Wednesday January 18, 2006

StarOffice 8 Product Patch 1 available

Sun has just released Product Patch 1 for StarOffice 8 (this is also available as OpenOffice.org version 2.0.1). This release closes the following 8 accessibility bugs:

• Issue 45917: JAWS 6.0 freezes OOoCalc
• Issue 50188: Crash in table wizard in special case
• Issue 55411: Crash choosing symbols from Selection pallette with accessibility on
• Issue 42664: Initial Registration Dialog can't be spoken with Gnopernicus
• Issue 46400: task pane: cannot start tasks with keyboard
• Issue 46886: Gnopernicus feedback overly verbose going through Registration options radio buttons
• Issue 48643: Icons in the printadmin module are not HC compliant
• Issue 48644: The icons of the Launch Menu are not HC compliant

Accessibility work on StarOffice (and OpenOffice.org) is ongoing. Another 19 accessibility bugs are already closed in the forthcoming StarOffice 8 Product Patch 2 (also known as OpenOffice.org version 2.0.2).

Kudos to the gang in Sun Hamburg doing all this great work! (2006-01-18 15:10:30.0) Permalink

Veni Creator Spiritus!

Rehearsals have begun for the 2nd half of the 2005/2006 San Francisco Symphony Chorus program. Last night we began rehearsing Mahler's 8th symphony, which opens with the Latin text "Come Creator Spirit". Dedicated to "Meiner lieben Frau Alma Maria", the 8th symphony is one of the more challenging choral works. Like Mahler's 2nd symphony, he demands an incredible vocal range (the basses go from B below the bass clef to G above middle C - nearly three octaves!), and does so across a huge dynamic range (ppp through fff, and every step in between). Thankfully when we're down the gravelly parts of our range (the low B) its ppp - the most sound we could possibly make down there anyway, and likewise the high G is ff (since we couldn't do that quietly no matter how good our falsetto).

I've performed Mahler's 8th symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus on two previous occasions, so last night felt like renewing an acquaintance with an old friend. Another old friend I'm looking forward to a renewed acquaintance with is the Verdi Requiem, which we perform in June.

If you are interested in attending any of these performances, now is a great time to get tickets! Today through Tuesday evening January 24th the Symphony Box Office is running a sale - all seats that cost less than $50 are available for $25, and everything else is available for $50 (including their very best, $107 seats). Details available here. (2006-01-18 14:48:51.0) Permalink