Tuition and Fees for Early Spring Registration are due Thursday, January 7 by 7 P.M. To make a payment please log onto your MyHarper Student Portal or come to the Business Office at Building A, Room 214.
Business Office Hours are:
If you have any questions please call the Business Office at 847.925.6880.
CES hasn’t even begun and we’re already seeing quite a bit of tech news as a result of the annual “Geek Nirvana” show at Las Vegas. I thought I’d start off the week sharing how I follow the CES show from afar and what to watch for if you’re at all interested in the latest and greatest of the tech world.
1. If you want to be in the know on what’s happening at CES, there are a few ways to see it all and be one of the first to get all of the details available – even easier than being there at CES yourself:
2. While there is always a few surprises at CES, here’s a few specific things I’m watching for from CES this year:
3. Expect CES this year to be smaller. As mentioned in the ZatzNotFunny article “5 Things Missing from CES 2010” the show should be smaller in numbers of companies and size of displays due at least in part to the economy. This doesn’t mean there won’t be anything exciting, but it does make for fewer big news items. We’ll have to wait until CES is over and see how this holds true.
4. Mobile will be bigger this year. Google has their announcement about the Nexus One and it isn’t even at CES, but I expect we’ll see a lot of new mobile stuff this year as it is one area innovation pushes on.
5. Auto Tech – I’m personally excited about the new Ford Sync updates that will make your car an actual Wi-Fi hotspot with a 3g USB stick. My Ford Sync is a favorite addition to my tech world this year and it looks like Microsoft and Ford are pushing to keep improving it.
Those are the things I’ll be watching this year during CES. What are you excited about for CES 2010?
Hola a todos 🙂
Mi destino de fin de año fué la hermosa ciudad de Medellín. La verdad he quedado gratamente soprendido al encontrar una ciudad super organizada, super desarrollada y sobretodo muy hermosa y limpia :D.
El objetivo de este thread es mostrale fotos de los diferentes sitios que visité durante mi estadía, e incluso de algunos pueblitos y sitios turísticos pertenecientes al oriente antioqueño.
Espero sea de su agrado :cheers:
Wade Roush wrote:
It’s too early to say whether it’s the beginning of the end of the liquidity drought, or just the end of the beginning. But after seven straight quarters of declining IPO and M&A earnings for venture-backed U.S. companies, there was a ray of hope in the fourth quarter of 2009. Venture-backed firms raised $7.5 billion through mergers and acquisitions and IPOs in Q409, the highest total since the first quarter of 2008, according to year-end data released today by Dow Jones VentureSource.
It was the first quarterly increase in liquidity since 2007, and exceeded Q408 levels by almost 50 percent. The jump was fueled largely by a dramatic increase in the median amount paid in company acquisitions, from about $30 million per deal in the third quarter of 2009 to nearly $85 million per deal in the fourth quarter.
“The fourth quarter has set the stage for an active year in M&As in 2010,” said Jessica Canning, Dow Jones VentureSource’s global research director, in a statement. “As the economy improves, acquirers are gaining confidence in their own financial situation and returning to strategic acquisitions. At the same time, the steady trickle of public offerings is teasing investors who expect the IPO window will re-open in the coming year.”
Of course, it’s also easy to take a glass-half-empty view of the latest round of data. The median M&A amounts in the fourth quarter were inflated by a small handful of relatively large deals, including Amazon’s $847 million acquisition of Zappos, ViaSat’s $568 million acquisition of WildBlue Communications, and Logitech’s $405 million purchase of LifeSize Communications. The total liquidity among venture-backed companies in 2009 was only $17.1 billion, a poor showing next to 2007’s total of $61 billion and 2008’s $26.1 billion. And the median amounts paid in M&As, averaged across all of 2009, was just $27 million, which looks slight compared to 2007’s $73 million and 2008’s $33 million.
About the best thing you can say about M&A trends is that acquirers were finding a lot of bargains in 2009. Canning called 2009’s $27 million median “a positive sign for acquirers looking to purchase companies at reasonable prices.”
The IPO market, after a pathetic 2008, improved by only a small margin in 2009. Seven venture-backed companies went public in 2008, raising a total of $550 million. In 2009, IPOs among venture-backed companies increased to eight, with the total amount raised increasing to $903 million. (Three fourth-quarter IPOs—by Chicago-based Echo Global Logistics, Sunnyvale, CA-based Fortinet, and Seattle-based Omeros—accounted for $220 million of that total, making it the slowest quarter since Q109, when there were no IPOs at all.)
But while the IPO numbers did increase in 2009—and while companies in Xconomy’s home cities, including Watertown, MA-based A123Systems ($371 million), San Diego-based Bridgepoint Education ($142 million), Woburn, MA-based Logmein ($107 million), and Seattle’s Omeros ($68 million) contributed significantly to the 2009 totals—the IPO market was still largely shuttered compared to 2007, when 78 companies went public, raising $6.9 billion.
Could 2010 turn out better? It almost has to, unless a big chunk of the 25 venture-backed companies currently in registration with the SEC drop their IPO plans. One interesting tidbit in the Dow Jones VentureSource data is that venture-backed companies seem to be moving to pay off their backers with greater haste. The companies that achieved exits through mergers or acquisitions in 2009 had been in business for a median of 5 years and had raised a median of $18 million, compared to six years and $22 million for companies acquired in 2008. Companies that went public in 2009 were 7.9 years old on average and had raised $43 million, compared to 8.7 years and $55 million for companies that went public in 2008.
by Ryan McKeen
I hope that you had a Happy New Year. I had a festive weekend. In between celebrating the new year and a family member’s new job – I attended a wedding on Saturday. The wedding was very nice.
The bride and groom couldn’t have bought better weather for a winter wedding. Their pictures will look like they got married in a snow globe.
While I was watching the beautiful bride and happy groom exchange vows, I started thinking of the legal requirements of the ceremony. Romantic, I know. Anyone thinking of taking the LSAT should reread the two previous sentences.
What are the requirements for a valid marriage ceremony in Connecticut?
1. The physical presence of the parties before an official licensed to perform a marriage ceremony in Connecticut; and
2. A third party official must witness or officiate at a ceremony wherein the parties each presently consent to marriage. Hames v. Hames, 163 Conn. 588 (1972).
That’s all that is required by law. No need to kiss the bride.
Mobile apps that take users directly to e-commerce and other types of web sites are a growing threat to traditional search engines, according to a research note from BroadPoint AmTech, released today. While the growth of mobile apps has been heralded as a healthy trend, is it good for the Googles of the world?
Search engines derive significant revenues from commerce-related queries, including ones as basic as searching for “Amazon” or “eBay,” according to the Broadpoint AmTech note. Add to the mix rapid growth in usage of mobile apps and that they’re treating search engines as the middle man to be removed, and search engines may be in trouble, says the report.
There are four primary ways that mobile apps are disrupting standard search models online and calling for change, according to the research note:
1. Bypassing Navigational Queries. “Savvy Internet users may find it hard to believe that people search for terms such as Amazon or CNN,” the report notes, “however, these navigational searches comprise a meaningful percentage of all searches and are often highly monetizable for Internet search engines.” The upshot is that mobile applications can completely bypass these types of queries, including mobile apps coming directly from e-commerce providers.
2. Disintermediation of Commercial Queries. “Product-related searches are traditionally among the most highly monetizable queries,” Broadpoint AmTech researchers note. They add that many emerging mobile apps exist solely for product queries, and ones that utilize technologies such as bar code reading can completely remove the search engine middle man from the product search process.
3. Placement on the Deck. “While virtually all smartphones provide open access to the Internet and high levels of customization for users, the importance for companies to secure prominent placement/default status on a phone’s mobile ‘deck’ remains important,” the report says. This phenomenon, of course, has gone on for years, and is part of why Google provides Mozilla nearly all of its annual revenues in exchange for a search box in the Firefox browser that feeds users directly into Google’s own search-and-ad ecosystem.
4. Convenience/Behavioral Risks. It’s becoming increasingly convenient for users to dive into mobile apps that either come from or are directly associated with large e-commerce sites, Broadpoint AmTech researchers note. “If users get in the habit of simply using the Amazon app to search for products or a Fandango app for movies, then Google would be seriously impacted,” the report concludes.
The Broadpoint AmTech research note makes a number of good points, but of all the large search engines, Google seems to be most aware of the possible threat that mobile applications represent to its traditional search business. In fact, the research note points out that Google’s own Nexus One phone could be an attempt to make “sure it can guide the development of the mobile web while protecting and expanding its own business model.” In other words, Google will want to put its own tools for directing users to its search ecosystem right on the desktop, and integrate it with the whole user experience.
Google already does that with Firefox, by buying search placement each year, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. This is also why Google is interested in the spread of Android-based phones, many of which emphasize its tools and applications, and steer users into its search/ad ecosystem. Broadpoint AmTech makes a good point about how mobile apps can have a material impact on search engine revenues, but one has to wonder if Microsoft and Yahoo are paying anywhere near as much attention to the issue as Google.
Spotify, the European music streaming startup which provides on-demand music streaming, may be closer to reaching an agreement with U.S. record labels for a launch on our soil. TechCrunch has received word that Spotify may launch in the U.S. under a free model; however, it might be made exclusive to a “limited number of people” at launch.
TechCrunch goes on to state they can confirm a conversation between Spotify and Google discussing the possibility of including Spotify’s Android app in Android 2.1 and launching with the Nexus One. Could this “limited number” of people to which TechCrunch refers be Nexus One owners?
Android’s native music player is basic, unrefined and, in this author’s opinion, in need of major improvement. With a pre-installed music service app such as Spotify included in the Nexus One and future 2.1 devices, Android would be given the boost it needs to counter one of the few remaining features the iPhone holds above Android’s head.
Would you rather have an Android device with a polished media player, like Sony’s Mediascape, or a native application providing instant music streaming ? Give us your thoughts in the comments!
My problem is finding the number of breakfast that we are going to need and finding them with not too many carbs. We are carb addicts and yet haven’t got our portion control under control.
After sleeping most of the day, he just isn’t wanting a "dinner’ when he gets up in the evening to get ready for work, hence the need for 2 breakfast.
Any suggestions. He loves steel cut oats, but right now we’re leaving it alone for awhile till we get this under control.
Thanks for any help
Quantcast, a San Francisco-based web analytics company, says it has raised $27.5 million in Series C funding. Cisco Systems is leading this round of funding which also includes funds from previous investors Polaris Venture Partners, Founders Fund and Revolution Ventures. Quantcast by now has raised close to a total of $50 million in funds. It has built up a massive infrastructure that allows it to measure digital audiences. I’ve always liked this company — its Quantified reports are more meaningful than some of the arbitrary numbers thrown around by other last-generation measurement services.
Our first Hollywood Farmers’ Market visit of the new year was filled with the scent of oranges, mandarins, and lemons, and colorful piles of red, gold, and striped Chioggia beets. We came home with several varieties of each and intend to make some beautiful citrus and beet salads this week. We love this combination and rounded up some recipes featuring our farmers’ market finds…
Année mouvementée pour le marché espagnol avec des mois en effondrement complet, et un redressement qui se confirme depuis septembre et permet de limiter la casse, à -17,9%.
–> Voir les autres bilans 2009 déjà publiés: Etats-Unis, Allemagne, Italie, Grande Bretagne.
-Le coup de pouce gouvernemental pour soutenir le marché automobile a pris la forme en Espagne d’une baisse de TVA de 2 points. Le marché est donc en hausse depuis 4 mois consécutifs (+25% en décembre), mais ça n’a pas suffit pour revenir dans le vert sur l’année.
Il faut dire que l’Espagne était avant ce redressement de dernière minute, le grand marché européen qui avait le plus souffert de la crise, avec couramment des mois à -50%.
Au final, le bilan s’établit donc à 952.772 véhicules vendus, soit une baisse de 17,9% par rapport à 2008.
L’ANFAC, association espagnole des industriels de l’automobile s’attend à une année 2010 stable, en hausse au premier semestre et en baisse au second, avec la fin de l’aide gourvernementale.
-Du côté des constructeurs, à noter que Renault passe devant ses principaux concurrents pour prendre la tête du marché, malgré une baisse de ses ventes de 12% en valeur absolue. Citroen, qui sur-performe le marché comme Renault, est deuxième (-14,1%). Ford est troisième (-21,2%), Seat quatrième (-18,0%) et Peugeot 5ème. (-20,6%).
Hors constructeurs marginaux sur ce marché, la plus belle hausse est pour Dacia: +25,1%.
| MARQUE | 2008 | 2009 | EVOLUTION |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfa Romeo | 5 900 | 4 128 | – 30,0% |
| Audi | 48 909 | 40 145 | – 17,9% |
| BMW | 47 821 | 32 424 | – 32,2% |
| Cadillac | 134 | 48 | – 64,2% |
| Chevrolet | 18 795 | 20 246 | + 7,7% |
| Chrysler | 2 446 | 1 222 | – 50,0% |
| Citroen | 102 266 | 87 862 | – 14,1% |
| Dacia | 6 974 | 8 724 | + 25,1% |
| Daihatsu | 149 | 113 | – 24,2% |
| Dodge | 2 460 | 2 206 | – 10,3% |
| Fiat | 31 336 | 17 554 | – 44,0% |
| Ford | 106 403 | 83 855 | – 21,2% |
| Honda | 20 295 | 17 230 | – 15,1% |
| Hyundai | 21 440 | 17 238 | – 19,6% |
| Infiniti | 77 | 258 | + 235,1% |
| Jaguar | 1 844 | 1 125 | – 39,0% |
| Jeep | 2 964 | 1 950 | – 34,2% |
| Kia | 23 669 | 15 623 | – 34,0% |
| Lada | 81 | 82 | + 1,2% |
| Lancia | 4 299 | 2 118 | – 50,7% |
| Land Rover | 5 378 | 4 212 | – 21,7% |
| Lexus | 2 744 | 2 048 | – 25,4% |
| Mazda | 15 016 | 10 626 | – 29,2% |
| Mercedes | 40 612 | 27 639 | – 31,9% |
| Mini | 10 884 | 8 351 | – 23,3% |
| Mitsubishi | 7 967 | 6 399 | – 19,7% |
| Nissan | 34 743 | 35 813 | + 3,1% |
| Opel | 74 502 | 67 020 | – 10,0% |
| Peugeot | 102 882 | 81 716 | – 20,6% |
| Porsche | 1 496 | 994 | – 33,6% |
| Renault | 101 299 | 89 151 | – 12,0% |
| Saab | 3 495 | 1 577 | – 54,9% |
| Santana | 481 | 104 | – 78,4% |
| Seat | 102 125 | 83 792 | – 18,0% |
| Skoda | 20 852 | 17 914 | – 14,1% |
| Smart | 4 399 | 3 351 | – 23,8% |
| Ssangyong | 4 330 | 3 371 | – 22,1% |
| Subaru | 1 893 | 1 633 | – 13,7% |
| Suzuki | 13 019 | 9 617 | – 26,1% |
| Tata | 1 585 | 1 764 | + 11,3% |
| Toyota | 57 829 | 54 328 | – 6,1% |
| Volkswagen | 94 939 | 78 502 | – 17,3% |
| Volvo | 9 835 | 8 289 | – 15,7% |
| TOTAL (inclus autres marques) | 1 161 176 | 952 772 | – 17,9% |
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While the 2011 Ford Mustang makes some noise with its new 5.0L V8 and the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro continues to takeover the muscle car market, Dodge has been pretty quiet on what’s next for its Challenger. Hoping to grab some attention of the media and consumers, Mopar today introduced a Performance Appearance Package for the Dodge Challenger.
The package, available as a factory production option, includes a body-color hood with scoop, body-color rear “Go-Wing” spoiler and strobe stripe performance graphics. On the inside Mopar offers its branded T-handle shifter, bright pedal kit (automatic only), bright door-sill guards, premium carpet floor mats and a full vehicle cover to protect this prized possession.
Prices start at $1,995 for the exterior package, while the interior package starts at $945 for the automatic transmission and $780 for the manual transmission.
Click through for the press release.
Dodge Challenger Performance Appearance Package:
Press Release:
Dodge Introduces Performance Appearance Package for Challenger
Mopar Gives Challenger the Scoop, Further Enhances Look of Brand’s Iconic Muscle Car
Auburn Hills, Mich., Jan 4, 2010 – Mopar is giving Dodge Challenger even more of a muscular appearance.
“Our mission at Mopar is to add value to all of our brands,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and Chief Executive Officer – Mopar Service, Parts and Customer Care, Chrysler Group LLC. “Our ‘Moparized’ Dodge Challenger is a great example of how we can further enhance the value of all of our Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge Car and Ram Truck vehicles.”
Mopar’s new exterior appearance package is now available as a factory production option. The exterior includes a unique body-color hood with scoop, body-color rear “Go-Wing” spoiler and strobe stripe performance graphics. An interior appearance package is also available and includes a Mopar-branded T-handle shifter, bright pedal kit (automatic only), bright door-sill guards, premium carpet floor mats and a full vehicle cover to protect this prized possession.
“We worked closely with Mopar to further enhance the appearance of Dodge’s modern-day muscle machine,” said Ralph Gilles, President and Chief Executive Officer – Dodge Car Brand. “Our additional design cues effectively communicate the vehicle’s world-class handling, performance and cutting-edge technology.”
The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the exterior package is $1,995. The MSRP for the interior package is $945 for the automatic transmission and $780 for the manual transmission. Both options are available on SE and R/T models in the following colors: TorRed, Bright Silver Metallic, Brilliant Black Crystal and Bright White.
Dodge Brand
Dodge is a full line of cars, SUVs and MPVs that are agile, daring, sensible and inventive. The product line includes the Dodge Caliber, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Journey, Dodge Nitro and Dodge Viper SRT10.
Dodge introduced two new vehicles last year: the all-new 2009 Dodge Journey, the brand’s first crossover vehicle and the 2009 Dodge Challenger, a modern-day American muscle car. Dodge also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the minivan during the 2009 model year. With more than 65 minivan-firsts introduced since 1983 and more than 12 million Dodge and Chrysler minivans sold, Chrysler Group LLC has solidified its leadership in the segment. J.D. Power and Associates further acknowledged this leadership by naming the Dodge Grand Caravan the Most Dependable Van for 2009. The 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan continues to set the mark in the minivan segment with unsurpassed fuel economy of 17 city/25 highway mpg and minivan-first innovations including the segment’s only Stow ‘n Go and Swivel ‘n Go seating and storage systems. The 2010 Dodge Avenger, with ESC, also earned the 2009 Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Mopar Brand
Mopar distributes approximately 280,000 parts and accessories in more than 90 countries and is the source for all original equipment parts for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Car and Ram Truck vehicles. Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Car and Ram Truck vehicles – a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide.
More than 70 Years of Mopar
When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts manufacturer, supplier and distribution system to support the growing enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It also was widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s – the muscle-car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.
– By: Omar Rana
Plane Carries Tourists on Side Trips
AIR and ocean travel are combined in a Mediterranean steamer which carries a hydroplane on its deck for passengers’ use. When the ship calls at points of historic interest the hydroplane is launched and tourists are given a view of the strange city from the air.
The hydroplane is powered with a 320 h. p. motor and can carry five passengers in addition to the pilot and mechanic. The flying boat is carried on the stern of the steamer where it can easily be lowered into the water when desired.
The mystery constructor is wearing a mask? Huh?
World’s Smallest Complete Radio Broadcasting Station
THE City of Brotherly Love now boasts of the world’s smallest radio broadcasting station. Not much different in size and appearance from a household refrigerator, this station is accurate in all respects, operates entirely under its own power, and has a sending radius of two hundred feet with its 1/400th of a watt power plant. Its call letters are WEE, and it is owned and operated by the Tiny Broadcasting Company, operating on a frequency of 1,300 kilocycles.
The transmitter was designed and built by the Mystery announcer of WPEN, who recently won the title of the most popular radio announcer in a nation-wide contest.
Yikes.
Raises Chickens Without Wings
AFTER five years of experimental breeding among chickens, Dr. R. T. Renwald, Omaha laboratory technician, has produced a species without wings or toenails. According to Dr. Renwald, when chickens moult their wing feathers, egg production is reduced to such an extent that an average yield per hen is 50 eggs a year. Without wing feathers, chickens are not bothered with moulting and should therefore lay about 300 eggs during a twelve months’ period. Members of the new brood have only an inside toe-nail and mere stubs in place of wings. They cannot fly and can do very little scratching. The chickens grow to average size although the absence of wings makes them appear smaller.
GIANTS of the SPEED WORLD
Millions are spent by sportsmen in building speed marvels to annihilate space. This authoritative article reveals the secrets of these giants of the speed world and the terrific costs encountered by sportsmen who build them.
BEHIND the flashing speed of the world’s fastest seaplane, or the roar of the Golden Arrow as it streaks 231 miles an hour across Daytona’s beach sands, or behind the thrilling finish of Miss America VIII as she skitters a mile in less than a minute, is the thrilling story of how these marvels are planned, financed and built. The story of the contributions these giants of the speed world make to science is quite as fascinating as their actual running.Take the fastest machines in the world— the Schneider trophy racing seaplanes. How many people know that the seaplane is the fastest form of airplane? The wheels of the ordinary race plane have more resistance than the nicely streamlined floats of the fastest seaplanes. Hence more power from a given engine can be turned into speed in a seaplane than in a land plane. Speeds with this form of machine have risen from 43.2 miles per hour, recorded in 1911 at the first Schneider trophy race, to 320 miles an hour on the straightaway, recorded in September, 1929. The ultimate goal of designers is 500 miles an hour.
A Schneider trophy racer will cost about $125,000 to build. They are tuned up carefully, raced for a few minutes, and then junked or relegated to advanced training purposes.
Lately, because of the expense attached, competition has been dwindling among Schneider entrants. In 1929 the Army and Navy refused to enter. Al Williams, Navy test pilot, backed by sportsmen, secretly constructed his plane “Mercury.” Tests made after spending some $150,000 proved disappointing. The wings were loaded a trifle too heavily and a larger set could not be installed in time to meet competition this year.
Williams and his backers definitely determined, through what some have though-lessly termed a failure, the limit a plane might be loaded per square foot of wing surface.
Major H.O.D. Segrave holds the world’s record for land speed. His Golden Arrow roared across Daytona sands at 231 m.p.h, last March. His car is cooled with ice, has streamlined pants to reduce the resistance of the wheels, and has a tail like an airplane to steady it. The car cost $75,000 to build.
The useful life of the Golden Arrow was just two hours of running. The racer showed that more streamlining was needed for greater speed, that the tires were good for but a mile or so at that speed, and that the limit with present materials had just about been reached.
There is some divine spark in men that prompts them, once they have set their hearts on a goal, to spare nothing until they achieve it. Gar Wood, of Detroit, foremost exponent of speed boat racing, has tried for twenty years and spent $3,000,000 in efforts to travel 100 miles an hour in a boat. He has nearly succeeded. His Miss America VIII has clocked off 93.27 miles an hour under official observation. It is rumored that next year he will install his two Packard 1500 h. p. engines, latest power plant to be acquired by him, in a boat similar to Miss America VIII, using hydrofoils, self-reefing planes, to automatically reduce resistance and top the coveted 100-miles an hour water mark.
The speed mania extends even to the building of ocean liners. Up until a year ago, size was the mark of distinction and smartness for ocean liners. Now it proves, since the epochal feat of the Bremen in lowering the Mauretania’s record of 5 days, 3 hours, to 4 days, 18 hours, that speed is being sought by travelers. Now building by Cunard, by White Star, and the French line are five rivals for ocean speed supremacy. Three are building in England and two in Germany. Men responsible for the building of these new four-day vessels say that modern transportation must answer needs of the traveling public whose tempo is tuned to getting places in a hurry.
Google is now a huge company with several dozen big products. Yet, it’s struggling to maintain some of the things that people loved about it when it was a wee stratup. One aspect has been the way it chose to communicate with its customers and users, blogging, giving it a more human face while also showing that its eager to ‘eat its own dogfood’ by using Blogger, the company’s blog hosting platform. As 2009 came to a close, Google has taken a moment to look back on the year, as many have around this time, and to give itself a little pat on the back for five years of blogging.
“You may have noticed 2009 marked our fifth year here on the Official Google Blog — our first post was in April 2004 — and it was our busiest year yet. This is our 423rd post of 2009 — a 15 percent increase over last year. We’re also pleased to note that a total of 14,493,472 readers stopped by this year, a 21 percent increase. You hail from all over: more than half of visitors are outside of the U.S,” Emily Wood and Jordan Newman, editors from Google Blog Team wrote.
Not too shabby for the multi-billion dollar company, with almost 15 million readers, it would be quite a powerful blog in its own right. While the number of posts may have increased significantly, a relatively small number of post… (read more)
Dale Vince, the founder of green energy supplier Ecotricity, recently announced that he’s planning an attempt to break the current British electric land speed record of 137mph in February in his racing car dubbed Nemesis. The attempt is meant to pave the way for production of the car by the end of 2010.
Vince, who built a £85m fortune on wind power, named his racing car Nemesis, to presage the demise of the combustion engine. It’s about turning the heads of ordinary motorists beca… (read more)
Michael Lohan, accused batterer and Father of the Year, has released video footage of a woman he claims is his former fiancer Erin Muller snorting what appears to be cocaine.
The ex-con is infamous for selling “private moments” with the women in his life to the media and coincidentally dropped this bombshell only days after Erin accused him of physically abusing her at least 12 times over the course of their two year union. The Long Island woman claims Lohan stalked and routinely beat her during the relationship, even violently kicking her in the vagina after one particularly bitter argument.
WTF?
Michael is planning to use the cocaine video as evidence in a pending court case against Erin, who he believes is “deeply troubled” and needs help for her substance abuse.
