Fate of Civic Arena debated

Fate of Civic Arena debated

Franklin Toker, an architecture professor and the author of "Pittsburgh: A New Portrait," argued that the arena "is, historically, the most representative building now standing in the city of Pittsburgh," more so than the Cathedral of Learning, the county courthouse or the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

He said the arena's planning and construction "coincided exactly with the most exhilarating, most creative and most ambitious moment this city has ever known: the Pittsburgh renaissance."

Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/11034/1122591-53.stm#ixzz1Cu8yZh2V

Go Professor Toker!

Egyptian army starts rounding up journalists: News24: Africa: News

Egyptian army starts rounding up journalists: News24: Africa: News

Friday, is designated "departure day" for Mubarak.

Good spam

Spam was something to eat, and it wasn't the worst we'd get. But, those were the good old days. Here is some spam that is a message from the old folks to the youngsters.

If you are 36, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways...yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

1) I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

2) There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

5) Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

6) We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

7) There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

8) And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

9) We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen.. Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

10) You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

12) And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

13) And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1970 or any time before!

Regards,
The Over 40 Crowd

Meeting Notice for nonprofits doing open source software for Saturday

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: "Terence J. Golightly" <vze27hs6@verizon.net>
Sender: wplug-announce-bounces+mark.rauterkus=gmail.com@wplug.org
Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:39:22
To: mark.rauterkus@gmail.com<mark.rauterkus@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Announcements only <wplug-announce@wplug.org>
Subject: [wplug-announce] Meeting Notice

Hello,

WPLUG is hosting a general user meeting on Monday February 7th from
6:30pm until 8:00pm at the Panera Bread on Centre Ave. in Shadyside.
This meeting will be a "Techno Salon" which is a small group discussion
forum about a current topic in Free Software. This Techno Salon topic is
"Free Software in use by Pittsburgh nonprofits and beyond". Special
guests will be Johnny Qwalick of Goodwill, Dave Sevik of
computereach.com and Susy Robison from The Homeless Children's Fund.
For more information about this meeting please click on the following links:

http://wplug.org/wiki/Meeting-20110207

http://wplug.org/wiki/Panera_Centre

Please rsvp to events@wplug.org. Seating is limited. Preference will be
given to Members.


Sincerely,


Terry Golightly
Vice Chair Your WPLUG
info@wplug.org



_______________________________________________
wplug-announce mailing list
wplug-announce@wplug.org
http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug-announce

Dallas dreams different sports dreams for the future.

------Original Message------
From: SI com Alerts
To: mark@rauterkus.com
ReplyTo: cnnalerts@cnn.com
Subject: 2004 Athens Summer Games News
Sent: Feb 2, 2011 4:34 PM



Alert Name: 2004 Athens Summer Games News

Frank Deford: Even during the Super Bowl, Dallas has its eyes on the Olympic Games
02/02/11 02:09 PM, EST
Even as Dallas bursts its buttons, hosting the Super Bowl for the first time in Jerry Jones' new American coliseum, the city has developed an even greater itch it wants to scratch.
Read the full story at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/frank_deford/02/02/dallas.olympic.games/index.html

______________________________________________________________________

Receiving too many alerts?
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2011 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.


Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

EPLC Regional Workshops for School Board Candidates

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

---

From: Ron Cowell <cowell@eplc.org>

Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2011 18:07:47 -0500

To: Ron Cowell<cowell@eplc.org>

Subject: EPLC Regional Workshops for School Board Candidates

 

EPLC 2011 REGIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

 

The Education Policy and Leadership Center, with the Cooperation of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), will conduct A Series of Regional Full-Day Workshops for 2011 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates.

 

Incumbents, non-incumbents, campaign supporters and all interested voters are invited to participate in these workshops.

 

Registration is $40 and includes coffee/donuts, lunch, and materials.  For details and registration information, please go to http://www.eplc.org/SchoolBoardCandidateWorkshops.shtml

 

Philadelphia Region

Saturday, February 26, 2011 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 1605 West Main St., Norristown, PA 19403

 

Lehigh Valley

Saturday, March 5, 2011 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Catasauqua Area School District, District Administration Office, 201 N. 14^th St., Catasauqua, PA 18032
(Organized by the Children’s Coalition of the Lehigh Valley)

 

Pittsburgh Region
Saturday, March 12, 2011 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh/Monreville, 101 Mall Blvd., Monroeville, PA 15146

Harrisburg Region
Saturday, March 19, 2011 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Blvd., Mechanicsburg, PA 17050

 

Registration Fee - $40

Registration fee includes coffee/donuts, lunch, and materials.

 

AGENDA

8:00 a.m. – Registration & Coffee

8:30 a.m. to Noon – Morning Sessions

PART I – Legal and Leadership Roles of School Directors and School Boards

PART II – State and Federal Policies: Implications for School Boards

Noon – Lunch & Discussion

12:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Afternoon Sessions      

PART III – Candidates and the Law

PART IV – School District Finances and Budgeting

 

Register at http://www.eplc.org/SchoolBoardCandidateWorkshops.shtml

 

 

 

A guide to developing a local outcomes framework for culture and sport

A guide to developing a local outcomes framework for culture and sport: "A guide to developing a local outcomes framework for culture and sport

One of the modern challenges to public services is to be able to demonstrate that investment and action are improving people’s lives.

Culture and sport, perhaps now more than ever before, must demonstrate the contribution the sector makes to better outcomes for individuals, communities and places.

This web resource provides guidance for councils and their partners on how to create a local outcomes framework for culture and sport. This will help you measure and evidence the difference your service makes and its contribution to local priorities. It will also help you make the case for continued investment of public money."

I was the 10th person to view this video.

Goodbye for Uncle Douggie - a memorial

A Memorial - "Reflections Of Doug's Life" will be held at the Holiday Inn - McKnight Road - Thursday, Feb. 3rd from 1 to 3 p.m. Come share your memories of Doug Hoerth.

The above info came to me via the Lynn Cullen Facebook page.

Property Tax lawsuit in Philly

Dear Friends -- Below are links to today's Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer and Saturday's Philadelphia Daily News articles on the lawsuit we filed Friday afternoon on behalf of 18 property owners from throughout the City. If the links don't work, copy and paste them into your browser.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110130_Group_sues_to_force_new_Phila__tax_system.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110129_Group_sues_city_over_planned_property-tax_increase.html

As with any reporting, the articles reflect the views of the writers and cannot give a full picture, so I urge you to read the entire complaint when you get a chance. You can obtain copies of the 36-page Complaint and its exhibits by visiting www.FixPhillyTaxes.org and scrolling to the bottom of the webpage. If you have any trouble, email me and I can send the legal docs to you in pdf format.

You can help to keep the momentum going by forwarding this to your friends, colleagues, neighbors, neighborhood associations, civic groups, etc. and by clicking on the Inquirer article and writing a comment about the suit.

We have never claimed to have all the answers to the many tough policy questions that must be addressed in resolving the long-standing illegalities plaguing our beloved City's assessment system, BUT we have to got to talk about and face them in order to make progress. If nothing else, the lawsuit should help to kickstart and motivate these discussions.

Thanks for your support of this important reform effort.

Rev. Ken Metzner

Apples to Apples. Go figure

(posted by me at another blog in a thread about the SI article about Aliquippa.)

Think again.

The PIAA and high school sports are NOT about districts, but rather about schools (for classification only) and teams from schools and athletes from schools. The district is not REALLY a factor in athletics.

I am not mixing the apples and oranges -- nor making bad analogy defenses.

Team to team comparisons are what matters in sports the most, then it is school to school. District to district, not so much.

As per talk of ALL OF THEM -- as in All Schools -- then talk about the LEAGUES, the WPIAL, the District VIII, the PIAA.

"Do you think you are fooling someone?" No. Do you?

Teachers do not NEED to be faceless. It is a choice. Anonymous is fine. Posters don't need to be bullies either. What you surmise and what I do are different. BTW, I surmise that you are him too, but just with a different handle, again.

Ready....

Apples = students;
Apple bushel buckets = teams;
Apple trees = schools;
Apple orchards = leagues;

One orchard (DVIII) is right in the middle of another orchard (DVII = WPIAL).

The school district could be represented as various farmers with certain choices of fertilizers, ambitions and options. Some farmers might only have one apple tree. Others a few. Farmers would also have other realms to care for (say oranges, livestock, etc.).

Competitions in HS sports are among student to students and among teams to teams. That's apples to apples and bushels to bushels.

An orange, go figure, could be a musician -- or -- a student in a calc class -- or -- some fully different asset to a farmer.

The head farmer, say Farmer Lane, could choose to focus 100% of the efforts on the chickens, a stable of horses and other fields and gardens and leave the apples to their own -- out of sight, out of mind. Ripe, rot, no worries.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for you to deliver some analogy and any value for moving the conversation in the wake of the SI feature.

Open Knowledge Foundation Blog Blog Archive � Open Public Data: Then What? - Part 1

Open Knowledge Foundation Blog Blog Archive Open Public Data: Then What? - Part 1: "We tend to assume that the opening up of public data will only produce positive outcomes for individuals, for society and the economy. But the opposite may be true. We should start thinking further ahead on the possible consequences of releasing public data, and how we can make sure they are mostly positive."

Interesting doping theory about a cyclist suspension

Posted on the Supertraining public list and worth repeating as a theory.

----
Clenbuterol

Posted by: "wreckless61a" Johan.Bastiaansen@pandora.be  

I don't know how much information about the Contador case got through to the US. But here's the rumour from Europe.

First of all, Alberto Contador was found to have very low levels of clenbuterol in his blood. The amount found was 400 times less than what a WADA accredited lab must be able to detect. It is strange that a lab used such an accurate and expensive test. Unless they had a reason.

Anyway, that's what he was accused of.

He then claimed it was a very low dose (true) and he got it from eating tainted beef that was wrapped in plastic. This was either given to him as a gift, or a cook bought it on the local market. Both explanations are highly unlikely, but what's interesting is the explicit mention of the plastic wrap.

The most likely scenario is this. Contador was using micro dosages of clenbuterol early in the season during training. Also he was tapping his blood to be used for blood doping later in the competition. Perhaps they had the blood tested but it wasn't flagged because of the low levels.

Riding the Tour de France he used this blood. The lab initially didn't find the clenbuterol. What they did find however were plasticizers in his blood, a sure evidence of blood being stored in plastic bags and injected in his bloodstream.

So now they knew he was dirty, but they didn't have anything to charge him with, since this test was not accepted by WADA.

That's when they turned around and took a closer look at his blood. And that's when the low levels of clenbuterol were found.

To me, this is a very likely scenario, because it explains why Contador mentioned the plastic wrap of the meat, and it also explains why the lab would use a test that is 400 times more accurate than required.

Regards,
Johan Bastiaansen of Hasselt, Belgium
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Fir for how long now?

The below may be of interest:
http://well. blogs.nytimes. com/2010/ 12/29/phys- ed-if-you- are-fit-you- can-take- it-easy/.

...a number of newly published studies offer compelling reasons to get out and exercise on the one hand, as well as new estimates of just how little we can do and still benefit on the other.

The most sobering of the recent studies, published last month in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, looked at a large group of retired elite male athletes, most now in their 50s. Some had remained physically active, although they were no longer competing. Others had taken fully to sloth, avoiding almost all exercise. When the researchers examined the health profiles of the two groups, they found, to no one's surprise, that the sedentary ex-athletes had a much higher risk of metabolic abnormalities, including insulin resistance, than their more active counterparts. Training hard and often in their youth had not conferred lifelong health benefits on the athletes as they aged, not if they now sat around all day.

Similarly, although in a more compressed time frame, a study published earlier this year found that when a group of world-class kayakers completely quit training (at the end of a competitive season), they rapidly lost strength and endurance. After only five weeks of not training, according to one measure of strength, they'd sloughed off about 9 percent of their muscular power and 11 percent of their aerobic capacity.In other words, being almost completely inactive, whether for a short or prolonged period of time, inexorably de-tones muscles and compromises health. The benefits of regular activity don't last long.

But there is a loophole. In these same studies, as well as others, relatively small amounts of activity allowed participants to maintain much of the health and fitness they had previously gained. In the kayaking study, for instance, some of the athletes didn't completely cease their training at the end of the season; they merely cut back, limiting themselves to one weight-training session and two endurance workouts per week (a fraction of their full-season training) and consequently lost barely half as much of their aerobic power as the kayakers who stopped exercising altogether. Five weeks "of markedly reduced training in a group of elite athletes seems effective for minimizing the large declines" in conditioning "that take place by completely stopping physical training," the authors wrote.Even more relevant to those of us who aren't world-class athletes (and aren't, therefore, likely to reduce our training to three sessions a week), a study just published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise suggests that visiting the gym only once a week may be enough for young and older athletes to hold onto past strength gains.

For the study, researchers with the University of Alabama at Birmingham recruited one group of adults in their 20s and 30s and another in their 60s and 70s and had both groups undertake a four-month program of fairly strenuous weight training, with thrice weekly, multiset sessions at the gym. By the end, all of the volunteers were dramatically stronger and had added considerable muscle mass.The researchers then randomly assigned the volunteers to different groups for the next eight months. One group quit all exercise. Another cut the number of their training sessions by two thirds, showing up at the gym only once a week. The final group not only reduced the number of their gym sessions to once a week, but completed only a third as many exercises during that session, for a total reduction in exercise volume to one-ninth.

At the end of the eight months, the groups' muscle size and strength varied markedly. The volunteers who stopped all exercise, whether they were young or old, had lost most of their newly acquired muscle mass, as well as a large portion of their strength. Those who'd continued to train once a week, however, had maintained much of their muscle mass, as well as their strength. The younger volunteers had even added muscle mass with the once a week full sessions (although not with the shortened bouts). Older volunteers hadn't augmented their muscle size during the maintenance routines, but they had lost little of their strength gains, even when their exercise volume was reduced to a ninth. A "once per week exercise dose was generally sufficient to maintain positive neuromuscular adaptations," the study authors concluded.

There are caveats to these encouraging findings, of course. You must have a baseline level of fitness to maintain, for one thing. Before they moved to the once-a-week routine, the weight trainers completed four months of three-times- a-week sessions. If you have no fitness base, resolve now to build one. The latest studies also did not pin down just how long you can maintain a reduced level of exercise, without the vestiges of fitness finally slipping away. The maintenance portion of the strength-training experiment lasted eight months; the kayaking study stretched only to five weeks. At some point, you probably have to return to a full exercise program. But for now, a little may be enough.

College tour of Historically Black Schools in the South

The 5th Annual NEED Tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities is accepting applications for 10th grade students to visit colleges and universities in Alabama, Atlanta, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and District of Columbia. The tour will take place April 16th - April 23, 2011. Please visit the NEED website http://www.needld.org to download the HBCU Tour Application. There are a limited number of spaces available, therefore send in the application as soon as possible. If you have questions, please contact Arlene Tyler Holland at atyler@needld.org or 412.566.7393.

Sole Trader, Partnership, Company and Trust Business Structures

My photo from Auckland was used in a business article on the web. Cool.
Sole Trader, Partnership, Company and Trust Business Structures

Before starting a new business it is important to understand how different business structures affect income tax payments. Being informed helps to determine which structure best suits a business and its owner.

Read more at Suite101: Sole Trader, Partnership, Company and Trust Business Structures http://www.suite101.com/content/nz-business-structures---sole-trader-partnership-company-trust-a222303#ixzz1CLxoeHSE

TV dictates USA Sevens: Sport: Rugby: Sevens

Start to tune into Rugby Sevens now -- because the NFL season next year is NOT going to happen without a labor agreement. Rugby -- as the nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

The pools and match schedule have been announced for the 2011 USA Sevens, the fourth event in this year’s HSBC Sevens World Series, to be played in Las Vegas on February 12-13.

As current World Series leaders, England head Pool A as top seeds. All four Cup quarter-finals will be played at the end of day one, February 12, allowing the Cup final to be broadcast live throughout the US on February 13.

USA Sevens Tournament Director Dan Lyle added: “Four years ago, USA Sevens set out to attain mainstream legitimacy and exposure in the context of American sport, and this exciting new partnership with NBC reflects the hard work achieved to realise this opportunity.

“Working with our event partners NBC Sports, the IRB, USA Rugby and some fantastic new sponsors, we look forward to presenting the 2011 tournament to the largest US audience ever to have watched our great sport.”

In addition to the four Cup quarter final ties being played at the end of a lengthened day one, the four trophy finals are also rearranged at the end of day two. In order for the Cup final to coincide with prime time across the east coast of America, the showpiece match will be played before the three other finals at 14:15 local time.

Top seeds England won the first event of the season in Dubai. On day one in Las Vegas they face Argentina, France and Caribbean qualifiers Guyana in Pool A.

Eight-time World Series winners New Zealand won the second event in George line up as second seeds in Pool B with opening matches against Wales, Kenya and South American qualifiers, Uruguay.

Samoa and Fiji currently lie in third and fourth position respectively in the World Series standings. Fiji face Australia, Scotland and Canada in Pool C, while defending USA Sevens champions Samoa face a mouth-watering tie against hosts US as well as South Africa and Japan in Pool D.

After the first two events in Dubai and South Africa, England lead the HSBC Sevens World Series with 44 points. New Zealand are second (40), Samoa third (36), Fiji fourth (32) and South Africa fifth (24).

The third leg of the World Series will be played in Wellington, New Zealand on February 4-5, after which the teams will travel on to Las Vegas for the USA Sevens.

Contador blasts 'unfair' ban: Sport: Other Sport: Cycling

Contador blasts 'unfair' ban: Sport: Other Sport: Cycling

The International Cycling Union (UCI) had provisionally suspended Contador in August, in advance of a decision on his immediate future by the REFC, after trace amounts of clenbuterol, a banned weight loss/muscle-building drug also used to fatten cattle, were found in a urine sample taken during the Tour de France.

Contador denies any wrongdoing, and says he unknowingly ingested the clenbuterol from beef brought from Spain to France during the second rest day of the Tour, just four days before he won his third title on 25 July.

Clenbuterol was banned by the European Union in 1996, but it is still administered illicitly by some cattle farmers.

Fitzgerald announcing county executive bid Friday

Fitzgerald announcing county executive bid Friday

County Council President Rich Fitzgerald will declare his candidacy for county executive Friday morning at event where he will showcase an endorsement from Rep. Mike Doyle.

The widely anticipated announcement will take place in the courtyard of the Allegheny County Courthouse, the same spot where Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty, so far the only declared candidate for the post, unveiled his bid earlier this month. So far, they are the only competitors for the Democratic nomination to succeed the incumbent, Dan Onorato, who has announced that he will not seek a third term.

On council, Mr. Fitzgerald was known as a close ally of the Onorato administration. He has made no secret of his interest in the county's top post, quietly laying the foundation for a bid over the last year while Mr. Onorato pursued his unsuccessful quest to be elected governor.

On the Republican side, county Councilman Matt Drozd has said that he is exploring a bid. Patti Weaver, a key organizer of the region's Tea Party movement has also acknowledged interest in the office. Many Republican committee members received an email last weekend advising them that Ms. Weaver would make an announcement earlier this week, but that event was subsequently canceled. Jim Roddey, the county GOP chairman, said he expects Ms. Weaver to announce her candidacy late next week. Ms. Weaver did not return a call seeking clarification or her plans.

Fw: [ooo-announce] The OpenOffice.org Community Announces the Release of OpenOffice.org3.3

*OpenOffice.org 3.3 Ready for Download*

--Free Productivity Suite Used by More than 100 Million Now Includes
Enterprise Features--

Hamburg, Germany, 26 January 2011--- The OpenOffice.org Project today
announces the release of OpenOffice.org 3.3, which includes features and
improvements addressing current and future user requirements, regardless
of scale. Stepping into a new arena, OpenOffice.org 3.3 brings to
enterprise users, both in public and private sectors, improved
compatibility with Microsoft Office, spreadsheet and presentation
enhancements, and superior security and collaboration options. A full
list of what the Project's Community have accomplished can be found at
<http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/3.3/>.

OpenOffice.org 3.3 marks a milestone in the suite's maturation. Ten
years after the Project was initiated, the suite has grown from being
the "free alternative" to the default and even preferred choice for the
more than one hundred million who have come to value the quality,
reliability, and extensibility of the application, as well as the
flexibility given by the the suite's file format, the OpenDocument
Format (ODF), the leading open standard for office documents.

To download OpenOffice.org 3.3 for free: <http://download.openoffice.org/>

There is a lot that is new and enhanced in OpenOffice.org 3.3. But not
least, it is also simply faster, both in startup time and in overall
operation. Some of the of new elements include:
* embedded standard PDF fonts
* new document security and collaboration options
* provisions for one million rows in a spreadsheet
* new options for CSV (Comma Separated Value) import in Calc
* ability to insert drawing objects in Charts
* improved slide layout handling in Impress
* a common search toolbar

Andrew Southworth, Network Coordinator, Canadian Labour Congress, wrote,
"It's never been just about the savings. The Canadian Labour Congress
selected OpenOffice.org in support of what it does and how it goes about
doing it. It's the full support of the ODF that frees us from committing
to any one vendor. And it's the extensions, the enterprise elements and
the open-source code that gives all those we represent and work with in
Canada, from schools to hospitals to libraries to private sector
corporations the freedom of real productivity — without being locked
into a particular company's vision of how you should work. Saving money
on software is great. But OpenOffice.org, with its support of the ODF,
is more than about the bottom line. It's about the freedom to choose the
best."

A full guide to new features is available at
<http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/3.3/>. The security
bulletin with full details of the potential vulnerabilities fixed is at
<http://www.openoffice.org/security/bulletin.html>.

OpenOffice.org is fully supported by the worldwide Community and by
professional companies, both large and small. Oracle proudly continues
the sponsorship of the Project building the application and welcomes
contributions from all.

* Press Kit: OpenOffice.org <http://marketing.openoffice.org/press_kit.html>

* The Case for OpenOffice.org: <http://why.openoffice.org/>

** Contact
Peter Junge (UTC +08h00), Beijing, China
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead
pj @ openoffice.org

- International Marketing Contacts:
<http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html>

**About OpenOffice.org**
The OpenOffice.org Project is composed of an international team of
volunteer and sponsored contributors who develop, translate, document,
support, and promote the leading open-source office productivity suite,
OpenOffice.org®. The Project, sponsored by Oracle, spans the globe, and
its community includes members from all sectors. Thanks to the efforts
of the Community, OpenOffice.org software may be downloaded and used
entirely free of charge for any purpose, private or commercial. All are
encouraged to join the Community and participate in the making and
promotion of the suite and file format.

OpenOffice.org software uses the OpenDocument Format OASIS Standard
(ISO/IEC 26300), as well as supporting file formats used by such as
Microsoft Office, and is available on major computing platforms in over
100 languages. OpenOffice.org software is provided under the GNU Lesser
General Public License version 3 (LGPL v.3). It offers all users the
license of using what works and working with what's there, all for free.

Hello, I Must Be Going: A Requiem For A Talk Show Curmudgeon

When I moved to Pittsburgh in 1990, my first job was selling copiers, practically door to door. I was on the road a lot, and (with the exception of my then-fiance), without a friend. I was still in love with radio, especially “talk” radio, and I fortuitously found 1250 am WTAE.

The afternoon shift was helmed by an unconventional host named Doug Hoerth. He could talk about books, TV, movies other entertainment, as well as politics. He was very intelligent, and downright goofy. I fancied him right away.

In 1990, Doug was in Pittsburgh for only 10 years and he was still a Jersey-boy at heart. That separated him from a lot of “yinzers,” that continue to populate the local talk show landscape. Matter of factly, Doug talked about reading newspaper after newspaper, magazine after magazine, book after book. (I learned about William F. Buckley's run for Mayor of New York exclusively because of Doug's show. I got Buckley's out-of-print book out of the Carrick library immediately after work one day as a result.)

It might be hard to find a more well-read talk show host (not to be confused with Jerry Bowyer, the smartest talk show host I've ever heard, but that's another story), as Hoerth went to downtown newsstands for New York tabloids and anything else he could read.

In the early 1990's, Doug Hoerth was as good a talk show host as there was anywhere. Anywhere.

Granted it also helped that Doug was surrounded by other talented talkers, like Lynn Cullen and Phil Musick. Lynn, I remember, wept on the air when former Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caliguiri died suddenly. Musick was even more of a fan of books than Hoerth, but he wasn't nearly as entertaining (Phil was a writer first). It's easy to say that that lineup was the best I heard in my 20 years in this great city.

Hoerth was also eclectic. Some would say weird. He was.

A former bud exterminator in Florida, Hoerth challenged a radio station program director to put him on the air. That was the beginning of a storied career. He worked at much-larger KDKA but really found his footing at WTAE. It was obvious that Hoerth was prickly. His life was an open book for long-time listeners. He was an alcoholic, clean since something like the late 1970's. Unlucky in love—if memory—serves he was married once, long-divorced and without children.

Doug went out of his way to never mention exactly where he lived, but frequent listeners could figure out it was Bellevue, a working-class hamlet just north of downtown. He didn't cook, but ate every meal at restaurants in his neighborhood. Other than those outings, he boasted of never leaving his apartment, which was a stone's throw from his “Wall of Unwed Mothers,” a loitering area for young girls pushing strollers.

Some “homespun” stories revolved around a coffee pot he kept in his bedroom. It was a makeshift bedpan he used so he wouldn't have to haul himself out of bed at night. I'm not sure if that was inspired by anything Jean Shepard wrote. Shepard, a popular radio personality far before his “A Christmas Story” became a holiday staple, was one of Hoerth's inspirations.

Hoerth was summarily bumped from the afternoon shift to morning drive for inexplicable reasons. His show wasn't the powerhouse of intelligentsia it once was, with Hoerth and producer Lawrence Gaines talking about their lack of sleep, “All in the Family” and “The Godfather” over and over again. I'm not sure when it happened, but Hoerth was let go by WTAE. His prospects were limited.

For a while, another AM talker, WPTT, tried to pick up the mantle of smart, local talk. They hired Cullen, and after a while off the air, plucked Hoerth from near obscurity and put him back behind the microphone. (I even called the station and talked with the program director in an attempt to cast a vote on Hoerth's behalf about a year and a half before he was signed.) His first shift back was a frantic, excitable mess. But it was fantastic to have him back.

Internationally-known Forensics Pathologist Cyril Wecht was a perpetual guest. The two had tremendous discussions about everything under the sun, and Hoerth could stand toe-to-toe with the famed attorney/man-of-science. That wasn't always easy to do in talk radio, as Wecht's “Progressive” viewpoints often clashed with those of “Classic Liberal” Bowyer. Hoerth, a Libertarian, pretty much got along with everyone on air.

Another famed Pittsburgher, wrestler Bruno Sammartino was another visitor who was great for grand stories. In fact, it was on Hoerth's show that Sammartino “outed” famed actor Vincent Price for “liking larger men.” According to the long-time champ, Sammartino patronized a New York bar with friend Frank Sinatra and was unsuccessfully approached by Price. Hoerth about took a spit take on air. As did all who listened.

Granted, there was a time in which even I burned out from Uncle Dougie. His “edginess” was gone, never to return, except for the story of his mother.

Hoerth's mother lived with him during her waning years. After her passing, Doug started to talk that she was “back.” With Doug Hoerth telling the story, with his flare and sincerity, you truly thought it might be possible (even though it rarely happened outside of Divine Intervention). It was classic Hoerth.

Along the way he hosted listeners on Fridays. Four average joes would come in and they'd all discuss the issues of the day. I was originally on first after Major League Baseball players avoided a work stoppage. Most were happy. I said the Pirates would never compete unless there was a salary cap. To this day, they have not been competitive.

I was on again about a year later. During a commercial break, Hoerth looked at me, shook his finger and said. “You. You're good.” It was a triumph for sure. Hoerth then raced out and had a cigarette. Doug liked cigarettes. A lot.

It's a little known fact that Doug SCREAMED into the microphone, largely because of his own horrendous hearing. He said it was from a lifetime of listening to music through head phones. It was still jarring to hear his distinctive laugh and terrific thought of consciousness at a high decibel.

It's been a few years now since Doug Hoerth was let go from WPTT. The station nearly went dark, but it was saved by Ron Morris, “The American Entrepreneur.” It's a “Money Talk” station but Morris and long-time producer Darryl Grandy played a piece or two from Doug's archives today. Darryl, like Gaines (who passed a few years ago), like my friend Greg Kuntz, like my friend John Sawa, like my friend Dan Zabo, were producers for Doug Hoerth. And sadly, they were all shunned by the reclusive genius that was Doug Hoerth.

The radio show was Doug's reason to go on. And fan, any long-time listener knew it was.

According to published reports, a friend was worried about Hoerth earlier this week and called authorities. His body was found in his apartment. According to his own broadcasts, Hoerth was terrified of dying alone in his apartment and not being found for a while. That's exactly what happened.

Long time fans can't watch Blazing Saddles or hear Groucho Marx and not think about Doug Hoerth, the boy from Jersey who did good.

Doug Hoerth, dead at 66. Pittsburgh radio will never be the same. We all lost a friend.