Fw: Urgent.. Are you attending the Lights On After School Event TODAY?

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

---

From: RFlanag@aol.com

Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:32:04 EDT

To: <rflanag@aol.com>

Subject: Urgent.. Are you attending the Lights On After School Event TODAY?

Show your support for After School Programming.  Attend today's event.

 

 

 

 

 

Contact: Stephen MacIsaac, Executive Director                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tel. 412.363.1914 office - Tel. 412.519.6793 cell

macisaac@wireless-neighborhoods.org

 

'LIGHTS ON AFTERSCHOOL' EVENT CELEBRATES CITY-WIDE PROGRAMMING

After-school programs to be celebrated through national awareness campaign

 

(Pittsburgh, PA –October 20, 2010) – After-school programming, an essential function of the development of Pittsburgh's youth, will be celebrated tomorrow at the "Lights On Afterschool" event.

 

This event, one of 7,500 similar events nation-wide, is part of the Afterschool Alliance's effort to raise awareness about the importance of afterschool programming. It is an exciting chance to learn more about programs taking place in the community, and it a great opportunity this year to show support for American youth.

 

Afterschool programming plays a significant role in Pittsburgh's communities.

·         26 % of Pennsylvania's K-12 children are left unsupervised after school (American After 3 PM, 2009)

·         The hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. show the highest instance of juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002)

·         32 % of PA Children not in an afterschool program would attend, were one available. (America After 3 PM, 2009)

 

Activities will include:

·         "Best Practices" Showcase: An opportunity to see afterschool programs in action!

·         Provider Fair: Meet the community partners who make afterschool programs possible

·         Youth Entertainment: Our kids aren't just smart, they're talented too!

·         Guest Speakers: Local leaders share how afterschool programs have affected their lives.

 

This event is hosted by Wireless Neighborhoods, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, Pittsburgh Public Schools and many valued community and faith partners. Attendees will send a strong message to lawmakers and community leaders that Pittsburgh's youth are valued and afterschool programming is recognized and plays in the growth and development of Pittsburgh's children.

 

                   Where:          Pittsburgh Peabody High School

                                      515 N. Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206

         

When:           Thursday, October 21, 2010

4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

         

 

For more information on Wireless Neighborhoods, please visit www.wireless-neighborhoods.org.

###

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fw: First Tee Mentor Program

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

---

From: Firstteepitt@aol.com

Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:16:18 EDT

To: <firstteepitt@aol.com>

Subject: First Tee Mentor Program

Hi First Tee Friends,

 

The First Tee of Pittsburgh (TFTP) will be starting a mentor program with our friends at East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) this fall and we are looking for male mentors, (our program for girls will begin in six months).

 

TFTP is a non profit youth development agency that uses golf instruction as a vehicle to teach kids life skills in four target areas: interpersonal communication, self-management, goal setting and resilience skills.

 

EECM is a faith based social service agency whose youth programs reach out to kids facing the challenges of delinquency, family dysfunction, social detachment, academic underachievement, and violence in their neighborhoods.

 

At this stage we are planning to hold our sessions on Thursday evenings from 5:30 - 7:30-ish every other week for a total of 32 sessions.

 

These sessions will include a First Tee Life Skills clinic, led by one of our coaches who will prepare a complete lesson plan, an informal dinner with the mentees, and opportunities for dinner speakers, mini-workshops, tutorials, and more.

 

In order to let potential mentors better understand the scope of the program and the commitment we are inviting everyone to attend an informational meeting at the Bob O'Connor Golf Course in Schenley Park on Thursday, November 4 at 7 PM.  At that time we will present all information and answer your questions.

 

We are very excited to be launching "Phase II" of our mentor program and to have EECM as a program partner.  This is a wonderful way to have a positive effect on a young person that will have life-long impact.

 

Please share this with any friends or fellow employees who may be interested. We look forward to seeing you on November 4.

Marc Field
Executive Director
The First Tee of Pittsburgh
5370 Schenley Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(412) 682-2403
(412) 682-2405 (Fax)
www.thefirstteepittsburgh.org

The First Tee of Pittsburgh is a United Way Donor Choice Agency.
You may direct your United Way contribution to #1436656

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A Big Step for the Independent Sports Blogosphere

A Big Step for the Independent Sports Blogosphere

Want To Reduce Concussions NFL? Ditch The Helmets

Want To Reduce Concussions NFL? Ditch The Helmets

The foolish thing about all this is that the easiest way the NFL can actually prevent helmet to helmet hits is to do one very simple, yet controversial thing…get rid of the helmets.

That’s right, get rid of em. Ditch em. Forget about em. There have been a number of studies that show that the helmets themselves are probably the cause of a lot of these injuries, if you wanna read an excellent article on it, check this out from the Wall Street Journal last year.

NFL fines Steelers' Harrison $75,000; Harrison: 'It was a legal hit'

NFL fines Steelers' Harrison $75,000; Harrison: 'It was a legal hit'

Steelers linebacker James Harrison has been fined $75,000 by the NFL for his helmet-leading hit that caused Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi to receive a concussion. Harrison was not suspended.

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10292/1096447-66.stm#ixzz12qMfRHmn

Ouch.

I told my sons that in 10 years, football will be dead. Boxing is. Football is next. Just a prediction. I don't really want to see that come to pass, but all this buzz about head injuries is not to be ignored.

Education Week: Gwinnett County, Ga., Wins $1M Broad Prize

Education Week: Gwinnett County, Ga., Wins $1M Broad Prize

The Gwinnett County, Ga., school district, located just outside Atlanta, has been awarded the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education for 2010. The annual award, announced today, honors large urban school systems that demonstrate the strongest student achievement and improvement while narrowing performance gaps between different groups based on family income and ethnicity.

Fw: [school-discuss] 21st Century Classroom and Slate's crowdsource project

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-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Kahn <jj2kk4@yahoo.com>
Sender: owner-schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:51:10
To: <schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net>
Reply-To: schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net
Subject: [school-discuss] 21st Century Classroom

Slate has launched what it calls "a crowdsourcing
project on the 21st-century classroom" here:

http://www.slate.com/id/2269307/

I saw one response already that pushed Linux, but
I think it is too limited and narrow. This should
be an important opportunity to connect FLOSS with
a wide range of different educational concepts.
What should terms like "free" and "open" really
imply when we are asking what the word "classroom"
ought to mean over the coming decades?

My own thoughts are very disorganized right now,
and I'm not sure if I'm going to have something
submitted by the October 29th deadline. But many
of you have much better credentials for this than
I do anyway. Some of the threads we've had on
this list lately might be relevant.

I look forward to seeing what happens.

Joel

Fw: Do you value after-school programming? Citywide Thursday Event/Job Fair Info

From: "Justin Davis" <justin@bloomfield-garfield.org>

Are you planning on attending the October 21st event that will communicate to all that you want to listen?

After School Programming Is Important!

Do you value after school programming as a way to keep kids safe, healthy, and well educated?

If so, attend the October 21^st Lights On Afterschool event and let the world know that you value after school programming.

SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE TO POLICY MAKERS AND FUNDERS THAT AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMMING SHOULD BE FULLY FUNDED BASED ON THE NEED FOR SERVICES!

Have fun at the event…   (See attached for more info)

Organizations: Wireless Neighborhoods, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, Pittsburgh Public School, and many valued community and fair partners

Encourage those who are seeking employment and those seeking a better job to attend the November 9^th job fair at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in East Liberty. Over 60 top employers will be recruiting workers that day.

>If the job seekers need help getting ready for the job fair call the Eastside Neighborhood Employment Center at 412-362-8580 and ask for Brittany.

Lead Organization: East End Works Collaborative

Ravenstahl says he expects state to take over city pension plan

All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again. But, if only all the people worked on the plan, then things would be different. Ravenstahl says he expects state to take over city pension plan

Mr. Ravenstahl said he and his staff have spent nearly two years working on a plan that would parlay proceeds from a leasing parking facilities to a private operator into a pension fund bailout. He said the plan would avert a state takeover that would lead to dramatically higher pension payments that the city could make only by raising taxes or cutting services.

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10291/1096246-100.stm#ixzz12jpCS33I

MapMyFitness Marketplace - Fitness Sensors

MapMyFitness Marketplace - Fitness Sensors

Blair, smiles and says nothing so as to not offend. Very wise move.

Coach makes "Facebook" curfew .... Blair "no comment" on City League

Blair keeps to self on City joining WPIAL

Former Schenley basketball star DeJuan Blair was in town Thursday night playing for the San Antonio Spurs against the Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA preseason game. Shooting the breeze a little with Blair before the game, I told him that the City League is seriously considering disbanding and joining the WPIAL. He hadn't heard of the idea, but I asked him of his opinion.

"That's interesting," Blair said.

I then said, "Well, what do you think? Do you think it would be a good or bad idea?"

Blair said, "I can't saying anything else. I'm going to have to no comment on this one because if I said what I really want to say, it wouldn't come off too good."

Don't know if Blair thinks it's a good or bad idea, but he obviously thought it best to keep his thoughts to himself. Maybe it was a smart move, but I'm still curious what he thinks.

Contest wants students to think about city's future

Contest wants students to think about city's future

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program today will kick off a contest designed to get high school students thinking about the city's future.

Students may work individually or in groups to address the question "What is your promise to Pittsburgh?" Responses must be submitted or postmarked by Nov. 24.

While the city prefers video responses, students may submit essays, photos, artwork or responses in other media. Mayoral spokeswoman Joanna Doven said she didn't want to limit students' creative expression.


Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10291/1096236-100.stm#ixzz12ihf7hAF

Today's Math Homework

http://blog.ted.com/2010/10/16/benoit-mandelbrot-and-his-legacy/

1 killed, 2 injured in shooting in California, Pa.

1 killed, 2 injured in shooting in California, Pa. A post-homecoming party in California, Pa., turned violent early this morning, leaving a Pittsburgh man dead and two injured. The incident happened at an off-campus apartment complex near California University of Pennsylvania.
Jeron Xavier Grayson, 18, of Washington Place, Uptown, was shot and killed, according to the Washington County coroner's office. He was pronounced dead at 2:42 a.m. in an ambulance just before he was to be transported by medical helicopter.
Two others who were injured were treated at Mon Valley Hospital then released, according to Sgt. Chester Kowalski of the Pennsylvania State Police Belle Vernon barracks. While no details were available about the injuries to a young man, police said a young woman sustained facial injuries from flying shrapnel.

This is a good reason why the Pittsburgh Promise should be able to transfer to schools beyond the borders of Pennsylvania. The opportunity to get out of town to a college is great, but for some, it needs to be farther away. Sure, there are mix-ups and trouble in plenty of places out of the region too. However, some of the trouble can be avoided with a fresh start some states away.

Grumbling aside, China's ready for Asian Games - More Sports - SI.com

Grumbling aside, China's ready for Asian Games - More Sports - SI.com

The Asian Games get underway in one month's time in this leafy city of urban bustle and charming alleyways, bringing together more than 11,500 athletes competing in 42 sports. The Olympics-style event is shaping up to be another well-run, well-organized spectacular by the Chinese government, though wide-ranging preparation projects set off grumbling among some residents who see them as an inconvenience and waste of money.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/more/10/11/asian.games.ap/index.html#ixzz12XH476V0

Grumbling aside, China's ready for Asian Games - More Sports - SI.com

Grumbling aside, China's ready for Asian Games - More Sports - SI.com

The Asian Games get underway in one month's time in this leafy city of urban bustle and charming alleyways, bringing together more than 11,500 athletes competing in 42 sports. The Olympics-style event is shaping up to be another well-run, well-organized spectacular by the Chinese government, though wide-ranging preparation projects set off grumbling among some residents who see them as an inconvenience and waste of money.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/more/10/11/asian.games.ap/index.html#ixzz12XH476V0

Parking bidder offers to tweak deal

Parking bidder offers to tweak deal

."Their thought is, OK, we probably see a better way of getting this done. Perhaps we should re-evaluate this lease agreement. Is there a way perhaps to lower the initial payment, decrease the length of the lease, find ways to keep the city more involved?" said Councilman Bruce Kraus, one of those approached by LAZ.

Mr. Kraus and five colleagues -- Patrick Dowd, Bill Peduto, Natalia Rudiak, Doug Shields and council President Darlene Harris -- on Wednesday voted against four bills that would have authorized the lease with private investors led by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and LAZ parking.


Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10289/1095711-53.stm#ixzz12XFJaple

They did well to contact Bruce Kraus as he is one of the most wishy washy of them all. Plus, his sense of purpose as to what government is to do, and not do, is suspect as well. If there is a cause for over-reaching, he'll gladly over-reach!

Here is an idea for Laz: Take one of the downtown garages, buy it outright. Then build a new garage in its place with some small first floor retail to help the pedestrian life, put in a mega bike parking area like that in Amsterdam, some self-storage on a floor near the top, pedestrian cross walks above the street to other corners or buildings around the garage, and a 50-meter swim pool on the roof that can be covered in the winter for hosting swim meet.

Then people will come to the city to swim or watch a swim meet in a fine facility, and would need to park and go out to eat after.

Make sure that there is nice access to some bus parking too, around the building somewhere.

State touts benefits of spending on early education

State touts benefits of spending on early education

Happy Birthday OpenOffice.org

Ten years ago, on 13 October 2000, Sun released the source code to StarOffice under open-source licenses. Formidable in size and complexity and positioned against a seemingly overwhelmingly dominant competitor, OpenOffice.org was seen as at best, foolish, at worse, boring, fit only for office drones. Browsers, it was said, have more fun.

But we, the OpenOffice.org project community, showed these skeptics to be wrong. We showed the world that a free office productivity suite using open standards, especially what later came to be known as the OpenDocument Format (ODF), is more desirable, more powerful, and more transformative than any browser could be. We, the OpenOffice.org project community, gave the world a set of tools that allows all to participate as equals in the fields of commerce, science, education, government, to name but a few.

We have given the world the tools to do things and to work together. With OpenOffice.org, people produce - and their productions are theirs to keep and do with as they will. That is real freedom.

It is a freedom that today perhaps 100 million people enjoy. In some regions, our product's usage is greater than 20 percent of the office suite userbase. How have we done this? And without spending the expected billions on advertising and other marketing efforts? To a great extent, OpenOffice.org, the application made by us, the community, sells itself, and its good news is spread through word of mouth, not via billboards and the like. Its professional quality and performance is tremendously persuasive. OpenOffice.org works on all platforms and in over a hundred languages, and perhaps most important, it also works well with other suites: our code and our use of the ODF means there is no vendor lock-in. Users, from those in government offices to individuals at home, are free to choose what is best for them without the anxiety they'll be stuck with something they do not much like but costs a lot.

They have chosen OpenOffice.org, and we are sure they will continue to do so in even greater numbers over the next ten years. They choose it today it not simply because it costs them nothing to download from our site, but because of its professional quality and flexibility - as well as its reassuring consistency. Over the last ten years, we have regularly released small and large versions incorporating new features, functionality, and design, all tested and qualified for any user environment. This fall, we are releasing OpenOffice.org 3.3, and the beta is available for community testing. Expect more releases-and also a lot more extensions.

With extensions, there is virtually no limit to what the application can do, and every day the community makes more available under a variety of licenses. These address individual, as well as enterprise, needs. Support, services, and training, offered by Oracle and other large and small companies, is globally available in a host of languages; these all complement the free community support and constitute a portion of the large and growing OpenOffice.org ecosystem.

And our momentum is building, as the size and complexity of the community contributing to the project grows and as more see in OpenOffice.org a future they want to be part of. It's a future of freedom that we commit to, as a community that includes Oracle as well other enterprises, and countless thousands of independent contributors.

Our first ten years have proven the strength of our vision and technology against every imaginable challenge; the next - well, who can say? Only this: we commit to making the tools of productivity, growing the community, and improving the product - open to all to inspect, use, improve, distribute, and we invite the world to join us in our commitment.

Happy Birthday, OpenOffice.org!

On behalf of the OpenOffice.org Project,

Louis Suarez-Potts
Community Development Manager
OpenOffice.org

Teens arrested in Homewood for throwing rocks at cops

Duck!

Teens arrested in Homewood for throwing rocks at cops: "Two 15-year-old boys were arrested this afternoon for throwing rocks at city police officers who had arrived in Homewood to disperse a crowd of as many as 80 rowdy teens.
Police from the Highland Park station were called to Frankstown and North Homewood avenues just after noon for a large fight and found the teenagers blocking the street and ignoring officers commands to leave."

Jeepers.
High school kids had a half-day of school today.

Mayor's parking lease plan rejected by council

Mayor's parking lease plan rejected by council

"At this point, I think it's irresponsible to actually entertain a plan that has been universally panned by the citizens of Pittsburgh," said Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, the first to call for a vote.

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10287/1095054-53.stm#ixzz12Lcq1Idl

Reform fumbles. Put a fork in it. I'm glad that they are to think again on the parking and pension issues.

Judge upholds rejection of Mt. Lebanon High School plan

Judge upholds rejection of Mt. Lebanon High School plan

The Mt. Lebanon School District filed a court appeal in April, after the three-member zoning hearing board issued an eight-page decision denying the variances. The zoning hearing board wrote that it believed the district could have complied with zoning requirements but for its "overreaching," specifically singling out the athletic field house planned on Horsman Drive across from the main academic building.

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10287/1095195-100.stm#ixzz12LUyjDOM

So, the over-reaching of the building happens at the athletic field house, exactly where there should be over-reaching.

Zoning problems are a pain.

How about if you put the swim pool and some athletic facilities on the roof, as is done in Hong Kong swim pool at HKU. The swim pool at HKU is over a parking garage. Very nice.

How low can they go?

Harry Reid support group launches ad campaign in
in support of fake tea party candidate!

Fellow Patriots,

This is going to flat out send you into a level of outrage.

Do you remember hearing about Scott Ashjian, the fake third party "tea party" candidate who set up a run for Senate to sabotage Sharron Angle's chances of success in the general election?

The problem Ashjian presented is that he was polling around 5 points. Those same 5 points could elevate Harry Reid to a win in Nevada.

All of the Tea Party groups in Nevada came out in a strong way, joining together to oppose Ashjian's candidacy. Ashjian was neutralized for most of the year... until now.

"The deceptively named Patriot Majority PAC, a pro-Reid and clearly anti-patriot organization, is currently running an ad on conservative radio in Reno Nevada were they mention fake Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian 4 times reminding voters that he’s still running and on the ballot."

You can read our full post and listen to the ad audio here.

Groups supporting Harry Reid know full well that Scott Ashjian has a chance to sink Sharron Angle and they're going after it with everything they have.

We must stop them.

Click here to view our latest TV ad.

We've got to step up our fight here in Nevada. We're one of the few groups actually located here in Nevada who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars combating Harry Reid in the media and on the ground.

We can only continue doing this with your help.

Please, right now, consider a contribution to our campaign here in Nevada. Harry Reid must be defeated.

For Liberty,
-Eric Odom

Free Online Course "Concussion in Sports - What You Need To Know" Now Available

PIAA - News - Free NFHS Online Course "Concussion in Sports - What You Need To Know" Now Available

PIAA is pleased to distribute the NFHS online course, "Concussion in Sports - What You Need to Know". It is a first-of-its-kind complimentary online course designed to familiarize those associated with interscholastic athletics on the signs, symptoms, and treatment related to concussion in sports. The only requirement is a quick and easy registration at www.nfhslearn.com.

This 20 minute course is designed for coaches, officials, parents, administrators and students to learn how to recognize the signs and symptoms of concussions and a step-wise process to return to normal activity. Like all courses at www.nfhslearn.com there are printable resources available within the course.

Rundown parking garages pose 'no immediate danger' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Rundown parking garages pose 'no immediate danger' - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Three deteriorating city parking garages marked for demolition are sturdy enough to endure at least a decade of punishing winters and salt-sprinkled tires, the city's top parking official said Thursday.

Rather than owning the garages and leasing them for 50 years, it would be much better to just sell them now and have the burden and upside of ownership transfer to the new owners. Those garages could be re-built -- by private owners.

Abortion opponents fight for right to use leaflets on cars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Abortion opponents fight for right to use leaflets on cars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"That minor inconvenience is all you're talking about," he said.

The 7th, 8th and 9th U.S. circuit courts of appeals have ruled the ordinances unconstitutional. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Catlettsburg, K.Y., ordinance in 2005. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, and six other circuits haven't ruled on the issue, White said.

The city law runs afoul of the Constitution because it includes a penalty for people who hand out literature face-to-face if their activities cause litter, he said.

Kraus said he researched the law and checked with the American Civil Liberties Union before sponsoring the law. He proposed the law in 2008 because fliers had become an eyesore in his South Side district.

Over-reaching gets the city nowhere.

Philly hot spots

Comcast Sets Up WiFi Hotspots In PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia BusinessComcast is allowing its Internet customers to access thousands of WiFi hotspots for free. The Philadelphia-based cable-television, Internet, phone and media company is setting up the hotspots in its home town and neighboring communities.
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Happy Birthday in 24 languages

PARENTS MAGAZINE RATES PITTSBURGH TOP PLACE FOR YOUNG FAMILIES

PARENTS MAGAZINE RATES PITTSBURGH TOP PLACE FOR YOUNG FAMILIES: "Pittsburgh is ranked number four out of 100 cities in Parents Magazine first ever comprehensive survey identifying the top ten cities to raise babies."

Shanghai tries to charm Ravenstahl, delegation

Shanghai tries to charm Ravenstahl, delegation

One Day on Earth Filmmakers, and I'm one of them, ...

10/10/10 is only a couple short days away! We are thrilled that you are participating in this global initiative and want to make sure that you have all the information you need, and more importantly, a wonderful experience this Sunday!

Below are some final tips and best practices that we suggest you review
before 10/10/10.

*ALL content must be shot during the 24-hour period of October 10, 2010,
local time.

* Feel free to start at 12:01 AM Sunday.

* Introduce yourself! At the beginning of your footage, state your name and
what country you are participating from: "My name is ______________ and I am
participating in One Day on Earth from _______________."
Also, please state the time of day, subject you are filming, and location.

* If asked what you are filming for, here's our suggested reply:
"I'm filming a short film for the One Day on Earth project. It is a global
participatory media project that is documenting today, 10.10.10, in every
country of the world."

* We do not condone the breaking of any laws to capture your footage.
Please follow local ordinances when choosing locations and subjects to
film. If you are asked to stop filming, or to leave, please obey the
request. Be safe, and be courteous.

* Legal forms can be found on our site at:
http://www.onedayonearth.org/page/legal-forms

* Media submissions to www.onedayonearth.org open October 10, 2010 and extend
until the deadline, November 10, 2010.

* Before uploading, please review our media submission guidelines:
http://www.onedayonearth.org/page/media-submission-guidelines

* Please only upload content that you have legal rights to.

* Save ALL of your high res footage and back it up.

* Still photography submissions are welcome!


Filming Tips:

* Make sure you have all your equipment (including memory cards, tapes, etc.)
and that your batteries are charged.

* If you have a tripod, please use it. It will steady your shots and allow
you to better control the movement of your camera. *If you don't have a tripod,
please find a way to keep your camera steady.*

* Please hold your shots for at least 12 seconds, meaning: if you are
shooting something, (when possible) stay on it and don't move your camera for
12 seconds -- this will help us in the edit.

* Check your white balance and exposure prior to filming to get proper color
and balance on your footage.

* If you can, appropriately adjust the sound levels on your camera.

* Label your tapes or cards and keep a written log of your shots on 10/10/10.

* Ask a friend to help you film and invite others to film as well.

And. . . Please post to your Facebook and Twitter accounts that you are part
of One Day on Earth. Let's all spread the news of our event leading up to
10/10/10

If you have any questions, please reply to this email and we will do our best
to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you and have an amazing experience on 10/10/10.

Brandon Litman
One Day on Earth
Executive Producer

Libertarian wants some help in PA. Go Tim Mullen, go!

Good luck. Nice opportunity.

Lou J. writes, "I need your help"

I need your help and it is no time to be shy. We are now being attacked everyday because we are a real threat to put a Libertarian in the statehouse, which would be by far the highest office of any elected Libertarian to date. For every two yard signs that goes up, one is stolen. The fact that the 20 year incumbent is going door-to-door and direct mailing a flier against our candidate should tell it all. This is ours to win and with your help we will. As little as $10 from you would be tremendous help.  Thank you. —Lou Jasikoff

A Libertarian is running for State Representative in Pennsylvania, and needs your help.

You have heard it before. You think a Libertarian candidate can't win. Tim Mullen is different and is viable in nearly every measurable way. He needs your help now and the reasons why are listed below. Mullen is positioned to beat a twenty-year incumbent Democrat and needs your donation to increase his chance for success.

If you too are a Libertarian and ready to donate, click here! Otherwise, keep reading.

Tim Mullen is the one race to watch this November.

Never before have either of the old parties considered the Libertarian to be a threat in this district. Mullen has a chance to make history by becoming the first Libertarian to be elected to the State House in Pennsylvania. The Democrats don't want to face Mullen so they are funding the Republican, hoping to erode Mullen's base. The 20 year Democrat incumbent is directly attacking with a door-to-door flier. We need your help to answer this pamphlet. The Democrat is using fear tactics and lies to scare the voter into voting for her.

If you want to challenge the old parties and are ready to donate, click here! Otherwise, keep reading.

Tim Mullen is being taken seriously by the media.

Instead of the typical “also ran” approach to a third-party candidate, every news outlet in Mullen's district is actively covering his campaign, and has put his campaign on the front page of the paper four times. Mullen is a frequent guest on the regional talk radio station. The League of Women Voters is only covering two races in the region, has identified this race as the most hotly contested, and therefore has invited Mullen to participate in the televised debate.

If you are ready to donate to a viable, winnable candidate, click here! Otherwise, keep reading.

Tim Mullen has a resume that makes him electable.

Mullen is a life-long resident of his district and has a career that is the epitomé of service. His military career spanned 1985 through 2008 and includes Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom and he is a Bronze Star recipient.

If you believe we need a representative that will serve the voter, not a ruler that will control your life, click here! Otherwise, keep reading.

Tim Mullen is dedicated.

Since November of 2009, Mullen has been walking the district with his wife and supporters. Mullen has taken time off from his nursing career for the last two months to dedicate to his best effort to the campaign. This is not a trademark campaign:

If you are excited that a candidate is investing shoe leather in his own campaign rather than merely being a placeholder on the ballot, click here! Otherwise, keep reading.



Tim Mullen is approachable.

Mullen is well-read and knowledgeable on the issues, yet has a speaking style that resonates with the common man. America is saying “no” to career politicians with perfect haircuts and tailored suits. The voters sense that Mullen is “one of them” and understands the problems they face.

If you are ready to support a “real” citizen legislator, click here! Otherwise, keep reading.
Tim Mullen is being endorsed by both sides of the aisle.

"Due to the never ending corruption and stagnant political atmosphere caused by career politicians I am supporting Tim Mullen. Tim will bring a breath of fresh air for the hard working taxpayers of Luzerne County."
—John Cordora, 2006 Republican Candidate, 120th District, State of Pennsylvania

"I fully support Tim Mullen for State Representative in the 120th. Tim has lived in the area his entire life; Tim has done three tours in Iraq; he is a Bronze Star recipient and Tim is NOT a career politician! Tim fought for all of us in Iraq and now it's time we fight for Tim Mullen!"
—Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt Republican Committeewoman, 5th District NE PA/ Luzerne County.

“ I support Tim Mullen for State Representative because I believe Phyllis Mundy has become too comfortable in her position and that we need new representation in Harrisburg. Tim will bring new insight to property tax relief, strong moral values and he will change the old school mentality of our state and local governments."
—Kurt Santayana, Elected Democrat Luzerne Councilman

"I am endorsing Tim because of his Property tax elimination pledge to the people of the 120th. No other candidate will make this pledge"
—Michael J. Baloga Republican Wyoming Boro Coucilman

Of course, Mullen also has the support of freedom-minded groups as well.

"If we had more individuals like Tim who are sincere in bringing back democracy to our country we would be again the leading country in the world. Its been my pleasure to know Tim and to support him in his efforts to change the climate in this State. We’ve only just begun. Thank you for all your hard work."
—Grace Griffin, President CAPTAXES

"Hopefully we can replicate this organization in a number of cities across PA for the 2012 election. It is worth getting the word out about this campaign so others can look at it for ideas and inspiration."
—Mik Robertson, Chair Pennsylvania Libertarian Party

"Putting a Libertarian in the statehouse, breaks the glass ceiling. This is within our grasp. Help us make history and shatter the myth a third party candidate cannot win." We can with your help!
—Lou Jasikoff, Chair Northeast Pennsylvania Libertarian Party, Former Chair NJLP

If you are ready to help a candidate with broad-based support, click here! Otherwise, keep reading.

Tim Mullen is ready to serve you.

No matter where you live in Pennsylvania, Tim Mullen will be your representative in Harrisburg. Tim's goals benefit every freedom lover in the state, not just District 120.

Tell me more about what Tim will do. Otherwise, keep reading.

It's up to you.

We need your help and anything and everything helps to insure success. Together we can do this!

Visit www.votemullen.com and donate today, or call 570-285-3500 or 570-285-3501. Checks and money orders can be mailed to

Vote Mullen
193 Riverside Drive
Factoryville, PA 18419
INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAIL IN DONATIONS:
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Please do NOT send cash. As per Campaign Finance Law, corporate donations cannot be accepted. Anonymous donations are prohibited.

In order to donate please confirm that:
(1) This contribution is made from my own funds and will not be reimbursed by any other person or entity;
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Note* - Contributions are not deductible for federal or state income tax purposes

Pittsburgh Public Schools expand summer literacy, activities camp

Pittsburgh Public Schools expand summer literacy, activities camp: "'Our main theory is that when kids are excited and engaged, they're going to come,' said Eddie Wilson, a camp administrator.
Among the lessons learned this summer, Mr. Wilson said, was the fact that the activities at a particular camp site affected its attendance.
The district, which contracted with 27 different organizations to offer a variety of activities ranging from judo and kayaking to ballroom dancing and arts and crafts, found that different sites performed better than others mostly because of how students took to the activities.
And so for next year, Mr. Wilson said, administrators are considering an activities fair during the first two days of the camp to give students a sense of the activities they might want to sign up for."

Gathering of Swim Coaches in the City of Pittsburgh - PPS System

Free rentals at kayak Pittsburgh

New Meetup: Free rentals at kayak Pittsburgh

Announcing a new Meetup for Pittsburgh Kayakers (ka-"yack"-ers)!

What: Free rentals at kayak Pittsburgh

When: Sunday, October 10, 2010 10:00 AM

Where: Kayak Pittsburgh
6th street Bridge
Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Free rentals at Kayak Pittsburgh! This is a RADical Free Day, made possible by the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD). First come, first served, 10:00 AM till dusk. This isn't a Meetup trip per se, but if paddlers from the group want to get together, you can mention the time you're arriving in your RSVP, and post comments to work out the details. Kayak Pittsburgh is located under the north end of the Roberto Clemente (6th St.) Bridge, next to PNC Park. If you don't have your own kayak, this is a great opportunity for some urban paddling. Last chance kayak rentals Downtown for the season. And you don't have to feed the parking meters on Sunday. Enjoy!

RSVP to this Meetup:
http://www.meetup.com/kayaking-129/calendar/15030651/

Bike Clinic with a Pro Woman Cyclist - Cyclocross

Don't forget about next week's non-profit CX clinic, "CX 101 with Barb Howe!" It's on Thursday from 6–8 p.m. and is being taught by pro women's CX champion Barb Howe, and local coach Eryn Hughes. They'll learn you good! :-)   Participants will be getting a "goodie bag" filled with discount coupons, gels, drink powders, water bottles, and more from our sponsors: REI, ProBikes, Orange You Active?, Cedars Acupuncture & Wellness Center, Edible Allegheny Magazine, and others.   More details can be found here: http://bit.ly/9TCLA1   Go directly to pre-registration on BikeReg here: http://bit.ly/aQ5KAB   Let me know if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!   Best regards, Derek Reager Vice President   Koeles Cycling Club USAC Club ID: 13018 http://www.koeles.org derek.reager@koeles.org dreager@gmail.com

PIAA director makes new 4A, 5A and 6A proposals for football

Older news:

PIAA director makes new 4A, 5A and 6A proposals for football

But, where did this go?

The WPIAL was firm on only 4 classifications for football so that all the games could be played at Heinz Field.

Will Pittsburgh Schools' Roosevelt Resign? - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

OMG.

Will Pittsburgh Schools' Roosevelt Resign? - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

I don't want Mark Roosevelt to depart at this time, because we are doing athletic reform, finally. Too much is in the pipeline in terms of plans and ponderings to help our students become better and more engaged athletes -- so that they are better scholars.

Libertarian Candidates

We have some great candidates running for office this year, and they could use your support in the final weeks before the November 2 election!

Please visit the websites of the candidates in your area to see how you can help or how to contribute to the campaign. You can get a link to the candidate websites at our home page, www.lppa.org.

Even though our statewide candidates will not appear on the ballot, you can still make a statement for individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government by writing in their names on November 2! A list of those candidates and the district candidates appearing on the ballot is included below.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Michael J. "Mik" Robertson

Chairman, Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

Libertarian Candidates 2010:

Governor/Lt. Governor:
Marakay Rogers/Kat Valleley

US Senator:
Douglas M. Jamison

Representative in Congress, 5th District:
Vernon L. Etzel

Senator in the General Assembly
14th District:
Betsy Summers

28th District:
Ed Gately

45th District (Special Election):
Len Young

Representative in the General Assembly
63rd District:
Michael J. Robertson

64th District:
Vance H. Mays

85th District:
Erik Viker

109th District:
Thomas Anderson

119th District:
Brian Bergman

120th District:
Tim Mullen

196th District:
William Kohler

203rd District:
Mike Muhammad

Good Idea Factory -- or seedling

LTE from Dan S

http://pittsburghli ve.com/x/ pittsburghtrib/ opinion/s_ 702138.html
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EXCELSIOR SPORTS: September 2010

EXCELSIOR SPORTS: September 2010

Western PA Trail Symposium | The Pennsylvania Environmental Council

Western PA Trail Symposium | The Pennsylvania Environmental Council

Saturday Bike Ride for Woodland Hills

Tour Du District charity cycling event will be held Saturday morning. The event will be held Saturday, October 2, 2010 . Although the longest route is 30 miles, the hills on the route make the ride feel more like 50-60 flat miles. As a reminder, the 30 mile route will include 3 hills that are some of the highest percentage grades outside of the city of Pittsburgh . The 30 mile route will provide cyclists with a great opportunity to prepare for the Dirty Dozen. The 25 mile route will offer cyclists a great ride without major hills. There will also be a 2.5 mile and 5 mile family ride. After the event, DJ Serbak will be playing music and their will be a raffle with prizes. Please consider participating in this event, we still need riders! For more information, please click on the link below:

http://tourdudistrict.blogspot.com 

October 2010

In ten days, on 10-10-10, our oldest son turns 16!

Now what?

West Ham enters bid to move into Olympic Stadium - More Sports - SI.com

West Ham enters bid to move into Olympic Stadium - More Sports - SI.com

Catherine V. Palmer - getting some ink in the UMass Alumni Magazine

Link pointer 1.

Catherine V. Palmer
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Catherin V. Palmer, BS Communication Disorders, '84 Director of the AuD program in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.

Tell us briefly who you are.

Catherine V. Palmer, PhD. I am an associate professor and director of the AuD program in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. I am also an associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology in the School of Medicine and serve as the director of the Audiology and Hearing Aid Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. This includes clinical work and overseeing the operations of the main clinic and six satellite clinics. I graduated with a BA (Education) and BS (Communication Disorders) from the University of Massachusetts in 1984.

What is your most memorable moment at UMass?

My most memorable moments are all related to the wonderful experience of living in the Butterfield Dorm and the friends that I had there including my best friend, Pat Vaillancourt ’84 (now Pat Quill) who also was in the Communication Disorders program. My brother, Bob Palmer, was in charge of the in-house food services in the dorm for my last couple of years and that was great as well. I also participated in the synchronized swimming club and had a good time choreographing and performing routines. I also participated in the summer program at Oxford University which was a terrific experience in terms of travel and education.

Describe your professional career for us.

I spent the last semester of my time at UMass teaching 3rd grade on an Indian Reservation in Taos, NM. This was a wonderful experience and although I already knew I would be going back to graduate school for audiology, this teaching experience has impacted how I teach as a college professor. I attended Northwestern University for my Master’s degree and then spent two years at the Long Beach (California) VA practicing as an audiologist and a research assistant. I returned to Northwestern for my PhD and upon completion joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1990. My job as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh includes teaching and research and expanded greatly in 1998 when I took over as the director of Audiology for the medical center. The combination of responsibilities is wonderful with the clinical practice informing both my research program and teaching and my research impacting my teaching and clinical practice as well. I was honored to serve on the board of the American Academy of Audiology and currently serve on the Board of the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech. I am the Editor-in-Chief of Seminars in Hearing as well. I created the Musicians' Hearing Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2003 and enjoy working with musicians and providing hearing protection to all ages of musicians to ensure that they can participate safely in this activity for a life time.

How did the SPHHS help you prepare for your career?

I enjoyed every moment of my time at UMass and in the Department of Communication Disorders. The department gave me a sense of connection in what is a very large University. This allowed me to have a safe haven as I explored all that UMass had to offer. Jay Melrose was my advisor and I always had the sense that he really cared about how I did and what happened to me. The other faculty members were supportive and challenging and presented lots of opportunities for involvement (I remember interesting research with Dr. Harry Seymour and a great trip to my first American Speech Language Hearing Association meeting at the urging of the faculty). With encouragement from Rich Freyman, I presented my first research paper at a national conference in my senior year. This gave me a sense of interest in research and the comfort to interact at a research meeting. I feel very fortunate to continue to interact with the UMass Communication Disorders faculty who I knew as a student; and my good friend, Karen Helfer, who completed her PhD at Northwestern University at the same time I did, joined the faculty as well. UMass continues to have a tremendous group of individuals in the Communication Disorders Department.

What do you think the future holds in store for professionals in the field of Public Health and/or Health Sciences?

There is a tremendous need for services from audiologists across the life span. We are seeing a shift to a focus on quality of life in health care and audiologists will play an essential role in this area. Individuals are more aware than ever that they need to protect their hearing and that they need to do something about hearing loss if it has occurred because it impacts communication thereby cutting them off from people and activities that they care about. The research and technology that audiologists now have access to allow us to do more than we've ever been able to do before. It is exciting for us and the people we serve.

Is there anything else that you would like us to know about you?

When I arrived at the University of Pittsburgh, the first person I met was Elaine Mormer ’79, ’81G (previously Rosenthal). Elaine graduated from the UMass graduate program in audiology just as I was finishing my undergraduate degree there, but our paths had never crossed. She had single-handedly kept the program at Pitt going and she was ready to do big things once a faculty was in place. We (as a group) have done big things and now have an excellent, thriving audiology AuD and PhD program. We sometimes get students who have completed their undergraduate work at UMass and that is always a treat (and they are always well prepared). The highlight of my work is taking on new projects with Elaine and seeing what we can accomplish - it is a true blessing to have a colleague like Elaine and our backgrounds and work ethic are very similar partly due to UMass.


I got married to Mark Rauterkus a couple of months after arriving in Pittsburgh. We now have two delightful boys (Grant, 12 and Erik, 15). We have lived in the same house for 20 years and have the good fortune of having Mark's parents and my mother living in the Pittsburgh area. My career has afforded us the opportunity to travel around the world with our boys as I have been invited to teach and lecture and Mark's career as a swim and water polo coach has allowed them to join teams and make friends around the world.

Twitter, Facebook, and social activism : The New Yorker

From four the first day it grew.

Twitter, Facebook, and social activism : The New Yorker
By next morning, the protest had grown to twenty-seven men and four women, most from the same dormitory as the original four. The men were dressed in suits and ties. The students had brought their schoolwork, and studied as they sat at the counter. On Wednesday, students from Greensboro’s “Negro” secondary school, Dudley High, joined in, and the number of protesters swelled to eighty. By Thursday, the protesters numbered three hundred, including three white women, from the Greensboro campus of the University of North Carolina. By Saturday, the sit-in had reached six hundred. People spilled out onto the street. White teen-agers waved Confederate flags. Someone threw a firecracker. At noon, the A. & T. football team arrived.

The Eagle: Around the World to Korea

.
Written by Anna Vitti

This August, Erik Rauterkus, Tobias Raether and C.J.Abenes took a memorable trip across the globe to Korea for two weeks with a program called C.I.E.F. The U.S. students stayed on the Yonsei University campus. The trip entailed the introduction of Korean culture to a number of United States students. When asked why they wanted to go in the first place, Erik noted that he really wanted the cultural experience and went to “broaden my horizons.” The students all found out about the program in different ways. Tobias’ mother was a local coordinator of the program. C.J. found an ad on the internet and checked it out. Tobias pointed to the fun of being in Korea with a group of fellow American students really liked visiting Seoul and experiencing the city."

Linux in Schools

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2010/09/linux_in_schools.php
"This is an excellent guest post by Scott Rowed on the use of Linu in K-12 schools, including strong evidence that school districts tha do not have students using the Linux operating system are placing their students at a disadvantage, as well as a description of on outstanding success story in British Columbia.""Learning Linux in school can be compared to French Immersion. Just as students in the French program still learn English, students learning Linux will still be exposed to Windows and Mac computers sufficiently to learn what they need. Linux, as well as French, can open up career opportunities that otherwise may not be possible."

Announcing the October 13th OpenGov Community Summit @ NASA (and online)*

RSVP: http://october-opengov-workshop.eventbrite.com   

What: The Open Government Community Summit Series is an inter-agency
collaborative event hosted by a different agency each month. Several
working groups have formed out of previous workshops, and the focus for the
final two workshops of 2010 is to actually build-- not just talk about-- the
essential "learning infrastructure" (i.e. collective knowledge resources and
standard operating procedures) necessary to sustain the open government
community over the long haul.

This month's summit is generously hosted by NASA and facilitated by the Open
Forum Foundation .

Something New*:* Whether you can attend the summit or not, we need your
help. Our community lacks some critical elements of this learning
infrastructure and we're calling for the OpenGov Community Barn Raising of
2010 which is occurring online now through October 13th.

To participate in building this learning infrastructure prior to the summit,
join one of the working groups (OpenGov Inspiration
, OpenGov Community Knowledge Management
, OpenGov Community Standards)
and write a single sentence describing how you'll spend your 30 minutes
working on any of the community infrastructure projects that are listed on
those pages between now and Oct 13th. Full details for this collective
effort are on the wiki.

Note #1: Everyone is highly encouraged to bring a laptop to this event so we
can experiment with some new online and in-person collaborative techniques.

Note #2: Due to security restrictions at this location, participants must be
US citizens. Remote participation, however, will be robust and open to all.

When: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 from 9am-2pm, with an additional
opportunity for inter-agency co-working in the workshop space from 2pm-4pm
("co-working" means using a shared workspace to do your normal everyday work
in the presence of people doing similar work from other agencies). We highly
recommend you allow plenty of time to clear security in the morning.

Who: Federal managers implementing open government programs across all
federal agencies, transparency advocates, participation advocates, and
collaboration experts.

Where: NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. The closest metro stations are
L'Enfant Plaza (Blue/Orange/Green/Yellow Lines) and Federal Center SW
(Blue/Orange Lines). Enter the building at the intersection of 4th and E
Street SW.

*Remote participants* will be able to contribute ideas and shape the
in-person workshop as it takes place. Final details will be emailed to
registered remote participants on October 11th. We are committed to making
this a highly engaging experience even for those that cannot be present in
DC that day. The first hour of presentations will be streamed live; several
of the breakout sessions that follow will be in a discussion format and have
a 2-way audio feed. We'll also be using Google Docs for collaborative
note-taking and brainstorming, so that remote participants are as connected
to the event as possible. Several of these techniques are experimental;
it's open gov, so we're all learning as we go!

House OKs concussion measure for young athletes

House OKs concussion measure for young athletes

the state House on Tuesday night passed the Safety in Youth Sports Act aimed at trying to prevent serious brain trauma and better monitor concussions in Pennsylvania athletes in middle and high schools.

Following nearly a half-hour of debate on such points as civil liability and the act's language defining "a licensed or certified health-care practitioner," state representatives approved the measure by a 169-29 vote.


Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10272/1091118-454.stm#ixzz10vMAVvm5

Trouble in the Land of Wikileaks | techPresident

Trouble in the Land of Wikileaks | techPresident

Ding Dong and Grant. Yep, his name is just that.

We miss you Ding Dong. Hope all is well with you.

Diplomatic feud latest woe at Commonwealth Games - More Sports - SI.com

Diplomatic feud latest woe at Commonwealth Games - More Sports - SI.com

Direct from ericjodom:
Can you help me spread the word that http://liberty.com is live as of today? Thanks!

Gates Gives $12M to Four Cities to Boost College Completion - College Bound - Education Week

Gates Gives $12M to Four Cities to Boost College Completion - College Bound - Education Week

Fw: [ooo-announce] OpenOffice.org Community announces The Document Foundation

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-----Original Message-----
From: The Document Foundation <info@documentfoundation.org>
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:58:32
To: <announce@openoffice.org>
Reply-To: announce@openoffice.org
Subject: [ooo-announce] OpenOffice.org Community announces The Document Foundation
OpenOffice.org Community announces The Document Foundation

The community of volunteers developing and promoting OpenOffice.org sets up an independent Foundation to drive the further growth of the project

The Internet, September 28, 2010 - The community of volunteers who develop and promote OpenOffice.org, the leading free office software, announce a major change in the project's structure. After ten years' successful growth with Sun Microsystems as founding and principle sponsor, the project launches an independent foundation called "The Document Foundation", to fulfil the promise of independence written in the original charter.

The Foundation will be the cornerstone of a new ecosystem where individuals and organisations can contribute to and benefit from the availability of a truly free office suite. It will generate increased competition and choice for the benefit of customers and drive innovation in the office suite market. From now on, the OpenOffice.org community will be known as "The Document Foundation".

Oracle, who acquired OpenOffice.org assets as a result of its acquisition of Sun Microsystems, has been invited to become a member of the new Foundation, and donate the brand the community has grown during the past ten years. Pending this decision, the brand "LibreOffice" has been chosen for the software going forward.

The Document Foundation is the result of a collective effort by leading independent members of the OpenOffice.org community, including several project leads and key members of the Community Council. It will be led initially by a Steering Committee of developers and national language projects managers. The Foundation aims to lower the barrier of adoption for both users and developers, to make LibreOffice the most accessible office suite ever.

The Foundation will coordinate and oversee the development of LibreOffice, which is available in beta version at the placeholder site: http://www.libreoffice.org. Developers are invited to join the project and contribute to the code in the new friendly and open environment, to shape the future of office productivity suites alongside contributors who translate, test, document, support, and promote the software.

Speaking for the group of volunteers, Sophie Gautier - a veteran of the community and the former maintainer of the French speaking language project - has declared: "We believe that the Foundation is a key step for the evolution of the free office suite, as it liberates the development of the code and the evolution of the project from the constraints represented by the commercial interests of a single company. Free software advocates around the world have the extraordinary opportunity of joining the group of founding members today, to write a completely new chapter in the history of FLOSS".

FSF President Richard Stallman welcomed LibreOffice release and it's stated policy of only recommending free software. "I'm very pleased that the Document Foundation will not recommend nonfree add-ons, since they are the main freedom problem of the current OpenOffice.org. I hope that the LibreOffice developers and the Oracle-employed developers of OpenOffice will be able to cooperate on development of the body of the code".

"The Document Foundation supports the Open Document Format, and is keen to work at OASIS to the next evolution of the ISO standard", says Charles Schulz, member of the Community Council and lead of the Native Language Confederation. "The Document Foundation brings to the table the point of view of developers, supporters and users, and this might accelerate the adoption process of ODF at government and enterprise level".

Chris DiBona, Open Source Programs Manager at Google, Inc., has commented: "The creation of The Document Foundation is a great step forward in encouraging further development of open source office suites. Having a level playing field for all contributors is fundamental in creating a broad and active community around an open source software project. Google is proud to be a supporter of The Document Foundation and participate in the project".

"Viva la LibreOffice", said Guy Lunardi, product management Director at Novell. "We look forward to working with the Document Foundation to help develop a solid open source document software offering. Ultimately, we envision LibreOffice do for the office productivity market what Mozilla Firefox has done for browsers".

Jan Wildeboer, EMEA Open Source Affairs at Red Hat, has commented: "All over the world, users, companies and governments are moving to innovative technology solutions based on Open Standards. Red Hat is proud to join this effort".

Mark Shuttleworth, founder and major shareholder of Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu, has declared: "Office productivity software is a critical component of the free software desktop, and the Ubuntu Project will be pleased to ship LibreOffice from The Document Foundation in future releases of Ubuntu. The Document Foundation's stewardship of LibreOffice provides Ubuntu developers an effective forum for collaboration around the code that makes Ubuntu an effective solution for the desktop in office environments".

"The Open Source Initiative has observed a trend back towards open collaborative communities for open source software", said Simon Phipps, a Director of the Open Source Initiative. "We welcome The Document Foundation initiative and look forward to the innovation it is able to drive with a truly open community gathered around a free software commons, in the spirit of the best of open source software".

"We welcome the LibreOffice project to the free software community as we believe there is a great opportunity for them to enrich the free desktop experience." says Stormy Peters, Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation. "Over the years the GNOME community has been supportive of OpenOffice together with applications in the GNOME Office suite, such as Gnumeric, GnuCash and Abiword. As LibreOffice joins the free software community, we believe that free desktop users will benefit from a rich set of choices."

Patrick Luby, Chief Engineer of NeoOffice says "I am happy to see a new, independent LibreOffice foundation to continue creating an office suite with enhanced features, pushing OpenOffice.org in new, exciting directions". Ed Peterlin, Chief Visionary at NeoOffice says "I am excited we will be able to continue bringing excellent features from LibreOffice to the Mac platform. In the future I also hope to extend our web based collaboration tools to support LibreOffice users on all platforms".

Chris Halls, UK Managing Director of Credativ, an independent consulting and services company specialising in the development, implementation and support of open source solutions: "Welcomes the foundation as an opportunity to provide a new focus for the community contributors and allow them to move the project forward together. In our business, we support thousands of office desktops in many different environments. It is vital that the feedback and code that we can contribute as part of our day to day work can flow easily into the project".

"The creation of The Document Foundation is in line with the vision BrOffice.org - Projeto Brasil has for the Brazilian OpenOffice.org community. Our country already has a large investment in the Open Document Format and the software tools fully suporting it. BrOffice.org and The Document Foundation share the same values and objectives and we are more than happy to be part of it.", says Claudio Filho, Chairman of the BrOffice.org NGO of Brazil.

The Norwegian foundation "Åpne kontorprogram på norsk" ("Open Office Suites In Norwegian") is responsible for the Norwegian translation of OpenOffice.org, and for promoting OpenOffice.org in Norway. So far the Norwegian project has been administered and financed mainly by counties and municipalities, but recently the foundation has started a process for getting commercial companies more actively involved. We realise the need for a more substantial commercial participation to establish a long-term sustainable project. Our foundation notes that the other Nordic countries, a majority of the European countries, as well as a range of worldwide big companies like Google, Novell, Canonical and Red Hat are now cooperating with The Document Foundation. We believe this is the right way forward also for Norway. A cooperation with The Document Foundation will make it easier to create more innovative and user-friendly solutions integrated with the LibreOffice suite. Eliminating license barriers and obtaining easy access to source code and standards will facilitate further development of related and integrated surrounding products.

Additional information, including the mission, are available on the web site of The Document Foundation: http://www.documentfoundation.org
Biographies and pictures of the founding members of The Document Foundation are available here: http://www.documentfoundation.org/foundation/
There is a specific page for people interested in contributing to the development of the code: http://www.documentfoundation.org/contribution/

The Document Foundation has a Twitter account at http://twitter.com/docufoundation and an Identi.ca account at http://identi.ca/docufoundation

The announcements mailing list is at announce+subscribe@documentfoundation.org
The discussion mailing list is at discuss+subscribe@documentfoundation.org
The IRC channel is #documentfoundation at irc.freenode.net

The Document Foundation

The Document Foundation is an independent self-governing democratic Foundation created by leading members of the OpenOffice.org Community. It continues to build on the Foundation of ten years' dedicated work by the OpenOffice.org community, and was created in the belief that an independent Foundation is the best fit to the Community's core values of openness, transparency, and valuing people for their contribution. It is open to any individual who agrees with our core values and contributes to our activities, and welcomes corporate participation, e.g. by sponsoring individuals to work as equals alongside other contributors in the community.

Media Contacts

Florian Effenberger (Germany)
Phone: +49 8341 99660880
Mobile: +49 151 14424108
Skype: floeff
E-mail: floeff@documentfoundation.org

Olivier Hallot (Brazil)
Mobile: +55 21 88228812
E-mail: olivier.hallot@documentfoundation.org

Charles H. Schulz (France)
Mobile: +33 6 98655424
E-mail: charles.schulz@documentfoundation.org

Italo Vignoli (Italy)
Mobile: +39 348 5653829
E-mail: italo.vignoli@documentfoundation.org

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Fw: Zoe Mulford with Brad Yoder in Friendship October 24

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: Friendship House Concerts <friendshiphouseconcerts@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:40:19
To: altesj<altesj@yahoo.com>
Subject: Zoe Mulford with Brad Yoder in Friendship October 24

Friendship House Concerts is proud to present

Zoe Mulford
with Brad Yoder

Sunday, October 24

4:00 pm

A set by American songwriter Zoe Mulford is like a small volume of
short stories - evocative, beautifully crafted, and endlessly varied.
Whether her starting-point is Franklin's doomed polar expedition or
the neglected contents of her own refrigerator, her vivid storytelling
and down-to-earth humor promise listeners an enjoyable journey. She
backs her clear voice with guitar or claw-hammer banjo and
intersperses her own songs with selections from the music that
inspires them: American and British folk ballads, Appalachian banjo
tunes, and the work of songwriters from George Gershwin to Richard
Thompson. Raised near Philadelphia, she now lives in Manchester,
England and plays on both sides of the Atlantic.

Her latest release, "Bonfires", celebrates the folk tradition from
North Carolina to Liverpool. The album reached #3 on the Folk-DJ chart
the month after its release and has continued to have airplay across
the US and beyond.

In addition to music, Zoe likes farmer's markets, children's books,
martial arts movies, and cooking with lots of garlic.

Check out Zoe and her music at http://www.zoemulford.com and Brad at
http://www.bradyoder.com

Seating is limited. For information and/or an invitation, call or email:
LLouise & Jim Altes
412.361.6051
friendshiphouseconcerts@gmail.com

Suggested donation: $10.00. All proceeds go to the performer.
After the concert, there will be a pot luck dinner. Please bring an
entree, an hors d'oeuvre, a salad, a side dish, or dessert to share.

Upcoming events of interest:

Sept 26 Craig Bickhardt http://www.craigbickhardt.com/ @ Cindy &
Rick's cah@lonewolf.com
Sept 29, Bill Staines http://www.acousticmusic.com/staines at Bill &
Judy Locke's lockewn@comcast.net
Oct 3, Matt Brown http://www.brownsdream.us/ at Annie & Curt's
amtrimble@earthlink.net
Oct 22, Romi Mayes http://romimayes.com at Tania and Rich's tbikerman@yahoo.com
Oct 24, Zoe Mulford http://www.zoemulford.com/ at Jim and LLouise's
friendshiphouseconcerts@gmail.com
Oct 24, Phil Cooper & Susan Urban (February Sky)
http://www.februarysky.com/ at Curt and Annie's
amtrimble@earthlink.net
Oct 27 (tentative), Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore
http://mollieobrien.com at Cindy and Rick's cah@lonewolf.com
Nov 15, Bryan Bowers http://www.bryanbowers.com/ @ Cindy and Rick's
cah@lonewolf.com
Dec 4, Dwight Diller http://dwightdiller.com @ Cindy and Rick's cah@lonewolf.com
Dec 4, Rod Picott w/Amanda Shires http://www.rodpicott.com/ at Tania
and Rich's tbikerman@yahoo.com
Mar 23, Molasses Creek http://molassescreek.com/ at Rick and Cindy's
cah@lonewolf.com
Apr 3, Brian Peters
http://www.harbourtownrecords.com/peterspromoters.htm @ Rick and
Cindy's cah@lonewolf.com

As Athletic Directors Compete, Money Flows to All Sports - NYTimes.com

As Athletic Directors Compete, Money Flows to All Sports - NYTimes.com

Waiting for Superman, an educational movie only about charter schools

t r u t h o u t | "Waiting for 'Superman'": A simplistic view of education reform?: "In the eyes of some education observers, 'Waiting for 'Superman'' oversimplifies the problems facing US students and implies an education reform silver bullet for struggling public schools.
'Waiting for 'Superman,'' opening Friday in New York and Los Angeles, has generated buzz for months in education circles. Everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Bill Gates is celebrating the documentary, which tells the emotional stories of five students who have entered lotteries to get into successful public charter schools.
Yet in the eyes of some education observers, the movie oversimplifies the problems facing US students and implies a silver-bullet fix for struggling public schools."

$10 million for Project 10^100 winners

From:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/10-million-for-project-10100-winners.html

Two years ago today, we began Project 10^100 by asking you to share
your ideas for changing the world by helping as many people as
possible. Your spirit and participation surpassed even our most
optimistic expectations. People from more than 170 countries submitted
more than 150,000 ideas. We selected 16 big ideas and asked the public
to vote for their favorites. The five ideas that received the most
votes are the winners of Project 10^100. Over the past 12 months,
we’ve reviewed concrete proposals to tackle these ideas, and today
we’re pleased to give a total of $10 million to five inspiring
organizations working on solutions to each of these global challenges:

...

Idea: Make government more transparent
Project funded: Public.Resource.Org is a non-profit organization
focused on enabling online access to public government documents in
the United States. We are providing $2 million to Public.Resource.Org
to support the Law.Gov initiative, which aims to make all primary
legal materials in the United States available to all.


See:
http://public.resource.org/law.gov/index.html

Law.Gov is an idea, an idea that the primary legal materials of the
United States should be readily available to all, and that
governmental institutions should make these materials available in
bulk as distributed, authenticated, well-formatted data. To make this
idea a reality, a series of workshops were held throughout the
country, resulting in a consensus on 10 core principles.

...

Also for interest from the Google blog post:

Idea: Make educational content available online for free
Project funded: The Khan Academy is a non-profit educational
organization that provides high-quality, free education to anyone,
anywhere via an online library of more than 1,600 teaching videos. We
are providing $2 million to support the creation of more courses and
to enable the Khan Academy to translate their core library into the
world’s most widely spoken languages.

Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.Org
Follow me - http://twitter.com/democracy
New Tel: +1.612.234.7072

Fw: Radical Reels!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

---

From: Megan Bennett <megzzies@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 21:24:17 -0400

To: Megan Bennett<megzzies@gmail.com>

Subject: Radical Reels!

Hi POC peoples!

Do you want to see BANFF-like adventure films on Monday, October 4th?  Venture Outdoors is offering POC a group deal to see Radical Reels at 7 30 pm at the Byham Theatre.  Radical Reels is like BANFF, except the films are adrenaline-oriented.  Tickets should run about $10 apiece. 

This year, films will be about skiing/snowboarding, mountain biking, rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, noboarding (you'll have to come to Radical Reels to find out what that is) and more!

For the trailer, visit http://ventureoutdoors.org/

To get the group rate, at least 10 people need to come.  I know this is short notice, but please let me know by Wednesday, September 29, if you are interested.

Have a good night and get pumped for Radical Reels!

~Megan