Rohm & Haas Rises on Optimism That Dow Will Complete Takeover (Bloomberg)

GMAC Widens Lending as U.S. Injects $6 Billion to Help Save GM (Bloomberg)
GMAC Says ResCap Will Continue to Originate Mortgages (Bloomberg)

The other transition
Léo Apotheker, SAP’s new boss, is an unusual choice, installed in an unusual way (The Economist)

INTERVIEW WITH SAP CO-FOUNDER PLATTNER
'The World Has Been Living Beyond its Means' (Spiegel Online)


New SAP projects are a New Year's resolution for SAP customers (SearchSAP.com)

The High and Low Tech of Health Care Innovation
(New York Times)

Urban playground
As politicians weigh economic stimulus for cities, research suggests a surprising way to succeed: make it fun (Boston Globe)

Organize Your Company With WizeHive (Beta Invites) (TechCrunch)

Apple rumored to be planning new home server device (ars technica)

Q&A With FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (Broadcasting & Cable)

Comcast Responds to FCC Plan to Adjudicate Access Complaints
Says FCC's move "seeks to disrupt the reasoned adjudicative process" (Broadcasting & Cable)

Dynasil Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Results (Business Wire)

160 Characters or Less
When it comes to getting as close as possible to customers, tiny text messages hit the bull’s-eye (Internet Retailer)

The Sports Network & Contec Announce Expansion of Mobile Sports Services (PR
Newswire)





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Rohm & Haas Stock Down As Dow Chem Deal in Kuwait Scuttled (Dow Jones via CNN Money)
Barclays says Dow-Rohm and Haas deal may not be hurt (Reuters)
Bank of America, Citigroup May Lose on Rohm Purchase (Bloomberg)

GMAC stays mum on bailout hurdle (Associated Press via Google News)

Charter Communications: 75% Chance of Financial Distress, Says Citi; Diverse Bondholder Interests Limit Ability to Fix Balance Sheet (Barrons: Tech Trader Daily)

Vote set for Prescient Applied Intelligence sale to Park City Group (Philadelphia Business Journal)

InterDigital Signs ModeLabs to Worldwide 2G and 3G Patent License Agreement (Business Wire)

2008 Top Ten: Comcastic Moments
(Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

Panasonic, Comcast: tru2way Now “Active” in Chicago and Denver (Interactive TV Today)

CableLabs Releases New Modular Headend Architecture Specifications (Interactive TV Today)

Cable Vets Launch VC Firm (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

5 companies express interest in Conn. newspapers (Associated Press via MSN Money)

Univest Corporation Expands Insurance Subsidiary Through Acquisition of Liberty Benefits, Inc.
(Marketwire)

Smart Destinations Raises $10 Million (PE Hub)
NewSpring Capital leads round.




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Kuwait cancels $17 bln deal with Dow Chemical (Reuters)
Nail in the coffin of Rohm & Haas acquisition?
Rohm and Haas Issues Statement on Merger with Dow (Business Wire via Philly.com)


H.P. Pushes Forward in Data Warehousing Project (New York Times)




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People News



Carty-Sipp Upped at Comcast Sports Group
Promoted to senior VP of creative services, overseeing on-air look of regional sports networks (Broadcasting & Cable)

Business People
(Wilmington News Journal)
Motorola's Ray Sokola honored.

Delaware Valley HR Person of the Year Promoted
Vertex Promotes Barbara Dyson to Vice President of Human Resources (Business Wire)

Vishay Elects Ronald M. Ruzic to Board of Directors
(Business Wire)




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Infoworld recently named its top 100 global IT projects of 2008. Three projects by Philly-area companies made the cut:

CSL Behring (King of Prussia): Real Time Patient Reporting Project

"CSL Behring developed HeliTraxSM to help physicians track the self-administered treatment progress of hemophilia patients remotely, tapping and encrypting an Internet-based database, an electronic diary, AT&T smartphones, and security software from Trust Digital to ensure HIPAA compliance."

Project lead: Sheila Burke, Director of Communications & PR, Worldwide Commercial Operations
http://www.cslbehring.com



Scientific Division of Thomson Reuters (Philadelphia): IP Research and Analysis

"Thomson Reuters developed Thomson Innovation, an intellectual property research and analysis tool that required Thomson Reuters to develop a new information architecture, search functionality, and RIA interface, then integrate the resultant system with data, identity, e-commerce, and order fulfillment infrastructures."

Project lead: Eftim Pop-Lazarov, VP of Technology
http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com


Unisys (Blue Bell): Information Sharing Initiative

Used "Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to develop its Portfolio Center platform, integrating the company's engagement knowledge database and its 3-D blueprint repository, plus additional sales and delivery assets, to disseminate up-to-date information and expertise to field staff ".

Project lead: Dr. Suzanne Taylor, Portfolio Director
http://www.unisys.com




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Which SAP Industry Solution is the Hottest? A JonERP.com Exclusive (JonERP.com)


No word yet whether GMAC has cleared final hurdle for bailout money (Canadian Press via Google News)





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Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania: Video Wall of Fame (YouTube)
A seven-part series.









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Comcast sued for not selling set-top boxes, CableCARDs (ars technica)

Wal-Mart confirms iPhone 3G for Sunday, $2 off (VentureBeat)

Oracle's edge (Fortune)

Amid Tech's Bleating, SAP's Got Bark (TheStreet.com)

TelVue gets new CEO
(Philadelphia Inquirer)




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Merger Worries Undercut Rohm & Haas Shares (Wall Street Journal: MarketBeat)





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Muni WiFi flop a bad omen for FCC's free wireless plan
Philadelphia freedom (ars technica)

Fed grants GMAC ability to seek bailout funds (Associated Press via via Google News)
Hard to tell what will be left of its mortgage operations in Montgomery County.


Aria Systems is singing its own praises
Software company to use round of venture capital to impress customers (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Rewarded For Recycling
What's the reward for recycling? How about groceries? (Forbes)
Interview with co-founder of RecycleBank.

Princeton researchers discover new type of laser (News at Princeton)

MBA Student Venture Capital Fund Seeking Startups For Investment Consideration
(Penn State Smeal College of Business)




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