For this week’s edition of In The Sphere, we take a look at local bloggers from the Metro Vancouver area. As you may already know, Vancouver is quickly becoming quite the hub for technology, blogging, and the Internet.

John Chow is perhaps best known for being a dot com mogul, but he’s currently in Nebraska participating in the Top Affiliate Challenge. No, he’s not there as a contestant. He’s bigger than that. John is one of three Internet gurus leading teams of would-be top affiliates. Will his team come out on top?

Buzz Bishop is totally in tune with the latest happenings on the net, so when a new social network pops on the scene — especially one that is based locally — you know that he’s all over it. Move over Facebook and MySpace, because Kinzin is much more friendly to the less tech-savvy crowd. That’s because you can have those posted pictures automatically printed and mailed to grandma.

Darren Barefoot has just had a revelation. The population is getting older and now the average age of a TV viewer is 50. We’re already starting to see many more advertising campaigns catering to the older population and in the next few years, I foresee this trend continuing. Just don’t confuse Fox with Fox News Channel.

John Biehler is as ticked off as anyone over the announced plans for the iPhone through Rogers. There has been a lot of pressure on Rogers to budge on their pricey plans and now Rogers has revised its terms. The wording is a little sketchy, so you’ll have to take this “revision” with a grain of salt.

Mostly Lisa celebrated Canada Day the only way she knows how: by creating a video that parodies Canadians. Happy Canada Day, eh!

We have talked in length before about not creating average products but creating exceptional products. When was the last time you bought toothpaste? I was shocked by the number of choices and there was no clear choice as the best one to choose.

What are these companies doing wrong and how could they fix it?

There are many decisions that you will want to make when you are first building your company. If you are starting a brick-and-mortar store, for example, you may need to scout out an appropriate location, decide on interior decor, work out agreements with the local utility companies, and so on. If you are going with the online route, you have to choose a place to register your domain, decide on a web hosting company, pick out the right shopping cart software… the list goes on.

When it comes to branding, one of the most important decisions that you will make will be in the design of your company logo. While the logo will be something of personal significance to you, it is best to leave the actual design of the logo to a professional. There are tons of graphic artists and logo specialists out there who can help you make the best logo for your company. Do you want a logo that will reproduce well in black and white? Do you want one that is highly detailed or relatively simple?

What about having your company name in the logo? There appear to be differing schools of thought on this matter. For example, Nike’s swoosh logo does not have the word “Nike” in it anywhere. The same can be said about Apple. Alternatively, there are companies that have it a point to include the company name in the logo. This would be the case with Microsoft, Nintendo, and others.

Integrating your company name in the logo is probably a good idea, at least when you are first starting out. This will help with branding and brand recognition, because if no one has seen your logo before, they won’t know who you are. Even with Nike, many of their shoes used to have the word “Nike” sitting on top of the swoosh. This isn’t necessary for them anymore. The same can hold true for your company. Design a logo that initially includes your company name, but design it in such a way that the name can be phased out at a future date.

Last week we asked do you have a wireless network setup at your home and 67% said you Wireless G network setup. This weeks question is…

Earlier this year, we highlighted a WordPress plug-in called Clean Archives Reloaded. By using that plug-in, you can have an archives page on your blog that is extremely streamlined. The months are collapsible and then each post has its own link. It appears to be a pretty useful plug-in, because every blog should have a good archives page. The default WordPress archive is not nearly as useful.

An alternative to Clean Archives Reloaded is Smart Archives. It serves pretty well the same function, except it does not have collapsible months. Instead, every post is displayed as part of a list under its corresponding month. You can see Smart Archives in action over at Beyond the Rhetoric. The N4R Most Commented Plug-In is also being used on that archives page.

One key advantage to Smart Archives is that it is meant to be future-proof. In this way, when it comes time to upgrade to a new version of WordPress (WP 2.6 Beta is now available), the plug-in won’t “break” like how some other plug-ins start to malfunction under the framework of a new WordPress build.

Whether you choose to go with Clean Archives Reloaded or Smart Archives, it is important that your blog’s archives page is as user-friendly as possible. You want to encourage readers to explore your older articles, after all.

Happy Canada Day, everyone! It’s today that many of us will be going outside, enjoying the sunshine, eating some cotton candy, and maybe watching a few fireworks in the evening as well. It’s a day that most Canadians choose not to go to work and many businesses may be closed today, including everyone from dentists to diners. But is that the best idea for your company?

Business owners and employees alike have the right to a day off from time to time. Working every day for long hours can’t possibly be good for your health, even if it assists in improving your bottom line. Your health is ultimately much more important than that. Statutory holidays, like Canada Day, provide the perfect excuse to throw up the “Closed” sign and relax with a backyard barbecue.

At the same time, depending on the nature of your business, it may be very profitable to be open on this day. If you happen to run a restaurant, a coffee shop, or a convenience store near a local beach or other popular location, today could prove to be one of the lucrative days of the year. Think about all the people heading out to the parks and how many of them will be dying for an ice cold beverage or a quick snack on the go.

For certain customer service businesses and those that operate internationally, closing today may not be an option. If you have a good number of clients who are based in the United States, Europe, or elsewhere in the world, it may be important that you are available to them — via phone, email, live online chat, etc. — in case they need you for some dire emergency.

By choosing to close today, you may be foregoing a good amount of revenue. At the same time, this extra revenue can easily be absorbed by the premium hourly rates you will need to pay your employees, as well as the sacrifice of some good old R&R for yourself. In the end, the choice is yours.