This finding might turn the labour market upside down, triggering an avalanche of economic implications.

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