NFTs: the biggest change for the world of art since oil on canvas… or huge scam?

Plus — the challenges of online shipping for small businesses, and oil and gas workers uncertain future

Image | TCOL for March 28 2020

Caption: This week: a version of the "Nyan Cat" was sold as a non-fungible token for hundreds of thousands of dollars; empty warehouse shelves stand ready to receive goods from small businesses across the country who don't want to handle shipping and receiving themselves; oil and gas workers face an uncertain future in a changing industry. (Christopher Torres/YouTube, Anis Heydari/CBC, Kyle Bakx/CBC)

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Digital assets called non-fungible tokens (or "niftys" as some of the kids are calling them these days) are selling for thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars these days.
They leverage the same type of blockchain technology that cryptocurrencies use. But how do you buy them? What do you get? And are they really a new class of assets - like real estate or stocks?
Host Paul Haavardsrud and producer Falice Chin go through the process to buy their very own NFT — and Yale University professor William N. Goetzmann weighs in on what's happening with this new market.

Media Audio | Cost of Living : Non-fungible tokens, and how expensive and complicated it is to buy an animated GIF of a cat in NFT form

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The world of online shopping has been accelerated by the pandemic. For big players like Amazon or Walmart, it's been a gold rush in some ways.
But for the little guys who also had to move online, it was a lot more complicated. Many adjusted by hitting up third-party logistics companies, or 3PL.
Producer Anis Heydari explains just what 3PL is and how local, smaller businesses are dealing with complicated operations far beyond taking your order to a local post office.

Media Audio | Cost of Living : The complicated ways small businesses handle online shipping and logistics

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With many parts of Canada's energy sector still reeling, the job market in the oil patch is tough. There are lots of questions about what the future may hold for energy workers who lost their jobs.
Tony Seskus, the senior producer of CBC's Western Business Unit, asks — can those folks ever find work again in oil and gas, and if not — where?

Media Audio | Cost of Living : Oil and gas workers deal with layoffs and an uncharted future in their industry

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