Author: Serkadis

Fans will have to wait just a little bit longer to finally get their hands on a new Splinter Cell game. Previously slated for February 2010, the latest in the series has been pushed back along with R.U.S.E.

Announced way back in 2007, Splinter Cell: Conviction was originally meant to debut that holiday season. Instead, it was pushed back into 2008, then fell off the radar completely while the dev team sought to retool the project. It finally reemerged at E3 2009, and has now been delayed twice more.

The new game will prominently feature cooperative multiplayer, with a separate campaign being developed around the mode. It will also feature a new multiplayer mode titled Deniable Ops.

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When Peter Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill was first announced, many people were so shocked by the provision that would let Mandelson or his successor change copyright law at will, with no Parliamentary approval, that they started focusing on that, rather than the expected problem with the bill, like the fact that it could allow people to be kicked offline without a conviction. There has been a lot of pushback from some politicians in the UK and various amendments proposed to fix the bill. And now it looks like the gov’t has agreed to make some changes to the infamous Section 17 provision.

Of course, the concessions appear to be rather minor, and my more cynical view is that they knew they were going to do this all along. The idea is simple. Introduce one section that’s even more ridiculous and outrageous than the sections you really want passed, and then let all the complaints and press coverage focus on that more ridiculous section. Then, after people get all worked up about it, “concede” just a little bit, and notice that most people no longer have the energy to fight about the other provisions.

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In a revealing interview for the upcoming Jan. 25 issue of In Touch Weekly, former GOP presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol open up about the experience of raising their toddler sons together.

Bristol gave birth to her son Tripp in December 2008. Since splititng from the boy’s father, Playgirl beefcake Levi Johnston, Bristol has taken up her mother’s abstinence only campaign.

“I’m not going to have sex until I’m married…I can guarantee it,” the teen mom says.
“Tripp is the love of my life — I couldn’t ask for a better baby, but the reality is I’m 19 years old and I have a 1-year-old. I wish I could be in my 30s with a baby, and not be 20. Just having him so young — I have to work, and I have to provide, because I’m a single mom.”

Bristol did not discuss her on-going custody battle with Johnston.

Sarah made her debut as a commentator for the FOX News Channel on last night’s O’Reilly Factor. She tells In Touch that raising her special needs son Trig, who has Down syndrome, has made her a more patient mother.

“He’s made me more patient and compassionate, and more focused on priorities that really matter.”

The Palin on In Touch hits newsstands this Friday.

Revenge, an Indiana based small carmaker, has revealed the Verde supercar concept at the North American International Auto Saloon. The company intends to build 3,000 units of the car in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana in the next four years.

The prototype was built by Roush Performance, a well known Ford tuner. It uses carbon fiber flesh for its body and aluminium bones for its chassis. Customers will be able to opt for one of the three available hearts: GM’s LS9 638HP supercharged V8 (if it sound… (read more)

From Russia’s Freezelight comes one of the most beautiful uses of long exposure I’ve ever seen (that is, aside from all of your slow shutter shooting challenge submissions). It’s honestly just wow.

All it took was a Canon 5D, about 300 photos, and I’m guessing loads of patience to put this incredible work together. The follow-up, below, features everything I look for in a piece of art: a ghost, a giant chicken, and slow shutter flower blooming out of nothing.

[Vimeo via Random Good Stuff]

We just received an email from our friends at http://android.com.pl who are advising that all HTC Hero units in Europe will see an upgrade to Android 2.1 starting February 15th.  They’re claiming their source for this comes from the top at HTC Poland.  We’ve been hearing rumors of HTC skipping Android 1.6 to jump into the 2.0/2.1 playing field soon. With Android 2.1 just being released yesterday, the news of 2.1 surprises us.  If it were 2.0 or 2.01, we’d feel better.

On a side note, they’ve been informed that the HTC Tattoo will not make the cut due to its hardware limitations.  We’ve listed the changes below that are being reported.  Have any you guys heard anything to confirm this?

• Android 2.1 is much faster
• One interesting option is a preview of desktops, you can zoom out two Finders as pages in your browser. Effect. Effectively reduce the deskop, brillant view.
• Icons have clear coat (Espresso perhaps?)
• At the bottom of the menu we have: phone, menu, contacts
• HTC added a nice transition when you quit the application and move around the options.
• Lock screen is not rounded.
• Faster-running HTC keyboard.
• New widgets from HTC (News and Weather, YouTube)
• Improved flashplayer. Operates smoothly.
• Graphic change in the gallery and video player (Cosmetic procedures)
• And the rest of the news, which introduces a new android. (Market etc.)
• We have more RAM.  About 130-140mb after killing the process. “

The Chicago Cubs today named future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux as an assistant to General Manager Jim Hendry.

Maddux’ responsibilities will include assisting the coaching staffs at major league and minor league spring training, assisting in the development of Cubs minor leaguers during the regular season and assisting Hendry and the baseball operations department in talent evaluation.

“We are thrilled to have Greg back with the Chicago Cubs,” said Hendry.

“He has such a vast knowledge of all phases of the game and the ultimate respect of everyone from the players to the front office. The addition of Greg Maddux makes us a better organization.”

“I’m looking forward to working my way back into the game and am happy that the Cubs have given me the opportunity to do that,” said Maddux.

“I started my career with the Cubs and Chicago has always been the best place in the league to play. I’m eager to do whatever I can to help the organization and am looking forward to getting started at spring training.”

Maddux retired from baseball in December of 2008 as the eighth-winningest pitcher in the history of the game with 355 victories, 133 of which occurred during his 10 seasons with the Chicago Cubs.

He won the first of his four career Cy Young Awards with the Cubs in 1992 when he went 20-11 with a 2.18 ERA (65 ER/268.0 IP) in 35 starts.

Originally selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 1984 Draft, Maddux went 133-112 with a 3.61 ERA during two stints with the Cubs from 1986-92 and 2004-06.

His 298 starts and 1,305 strikeouts with the Cubs rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in franchise history.

Maddux also earned the first two of his eight National League All-Star nods with the Cubs and won six of his major-league record 18-career Gold Glove Awards during seasons he pitched for the Cubs. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win four-consecutive Cy Young Awards (1992-95).

On May 3, 2009, the Cubs retired uniform No. 31 in honor of Maddux and Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins.

Number 31 became the fifth to be retired by the Chicago Cubs, joining No. 14 in honor of Ernie Banks in 1982, No. 26 in honor of Billy Williams in 1987, No. 10 in honor of Ron Santo in 2003 and No. 23 in honor of Ryne Sandberg in 2005.

Jenkins and Maddux are the only pitchers in Cubs history to have their uniform number retired.

Victoria, Australia | Outsider Art

A mere hour from Melbourne, in the Dandenong Ranges, one finds a landscape of huge pine trees and beautiful fern gullies. In one of such gullies, a man’s life-work and dreams live on.

Born in 1898, William Ricketts began developing his skill in clay modeling in his teen years. In the 1930s he purchased a four-acre plot of land on Mount Dandenong, naming it ‘Potter’s Sanctuary’.

Beginning in 1934, William Ricketts started work on his clay figures that would soon adorn all of his property. In the 1960s, after having gained some local notoriety for his sculptures, the Victorian Government bought the sanctuary and some surrounding land to become a park for public use. He continued to live on and work in his Sanctuary until 1993, when he passed away.

Between 1949 and 1960, Rickett traveled often into the desert interior of Central Australia. It was here that he spent time with both Arrente and Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal people. These native peoples not only inspired his work as models but influenced his philosophy as well. Rickett is known for his belief that all humans should be stewards of the land, just as the Aborigines he spent time with were.

The goal of his life-long project was to provide a relaxing setting where one could reflect on man’s, oft forgotten, connection to nature. Nestled in a glade covered in fern and mountain ash trees, William Ricketts’ masterpiece feels alive. Some covered in moss, the 92 ceramic sculptures in the park all blend seamlessly into their natural surroundings.

“Each one of us is a transformer of Divine Power
and when love finds form in sculpture and music
we are richly blessed because through such we can reach God…
Man is nature’s masterpiece, therefore claim
your inheritance by giving her the co-operation you owe.”

-William Ricketts

Article Tags: climaterealists.org.nz

Source: clareswinney.wordpress.com

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-Demonstrate your Conan support with these “I’m With Coco” graphics sweeping the web. For the record, I’m rolling with Team Jay, thank you very much……

-Talk about the New Year’s Eve from Hell! A Dallas woman is in jail after she bit off both her boyfriend’s lips during a drunken NYE kiss…..

-Another former Child of Destiny is sending Daddy Knowles “To The Left….”

-New Selena Gomez Borden Commercial……

-Hey Posh, don’t quit your day job! Victoria Beckham made her judging debut on the ninth season premiere of American Idol last night….The reviews are not pretty…..

-ABC has handed out early renewals to its three promising freshman comedy series, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and The Middle….

– Pop star and talent show judge Dannii Minogue is expecting her first child…..

-Shaq’s being sued by one of his bucktoothed Buss It Babies….

-ABC Family has renewed two successful series – The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It or Break It…..

-Johnny Depp’s GF ….
Vanessa Paradis for Chanel

-People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has requested that police in Arizona confiscate Michael Jackson’s two giraffes after it was reported that two of the late pop star’s four giraffes died of possible neglect….

-God’s daily message to Pat Robertson is in: The Evangelical idiot is feeling the wrath of Hell this afternoon after he remarked during today’s episode of the 700 Club that yesterday’s 7.2 earthquake in Haiti is God’s vengeance upon the Haitians for making a deal with the devil to rid themselves of French leadership. WTF? When is someone going to stick this old battle axe in a retirement home?

Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Performance, Japan, Lexus

We knew the new Lexus LFA was fast, but we didn’t know just how fast until reports came in of the rapid rate at which wealthy Japanese customers are snapping it up. In the three months since the final car was unveiled, all 165 examples of the Toyota division’s supercar have reportedly been spoken for.

Whereas in North America, the allotment of LFAs will be leased in order to counter speculation, in Japan (as in Europe), buyers will be able to buy their super-Lexi outright, at a price of 37,500,000 yen (~$410k USD) apiece. If the remaining 335 examples destined for markets abroad go as quickly as Japan’s allotment, we could be looking at one of the fastest cars ever made – in one sense or another.

[Source: Response via Le Blog Auto]

Report: All 165 Lexus LFA supercars earmarked for Japan already spoken for originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’re hard pressed to find any sector of the tech economy that is getting more financing than cloud computing.

Today’s announcement by Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft is a good example. The two tech giants announced a partnership today that is valued at $250 million.

Why are these ventures getting such an influx of revenue? If content is king, then infrastructure in the castle in the cloud.

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Castles cost a lot to build and so does a cloud service. The Microsoft-HP deal is a case in point. The two companies are building a cloud infrastructure that spans hardware and software integration. They are developing their own applications. It’s like an effort to build a massive data center network that works as one giant computer.

The investment includes the use of HP servers for Azure, the cloud platform developed by Microsoft. In return, Microsoft software, database programs and other applications will be loaded on the HP machines.

Both companies want to own the enterprise. It’s apparent that the two feel this can only be done by having a deep cloud-based infrastructure that bundles a full suite of software and tools to optimize systems for business customers.

Stacey Higginbotham of GigaOm makes an excellent point in asking if optimization is the new code word for proprietary systems. There’s a danger in that for customers as it can lead to vendor lock-in.

But Microsoft and HP obviously see a need to form their own partnership to compete with the likes of Cisco, which has a deal with VMWare. Oracle, for its part, is still waiting for approval on its deal with Sun Microsystems.

Enterprise customers should be wary of these mega deals. The castle in the cloud may look nice but the enterprise customer may find itself in the dungeon if it makes too heavy an investment in proprietary systems that lock them into specific vendors.

Discuss

The U.S. is headed for a major debt crisis, Marc Faber says. 

It won’t hit us this year or next year.  But within 5-10 years, the United States will be forced to quietly default on its debt, most likely by printing money and destroying the value of the currency.

The main problem comes down to two things: 1) ballooning debts and 2) future interest costs. 

As these charts show, in the past decade, the U.S. government’s total debt and liabilities have gone through the roof, especially when Fannie, Freddie, Medicare, and Social Security are taken into account.  This trend is unsustainable, and it will correct itself only through a rapid acceleration of economic growth and tax revenues, a new-found financial discipline, or a crisis–or a combination of all three.

The second problem is interest costs.  Right now, the government’s debt and deficits aren’t creating an undue burden because the government can borrow so cheaply.  Eventually, however, as the country’s financial situation gets weaker, interest rates will likely rise, and our interest costs will go through the roof.

According to Faber, our annual interest costs currently amount to 12% of the government’s tax revenue.  Within five years, Faber estimates, these costs will soar to 35% of tax revenue.  This will force the government to cut spending (unlikely) and/or frantically print money.

See our coming debt crisis in charts >

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See Also:

• 12 Charts You MUST See Before You Even Think About Buying A Home
• The 15 Most Hated Companies In America
• The 25 Most Hated CEOs In America

Short traders are piling onto Exxon Mobil, Host Hotels, Citi, Qwest, and Ford according to latest short interest data from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

While Citi’s short interest may be sort of expected by now, what’s most surprising here is the massive 104% jump in Exxon short interest. This happened within just a two-week period from December 15th to December 31st, one where overall NYSE short interest actually fell 3.5%. As for Nasdaq stocks, note that the shorts just pig-piled onto Apple as well.

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See Also:

• What Do Citi and Apple Share In Common? Tons Of Short Sellers Piling Onto Them
• Thomas Friedman Tries To Give Short-Selling Advice To Jim Chanos
• Hedge Funds’ Worst Short Bets Of 2009

• Key Competitors: Rolls-Royce Phantom and Maybach if you remember who they are.
• Power: 6.75L twin-turbocharged V8 – 505-hp / 752 lb-ft of torque.
• Transmission: ZF 8-speed automatic.
• Availability: On sale now.
• Pricing: $285,000.

Since Bentley was not present at the 2009 LA Auto Show last month, it decided to come to Detroit with its new flagship sedan – the 2010 Bentley Mulsanne.

If you thought the Bentley Mulsanne was gorgeous in pictures, wait until you check it out at a local auto show near you. It’s a monstrous in size and proportions and really stands out in the crowd from competitors including Rolls-Royce and Maybach.

Hit the jump for more high-res photos from Detroit.

2010 Detroit: 2010 Bentley Mulsanne:

All Photos Copyright © 2009 Stephen Calogera – egmCarTech.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Filed under: Car Buying, Volkswagen, Earnings/Financials

Volkswagen of America’s President and CEO Stefan Jacoby is bullish on the future of the people’s car company – so much so that he feels sales of his brand in the U.S. will double within the next few years. Automotive News reports that the German exec has estimated that sales will reach “400,000 to 450,000 vehicles.” Even without the sour state of the economy, those are massively ambitious figures: VW sold just 213,454 cars and crossovers in America in 2009, down four percent versus the company’s 2008 numbers.

Jacoby didn’t give specific reasons for the increase in sales projections, but his numbers would appear to fall in line with VW’s goal to sell 800,000 vehicles in the U.S. market by 2018. Wolfsburg is also optimistic that industry-wide U.S. sales will settle somewhere around 15 million units per year in the next few years; still about two million units shy of peak sales figures a few years back, but still 40 percent better than 2009 levels. VW is projecting U.S. auto sales to hit up to 11.5 million units this year.

At present, VW’s U.S. operations are not profitable, but Jacoby believes that the region may become profitable in 2013.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

Report: VW’s Jacoby says brand will double U.S. sales in 2-3 years originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember back a couple months? The biggest news on Earth was the Infinity Ward and Activision Blizzard screwed up MW2 and the game was going to fall into a bucket of fail. There were boycotts, petitions, and general chaos concerning the shooter. Then it launched. Then people started playing it in droves. Then people shut-up and within two months the title surpassed $1,000,000,000 in retail sales.

The press release claims that only “a handful of entertainment properties that have ever reached the $1 billion mark.” I would love to rattle off some of those properties here, but I’ve been so far unable to dig up any supporting data. Let’s assume for the sake of this post that the Sims, Half-Life 2, and one of the Mario games reached that mark. So much for that boycott, eh? I found the game amazing and plan on playing through it again starting today.

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So I was all prepared to give Niveus Media’s new Sirius XM Windows Media Center plugin a try. (As I found out during a meeting with Microsoft while at CES, Windows 7 comes with Windows Media Center built in. I 100 percent didn’t know that till the Microsoft guys told me. Amazing. What else does Windows 7 do that I didn’t know?) Right, so I was all prepared, installed it, then tried to run the configuration. Oh, sorry! It’s Sirius-only! I’m an XM man, grandfathered into this whole Sirius XM debacle, so I can’t use the plugin. Great.

But let’s say you’re a Sirius subscriber, and one who also pays the extra $3 per month to get online streaming—you can use the plugin! And to be fair to Niveus 1) it has no control over Sirius XM’s incompetence (why are there still two distinct logins/subscriptions if it’s all one big company now? and 2) the plugin actually looks pretty cool. It looks like it belongs in Windows Media Center, which very much is a complement.

So what does it do? Not too hard to figure out: it adds a Sirius section to your Windows Media Center. Then you listen to your Sirius channels from inside WMC. That’s it.

The plugin is free, but you have to be a Sirius subscriber. And just to reiterate: you need to be a Sirius subscriber, not an old XM guy like me who had “Sirius XM” thrust upon him.

I’m annoyed, yes.

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The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owners of bankrupt Mid-States Express Inc. of Aurora, Ill., for allegedly failing to protect the interests of the participants and beneficiaries in the company’s 401(k) and health plans.

The department’s lawsuit alleges that Bruce Hartmann failed to disclose to employees that their medical bills were not likely to be paid, even as the company continued to take deductions from their paychecks for medical coverage.

As a result, despite the fact that $1.26 million in employee health plan contributions were withheld, $3 million in employee medical claims were not paid, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Hartmann was an officer and owner of the company.

The suit also alleges that Bruce Hartmann and Terry Hartmann violated their fiduciary duties when they failed to remit $65,000 in contributions and loan re-payments, and to timely remit more than $1.5 million in 401(k) plan participant contributions and loan re-payments.

The company was allowed to retain these contributions and loan repayments for its own benefit at the expense of participants and beneficiaries.

“These defendants blatantly misused their employees’ retirement and health benefit contributions for personal gain,” said Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

“Despite financial hardships, employers and plan officials are obligated to forward those employee contributions to the plans.”

Mid-States Express provided transportation delivery services until it ceased operation on March 27, 2009.  The company is currently in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The company 401(k) plan covered 656 participants and had $3,073,342 in assets as of Dec. 31, 2007. The company health plan covered 378 active participants as of Dec. 31, 2007. These are the latest data available.

The suit seeks a court order to require that the defendants restore any losses, with interest, suffered by the plans or their participants and beneficiaries and to undo any prohibited transactions involving the plans.

The suit also asks the court to remove the Hartmanns from their fiduciary positions to the plans and to permanently bar each of them from serving in a fiduciary capacity, or service provider, to any plan governed by ERISA.

This case was investigated by EBSA’s Chicago Regional Office, which is available at 312-353-0900 or toll-free at 866-444-3272 to provide help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health plans.

In fiscal year 2009, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.3 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American workers and their families.

Solis v. Hartmann

Civil Action Number 10-cv-00123

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request.

Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.

The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations.

For more information, please visit dol.gov/compliance.

New Degree Info Session

Michelle Hernandez comes from a law enforcement family – her dad and a brother are police officers – and she plans to make it her career, too. The 21-year-old Cary resident already holds two associate degrees and has hands-on experience in the form of internships at two Chicago-area police departments. But there’s one thing Hernandez doesn’t have that she says would prove invaluable as she pursues her career: a bachelor’s degree in public safety. Her alma mater, Harper College, now has an answer. Hernandez was one of more than a dozen potential students who attended a December information session on the new public safety bachelor’s degree being offered by Northern Illinois University on the Harper College campus. Another session is scheduled for 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 13 in room W218 in the Wojcik Conference Center on Harper’s main campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine. The session will explain the basics of the new degree, formed this fall through a partnership between the two institutions, and provide details on tuition and financial assistance. “I know that having a bachelor’s degree will do nothing but help me once I’m working in the field,” says Hernandez, who is in the process of applying to police departments. “Obtaining this degree with this new program seems like an affordable and convenient way to achieve my goals.” The new NIU degree, a Bachelor of Science in Applied Management (BSAM) with an emphasis in Public Safety, can be completed entirely on Harper’s Palatine campus. Courses address homeland security and disaster preparedness, communications, ethics, budgeting and management theory, with an eye on giving police officers, firefighters and other first responders the skills and knowledge they need to excel in their careers. The degree is designed both for people like Hernandez –  who hold a college degree and have experience, perhaps extensive, in the field – and those with no law enforcement background and no previous college credit. To RSVP for an information session, or for more information, visit www.harpercollege.edu or call 847.925.6081.

Media Note: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend. Reporters interested in interviewing Michelle Hernandez or other potential students in the new degree program can contact Media Relations Specialist Erin Brooks, 847.925.6159, [email protected].

Mozart and More

Works by Mozart and Brahms will be performed at Harper College’s fifth annual Chamber Music Festival, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 23 in the College’s Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine. This year’s edition will feature faculty members from Harper’s Department of Music, and include performances by the Harper Chamber Winds and the critically acclaimed Anaphora String Quartet ensembles-in-residence. Tickets are $15 for general admission, with discounts available for seniors and students. Children ages 12 and under will be admitted free. For tickets, call 847.925.6100 or visit www.harpercollege.edu/boxoffice. To learn more about studying music at Harper, visit www.harpercollege.edu.

Press Contact: Erin Brooks, Media Relations Specialist, 847.925.6159, [email protected].

Reading Minds

Mentalist Christopher Carter – a mindreader and magician who uses hypnotism in his shows – will kick off Harper College’s Spring Welcome Week with a free show on Wednesday, January 20. Carter’s performance, at noon in the Student Center Lounge on the main floor of Building A, is open to all. Carter, who developed an interest in mindreading and magic at a young age, promises plenty of awe at his Harper show – saying he’ll persuade audience members to see things that don’t exist and take control of fluorescent light bulbs, turning them on at his command as students hold them. Welcome Week, a series of activities that salute the start of Spring Term 2010, also will feature Harper information tables, a Harper Hawks pep rally, free hot chocolate and a live remote broadcast by the student-run radio station. All events are free. Harper’s main campus is at 1200 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine. For more information, call the Student Activities Office at 847.925.6242 or visit www.harpercollege.edu.

Press Contact: Terry Karow, Marketing and Public Relations Specialist, 847.925.6627, [email protected].

Textbook Rentals

Harper College students next semester will have the new option of renting their textbooks – an alternative that could save them more than 50 percent on the texts they need for class. The pilot rental program, Harper’s latest effort to keep student book prices down, comes on the heels of the bookstore’s launch of e-books – textbook titles that can be downloaded to a desktop computer or browsed from the Web. “This is really a reflection of us listening to what our students want,” says Richard Seiler, Manager of Retail Services. “We want to give them lower prices whenever we can, and provide them with as many options as possible right here on campus.” This month, Harper’s bookstore began offering more than 50 titles for rent, representing nearly 200 sections of College courses. Students will pay an average of $50 for the rented books, Seiler says, compared with average costs of $110 or more for new purchased texts. Harper’s program requires no deposit; students pay only the book’s rental fee.  Students also still have the option of purchasing used texts and reselling their books at the term’s end. Textbook rentals are a growing trend nationwide, with colleges across the United States signing on.

Media Note: Photographers and reporters are welcome to stop by Harper College’s bookstore to talk with students about the College’s new book rental program. Contact Erin Brooks, Media Relations Specialist, 847.925.6159 or [email protected], to arrange a visit.

Small Business Help

Planning for a potential disaster that might not even happen isn’t typically at the top of a small business’ priority list – but “a disaster can put you out of business faster than any recession,” warns Bonnie Richter, Director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Harper College. With an eye on the potential risks facing businesses that are ill-prepared, Harper is hosting a series of free “Survive and Thrive” workshops aimed at teaching owners, managers and entrepreneurs how to assess the likelihood of disasters, determine the potential impact and lessen the negative effects. The next workshops are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 20 and Tuesday, February 9 in the Small Business Development Center Office at the Harper Professional Center, 650 E. Higgins Road in Schaumburg. Others will be held Tuesday, March 9 and Tuesday, May 11. The College also is offering one-on-one disaster preparedness advising for entrepreneurs seeking help through Harper’s Small Business Development Center. “Most small business owners don’t want to deal with this, and most small businesses don’t have a plan in place,” Richter says. “We really want them to have one – particularly as winter, and the threat of storms, again approaches – and we’re here to help them in that capacity.” Business owners need to know, she says, what they’ll do if they lose power, how they’ll get in touch with employees in the case of an emergency, and where they’ll operate from if their office is unavailable. Statistics show that one-quarter of businesses that close because of a disaster never reopen, and 80 percent of those that don’t recover within a month are likely to out of business. Harper’s disaster preparedness workshops and advising are being funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. To register for the workshop, call 847.925.6520 or send an email to [email protected]. Space is limited. For an advising appointment, call 847.925.6520.

Press Contact: Erin Brooks, Media Relations Specialist, 847.925.6159, [email protected].

Photo Opportunities

Event: First Day of Spring Term 2010

Date: Tuesday, January 19. (Call to confirm best locations and times.)

Location: Harper College main campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine

 

Event: Mindreader Christopher Carter performing free show for Welcome Week

Date: Noon on Wednesday, January 20

Location: Student Center Lounge, main floor of Building A

 

Event: Chamber Music Festival featuring performances by Harper faculty

Date: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 23

Location: Performing Arts Center