Use PDFVue To Fill Froms & Edit PDF Files For Free Online

MakeUseOf.com: "In my day-to-day 9 to 5 job I have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Pro. Yes it is expensive but it gets the job done quickly and properly when it has anything to do with PDF creation, modification and filling out forms. But not everyone has such an expensive software suite installed on their machine."

7 Tips for Efficient Meetings

WebWorkerDaily: "When you do hold a meeting with a client or with your teammates, either face-to-face or as a teleconference, you want to make it as effective as possible so you get the outcomes that you want, without wasting anyone’s time."

If You Duplicate That Virtual Sword In The Real World... Is It Copyright Infringement?

Techdirt: "Three years ago, in trying to discuss some of the thorny copyright issues that arise in virtual worlds where any 'good' is easily copied, we questioned whether copying a magic sword in a virtual world was copyright infringement."

The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5

Toolmonger: "It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select"

Moving Heavy Things

The Hardware Aisle: "After spending an hour reading and looking at the pictures in Moving Heavy Things by Jan Adkins, you'll have been amused, and you'll think to yourself, Hmmn, those old timers were pretty darn smart."

Build Virtual Lego Models On Your Computer With Lego Digital Designer

MakeUseOf.com: "LEGO is a timeless toy that generations have enjoyed around the world. Back in 2003, LEGO released a free software tool called LEGO Digital Designer. The easiest way to describe it is to say that it is a CAD tool that uses LEGO bricks to perform the design."

Props Properly Placed

WUWM: News: "Live theater has been a part of our cultural landscape for decades. For instance, Milwaukee Repertory Theater has been humming along for 54 years.
WUWM’s Susan Bence takes us through the back door, as the company prepares “Pride and Prejudice”, the production that opens tonight."

Cable Assembly Measurements

Technical Direction Tidbits: "I am planning on ordering a few stainless steel cable assemblies, and I wanted to make sure that I was specifying the lengths correctly. I found that Loos & Co had a handy reference picture."

Blogging to promote your show? Who’s in control of the message?

Theatre and Entertainment Law: "As more and more producers are looking at innovative ways to promote and market their shows, legal question start to arise.
Yesterday, I read a report about Jane Fonda’s backstage blogging during performances of “33 Vacations” on Broadway. It seems the blog is generating some real buzz… and several others shows, “South Pacific”, “Chicago” and “Phantom of the Opera” among them, have blogs on the web.
So, what happens if a member of your cast, crew or staff is blogging, and for some reason expresses discontent, or artistic “concerns”?"

Can You Copyright A Chess Move?

Techdirt: "Stephen S. Power alerts us to an ongoing debate in the chess world over the question of whether or not you can copyright a chess move. Specifically, the current debate arises from a demand by the Bulgarian Chess Federation that certain websites stop 'live broadcasting' a chess match"

Copyright And Classical Music: The Exact Opposite Of The Intended Purpose

Techdirt: "Earlier this year, we discussed a recent article about the impact of copyright on classical music, where it was noted that the music that is still considered the absolute best of that particular era mostly came from countries that did not have strong copyright protection. That article noted that there were a number of composers in France (strong copyright protection) who became rich, but that the music they produced has not stood the test of time. Meanwhile, Giles Thomas pointed us to a review of one chapter in Boldrin and Levine's Against Intellectual Monopoly that discusses how the introduction of copyright correlates almost exactly to the end of successful classical music composition in England. It is only a correlation -- the reasons could be many -- but it is worth noting."

Lincoln Center’s July Festival Features International Theater and World Music

NYTimes.com: "International theater and world music will be front and center at this year’s Lincoln Center Festival, which will run from July 7 to 26 with visitors from Russia, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Israel and Africa."

Despite the Economy, Broadway Is Holding On, for Now

NYTimes.com: "Preview performances of the new Broadway revival of “West Side Story” have lifted spirits across New York theaters: drawing gross revenues of more than $1 million in each of its first two weeks, the show demonstrates that the appetite for plays and musicals is alive and well despite the recession."

Merkerson Among 2009 Matrix Award Honorees

Playbill News: "The New York Women in Communication's Matrix Awards honor the outstanding achievements of women within the communications industry. 'Today Show' co-host Meredith Vieira will emcee the awards."

Mean Girls of Hit Film "Heathers" to Sing in New Stage Musical

Playbill News: "Legally Blonde composer Laurence O'Keefe is penning the score for a stage musical adaptation of the 1988 film 'Heathers,' which is aiming for a 2010 regional debut."

New York nixes live theater tax

Variety: "Legiters can breathe a sigh of relief now that New York state leaders have announced that $1.3 billion in proposed tax increases will be dropped from consideration -- including a potential levy on live theater."

Taking a Break

Be back next Thursday.

Public Theater pays tribute to Kander and Ebb

Post Gazette: "John Kander and Fred Ebb worked together for more than 40 years, writing such stage classics as 'Cabaret' and 'Chicago,' as well as the 1977 film 'New York, New York.' But they also wrote a lot of material in the early days for specific singers, such as Barbra Streisand, Chita Rivera and a teen-aged Liza Minnelli."

Personality test: Mark Clayton Southers

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "When an e-mail arrives from Mark Clayton Southers, you never can be quite sure where it's coming from.
Could be the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, Downtown, where he's the founder and producing artistic director.
Could be while he's on a break from his day job as a steelworker with U.S. Steel or while working on his latest play at his Schenley Heights home.
Or maybe he's just chilling with his fiancee, Lorill 'Neicy' Readie, and their 18-month-old son, Marcus Carl Southers, or with his 15-year-old daughter, Ashley."

Opera Theater chooses personal setting for Salieri opera

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Opera Theater goes exploring again this weekend when it presents a parody of opera and skips the theater.
The music was written for a composing competition between Antonio Salieri, the king of opera in late-18th-century Vienna, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the posthumous winner hands down. The premiere of both operas took place not in a theater but on specially constructed stages in the huge gardens of Schonbrun Palace, home to the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire."