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Olympians Romp

NY Times: "The Rise of the Buff Bunny (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/fashion/15NYAD.html) ," by former Olympic swimmer Diana Nyad , now a cross-platform journalist who frequently contributes stories for the Times. Nyad writes about the double standard for female athletes who pose (sometimes nude) for magazines: "Call me old school, but my feathers were plenty ruffled," she writes about photo layouts of female American Olympians in FHM and Playboy (http://www.playboy.com/magazine/olympians.html?join/magfront0904_olympian s) . A companion audio slideshow online (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/olympics/index.html?8dpc) by staff writer Joe Drape takes a somewhat different approach to the Nyad story with photos of soccer star Brandi Chastain, high jumper Amy Acuff, and softball players Jennie Finch and Lisa Fernandez. There are audio comments from Finch and Fernandez, and Drape summarizes, "It is no longer scandalous or provocative for women to choose where they want to appear in the media and how they want to appear in the media."

New Tech Warriors

Who Thrives

For Pittsburgh to thrive in today's connected world, our ambitions and accomplishments in community need to be realized throughout the ranks of the citizens and workforce. Who must be part of our computing capacity?

"The world is more demanding. Everything involves technology. You can't just say to someone that you'll do their books for them," said Naula Kebba, a 37 year-old female accountant in 2003 in Uganda. Folks in Africa understand and apply the need for technological skills in the workplace.

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, one of our leading community organizers wrote to another leading organizer on a public list (Dec. 2002)

As an organizer you (being twice my age) you should know better than to have this communica over email. Let's talk face to face. Don't get to comfortable with communicating over this box (my agitation to you).

The clear defiance of effective use of technology by citizen warriors in some circles is akin to going into battle with giants and choosing to deploy only pea-shooters and slingshots. Many leaders within Pittsburgh's ranks are still okay with the avoidance of email. The computer is some box that is not leveraged with comfort. Hence, the world is about to zoom beyond our grasps.

Personal Home Pages

An early and important mission for what is to happen in our creation of sustainable community wide discussions includes introductions. These introductions have four perspectives, at least.

1. Introduce yourself to the greater community.
2. Introduce yourself to the technology and communications capabilities in meaningful ways. We want to better leverage the internet and strengthen our networks. We'll need personal home pages and pointers to other sites on a personal scale.
3. Introduce yourself to priorities and statements of purpose within yourself. Please ponder and express what matters most to you within the realm of our shared public spaces.
4. Discover insights in the hearts, minds and history of neighbors and netizens. On-line introductions can accelerate our meetings in casual settings. After introductions the crafting of our ideas begins in earnest. Introduction follow-ups can present precise buffers and clearly extended personal stories.