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Nook buyers getting $100 of free classic books

(Credit:Barnes & Noble)

Students who buy a Nook before heading back to school can fill their new e-reader with $100 worth of free books courtesy of Barnes & Noble.

Launching a new back-to-school promotion, the folks at B&N are offering a collection of classics and study guides that may come in handy during the next semester’s reading assignments (and save the parents a bit of cash).

The retailer is offering 12 free classics, among them “Beowulf,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” “Crime and Punishment,” and “Metamorphosis.” Eager students will also receive Spark Notes study guides for such novels as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Three Nook study guides add to the offer, including “Nook Study’s 50 Survival Tips: How to Win at College,” “Nook Study’s 25 Tips for Living Up a Semester Abroad,” and “Nook Study’s 25 Tips for Landing an Internship.” And to top it off, B&N is throwing in several Nook color apps, such as Fliq Notes, Fliq Tasks, Nook Word of the Day, and Pulse News, though these four apps can already be had for free.

To qualify, consumers must buy a Nook Color or other new Nook reader by September 12 and register it by October 31. An e-mail from B&N will let buyers choose their free books. Though the promo is directed toward students, anyone with a yearning to bone up on the classics can take advantage of it.

“We compiled many classic literature titles found on required reading lists at schools around the country and paired them with some of our leading SparkNotes study materials,” Sasha Norkin, vice president of digital and channel marketing at Barnes & Noble.com, said in a statement. “Add to that our free Nook Study guides and helpful Nook Apps for productivity, and you’ve got a robust offering that will help prepare students for the year ahead.”

Texans’ Nolan comes up big with two picks

SAN FRANCISCO – Troy Nolan sensed what was about to happen – twice.

The third-year safety intercepted a pair of passes last season against Oakland, so what happened in Saturday’s 30-7 preseason victory against the 49ers wasn’t anything new. Still, it was a thrill, once again but two fold – he scored a 73-yard touchdown on the return of the first interception, and it all happened in a new defensive scheme that completely confounded the hosts.

“Anytime you can go out and shut a team out like that is a good feeling for a defense,” linebacker Brian Cushing said.

The seven points the 49ers scored came courtesy of a Matt Schaub gift to linebacker Ahmad Brooks on the first play from scrimmage. From there, little else went right for the 49ers, who turned the ball over three times in all.

Nolan, of course, was responsible for two.

“Nolan was kind of a magnet for the ball there,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “You can’t help but be pleased.”

Everything is tied together, Phillips said. If the pass rush is present – and with three more sacks Saturday, it most certainly was – then the job is easier for the back end, which has been oft-maligned.

No one was complaining about the Texans’ defensive backs Saturday.

“From my perspective, I know the secondary’s playing better,” said linebacker Connor Barwin, who recorded his first sack of the preseason on a “stab” move on 49ers left tackle Joe Staley. “But for us, it’s just been fun because everybody consistently has been able to get after the quarterback. That’s going to make everybody play better – that’s going to make the defense better.”

No one was better than Nolan, who victimized veteran Alex Smith and rookie Colin Kaepernick.

“I did get a really nice jump,” said Nolan, referring to the first interception. “I was reading the quarterback and I just wanted to be aggressive, make a play on the ball. I saw the ball on the edge and tried to be aggressive… All I thought about was getting to the end zone – scoring.”

Suddenly, the Texans appear rather deep in the secondary. It’s allowed Phillips to tinker and do some things he wasn’t certain would be possible.

“We were able to play man-to-man, which I didn’t know going into the season that we’d be able to do but we’ve got some corners that can cover plus our safeties are able to get back, too,” he said. “… We’re doing things the right way.”

Fashion Fix: Clashing velvet

26 August 2011 at 14:24

Back in 2007 and with some indispensable help from fashion stylist of the moment Rachel Zoe, Nicole Richie began her pretty incredible transformation from ‘The Simple Life’ hooligan to Style Supremo! Alongside pal Mischa Barton, who’d also been taken under La Zoe’s fashion wing, the Hollywood starlets fast worked their way up the fashion food chain to the top of every fashion magazine’s Best Dressed List. Fast forward to 2011 and after taking a few years out to have her two children, we’re pleased to see Miss Richie stepping out in style again.

Rocking one of this season’s biggest trends, Nicole mixes two shades of velvet creating a modern evening look for winter. But the secret behind creating her winning look? Do like Ms Richie and be sure to keep the majority of your look tonal (in Nicole’s case she chooses black additions to go with her navy dress) and then throw in a jarring shade of velvet (Nicole chose a vintage apple green bag) to complete your look. Check out how you can recreate her look with our top 6 buys below…

Zig zag print skirt, £385, Marc by Marc at Net-a-porter.com

Velvet court shoes, £424, Ballin from Biondini at farfetch.com

Velvet bow bag, £25, Topshop

Orange Liv top, £89, Reiss

Necklace, £355, Dawn Tribe Fanfare necklace at MyFlashTrash.com

Trilby, £260, Gucci gucci.com

2011 NFL Preview: NFC South

Steve Serby

Post columnist Steve Serby takes a look at the NFL and breaks down each team and every division as part of our 2011 NFL Preview:

1. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

2011 projection: 10-6

Odds to win Super Bowl: 16-1

Serby Says: What a luxury it must have been for Sean Payton during the lockout knowing that Drew Brees was keeping his team together the way first-class leaders do. Payton and Brees are the brainiest head coach-quarterback tandem since Bill Walsh and Joe Montana. Both are gym rats and both are driven to engineer another post-Katrina championship

season. Brees and Payton have a new toy in tough-nosed running back Mark Ingram. TE Jimmy Graham made Jeremy Shockey expendable. Ingram, who will be difficult to keep out of the end zone near the goal line, was drafted in the first round in part because Pierre Thomas (ankle) and Chris Ivory (PUP list) could not be counted on.

C Olin Kreutz brings his nastiness over from the Bears to join bludgeoning guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks. Darren Sproles replaces Reggie Bush, who wasn¹t all Dat. Brees is a point guard who will hit the open man, be it Marques Colston, Robert Meachem, a former No. 1 pick who should be primed to make more of an impact, Lance Moore or Devery Henderson. Or Graham.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is another one of those mad scientists and now mountainous DT Shaun Rogers will shield MLB Jonathan Vilma the way Haloti Ngata shields Ray Lewis. S Darren Sharper is gone, but have no fear, N’Awlins, S Malcolm Jenkins and S Roman Harper are there. Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter form the best cornerback tandem in the division, which will help with DE Will Smith serving a suspension for using Bumetanide in 2008, and 2010 No. 1 pick CB Patrick Robinson shouldn’t be lost anymore. Explosive No. 1 pick DE Cameron Jordan was a steal. PK John Kasay to the rescue of Garrett Hartley (hip).

Drew’s Fantasy Tracker: Brees is behind just Aaron Rodgers and Michael Vick in our fantasy book. Too many options to make WRs valuable, but target Graham late. Muddled backfield makes for fantasy nightmare.

2. ATLANTA FALCONS

2011 projection: 10-6

Over/under wins: 10 1/2

Odds to win Super Bowl: 16-1

Serby Says: There is Life After Michael Vick indeed. Head coach Mike Smith and GM Thomas Dimitroff mortgaged a significant part of the future with a bold trade (to the Browns) to move up in the draft for WR Julio Jones, an electric complement to Roddy White that they believe is the last piece to the Super Bowl puzzle.

Who thinks September 11 was an inside job.??? I just saw a tv program that made me second guess?

cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or flight data recorder (FDR) were not recovered from the remains of the WTC attack.

The collapse of the World Trade Center was a surprise to many structural engineers.[53] No steel-framed skyscraper had ever before completely collapsed due to fire or other local damage, yet it occurred three times on September 11, 2001.

Perhaps this question would be better in a different category, this is Cooking & Recipes!

the WTC was also weakened from an earlier bomb in the garage in the early 90's….no matter what the structure can never be as strong after that. however, i do believe there was a lot of help to accomplish their task

hard to say, fascinating though

I don't know about your "facts" or where you got them. It was said Bin Laden himself didn't think the planes would do the damage they did, but then Mankind did bill the Titanic as unsinkable…. But IMHO our government knew it was going to happen and they let it so they could lead us into a war we had no business being in. I don't mind going after Bin Laden but when you go after Saddam (who was a bad guy) a man our own government financed–go back a few administrations and YES WE DID!!! Well then I have a problem with it and so should more people.

what channel were you watching? why would there be a program discussing that?

it was an inside job, why else whould they have shown Bush at that kindergarten class in florida- he waited a long time- more than 45 min to actually do something, all he did was sit there in that class and watched those kids, didn't even flinch or asked to be excused when the body guard(or who ever) came to whisper to him that it had just happened, he knew what was happening, thats why he waited so long

and by the way he's father and him was in business with osama bin laden in the 90's with there oil companies

i saw this on that micheal moore documentary

it is really weird that they totally collapsed, maybe there were some bombs inside the buildings and everyone was to busy looking at video's form the plane crashes or seeking for survivors they did not notice, but that the cvr and fdr were not recovered isn't so weird, i mean they exploded!!

The "truthies" have NO evidence of a conspiracy, NO proof of ANY advance knowledge, Yet they still believe things they see on the internet and don't do their own research to confirm or deny anything they are supposing. They are parroting claims they can't prove or back up in any way.

The worst thing I've ever seen related to 9/11 outside of "Loose Change" 2nd edition (completely debunked and yet still professed as the "truth" by fools) is the fact that SO MANY believe this conspiracy, which would have taken at least 1500 people to pull off and yet, NOT ONE has come forward with ANY evidence.

They deny a plane hit the pentagon when multiple pictures exist of the wreckage and the dead inside the Pentagon, as well as countless witness reports saying they saw it hit, the downed light poles and other evidence that is indisputable.

No Blasting caps, no Thermite, no witnesses, no hard copies of the plan, nothing exists to support their BOGUS CLAIMS that it was an inside job.

Just finger pointing from Non experts.

I was ON THE PILE in NYC. I saw the Ironworkers cut beams with torches that Conspiracy Theorists claim could only have been cut by Thermite.
WHY DO THEY LIE if their story is true?

I went to Shanksville to ask questions of the general public, and met MANY eyewitnesses to the plane diving into the ground.

Believing what you see on the internet and cleverly edited TV shows but NOT getting off your duff to do any real research is a serious flaw in this theory.
It shouldn't be research done with a computer on the internet, or on the television with a remote in your hand. Investigations should not happen from behind a screen.
It should be done first hand.
Otherwise…

What does that have to do with cooking and recipes?

First of all there is absolutely nothing strange about the WTC collapsing and any comparison to any other skyscraper is invalid because it wasn't built like any other skyscraper. One of the selling points for renting space in the WTC was it's absence of interior steel columns , therefore interior space could be divided up any way the customer wanted to.The problem with that design was that the exterior walls were responsible for carrying a much greater load than what would be customary in such a large structure . B-767 goes thru the WTC unimpeded, exterior walls are compromised, resulting fire weakens bar joists and there are no members to transfer the load to , building collapses.

Just out of curiosity, exactly what has your question to do with Cooking and Recipes? I don't think people in this group are interested in hearing more conspiracy theories. If we want to we can go to the Political section and listen to …. whatever.

I will never believe this theory. No matter what people may think of the current administration and our President…I'll never be convinced that any of them had ANYTHING to do such loss of American life.
People can find anything to justify what they want to believe. Facts, pictures, film, words and actions can be twisted to look like whatever it needs to in order to prove what one wants to believe to be true.
Don't make this tragedy any worse than it already was by subscribing to such a foolish notion.

i saw the same show that you did…it was very insteresting and made me think….however…i think some people have nothing better to do than speculate and argue the facts….i do think the WTC building 7 (the 3rd to collapse)…May have been a controlled demolition….it was hit by falling debris and it really doesnt make sense that the debris would have caused a 40 story building to collapse….i think some take it too far to say that it was an inside job…i dont know…very interesting topic….

does it mader we are both suffering loseing lives both are loseing love ones family husbands —–we did not be there in the first place were are the wipons of mash distruction —-they only founfd gas that does not come from the ground —they must of sent a shipment of beans

Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses

New appliance store in the General Appliance space

SAME AGAIN General Appliance, at 2524 Shattuck Avenue, which closed its doors in June after 72 years in business, has been replaced by Airport Home Appliance Annex which has branches in Redwood City and Hayward (hat tip: Rachel Anderson).

SWEET STUFF Berkeley’s Indie Cakes & Pastries started supplying Berkeley’s Saul’s Deli with pastries and cookies a couple of weeks ago. Indie’s cupcakes and macaroons can also be found at Good Bellies and Bica cafes in Oakland and at the Walnut Creek Farmers’ Market.

Hippie Gypsy on Shattuck

HIPPIE DIPPY Brand new: The Hippie Gypsy Café which has opened at 1797-A Shattuck in the space that used to be occupied by Village Grounds. The owner, Mary Dirks, wants to make customer service the centerpiece of her cafe, which has the theme “Peace, Love, and Music.” Customers can design their own salads and sandwiches, which are made with Berkeley Bowl produce and meat.

Lola: design service replacing retail store

GOING ONLINE Lola, the home design store at 2950 College Avenue in the Elmwood, is closing down its retail operation after five years, and launching a home and event design and staging service, as well as an online shop (hat tip: Laura Scheflow).

CHEDDAR BUNNIES Annie’s Homegrown, producer of organic and natural foods, has settled into its new Berkeley headquarters, having moved from Napa to Berkeley this spring. The $100 million turnover company is in the 34,000 sq ft space formerly occupied by Clif Bar at 1610 Fifth Street. Clif Bar moved to Emeryville last year. Annie’s is hiring, too, with about a dozen current openings.

New: Ta Krai Hom. Photo: Anne T.

FRESH THAI New on the food scene: Thai restaurant Ta Krai Hom, which took over the old Digs Bistro site at 1453 Dwight Way. According to a Mercury News write-up, its easy-on-the-wallet menu features “green curry, crispy fried tofu, pad ka prow and shrimp skewers, threaded on lemon grass stalks”. Open daily for dinner.

LA DI DA Falala, a new green-certified falafel shop at 2518 Durant (at Telegraph), makes its own pita breads and uses only sustainable meats. One of its biggest fans is Liba Falafel owner Gail Lillian who buys bread from Falala, and says it’s “amazing”.

Closed: Stagecraft Studios on Alcatraz. Photo: Joseph Ponder

CURTAINS Looks like Stagecraft Studios, a costume and theater supplies shop that had been operating at 1854 Alcatraz Avenue in Berkeley since 1928, has closed its doors (hat tip Joseph Ponder).

GRAND DESIGN Jewelry designers Viv & Ingrid (both Berkeley grads) have opened a store for their work as well as an eclectic mix of fancy soaps, candles, chocolates, scarves, perfumes and cards. It’s grandly called Viv & Ingrid at Oxford Hall.

Shop Talk is our new regular column in which we post updates on Berkeley businesses — openings, closings, new directions, relaunches, relocations. If you’re a Berkeley business with news, or a Berkeleysider who has spotted a change in your neighborhood or on your travels, shoot us an email with the details.

Watch Online SoA Season 4 Episode 1

My golly wow! My dear fooking gawd! this really makes me headspin in happiness because SOA has become here again to rock the world! The very first season received mixed reviews from industry critics. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe said the first season had “real potential”.[17]New York Times’ Gina Bellafante spoke highly from the acting ability from the cast, particularly Sagal’s portrayal of Gemma. Brian Lowry of Variety gave a mixed review, admiring Sutter’s development of the club and the town of Charming but found the first episodes lacking direction.[18]The 2nd season saw a notable increase in reviews that are positive. Writing for Chicago Tribune, Maureen Ryan known as the second season “engrossing”. She elaborated that “the pacing is much better [and] the plotting is tighter” as well as commends Sagal and Perlman for their performances.[19] Variety’s Stuart Levine stated that the new season was “compelling” , also complimenting the acting skill of Perlman, Sagal, Hunnam and Siff.[20] James Poniewozik of TIME called Sagal’s performance “devastatingly powerful”, and named the series on his listing of Top ten Shows of 2009.[21]Sons of Anarchy was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Drama at the 2010 TCA Awards. Katey Sagal was also nominated for Individual Achievement in Drama. Poniewozik of your time called the premiere of the third season “breathtaking” and praised Sagal’s performance with Holbrook.[22] He later stated that the disappearance of Abel helped return the show to its central problem: Jax’s allegiance to the club.[23] Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker agreed that Holbrook and Sagal’s scenes were “beautiful” and called Stephen King’s portrayal of Bachman “chilling”. He also commented the series handled themes of loyalty and family especially well.[24] Maureen Ryan commented that the third season divided critics and fans alike, suggesting the expanded Belfast cast managed to get harder for the crowd to purchase the characters’ journeys.[25] Ryan later questioned the credibility of Hector Salazar’s story, noting that he was inferior to other villainous characters for example Stahl, Zobelle and Weston. However she praised the performance of Ally Walker, comparing her character to The Shield’s Vic Mackey.[26] Critic Alan Sepinwall said the season was “interesting but uneven”, noting the plot gained traction in later episodes.[27][28] Tim Goodman from the Hollywood Reporter said “Sutter should be applauded for shaking things up”, calling the slower pace a “creative necessity”.[29]Katey Sagal received the Golden Globe Award for the best Actress – Television Series (Drama) at the 68th Golden Globe Awards for her role within the third season. She also received a nomination for any 2010 Satellite Award within the category of Best Actress – Television Series (Drama).

Woot? The brand new season of this super hot series is finally here! Fresh out of jail, SAMCRO reunites with family, confronts new Charming police force and shifts business alliances.

Kurt Sutter has stated that there will be a 14 month time lapse to match the majority of SAMCRO’s prison sentence to happen offscreen, but is undecided on whether or not to start the growing season together imprisonment, or once they have been released.[12] “There is a new mayor, a brand new chapter along with a new sheriff. The Twenty-first century is going to land at SAMCRO’s doorstep.” Danny Trejo will guest star as Romero “Romeo” Parada, a former Mexican military commando. Rockmond Dunbar and LaMonica Garrett join the cast as Sheriff Eli Roosevelt and Deputy Sheriff Cane respectively.[13] Former stars from the Shield, David Rees Snell and Benito Martinez can look in a number of episodes, being an ATF agent and cartel member respectively. On May 16, 2011 on his official blog, Kurt Sutter announced “Appisodes” that will be mini-episodes available first via the Sons of Anarchy Mobile App after which put into the show’s official website and YouTube afterwards. The amount of mini-episodes is not confirmed although Kurt Sutter did make sure the content of those episodes will cope with goings-on throughout the fourteen month gap between seasons 3 and 4 chronologically. Season 4 will begin on FX September 6, 2011.

Tiki Barber described as “devastated” and “flabbergasted”

Getty Images

When a player has outperformed a slotted rookie contract, it’s easy to support his quest for a new deal. When a veteran while on the open market signs a multi-year deal and complains with half of the contract remaining, it’s hard to feel sorry for him.

But that’s precisely what Bears linebacker Lance Briggs wants all of us to do.

He has defended his quest for a new contract and his demand for a trade, only three years after signing a six-year, $36 million contract. Now that he has pocketed the bulk of the money over the first three years of the contract, he wants more than $3.65 million in 2011.

Briggs should have thought of that before signing a six-year deal that pays him only $3.65 million in the fourth year.

“The main ingredient here, based off my decision, is to get something,” Briggs said Monday, via Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com. “To have management even be willing to talk. Whether it be, let’s deal with it at the end of the year, let’s deal with it after the season, then I have something to work with. But when the organization or management says we’re not talking now, we’re not talking ever, that puts me in a position where I know my days are numbered.”

There are serious flaws in Briggs’ logic. The Bears’ decision to hold Briggs to his contract means only one thing: The Bears want Briggs to honor his contract. It doesn’t mean that they’re planning to cut him, even though they have the right to do so whenever they want.

“In the NFL, there aren’t any guaranteed contracts. If I underperform, owners will cut me,” Briggs said. “They have the right to do that any time. They can cut me right before I’m supposed to get a bonus in March. For a player, we have every right to ask for a renegotiating, to ask for a trade, or to hold out.”

We’ll agree with him on the first two points. A player has a right to ask for a new deal, and a right to ask for a trade. But there is no “right” to hold out. By holding out, Briggs would be breaching his contract, subjecting himself to fines in the amount of $30,000 per day, along with the forfeiture of a portion of his signing bonus.

And the signing bonus is why Briggs agreed to a six-year deal. Given the amount of money he wanted to receive up front, he had to commit to a deal of that length. He seems to understand that.

“If you understand how the [salary] cap works, you have to structure contracts in certain ways,” Briggs said. “You have to spread it out over six years so you don’t count too much against the cap. You have other players that have to be paid at the time, and they tell you, we have to save some of these dollars to pay some of the other players too. So you sign the deal you have to sign at the time. There are things the owners will not budge on.”

Still, Briggs signed his current deal as an unrestricted free agent. If he didn’t like what the Bears were offering, he could have signed with another team. And if he wanted to have another crack at the open market sooner rather than later, he should have signed a shorter-term deal.

Either way, Briggs’ situation is fundamentally different from that of Chris Johnson or DeSean Jackson. Briggs signed his deal as an unrestricted free agent, he has gotten paid a lot of money, and now he wants more than he’s supposed to get. It just doesn’t work that way, and the sooner Briggs realizes that the sooner he can focus fully and completely on earning his pay in 2011 and beyond.

Get the latest news about the hottest hairstyles for this fall and see what the experts have to say on where and how to wear your hair for the season. Allure.com keeps you posted on the latest hairstyle trends.

According to Allure.com, this fall is all about details. Famous runway stylists recommend a series of ideas on what to do with your hair in order to look trendy and gorgeous.

The fashion houses Lanvin and Pucci propose a loose braid type of hairstyle. It was popular on the catwalk during the summer, as well, and it still is in the fall. If you want for the braid to hold for a longer period of time, just wet the hair first.

Ralph Lauren, Prada and Balmain opted for a simple way to wear your hair, that does not take much time to elaborate. The classical ponytail is caught very low. In order to give it a more glam look (for an evening out), all you have to do is add a shiny leave-in balm (or spray). You can also straighten your hair so it would look more clean-cut. If you want to keep it wavy, like Jessica Simpson, it will add more texture and glam to it.

For another type of glamorous diva look, choose soft waves that will hang back on your shoulders. Oscar de la Renta’s stylist, Orlando Pita, parted the hair at the center, tucked the front pieces of the hair behind the ears and used a curling iron to curl the hair in its lower half.

Other trendy looks are given by Dolce & Gabbana’s Soft chignons, left on one side, Nina Ricci’s half-up hairstyle, Chloe’s rumpled textures, Jason Wu and Haider Ackermann’s flashes of complementary colors, Gucci’s frizz and Prada’s sophisticated deep side part.

And don’t forget about the accessories. Valentino, Prada, Chanel, Nina Ricci – all opted for hair accessories. Try a jeweled headband or a simple barrette. For a more sophisticated look choose asimple black ribbon.

Tiki Barber has 'moved forward accordingly': agent

The former NY Giants running back was hoping to have a big comeback this year in the NFL, but it looks like nobody wanted him. Yahoo Sports is reporting that.

NEW YORK – Former Giants running back Tiki Barber was said to be "devastated" that no NFL team expressed an interest in him following his return as a 36-year-old free agent, Sports Illustrated reported Monday. I saw this too and if it's bc of his age

Maybe Tiki Barber overvalued his worth as a 36-year-old running back who has been out of the game for four years and who habitually throws teammates, and ex-teammates, under the bus. Or maybe he overestimated many NFL teams and

Former Giants running back Tiki Barber was said to be “devastated” that no NFL team expressed an interest in him following his return as a 36-year-old free agent, Sports Illustrated reported Monday. Barber, who led the NFL's

Remember when Tiki Barber announced this spring that he was coming out of retirement? And the scuttlebutt that several teams (including the Steelers and Buccaneers) would likely give him a shot at redemption? Well, we're more than three weeks into