Category: News

Microsoft is losing two high-profile executives. Both J. Allard, “Chief Experience Offer” and Entertainment and Device Division’s CTO, and Robbie Bach, President of Entertainment and Devices Division, are leaving the company per a Steve Ballmer email from this morning. These are the guys behind the Xbox, Zune, Project Natal, and the dead Courier project — so basically all of Microsoft’s hit entertainment projects from the last decade.

From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 11:01 AM
To: Microsoft – All Employees (QBDG)
Subject: Executive Leadership Transitions

After almost 22 years with the company, Robbie Bach has decided to retire from Microsoft. I have worked with Robbie during his entire tenure at Microsoft, and count him as both a friend and a great business partner and leader. Robbie has always had great timing, and is going out on a high note – this has been a phenomenal year for E&D overall, and with the coming launches of both Windows Phone 7 and “Project Natal,” the rest of the year looks stupendous as well. While we are announcing Robbie’s retirement today, he will remain here through the fall, ensuring we have a smooth transition.

Concurrent with Robbie’s retirement, I am making several organization changes to ensure we have the right leaders in the right positions as we set ourselves up for the next big wave of products and services. Effective July 1, Don Mattrick, who leads our interactive entertainment business, and Andy Lees, who leads our mobile communications business, will report directly to me. Don and Andy have built out strong leadership teams and product pipelines, and are well-positioned for the years ahead. Independent of Robbie’s decision, J Allard (currently serving as senior vice president of Design and
Development for E&D), will also be leaving Microsoft. Given his ongoing passion and commitment to Microsoft, he will remain as an advisor to me, helping incubation efforts, looking at design and UI, and providing a cross-company perspective on these and similar topics. With J’s change in role, corporate vice president David Treadwell will join IEB to lead the core technology organization, reporting to Don. David has a great set of accomplishments at Microsoft, most recently working on the Windows Live Platform Services team. Over the next several months, Robbie and I will work together to finalize reporting and structure for the rest of his org.

Now that Office 2010 has been launched to business customers, Antoine Leblond, senior vice president in the Office Productivity Applications Group, will take a new role as senior vice president for the Windows Web Services team. This team brings together the integral Windows services that today deliver updates, solutions, community and depth
information for the Windows consumer. Kurt DelBene, senior vice president in the Office Business Productivity Group, will take on all of the engineering responsibilities for the Office business.

Transitions are always hard. Robbie has been an instrumental part of so many key moments in Microsoft history – from the evolution of Office to the decision to create the first Xbox to pushing the company hard in entertainment overall. J as well has had a great impact in the market and on our culture, providing leadership in design, and in creating a passionate and involved Xbox community, and earlier being at the center of our work seizing the importance of the Web for the company. But most important, both have been great team builders with a strong record of attracting, coaching and growing talent. As a result, their teams are primed to continue to step up and deliver great products, great services and great results for the company. Don has led the Interactive Entertainment Business since July 2007, where he’s significantly grown our entertainment footprint as well as our profitability. He can count as successes the evolution of Xbox Live, the launch of blockbusters like “Halo 3″ and the much-anticipated “Project Natal.” Previously, Don was president of Electronic Arts Worldwide Studios. Andy has led the Mobile Communications Business since February, 2008, and has been instrumental in reinvigorating our mobility efforts, bringing in new business and development talent and
overseeing the creation of both KIN and Windows Phone 7.

As we finalize and ship so many of our key products (“Project Natal,”Windows Phone 7, Office 2010, Windows Live Wave 4 and others) it is a natural time for us to look ahead and make sure we have the right talent in the right roles to fuel our next set of offerings. I am confident that the changes above will set us up well for the months and years ahead.

I want to close by thanking Robbie for the incalculable contributions he has made to Microsoft over the years. He will be greatly missed when he retires this fall, and I am glad that I’ll have the opportunity to continue working closely with him between now and then. And as J makes a similar transition, I look forward to working with him in a new way.

No-Fault insurance lawyer warns car accident victims about Farm Bureau insurance company

Farm Bureau is at it again. I’ve written about this insurance company before. Despite their nice commercials, I personally see Farm Bureau treating their own customers the worst out of all the automobile insurance companies that I personally deal with as a lawyer representing victims of car accidents and truck accidents.

Again, the latest incident involves Farm Bureau finding new ways to avoid their obligation to their customers. Insurance companies like Farm Bureau get paid every year in insurance premiums by their customers, but as soon as their help is needed, they often look for ways to avoid meeting their legal, contractual obligations.

They just don’t do the right thing very often.

Why I do not recommend Farm Bureau

In my own experience, and in the experience of  other auto accident attorneys in  Michigan, it is almost impossible to get a Farm Bureau  claims adjuster to give permission to accept the proffered policy limits of a wrongdoer insurance company when an injured Farm Bureau customer has underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage.

Let me explain: you, a Farm Bureau customer, gets seriously injured in a car accident in Detroit, or Lansing, or Grand Rapids. The person who hits you has a minimum insurance policy limit of $20,000. You have been paying Farm Bureau for years for a coverage called underinsured motorist coverage, or UIM. This is an additional protection that is meant to pay you the full extent of what your injuries are worth, if the value of your personal injury exceeds the amount of coverage that the person who caused your car accident has. So, the person who caused your coverage only has $20,000, and your injury is clearly worth more.  That insurance company eventually tenders its $20,000 policy, so you can accept it and turn to your own additional UIM coverage with Farm Bureau.

Only you can’t.

Farm Bureau won’t let you.

Under Michigan law, a personal injury lawyer cannot accept the full offered policy limits of an auto insurance company that insures a person who has caused a car accident, without first getting the permission from your own insurance company.

So what happens when your insurance company refuses to give you permission to accept the policy limits of the person who caused your car accident?

Without receiving permission to accept tendered policy limits from a negligent driver’s auto insurance company, UIM coverage will be voided under Michigan law.

The problem with Farm Bureau is that in almost every case I’ve seen, Farm Bureau claims adjusters seem to  refuse to give permission to accept tendered policy limits; essentially trying to force their own customer to sit through a trial and expend thousands of dollars, and waste everyone’s time with another insurance company that is trying to settle the case. The Farm Bureau UIM policy, that Farm Bureau’s own customers paid a lot of money for, basically becomes illusory coverage.

There is actually no downside for Farm Bureau to do this, other than breaking their promises to their own customers, that is.  If the customer and his attorney accept the policy limit settlement being offered without receiving the written permission of Farm Bureau, they void the UIM coverage.

If, on the other hand, Farm Bureau forces them to try the case, they can play the odds and if a crazy, conservative 1 in a 100 jury returns a verdict of less than the policy limit, they again, don’t have to pay.  Since their own client has to pay for the thousands of dollars of costs of being forced to trial, there literally is no reason for Farm Bureau to not continue to do this.

Michigan has no bad faith laws or punitive damages to prevent this type of conduct by insurance companies at this time.

How to protect yourself

There is an easy solution at this time: don’t buy Farm Bureau.

This is just one reason Farm Bureau is the winner of my 2010 Insurance Company Skunk Award. In my next blog, I will talk about another disappointing, anti-consumer thing Farm Bureau recently did to a long-time customer to again, get out of paying a valid claim they should have paid. I’ll also cover how the Farm Bureau customer ended up with nothing as a result.

– Steven M. Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance No-fault litigation. Michigan Auto Law has received the largest reported jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in seven of the past 10 years, including 2009, according to published year-end verdicts and settlements reports.

Related information:

The Dirtiest Insurance Company Trick of All

17 Mistakes that Can Kill Your Case

Three No-Fault Challenges Facing Car Accident Attorneys Today

No-Fault Lawyer Video: All About Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with an auto accident attorney. We can help.

Might We Suggest…

• Download This! iTag
  There’s no way around it.  As much as we try to keep our cell phones with us, somehow we still manage to leave them places.  We leave our handsets on the counter at home, in the taxi, on the airplane,…

As a tech blogger, I often wonder how new leaks come about. Sometimes they are completely random and surprise us and others feel like they are being controlled by the actual companies about to launch a new device. Either way, get ready for the Motorola Shadow hype machine to go into full gear next month.

Yesterday we got our first look at Verizon’s next phone in the Droid series, codenamed the Motorola Shadow. Now we are to believe that someone conveniently left their prototype phone at the gym and it became front page news on Gizmodo.

The specs of the next Droid are impressive to say the least. It appears Motorola has finally dropped the Texas Instruments OMAP processor and adopted the more popular Snapdragon platform. In addition to a 1 GHz CPU, the Motorola phone sports a 4.3-inch screen, 8MP camera (capable of shooting 720p video), 16 GB internal storage, and HDMI out.

Rumors suggest the Motorola “Shadow” will run Android 2.2 with Motorola’s Motoblur.

We expect new high-end phones to have the latest version of Android, but even more shocking is the possible release date. Gizmodo’s source claims we could see the new Droid as early as June or July. Given the fact that Verizon is already printing out quick-start guides for the new phone, I would say chances are high these rumors come true.

If all of the specs are to be believed, this new Motorola phone will become Verizon’s top Android prize. After playing with the EVO, I can say the 4.3 inch display really makes a difference (coming from 3.7 in) and the HDMI out is a welcome addition. If Motorola actually releases this with FroYo Android 2.2, it will see a noticeable performance improvement over all the HTC Android 2.1 phones still waiting for an update.

Current Droid owners will likely be attached to their physical keyboards, but anyone else looking to upgrade their first-gen Android phone should keep the Motorola Shadow on their short list.

Related Posts

• Verizon set to launch an Incredible device “really soon” – April 29th
• Motorola Droid successor coming to Verizon later this year
• Possible Droid 2 passes Wi-Fi certification
• LG Ally commercial leaks, Verizon launch pending soon
• The Motorola Shadow re-emerges

The headline says it all.  Netflix Taps Microsoft PlayReady as Its Primary DRM Technology for Netflix Ready Devices and Applications.

This is very good news for Microsoft as well as those who make hardware devices using Microsoft PlayReady for content protected playback.  Netflix already uses PlayReady for its Windows and Mac computer instant streaming service.  This announcement adds PlayReady for hardware devices as well.  The press release speaks of “Internet TVs, Blu-ray disc players, home theater systems, video game consoles and other devices.”  I wonder what they mean by other devices…

According to the announcement, the first devices making use of the PlayReady DRM should hit stores this summer.  Supposedly XBox360, Wii, PS3 and other devices that already have Netflix streaming support won’t be affected by the move to PlayReady.

Microsoft Press Release

Netflix Press Release

Even the Huffington Post admits that their Safest U.S. Airlines list is a bit unnecessary, considering the excellent safety records of everyone on the list. Still, it’s fun to rank things, so that’s what they did. U.S. Airways and JetBlue came in near the top, while Delta, United and Continental came in at the bottom. Regardless, you’re likely to remain alive after a flight on any of them.

Before you worry about their last place positions too much, an MIT professor who studies airline safety says that there’s actually a negative correlation between the number of nonfatal accidents and airline has and involvement in fatal accidents later on. Maybe it’s not necessarily a bad thing to be at the end of the list.

“America’s Most Dangerous Airlines” [Huffington Post]

Last week, the RAC participated in a letter-a-day campaign to pressure the House of Representatives to take action on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) (H.R. 3017/S. 1584) which would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, demote or refuse to promote an individual based on his or her real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. For the past three weeks, a broad based coalition of faith and non-faith organizations has faxed and emailed a letter from one of its organizations to the full House each day, urging support for ENDA.

Recently, Consumer Reports has tested a number of different sunscreen brands to find out which is the best at protecting people from the sun.  Among the tested products were sprays, lotions, creams, and pump sprays.  Consumer reports seems to feel strongly about the issue of sunscreen: “sunscreens that guard against ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B radiation can help prevent sunburn, wrinkles, and certain skin cancers.”

Accordingly, the above mentioned test took a look at “how well each product blocked UVA and UVB rays and how well their claimed sun-protection factor, or SPF — a measure of UVB protection — lasted on volunteers who soaked in water for 40 or 80 minutes.”

The results: the four top ranked sunscreens are as follows: Up & Up Sport Continuous, Walgreens Sport Continuous, Banana Boat Sport Performance Continuous, and Aveeno Continuous Protection.  Apparently the above are listed in no particular order, as all four tied in their overall score; all four sunscreens also cost the same per ounce!  Consumer Reports: all four “provided very good UVA protection and excellent UVB protection, and met their SPF claim even after treated skin was in water for 80 minutes.”

Related posts:

1. New Sunscreen Guidelines by FDA
2. CDC recommendations in swimming pools and water parks
3. Health Dangers in New England

Expletives and MIDI music rose from office cubicles this past Friday: Pac-Man had returned. On May 21, Google replaced its usual blue, yellow, red, and green title with what the company calls a “doodle.” But unlike previous replacements, which have celebrated everything from Pi day to Norman Rockwell’s birthday, for Pac-Man’s special day (the 30th Anniversary of the game’s Japan release) Google pulled out the big guns, er, ghost-eaters. This time, the doodle was an animated and playable version of the 1980s Namco video game, complete with our pie-shaped hero and his multicolored ghost foes: Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), Inky (cyan), and Clyde (orange). But some kill-joys complain that Friday’s Pac-Man play hindered productivity, and set out to determine just how much money had been frittered away as employees avoided their work. The BBC reports that the firm Rescue Time tracked 11,ooo users’ online activity and noticed that Pac-Man kept them on Google’s site about 36 seconds longer than usual. Multiplying those 36 seconds by Google’s 504 million users, that means over 500 years worth of work time spent playing. The firm estimates an average worker’s salary at $25 an hour for a grand total of about $120 million in lost productivity. How Rescue Time …

If you’ve been wondering (like we have) what exactly networking giant Cisco planned to sell to utilities for the smart grid, ponder no longer. Cisco announced its first smart grid-specific products on Tuesday, including a router and grid switch, which are based on its traditional networking products but have been built specifically for the utility environment.

Cisco’s new smart grid gear — dubbed the Cisco 2000 Series Connected Grid Router (CGR 2010) and the Cisco 2500 Series Connected Grid Switch (CGS 2520) — gives utilities another option for deploying smart grid networks, and offers them the security of having the deep pockets and extensive supply chain of a big company. Utilities are risk averse by nature, have to abide by very specific regulations for maintaining service and for the most part, prefer to work with a big company with decades of experience under its belt.

Cisco says utilities, including Germany’s E.oN Westfalen Weser, Enel in Italy and Spain, and U.S. utilities Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have already been testing out the new gear. Cisco has previously announced smart grid deals with Duke Energy, Florida Power & Light, Germany’s Yellostrom, and Canada’s Enmax, and Cisco’s senior VP of smart grid, Laura Ipsen, previously told us that it’s been selling a build-buy-partner model.

Cisco says the new smart grid products are “ruggedized” for the electrical network, can tolerate higher and lower temperatures than its traditional network gear, include a high level of security, and can help integrate renewables, detect network outages and migrate older proprietary gear to IP network gear.

Cisco’s new products will also give a solid boost to a smart grid that’s based on Internet Protocol (IP), the language upon which the Internet and information technology is built. Cisco’s strategy to embrace everything IP is similar to those of younger smart grid network firms Silver Spring Networks and SmartSynch, with its GridRouter, which it says can run over any network.

Cisco also recently made an investment in Grid Net, which builds smart meter software based around IP, and its first products have been based on the wireless standard WiMAX. Cisco’s Ipsen told us the company would likely make additional investments or acquisitions in the smart grid space, from electricity generation to consumption.

But when it comes to the smaller smart grid networking firms that had been moving faster than Cisco — like Silver Spring Networks or SmartSynch — Cisco’s announcement this morning is not such good news. While Cisco has been slow, it’s clearly ready to be aggressive. Ipsen told us at our Green:Net event that Cisco sees the smart grid market opportunity as “bigger than the Internet” (video clip).

For more research on smart grid check out GigaOM Pro (subscription required):

Smart Algorithms: The Future of the Energy Industry

New Opportunities in the Smart Grid

The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps

Images courtesy of Cisco.

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Erin Kutz wrote:

Microsoft announced today that it will be taking over another chunk of Cambridge’s Kendall Square neighborhood this summer. The company said it will expand its New England Research & Development Center—affectionately known as NERD—by leasing another 113,000 square feet at One Cambridge Center, down the road from NERD’s One Memorial Drive location.

The initial phase of the One Cambridge Center expansion should be completed this summer, the company said, and will house the Microsoft Advertising team and employees from Navic, a Microsoft company in the TV advertising space, currently working out of Waltham, MA. In June, Microsoft will also bring its Beverly, MA-based SharePoint Workspace team to One Memorial Drive. These shifts will put the majority of the software giant’s 500-plus Bay State research and development employees in Cambridge, the company said. Microsoft will complete the expansion into the new space over the next three years, says NERD site director Sara Spalding.

“We definitely see a continued effort to recruit and hire top talent into this area,” Spalding told Xconomy. “The expansion really supports Microsoft’s continued investment in this area.”

One Cambridge Center is home to a number of other firms in the tech community, including the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation, online video-hosting company Brightcove, and supplier search engine startup Panjiva. The MIT Media Lab also has a presence in the high-rise building.

UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

Filed under: Etc.

In this day and age, even the average sedan is packing some serious heat under the hood. It didn’t use to be like this and there was a time when even “sports cars” were listed under 150 horsepower. For those unfamiliar with the history behind the horsepower wars, follow the jump for an infographic primer from the 1960s to the present day.

[Source: Auto Insurance for Autoblog.com]

Continue reading Engine power has increased 112% since 1980… and other fun facts about the Horsepower Wars

Engine power has increased 112% since 1980… and other fun facts about the Horsepower Wars originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The days of time-division multiplexing (TDM) managing the majority of our phone calls is coming to an end. The soon-to-be obsolete switches have too many issues, and offer limited opportunities to expand.

Conservation: TDM switches require constant bandwidth per channel, emit a whopping 1.7 billion kg of CO2 each year in the U.S., which is equivalent to 361,000 cars being driven for a year (1).

Operating expenses (OPEX): Power usage of TDM switches account for 2-3 percent of a network’s total OPEX (2).

Adapting to new user behavior: Phone service with voicemail doesn’t cut it anymore. Data networks and voice networks are enmeshed in one giant network that allows people to simultaneous download, chat, video conference and engage in a variety of online social activities.

Offering a far more efficient and next-gen solution is the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architectural framework, which unifies fixed and cellular switching. Alcatel-Lucent offers its own IMS End-to-End Solution, which offers the following benefits:

• Total communications – from simple voice-over-IP (VoIP) to enhanced multimedia communications.
• One IMS switch can replace multiple TDM switches. Reduce OPEX with fewer offices to manage.
• IMS equipment can scale from a few users to thousands.
• Low-energy scalable switches emit less heat, reducing expenses in energy consumption and cooling.

To learn how Alcatel’s new communications architecture reduced footprints by 75 percent and power use by 65 percent, make sure to read “Alcatel-Lucent IP Multimedia Subsystem: Eco-efficiency Makes Economic Sense.” Then learn how those savings can apply to your enterprise by checking out Alcatel-Lucent Data Network Solutions by business type.

Click here to view all Alcatel-Lucent posts

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A coal miner working at Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine when it exploded last month, killing 29 colleagues, described the operation this week as “a ticking time bomb,” where the management valued production over safety and workers didn’t protest for fear of being fired.

“The ventilation system they had didn’t work,” said Stanley “Goose” Stewart, a 15-year veteran of the UBB mine who was 300 feet underground when the blast occurred. “With no air moving it gave me the feeling that area was a ticking time bomb.”

There was plenty of warning that the conditions in the UBB mine were dangerous, Stewart told House lawmakers. The mine had experienced “at least two fireballs” prior to the April 5 blast, he said, suggesting not only that the vent systems were faulty, but that there were also problems with the mine’s methane sensors.

“How could methane build up to that point where a fireball could start?” he asked during a field hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee in Beckley, W.Va., near the site of the UBB blast.

The allegations — which are strikingly similar to those made by a growing number of Massey workers, both veterans and active miners — arrive just four days after Don Blankenship, Massey’s bellicose CEO, told Senate Democrats that miner safety is the company’s top priority.

“Massey does not place profits over safety,” Blankenship testified before the Senate Appropriations Labor Subcommittee last Thursday. “We never have and we never will. Period.”

Although the UBB mine had been cited for safety violations more than 600 times since the start of 2009, Blankenship argued that the mine’s safety history is irrelevant because “abatement [of hazards] is mandatory.”

“At Massey, we always fix the problem,” he said, “even if we disagree with the penalty.”

But Stewart, along with a number of relatives of UBB victims, had a dramatically different story, telling lawmakers that Massey managers frequently cut corners to maximize production, even when it came at the expense of the workers’ safety.

Steve Morgan, for instance, father of 21-year-old Adam Morgan, who was killed during the blast, testified that it was common for workers in UBB to pull down the ventilation curtains — the plastic sheets that direct the flow of fresh air and prevent methane gas from accumulating — because they can get in the way of heavy equipment, slowing down production.

“Ventilation was so bad he was sent home early several times, including once about a week before the explosion because they weren’t getting enough air,” Morgan said.

Gary Quarles, a Massey miner whose son, Gary Wayne, was also a victim of the UBB disaster, told lawmakers that Massey foremen in the mines are warned when inspectors arrive on the site — a system lending workers some time to get the place cleaned up before the inspectors get underground. “When the word goes out,” Quarles said, “all effort is made to correct any deficiencies or direct the inspector’s attention away from any deficiencies.”

And Stewart said that his crew was once asked to switch out a ventilation system without evacuating the affected section of the mine, as required by law. “I’m not sure MSHA was aware of the whole situation,” he said, referring to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Workers didn’t complain, Stewart said, because “we knew that we’d be marked men and the management would look for ways to fire us” — a message echoed by most of the other witnesses to Monday’s hearing.

As a sign of how highly Massey values efficiency, UBB miners were denied vacation last summer after they failed to meet production targets, Stewart said.

“I felt like I was working for the Gestapo at times,” he said. “We did some things right, but were forced to do some things wrong.”

If the allegations were isolated, they might be easy to ignore. But there’s a pattern emerging from all the scrutiny of Massey that’s followed last month’s disaster. Chuck Nelson, another former Massey miner who spoke with TWI from his West Virginia home last month, said the trends are hardly limited to the UBB mine.

“I worked at six different Massey mines and every single one of ‘em operated the same way,” said Nelson, who now volunteers for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.

Massey, which was quick to issue a statement following last week’s Senate hearing, has so far been silent in the face of the more recent allegations.

Toda semana estamos trazendo alguma má notícia relacionada a algum supercarro que não tem um final feliz. Alguns ficam abandonados em ruas desertas ou em linhas de trem debaixo de camadas de neve, outros tem incêndios misteriosos ou apenas uma batida comum, como é o caso da primeira Ferrari 458 Italia a passar por isso. Mas espera ai, uma batida comum em uma Ferrari?

Ferrari não é um carro comum, uma batida em um carro desses deve abalar mais o coração do dono do que seu próprio bolso, não sei se teria forças para aguentar. Enfim, desabados à parte, a foto acima mostra um acidente que aconteceu no dia 20 de maio, às 13:45 (horário local da Polônia).

O motorista foi burro imprudente o bastante para dirigir seu carrão a uma velocidade de 120 a 140 Km/h em uma rua estreita (vejam a foto novamente) e movimentada, sem mencionar que o limite de velocidade era de 60 Km/h. O pseudo-piloto tentou se desviar de um ônibus e perdeu o controle, batendo em um Volkswagen Bora. A polícia afirma que a culpa foi do motorista da Ferrari, por estar em alta velocidade. Vejam mais fotos da lambança que o motorista burro imprudente fez a seguir.

Imagens do acidente

Via | Topspeed

Making poor lending decisions is by no means uniquely American. In case you haven’t heard, the Europeans are going through a debt crisis of their own right now, and it’s bound to have an impact on America’s economy. Seems that several broke countries have lent massive amounts to other broke countries and nobody can pay each other back. Bailouts are inevitable, but where is the money going to come from? Some other broke economy! And round and round it goes. Comedy team Clarke and Dawes take the piss out of it all in a mock business game show.

Job-Nabbing Help

It’s tough to find a job when you’ve been unemployed. But it helps if potential employers know you’ve been boosting your resume, building your skills or actively networking – not just biding your time. Bob Podgorski, Coordinator of the St. Hubert Job and Networking Ministry in Hoffman Estates, will offer a talk on highlighting your post-layoff productivity at the next edition of Harper College’s Career Stimulus, a monthly career-boosting program focused on getting local residents the job-hunting and job-nabbing support they need. The May session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Friday, May 28 in the Wojcik Conference Center on Harper’s main campus. Podgorski’s keynote discussion, “How to Show You Are Not Standing Still,” will provide tips for being smartly productive during a layoff and advice on defining your activities for potential future employers. It’s the latest in a series of Career Stimulus topics focused on supporting the unemployed as they begin to land more interviews and see more career options amid a gradually rebounding economy. Breakout sessions will address launching a new business, stress and money management, job search library resources, personal success tips and tools for jumpstarting or restarting a career. Participants should bring 25 copies of their resume or business card for networking purposes. Career Stimulus, launched in 2009 to provide Northwest suburban residents with post-layoff help in a downturned economy, has drawn 300 regular members and helped hundreds of community members revamp their resumes, energize their job hunt and work toward new careers. “Today, as companies begin to hire again and more people begin to land interviews and get jobs, our local residents are facing different career concerns than they were in the recent past,” Adult Learning Special Assistant Nancy Wajler says. “We’re filling those new needs with even more sophisticated support.” Career Stimulus is free for first-timers. Subsequent sessions are $10. Memberships are available for $85; they include a year of meetings, one-on-one sessions with a Harper career coach, workshops, and materials for and admission to an intensive “NetWorthing” session focused on making networking work. You do not need to be a Harper resident to participate.  For more, visit www.harpercollege.edu or call 847.925.6438.

Media Note: How do you show employers you haven’t been wasting time while unemployed? Bob Podgorski is available for interviews in advance of the event. Interviews also are available with Career Stimulus participants who have landed jobs and with Harper Adult Learning Special Assistant Nancy Wajler, who can comment on how job clubs may need to change as America slowly climbs out of a recession. Contact Erin Brooks, Media Relations Specialist, 847.925.6159, [email protected].

Still Time for Nominations

Nominations still are being accepted for Harper College’s Distinguished Alumni Award, an annual honor saluting former Harper students for outstanding career and community achievements. The nomination deadline has been extended to Monday, May 31. The awards first were handed out in 2008 as part of the College’s 40th Anniversary celebration. Ten recipients, representing a variety of educational journeys, have been honored since then. This year, between six and eight Distinguished Alumni will be inducted. Recipients will be lauded at a November reception; they also must agree to return to campus at least one more time within the year to be a guest speaker or participate in a student roundtable. “The recipient of this award will have the opportunity to inspire others, including the students who are now part of the same campus that helped so many alumni get their start,” says Catherine Brod, Educational Foundation Executive Director and Vice President of Community Relations. Previous honorees have included an Emmy-nominated screenwriter, an 80-something retiree still taking – and teaching – courses, a mayor, a fire chief and a National Geographic-honored geoarchaeologist. To be eligible, nominees must have completed Harper credit courses, made notable moves in their career and shown professional growth in their chosen field, and had a positive impact on their community through leadership or volunteering. Forms are available at Harper’s Alumni Relations Office, Room A317, Building A on the Palatine campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine, or online, www.harpercollege.edu/alumni. For more information, call 847.925.6490.

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

Student Art Exhibition

Artwork from community members enrolled in Harper College continuing education painting and drawing courses will be on display from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 25 in the Harper College Exhibition Space, Room C200, Building C on the main campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine. The exhibit, “Paintings and Portraits: Artists in Full Bloom,” will showcase works from students enrolled in oil and acrylic painting and portrait drawing courses with instructor Daryl Harris. Harris, who studied at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and spent a decade teaching art, now is a Chicago artist and illustrator. The exhibition and accompanying reception is free and open to all. Harper offers a host of open-to-all art courses for community members throughout the year. For more information, including a list of courses and fees, call Continuing Education at 847.925.6300 or visit www.harpercollege.edu/ce.

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

New Novel

Harper College Assistant Professor Glenn Taylor turned to his home state of West Virginia for the inspiration for his first novel, a literary debut that made him a finalist for a prestigious national writing award and earned him the support of HarperCollins Publishers. For his second novel, released on Tuesday, May 11, Taylor again draws on that state’s rich history for a post-World War II story about a man, his community and the race and class issues that haunted the 1950s and 1960s American south. The Marrowbone Marble Company is a tale of struggle, loss and oppression, Taylor says – but also of faith and love over the course of three decades. It tells the story of Loyal Ledford, who works the swing shift tending furnace at a West Virginia glass factory and courts the boss’ daughter until Pearl Harbor is attacked, setting his life on a new course. The book is published by Ecco, a division of HarperCollins. Taylor’s debut novel The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart was featured as part of Barnes & Noble’s “Discover Great New Writers” collection, and made Taylor a 2008 National Book Critics Circle awards finalist – putting him in the company of authors like Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates and John Updike. Taylor, who has taught English and fiction writing at Harper since 2002, was born and raised in Huntington, W. Va., and attended Ohio University. He earned a master’s in fiction writing from Texas State University. He lives in Mount Prospect with his wife and three sons.

Media Note: For interviews with or high-resolution pictures of M. Glenn Taylor, contact Erin Brooks, Media Relations Specialist, 847.925.6159, [email protected].

Harper Golf Open

The Harper College Educational Foundation will host its annual Golf Open on Monday, June 14 at the Inverness Golf Club, 102 N. Roselle Road in Palatine. The event, a fundraiser for student programming and scholarships, includes 18 holes of golf, lunch, a cocktail reception, an awards banquet and buffet dinner for $500. Those who don’t wish to golf can attend the cocktail reception, banquet and buffet dinner for $125. Various levels of sponsorships are available. The Open also will feature a raffle (prizes include free rounds of golf) and a live auction for 2010 Cubs. vs. Cardinals and Sox vs. Cubs tickets. All proceeds benefit Harper’s Resource for Excellence Fund, which bolsters the College with programming, scholarships and other support where it’s most needed, in accordance with community needs. “Today, in the face of decreased state funding and an increased demand for community college services, we are even more grateful for the support we receive from our community through events like this one,” says Catherine Brod, Executive Director of the Harper College Educational Foundation. “Our Golf Open is another wonderful opportunity to come together for the purpose of championing our students.” The Open will kick off with a 10 a.m. registration and free golf clinic. The shotgun start is at 11:30 a.m. To attend, purchase raffle tickets, become a sponsor or make a donation, call 847.925.6490 or visit www.harpercollege.edu.

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

Photo Opportunities

Event: Continuing Education Student Art Exhibition

Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 25

Location: Art Exhibition Space, Room C200, Building C

 

Event: Educational Foundation Golf Open

Time: 11:30 am Monday, June 14

Location: Inverness Golf Club, 102 N. Roselle Road, Palatine

 

Event: InZone summer kids camp. Courses include fishing, cooking, film and fashion options.

Date: Mondays-Thursdays from June 7 through August 12 (call for best days/times)

Location: Campus-wide

 

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