The best car in the world!

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

In the first FDA-approved trial evaluating the street drug’s therapeutic applications, it proved phenomenally successful at treating PTSD.

• 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

The effects of 2008’s petrol crisis are showing no signs of abating at this year’s Detroit NAIAS – small cars, electrics and hybrids are the big stars of 2010 in Motor City. And Chevy is looking to capitalise, with a new muscled-up ‘hot hatch’ concept based on a revitalised update to its lukewarm Aveo platform. The 138-horsepower, 1.4 litre Aveo RS is Chevrolet’s tricked-out take on what the tuner community should be able to do when the new, improved Aveo platform launches in 2011 – and Chevy’s hoping this funky show car helps turn around the current Aveo’s reputation as a rebadged Korean econobox…

Tags: Car,
Chevrolet,
Compact,
Concept,
Detroit Auto Show 2010

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As Day 1 of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission goes on, it’s getting better. It turns out that, after getting past the first few committee members, the questions improved. An interesting one came from Keith Hennessey. He asked about the banks being too big to fail. He wanted to know if a) the market assumed that these banks would be rescued by the government, due to their size and interconnectedness before the crisis and b) if the banks internally assumed that they would be rescued if something went wrong.

The reason I find this so question important is because one major criticism about the banks is that they knowingly took big risks because they assumed that the government would bail them out if anything went wrong. I’ve long thought this was incorrect, but that the banks just made really big, really bad bets — and they wouldn’t have if they had known better. Of course, too big to fail has become a problem since then, because the government has proven that it will, in fact, bail out big institutions.

The bank CEOs all responded in the same way. None of them believed that there was a market perception that any bank, no matter how large, had an implicit government guarantee. As proof, Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack pointed to Lehman Brothers. Certainly, its fate made crystal clear that banks could fail. Its stock price plummeting in the days leading up to its failure indicated the market’s belief that failure was possible.

And Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein added another point. Even some of the banks that didn’t technically fail, because acquired — like Bear Sterns and Wachovia — effectively failed, with their equity becoming virtually worthless. Equity investors certainly never believed the big bank stocks would be okay no matter what. He also mentioned that their corporate debt spreads expanded substantially, indicating that bank creditors felt the same way.

When asked about internal discussions, all four denied that there was any kind of assumption ever discussed that the government would rescue their banks. Again, they pointed to Lehman as proof that they could fail. And by the way, these guys were under oath. So if an e-mail did surface indicating otherwise, they could face perjury.

Now, the question of whether it was assumed banks could fail prior to the crisis and after the Treasury’s stress tests were completed are separate issues. Hennessey also asked about whether the market views those institutions that underwent the stress tests as now being too big to fail. Their answer here was different.

Here, Blankfein responded that he believes the market perceives that the government will now intervene if any of those large banks were on the brink of failure. But he also thinks that this will change in the next few years.

That belief was underscored by Hennessey’s follow-up asking the CEOs their view of a non-bank resolution authority. Both Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and John Mack agreed that this regulatory goal was a good one. They join JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has already asserted in a Washington Post op-ed that the government should make certain that firms can fail.

Other than Hennessey’s line of questioning, there were some other good inquiries made as well. Commissioner Brooklsey Born had some good questions about derivatives. All the CEOs agreed that exchanges and clearing houses would help. Dimon said that he estimated some 70% of derivatives would probably easily fit into those molds, with the rest too customized for exchanges or clearing houses.

I’m listening to the next panel now, and it’s been pretty good so far.

CES 2010 Wrap-Up: Noah’s Top 5 Mobile Stories

4. I’m ready for WiMax overdrive. Is Sprint?

 

Aaron and I both attended Sprint’s way-over-the-top press event launching their Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot. “Iron Chef” Mario Batali cooked at the event, and signed copies of his Italian Grill cookbook were handed out. I’m still not sure why he was there (okay, I am – to get people like me to write about the event), but that dude loves him some chili flakes in his arrabiata. Seriously, I love heat in my food, but his spicy tomato sauce was too much for me.

But I digress. Overdrive is Sprint’s first WiMax product for the mass market. Since Aaron lives in an area – Charlotte, NC – that actually gets Sprint 4G service, he got our review loaner. Since Las Vegas also gets Sprint WiMax, Aaron tried Overdrive out while at CES:

“Utilizing the 4G service in Las Vegas, I found that while the connection was incredibly fast (a noticeable difference over 3G), it disconnected on a regular basis.  I was told that the issue was a result of the CES cell site traffic – we’ll see when I put it through its paces here in Charlotte.”

I love the idea of 4G. I want me some 4G I want to ditch my home cable modem and my 3G USB data stick in favor of an Overdrive I can use at home, on the road, and everywhere in between. At $69.99/month, Sprint’s WiMax is pricier than a home Cable line, but cheaper than Cable plus cellular data. But we ain’t there yet – not when the service is only available in a few dozen locals, not including New York, LA, or (selfishly) the San Francisco Bay Area. Later this year we’ll get us some WiMax coverage, I hope. Though it remains to be seen if Sprint’s WiMax can maintain the early mover advantage it currently holds over Verizon’s forthcoming LTE rollout.

Previous: WebOS hits Verizon

Next: Nokia plays it low-end

 

 

January 2010

The organic movement should overcome its hostility to genetically modified crops and embrace the contribution that they can make to sustainable farming, one of the world’s leading agricultural scientists has told The Times.

Although organic farmers are among the most implacable opponents of genetic engineering, it should be accepted as legitimate, according to Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development at Imperial College London and a former government adviser.

In an interview with The Times, he said that the ban on organic farmers using GM crops was based on an excessively rigid rejection of synthetic approaches to farming and a misconception that natural ways were safer and more environment- friendly than man-made ones….continued at link

Organic farmers must embrace GM crops if we are to feed the world, says scientist – Times Online

Macquarie Capital Funds, the asset management unit of Australia’s Macquarie Group, has hired Bill Green, the co-founders of renewable energy-focused investment fund VantagePoint Venture Partners, as a senior managing director to expand the firm’s North American renewable energy investments.

At VantagePoint Green oversaw $1 billion investments supporting renewable energy companies as well as water management outfits and alternative fuel and waste-to-energy sectors. He co-led VantagePoint’s investment in New Energy Capital and its subsequent infrastructure investments and realizations.

In a prepared statement Green said:

Historically, investments in the CleanTech sector have gravitated towards the venture capital end of the spectrum. But as renewable energy technology matures, we’ve also witnessed a substantial increase in available infrastructure investment opportunities in the sector. Given the growing demand for renewable energy and other infrastructure projects that support the sustainable use of natural resources, investors can enjoy stable, long-term returns by funding these projects at commercial scale.

Early last year GER reported that Macquarie Capital Funds was looking to raise $400 million for a second cleantech fund.

Separately, PeHUB also reports that Tarun Kalra of Boston-based VC Battery Ventures has joined Next World Capital as a senior associate. Next World, with offices in Brussels and San Francisco, oversees $200 million in capital, which it invests in cleantech companies, as well as software and business services firms.

by Kurt Michael Friese

In the latest edition of The Atlantic magazine, Caitlin
Flanagan has written a surprisingly harsh critique of the
popular and growing movement to include gardens in our public schools.
In a nutshell, she states that pursuing this activity over and above
the three R’s will turn our children into illiterate sharecroppers. 
Right from the start, though, she gets it wrong.

She has the reader picture the son of undocumented migrant workers
entering his first day at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley,
home of the well-known Edible Schoolyard project, “where he stoops
under the hot sun and begins to pick lettuce.”  Her callous disrespect
for labor only begins there, but the real problem with her argument
lies in her stubborn refusal to accept that a good idea may have
sprouted from an ideology other than her own.  She goes so far as to
describe it as:

…A vacuous if well-meaning ideology that is responsible for robbing
an increasing number of American schoolchildren of hours they might
other wise have spent reading important books or learning higher math
(attaining the cultural achievements,  in other words, that have lifted
uncounted generations of human beings out of the desperate daily
scrabble to wrest sustenance from dirt).

Flanagan has chosen to ignore the core purposes of these
gardens, only one of which happens to be cultivating a respect for hard
work, and only one other of which is a healthy respect for real food.
While she notes that the work of the garden has migrated into each of
the classrooms, she ignores the obvious point that this demonstrates:
There is nothing taught in schools that cannot be learned in a garden. 
Math and science to be sure, but also history, civics, logic, art,
literature, music, and the birds and the bees both literally and
figuratively. Beyond that though, in a garden a student learns
responsibility, teamwork,  citizenship, sustainability, and respect for
nature, for others, and for themselves.

The disdain for the left-of-center viewpoints of those who started
the Edible Schoolyard is evidenced in her description of Chez Panisse,
the restaurant of Edible Schoolyard’s founder Alice Waters, as “an
eatery where the right-on, ‘yes we can,’ ACORN-loving,
public-option-supporting man or woman of the people can tuck into a
nice table d’hôte menu of scallops, guinea hen, and tarte tatin for a
modest 95 clams—wine, tax, and oppressively sanctimonious and
relentlessly conversation-busting service not included.”   Flanagan’s
attempt at snob-bashing populism and appeal toward the sensitivities of
those on the right is misplaced, however, because these school garden
ideas, while begun in this particular case by those with left-leaning
tendencies, actually hold appeal across the political spectrum.   They
not only encompass a love of nature and the kind of touchy-feely
sensitivities that give conservatives the willies, but also the bedrock
principles of tradition and ownership and self-reliance that would be
equally at home at a hippie commune or a tea party rally.

While it is rightly noted that the grades at the school quickly
improved, the contention that “a recipe is much easier to write than a
coherent paragraph on The Crucible”  is not only insulting to
professional chefs and food writers (like,  well, me), but also
is patently false. There is a world of difference between writing a
recipe and writing one well, as anyone who as ever come across the
words “but first” in a recipe will attest.   The more important point
though is the one that Flanagan glosses over:  that the passion for
learning developed in a garden, driven home by the lightening-bolt of
awareness when a kid bites into a vine-ripened tomato she grew herself,
is worth essays on ten plays even if Arthur Miller or Shakespeare
wrote them all.

Where the argument really goes off the rails though is when Ms
Flanagan posits:

Does the immigrant farm worker dream that his child will learn to
enjoy manual labor, or that his child will be freed from it? What is
the goal of an education, of what we once called “book learning”? These
are questions best left unasked when it comes to the gardens.

Not “enjoy,” Ms, Flanagan, respect. This, as I mentioned,
is where her disdain for manual labor, something that everyone on the
planet (beneath the upper 2 percent or so of income earners) contends with
every day, becomes instructive.  It is predicated on the idea that
labor is something to be freed from,  ostensibly through strict
adherence to “book learning.”  Worse,  it perpetuates the misguided
dogma of the last several decades that distances us from our food and
insists that cooking is a chore, like washing laundry or windows, which
should be avoided at all costs as if it were beneath us. This in turn
not only makes her seem elitist herself, but also leaves
Flanagan’s ideas of education as merely a means to create consumers,
rather than citizens.

What follows in the essay is a misuse of statistics that boggles the
mind, where she blames a decline in math and English among Latinos at
MLK on the gardens. In legal-ese (and Latin) this is referred to as a Post
hoc ergo propter hoc argument, “It follows therefore was caused
by.”  Another example of this would be that since all addicts were once
babies, then mother’s milk leads to heroin addiction.

This is followed up by an argument that the rampant increase in
childhood obesity and early-onset diabetes is not caused by a lack of
access to healthy food nor the prevalence of sugary, fat laden food in
schools. Rather she cites, ironically,  George Orwell, to argue that
it’s because poor people prefer that food. Please. And for
the record, her research into two grocery stores in Compton as proof
that poverty and food deserts do not go hand-in-hand is blindingly
shortsighted.

There are more errors of reason,  but let me cut to the chase. Flanagan sums up by saying this:

(W)e become complicit— through our best intentions—in an act of
theft that will not only contribute to the creation of a permanent,
uneducated underclass but will rob that group of the very force
necessary to change its fate.  The state, which failed these students as
children and adolescents,  will have to shoulder them in adulthood, for
it will have created not a generation of gentleman farmers but one of
intellectual sharecroppers,  whose fortunes depend on the largesse or
political whim of their educated peers.

The belief that we will create better citizens by teaching to the
test (an idea she advocates for repeatedly and vociferously) is one
that will lead to a generation of closed-minded automatons incapable of
learning, thinking, or fending for themselves.  We are far better off
with a generation of citizens who understand that sustenance comes not
from factories or laboratories but from the soil and from hard working
hands, both of which deserve the respect garnered from experience. We
need citizens who are healthier than the generation before them;
throughout most of human history the rich were fat and the poor were
skinny, yet today in America it is quite the opposite.  Fixing that
requires direct experience and interaction with our food,  something no
schoolroom lecture can provide.

This is not advocacy for some weird Maoist Great Leap Forward where
everyone must leave the cities and go farm. It is knowledge of one of
the truest clichés known:  You are what you eat. And as one of
Flanagan’s carefully-book-taught computer programmers would point out,
Garbage In—Garbage Out.

Related Links:

Tales from a D.C. school kitchen: What does ‘fresh-cooked’ really mean?

Michelle Obama vows to “move the ball” on kids’ diets

The moral equivalent of slavery

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.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

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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.

by Ryan McKeen

I was asked this question last week and my response was “I think so, otherwise he or she would be a felon for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law!”

Yeah, I roll with an exciting crowd.

The question is actually kind of interesting because one does not have to be an attorney to be a justice on the United States Supreme Court.

Anyway conversations like that fuel the fire that is this blog.

…The Attorney General shall be an elector of this state and an attorney at law of at least ten years’ active practice at the bar of this state….Conn.Gen.Stat. Section 3-124.

As is often the case, the answer lies in the statutes.

By now, we’re all painfully familiar with my repeated, personal problems with new, yellow-tinged iMacs—but luckily, our readers have taken the cause beyond one man’s whining. Today is the first of (hopefully not too many) weekly iMac updates.

Can You Safely Purchase an iMac Yet?

In a word, nope.

We’ve received at least 15 tips to our submissionsATgizmodo.com line, all users who’ve received yellow-tinged iMacs since January 1st and documented the problem with photos. (And I’ve received twice that many personally from irate customers with whom I’m extremely sympathetic.)

It seems that, despite the extremely well–documented problem(s), Apple refuses to do the right thing and simply stop shipping these faulty iMacs out. Last I checked, the public’s view of the iMac’s “ultimate display” was not one with pee-like stains at the bottom. Then again, I haven’t run a focus group on the matter.

And you should note, yellow screens are just one element of production problems. According to readers, firmware updates have not completely fixed other screen problems, like black outs or flickering.

Replace or Repair or Return?

I have yet to hear from someone who has successfully replaced a yellow iMac with one that’s perfectly functional. That’s a bad, bad, bad sign for Apple’s current yield. (Hopefully, a few of you will keep attempting, so we can see if Apple gets their act together.) However, it seems that Apple has been pushing more users toward repairing their systems rather than getting them replaced. I didn’t settle for getting a new product (that should be in mint condition) repaired, and imho, neither should you—in which case, some of you will be stuck only with the option to return.

As for My iMac

After being refused a replacement, my iMac stopped booting altogether. It just went dead. Unsure that I could get the inevitable next (broken) version replaced, I simply returned it.

Where Do We Go From Here?

As long as you keep demanding exchanges, checking on new iMacs, I’ll keep posting about them. You can test your iMac here.

Quote of the Week

I’ll also be including bitchtastic quotes of the week in these updates. This one, from Laura:
“I want the imac purchasers, who have already paid their money AND spent countless hours being fruitless with their machine set-ups and troubleshooting attempts, to be put on the top of the list for receiving brand new WORKING machines. An added bonus would be for Apple to do this kindly, respectfully, and without any attitude. We should not be out of pocket, taking time off work and energy to lug these heavy ibeasts across town looking for a repair; it’s a lemon, Apple — you made it, so please replace it. And please do it kindly, respectfully, and communicate to us the process, so that we can all stay in love with all things Apple. “

The Faulty iMac Saga will run every Wednesday on Gizmodo. That is, until Apple fixes and/or admits the problem.

In this business, we receive so many devices to test (particularly during the holidays), that it’s exceptionally challenging to focus on one device in order to provide a more in-depth, “real life” analysis.  Bucking the usual trend of reviewing several devices at once, I was fortunate enough to spend a few weeks with the DROID in one of my more personal “hands-on” tests.  Instead of reviewing it as a casual secondary device, I opted to use it as one of my main devices.  When I say “main” devices, I mean that it was carried around with me for a set number of weeks instead of subjected to tests in my office.  Since there’s a huge push behind the DROID, I wanted to see how it performed under pressure.

In this segment, I’m going to try and focus less on the typical review format (since it’s already been done, for one thing), and place my energy into my biased reasons of why I like and dislike the DROID.  That being said, you may agree with everything I say, some of it, or none of it.  This article is intended to tell you why I would or wouldn’t consider the Motorola DROID, not a list of reviewer specifications, general qualities, and performance numbers.

Here are my thoughts regarding the DROID:

• I absolutely love the 3.7-inch LCD display.  Absolutely stunning and a true pleasure to use, whether I was checking e-mails or browsing the web.  Text looked very crisp, and pictures were stunning.
• I am a fan of the hinge.  Having to slide it up manually instead of relying on a spring-loaded lever makes it feel more durable, in my opinion.
• I love Android 2.0.  I wish HTC’s Sense UI came pre-installed on all Android devices, but I love 2.0’s ability to add multiple Gmail accounts to the app.  I personally have three that I need checked on a regular basis, and it allows me to include them all.  Minus the lack of multitouch support, the DROID’s browser is fantastic, and looks great on the 3.7-inch screen.
• I am amazed by the near-perfect integration with Google services.  As I’ve said before, both myself and PhoneDog use Google services for a variety of things (my e-mail address, BBerryDog’s text hotline, and more), and the integration is second to none.  I’m not a huge fan of the way the Gmail application makes e-mail look (I still have to give BlackBerry points there for simplicity), but it’s a minor dislike.
• The keyboard, while not my favorite, became easier to use as time went on.  I’m not a fan of how it’s off-centered due to the D-pad, or how flat the keys are.  But like most things in the wireless world, if you take the time to learn it instead of putting it down out of frustration 15 minutes after picking it up (which, admittedly, I’ve done before), you might be surprised.
• The DROID’s battery life, as you know from my review, is one of the drawbacks of the device.  Each day that I used it as a “personal” device, it was dead before the day was over.  Yes, less than desirable battery life is to be expected with a smartphone to an extent, but it’s one of the tradeoffs of having a beautiful, large display.  Road warriors may want to test a friend’s before making a purchase (though you have 30 days).

Stay tuned for my next “real life” test – the Nokia N900!

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

 

 

For months, mobile-phone users have heard rumors that Windows Mobile 7 might be delayed. However, Microsoft’s mobile operating system may be in the hands of users sooner than expected.

Industry observers expect the software giant to introduce the updated platform next month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which is where the company launched its latest version, Windows Mobile 6.5.

Microsoft wouldn’t say much about the platform during talks at the Consumer Electronics Show last week, but Microsoft’s Robbie Bach, entertainment and devices division president, did say Windows Mobile 7 will set the bar higher. The operating system is the fourth most popular mobile operating system with 7.9 percent of the global market, according to Gartner.

“We certainly have to expect more from 7,” said Carolina Milanesi, research director of Gartner’s Mobile Devices team. “Microsoft needs to make a drastic change to the user interface rather than evolving from the existing user interface, as was the case for 6.5 from 6.1.”

Facing Competition

Windows Mobile had seven million users in May. In July the number dropped to 6.6 million, but increased again to 7.1 million in October, according to comScore.

By contrast, rivals such as Apple have seen increases in the number of smartphone users. Apple’s iPhone gained 50 percent from May to October, and Research In Motion had a 20 percent increase. Google’s Android mobile operating system has done well with a 30 percent increase.

Windows Mobile 6.5 became available in October 2009, too late to have an impact on the third quarter, according to Gartner.

A Winning Formula

Microsoft needs to focus on making Windows Mobile 7 stand out from the crowd.

“Simplicity and richness are key,” Milanesi said. “Sometimes reaching the right balance between the two is not easy, but this is certainly the winning formula. Microsoft also needs…

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