Remember those Little Golden Books published by Random House? Infamously known as the most popular children’s books, those timeless stories are now available as an interactive storybook apps!

Earlier today, Random House announced that The Poky Little Puppy (the first of over 5 apps) is now officially available for purchase and download through the iTunes store. Originally published in 1942, this book is actually the bestselling picture book of all time!

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By swiping your finger across the screen, you can open the cover (complete with Little Golden Books’ gold spine) to read the story filled with interactive illustrations. You can either watch and listen as the words are read to you, turn off the narration and read at your own pace (if a child gets stuck on a word they simply touch it to have the individual words spoken to them) or you can even record your own voice to play on each page.

In addition the new Little Golden Books apps offer a Hide-and-Seek Challenge that can be played at the end of each page to unlock bonus stickers. After reading the story, kids can use the stickers they have collected along the way to create their own storybook scene which can then be saved on the device’s photo album.

If you’re interested in downloading the new app, The Poky Little Puppy retails for $4.99, but is available now at the special introductory price of $3.99 through Apple’s iTunes store.

See the original story here

My Starbucks Rewards cherry picks from both previous programs. All of the schemes are based off stored-value cards. Similar to the Starbucks Gold program, participants are given a free birthday beverage when the card is registered. And like the soon-to-be-phased-out Starbucks Card Rewards, My Starbucks Rewards will not have an annual fee.

Details here.

The economic news certainly looks grim, but there are strong sectors in the economy that will continue to hire through the end of the decade. Some professions that require advanced or post-graduate degrees will rise, but perhaps the best news of all amidst the gloom is that many career openings will require candidates to hold only a two-year college degree.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has identified the fastest-growing occupations and career groups that are predicted to enjoy the largest numerical increases in personnel through 2016, and has ranked them by the amount of education necessary to enter the profession.

Health care, education, and technology employers should continue to offer the most promising projections in total numbers in hiring, especially since the key roles cannot be outsourced and Americans will need their services and expertise despite the ups and downs in the economy.

Read more.

Think LinkedIn is the only place for business? Facebook is growing rapidly and it’s becoming a destination for businesses and business professionals alike to establish a presence. Here are over 30 Facebook applications to help promote, network, communicate, collaborate and accomplish more with your business.

30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook.

I am writing on behalf of Enkore Kids, a small Maryland children’s shop that specializes in new and “new-to-you” children’s clothing, toys, & equipment for kids newborn to age 14. My partner, Susan McCarthy, and I are reaching out to fellow business owners and consumers in Maryland and the surrounding area in hopes of joining forces to make our voices heard in opposition to recent federal consumer protection legislation (http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.html)... a law that stands to have a huge impact not only on our children’s resale business, but also hand-made toy and clothing manufacturers, other small manufacturers for all children’s items, bookstores (as children’s books are also affected), all children’s stores and retail stores that also have children’s items, daycares, libaries, and schools.

Because the law explicitly (as interpretted by the CPSC) bans as “hazardous” all children’s products manufactured before the the new universal testing requirements took effect in November of 2008, all new and used items made before that date will become illegal to sell or even distribute effective February 10, 2009 (dubbed “National Bankruptcy Day”). In the past the CPSC issued recalls as necessary, which only removed specific products from the market. Now unless individual retailers are able to do expensive & destructive tests on their inventory to prove otherwise, all items manufactured before November of 2008 (when mandatory testing took effect) will be presumed “hazardous”. This will have a ripple effect on the entire economy, as manufacturers and retailers raise prices on all their items (not just children’s items) to make up for the non-saleable old inventory and the cost of testing the new inventory.

This law (called CPSIA) flew under our radar until a chance new report we saw on January 2, 2009… and all of the research we have undertaken since isn’t promising. Please feel free to have a look at the following links:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/01/03/hand-me-down-clothes-in-the-post-hand-me-down-era-consumer-protectionism-gone-too-far/

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3393

A quick google search yields many links to forums and blogs — largely about how the CPSIA affects crafters and small children’s apparel/accessory makers (it isn’t good for them either!!). Since the LA Times article came out, more attention has been paid to the impact the law will have on children’s resalers.

I want to make it abundantly clear that Enkore Kids fully supports stricter legislation to ensure our children’s items are safe. However, the law, as currently crafted, will do more harm than good.

It will force out of business all smaller manufacturers and work-at-home businesses that will not be able to test each batch of items as required by the law. Estimates for cost of testing are $150 to $4000 per component tested, with an average of around $500. So, as an example, a cloth diaper made by a work at home mom may have three components: the inner fleece, the outer shell, and the velcro – cost would be (on average) $1500 per batch with the testing required for each new bolt of material. Even though those same materials may have been tested by the individual manufacturers, the law will require that they be tested again as part of a newly manufactured product. Even though none of these items would even be suspected of having lead in them!

We are planning a petition and letter writing campaign to MD legislators, and are curious if you would like to join forces with us and help us get the word out. We’d be happy to share our sample language (as we develop it) and believe that the more who speak out about this poorly-crafted law, the better!!

I would also urge you to contact our lawmakers directly. The American Apparel Associate has made this very easy if you follow this link:

http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476

It will automatically send an email (or allow you print a letter) to our Senators & Congressman based on your address and allow you to modify the text.

I can be reached by email at this address… or you are welcome to call me if you’d like; my cell phone # is 240-674-1859.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Guenther
Enkore Kids, LLC.
CEO/Mommy

For additional details and links, see Jennifer’s blog at www.enkorekids.blogspot.com.

In addition, a class action lawsuit is currently underway. Learn more about it at http://reformcpsia.org/.

Thousands of Washington area residents are expected to join today in activities fulfilling President-elect Barack Obama’s nationwide call for community service.

The “Renew America Together” initiative is meant to revitalize neighborhoods and re-inject the spirit of community service into Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The federal holiday, first observed 23 years ago, has long been tied to a call for volunteerism, and Obama has said he wants to build on that mission as part of the many events leading to tomorrow’s inauguration.

Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. plan to participate along with their families in service activities in the Washington area, with details yet to be announced.

At yesterday’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial, the opening ceremony of Obama’s inauguration, Martin Luther King III encouraged the crowd to volunteer and said, quoting his father, that “everybody can be great, because anybody can serve.”

There is still time to select from a range of activities, listed on the Web site http://www.usaservice.org. Renew America Together collected information about thousands of events to give people an array of options. Linda Douglass, chief spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, described it as a Craigslist for service.

About 8,500 events across the country are listed on the site, topping the 5,000 events recorded last year, according to a federal agency that promotes the service day. About 500,000 people participated last year in service activities.

Thousands Expected for Volunteer Activities – washingtonpost.com.

Commemorative tickets for reserved MARC Train Service cost $25.00 and include round trip passage and a commemorative program booklet. (Booklets to be distributed on Inauguration Day, on the train platform.) There will also be a $6.50 shipping charge per order.Your set of tickets is valid for round trip passage on January 20, 2009 only.Each person traveling via MARC must have his or her own tickets. Children must also have a ticket to board the train. All tickets are marked for use on specific trains.

Tickets are valid only for the train and time reserved at the time of purchase. No exchanges will be allowed. Passengers who miss their reserved trains are asked to contact a station attendant for assistance.

Tickets will go on sale December 20th, 2008 at 9:00AM ET. (http://www.commuterdirect.com)

For ticket information, call: (410) 539-5000

CommuterDirect.com

NOTE: I heard on 103.5 that no other MARC trains will be running on Inauguration Day and that all MARC passengers that day—including children of all ages—must have one of these tickets. Tickets will be available for purchase at Camden Yards (Baltimore) and Monocacy Station (Frederick). Regular Metro will be running non-stop all that day, from 4am to 9pm: http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=780&sid=1553683.

KB Toys, one of the nation’s largest toy retailers, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday with a plan to close all of its stores, becoming the latest chain to succumb to the sharp decline in consumer spending this year.

The company, which runs about 460 stores, said in court papers that it intended to immediately begin going-out-of-business sales in its stores, while trying to find a buyer for its wholesale distribution unit.

KB Toys filed a Chapter 11 petition in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, along with eight affiliates, listing assets in the range of $100 million to $500 million and liabilities in the same range.

The company, which started in 1922 as a family-owned business, previously filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004 and emerged from bankruptcy in 2005 after selling itself to Prentice Capital Management.

KB Toys said it had 10,850 employees, about 6,515 of them seasonal. About 277 stores are located in malls; 30 operate seasonally and were set to close in January.

KB Toys Plans to Liquidate Its Stores – NYTimes.com.

The Frederick Rescue Mission will distribute 6,000 pounds of food today between 1 and 3 p.m.

Anyone in need can pick up a food box on the mission’s front lawn, 419 W. South St. There are no income requirements and no pre-registration.

The food is provided through a partnership between the rescue mission and the Maryland Food Bank. The two agencies have been working together for more than a year.

The rescue mission provides 300 meals a day for breakfast and lunch and distributes more than 150 food boxes each month for needy families.

The Frederick News-Post Online – Frederick County Maryland Daily Newspaper.

As the Transition’s Health Policy team puts together its recommendations for the incoming Obama-Biden Administration, we want your thoughts and suggestions.

That’s why we’re asking Americans all across the country to host health care community discussions over the next few weeks to get input and ideas from their friends, family, and communities.

Senator Tom Daschle, leader of the Transition’s Health Policy Team, will be selecting one of these meetings to attend in person. And just like the Obama campaign did with its platform meetings this past summer, after the meetings are over, the team will use the advice to put together their final recommendations for the new administration.

President-Elect Obama has made clear that health reform is a top priority — not only because all Americans deserve quality, affordable care, but because it’s essential to getting the economy back on track.

“Our long-term fiscal prospects will have a hard time improving as long as sky-rocketing health care costs are holding us all down,” he said. “These health care community discussions are a great way for the American people to have a direct say in our health care reform efforts.”

If you’re interested in hosting a health care community discussion in your home or neighborhood anytime from December 15th to the 31st, sign up here.

And you can learn more about the Obama-Biden Transition’s approach to health policy here.

Daschle asks Americans to help reform health care | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team.