The Pittsburgh LAN Coalition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PITTSBURGH– Pittsburgh LAN Coalition, Inc. (”Pittco”) plans to hold its tenth event, IRON STORM 9, on August 16 and 17 at the Castle Shannon Firehall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittco is opening the doors for 200 gamers for 24 hours of non-stop gaming, competition, camaraderie, and fun.

Pittco attracts gamers from throughout the greater Pittsburgh area, and even into Canada. There are 200 seats available, and registration is open immediately.

“We have been continually growing throughout almost every event,” Dan Wright, Pittco president, said. “At Iron Storm 8 we received our largest attendance level yet, surpassing the 150 mark plus staff.”

This surpassed Pittco’s previous record of 130 plus staff at Iron Storm 7.

“We have even been lucky enough to have people from all of the country, as well as Canada and Europe attend our events,” Sean Potter, Iron Storm 9 organizer, said.

Regardless of the number of attendees, Pittco promises to have more PC and console gaming action than ever before.

Prepaying for the day-long event costs $25, and the walk-in door price is $35. Pittco recommends prepaying for the event not only because of the cheaper price, but because choice seating is available to those who registered beforehand.

Iron Storm 9 will be held at the Castle Shannon Volunteer Fire Department located at 3600 Library Road Castle Shannon, PA 15234. This is the same location where the four prior events where held.

In the past UT3, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counter-Strike: Source, Counter-Strike 1.6, Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Battlefield 2/142, Day of Defeat, Call of Duty 4, World of Warcraft, WarCraft III, and StarCraft have been played. If there is a popular game that a gamer desires to play, odds are that that gamer will find someone at Iron Storm who wants to play it with them.

The tournaments at Iron Storm 9 will be similar to previous events with a couple of new additions to the lineup. Some of the main tournaments are the 5v5 Counter-Strike Source with a $25 buy in per team, 5v5 Call of Duty 4, and 1v1 Unreal Tournament 3 DeathMatch. Pittco will also run a 5v5 Battlefield 2/142 tournament if there is enough interest. In addition to these main events, Pittco will be hosting some classic game tournaments which include a 1v1 “Clamato Bowl” Quake 3 tournament and a 1v1 StarCraft: Brood War tournament.

For console gamers attending the event, Pittco hopes to have an array of eight HDTVs. Tournaments for Halo 3, Guitar Hero 3, and Super Smash Brothers: Brawl will be taking place on these HDTVs.

In addition to our gaming tournaments, Pittco will be hosting many other things to do at the event, including Pittco’s heralded “Ice Head Competition”, held at the end of every LAN party. The goal of the Ice Head Competition is to see who can hold their breath the longest, upside down, in ice cold water. Ice Head, Karaoke and Extreme Musical Chairs are just a few tournaments that Pittco is planning to organize throughout the event.

Also at Iron Storm 9, Pittco will giving gamers a chance to win some serious cash and prizes in its 50/50 ROFL(Raffle). Pittco will be supplying the raffle with over $500 worth of the latest and greatest computer components. Sponsors for these items will be announced soon.

The Pittco staff is positive that having some of the latest games mixed in with old fan favorites will draw a bigger crowd to the event, as well as win over many new sponsors for prizes.

Registration for the event is now open, and is accessible via Pittco’s website (http://www.pittco.org/register/). The cost of the event will be $25 pre-paid, or $35 at the door. Drinks and snacks will be made available to everyone, and pizza will be provided for an small, additional cost.

For more information, contact Dan Wright, president of Pittco, or Sean Potter, IS9 organizer.

ABOUT PITTSBURGH LAN COALITION, INC.
Pittsburgh LAN Coalition, Inc. (”Pittco”) was founded in 2003 to organize the greater Pittsburgh LAN scene. The mission of Pittco is to provide a safe, entertaining, and competitive environment for video gamers of all ages. Since its inception, Pittco has held nine events and has received much attention in the LAN party community. Its web site is www.pittco.org .

“WIN A TRIP TO FASHION WEEK WITH THE BAWLS GUARANA ULTIMATE FASHION EXPERIENCE CONTEST!”
Miami, FL - June 16, 2008 - Win a chance to be at the most glamorous event of the year! BAWLS Guarana today announced the launch of the 2008 Ultimate Fashion Experience Contest! The Energy Drink of Fashion will send one lucky Grand Prize Winner on a trip for two to New York for the largest, most glamorous fashion event of the year - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week!

BAWLS will give one Grand Prize Winner the ultimate fashion VIP treatment. The winner will have access to a weekend of the hottest invite-only shows and sip plenty of BAWLS Guarana to keep them fashionably buzzing under the tents! Five Runners-Up will win an Ultimate Fashion Prize Pack, a couture BAWLS bottle tote by designer Bacca da Silva and plenty of BAWLS Guarana drinks!

Enter to win at www.BAWLS.com/fashion. No purchase necessary to enter and winners will be announced in August 2008.

About BAWLS
BAWLS is the brainchild of entrepreneur Hoby Buppert, CEO of Hobarama, LLC, who named the beverage for the caffeinated “bounce” the drink packs. Widely distributed to local supermarkets, convenience stores (7-Eleven, Speedway/SuperAmerica), Target, Microcenter stores and gaming venues; BAWLS is a premium, non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage made from the guarana berry harvested in the Amazonian Rainforest. The caffeine found in BAWLS Guarana contains the same amount of caffeine as coffee and nearly three times that of traditional sodas due to a naturally occurring form of the stimulant found in the guarana berry. BAWLS’ unique refreshing flavor tastes like a citrus infused cream soda and its popularity continues to grow among caffeine-deprived, refreshment-seeking fashionistas, students, professionals and athletes in need of a Bounce. For more information, visit www.BAWLS.com.

Copenhagen, Denmark - June 12th, 2008 — SteelSeries, a leading manufacturer of innovative professional gaming gear, today announced a partnership with the world’s largest LAN event and computer festival, DreamHack, based in Jonkoping Sweden.

DreamHack is a brand recognised worldwide for holding the world’s largest LAN-party, demo-party and computer festival. DreamHack events are drug and alcohol free, which allows all ages to participate - attracting people who have an interest in computers, gaming, designing, music composition and competitions.

In the winter of 2007, DreamHack officially broke the record* for holding the largest LAN party in the world, successfully attaining 10,544 computers adjoined via a network. Their bi-yearly event includes activities that range from concerts, educational lectures, Go Carting, Bungee jumping to major qualifiers for diverse gaming events that are held around the world.

With the new partnership, SteelSeries will supply the latest products within the SteelSeries portfolio, for both major DreamHack events, plus support the DreamHack LAN Qualifiers which span across the Nordic countries.

“We are happy to be working closely with SteelSeries and using their cool products as prizes in our competitions. We feel that this is great value for our visitors and e-sport gamers at DreamHack,” says David Garpenstahl, Chairman of the Board, DreamHack.

“SteelSeries are extremely proud to become the gaming gear provider for all DreamHack events within the Nordic countries,” says Louise Thomsen, Marketing Manager for SteelSeries. “Being present at all the DreamHackevents allows us to showcase our latest products within gaming and at the same time gain valuable feedback on existing and future products.”

*Guinness World Records

About SteelSeries

SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, software and gaming surfaces, available in more than 75 countries. SteelSeries, whose motto is “winning is everything,” has been on the forefront of professional gaming gear since its inception in 2001. The company has set a new benchmark for gaming accessories around the world thanks to continued innovation and product development in cooperation with leading professional gamers, the world’s most demanding IT consumers, who actually make a living based on the quality of SteelSeries products. SteelSeries’ development strategy is simple: Only products that take performance to the next level will be introduced. This ensures optimum performance and durability across a variety of gaming and other demanding applications. For more information, please visit www.SteelSeries.com.

About DreamHack

DreamHack started out as a small get-together for computer enthusiasts in 1995 and is today the world’s largest computer festival. The visitors bring their own computers and all connect to a massive local network and to the Internet. The event runs for four days and is hosted twice a year. DreamHack Summer and DreamHack Winter have the official world record and are noted in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest LAN party in the world. For additional information, visit http://www.dreamhack.se.

Whenever we’re asked “when is Firefox going to be released” we endeavor to answer to the best of our abilities, but the truth of the matter is that we’ll only ever ship “when it’s ready”. We have a lot of indicators that help us understand when the product is ready for release: feedback from our pre-release milestones, excitement in the community and the press, availability of compatible Add-Ons, and a large active beta community helping us ensure that the release is compatible with all the various sites on the Internet.

After more than 34 months of active development, and with the contributions of thousands, we’re proud to announce that we’re ready. It is our expectation to ship Firefox 3 this upcoming Tuesday, June 17th. Put on your party hats and get ready to download Firefox 3 — the best web browser, period.

Source: Mozilla

The New York Times ad…Firefox Flicks…the Firefox crop circle…Operation Firefox…you name it! The Firefox community is always up to some cool, collaborative way to declare their passion for Firefox. What better way to do this than band together to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours?!

It’s a whole lot easier and safer than donning a beard of bees or underwater jump roping. All you have to do is download Firefox 3 when it goes live on Download Day — some time in June. In the meantime check out Download Day Headquarters and pledge to download Firefox 3. We’ll let you know when Firefox 3 goes out the door, kicking off our 24-hour attempt.

Here are some other ways you can help in the run up to Download Day:

* Get the word out; tell your friends, your neighbors, your grandma, anyone and everyone to participate in Download Day.
* Host a party to download Firefox; you provide the people and we’ll provide the party favors.
* Put a Download Day badge on your blog, profile or website.

With your help the Firefox community can go down in history! If you have any questions or ideas please drop us a line at worldrecord @ mozilla.com.

H.R. 5990, the “Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act”, was recently introduced by Rep. Jim Matheson [D-UT]. The bill would do the following:

• Mandate for all video games the display of an age-based content rating determined by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB)
• Direct the Federal Trade Commission to require that all video game retailers display information about the ESRB rating system
• Prohibit the sale of ESRB-rated “Adults Only” games to minors
• Prohibit the sale of ESRB-rated “Mature” games to minors under 17 years of age
• Declares a violation of the any of above to be an “Unfair or Deceptive Act or Practice” and establishes a $5,000 civil fine for each violation

If you disagree with this legislation, and I’ll bet that most Pittco attendees would, please write to your Congressman, urging him or her to argue and vote against it. If you need inspiration for a letter, read the one which Colin Dean wrote to Congressman Altmire to urge him to vote against H.R. 5990.

Chicago, U.S.A. — May 5, 2008 — The leading manufacturer of innovative professional gaming gear, SteelSeries, today announced the U.S. release of its new gaming keyboard, the SteelSeries 7G. The keyboard, designed with 18-karat gold-plated mechanical switches, sets new industry standards for advanced key combinations and Actions-Per-Minute (APM). This translates into quicker reaction times and stronger results.

The SteelSeries 7G keyboard sets a new industry standard for gaming keyboards by allowing users to perform at new levels with advanced key combinations. Utilizing a powerful PS/2 buffer-system created specifically for gaming, the SteelSeries 7G keyboard eliminates “anti-ghosting” by supporting as many simultaneous key press commands as there are keys on the keyboard. What this does, for example, is allow users in a first person shooter game to walk, crouch, aim, fire and check the scoreboard simultaneously. Traditional keyboards do not allow this much functionality all at once.

The keyboard was built specifically to offer gaming-grade response times as well as an unmatched durability with a switch lifetime of 50 million operations, which is 10 or more times the lifespan of a typical “membrane” keyboard which has a maximum of 1-5 million total keystrokes in a lifetime.

“Professional gamers demand top quality equipment that provides durability and quicker response times,” said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. “The time that we’ve invested into working with literally hundreds of gamers to design the SteelSeries 7G keyboard has resulted in a device that will truly change the way you play, limiting gamers only by their skill level - not their equipment.”

The SteelSeries 7G keyboard is equipped with audio ports for headphone-out and microphone-in and includes a two port USB hub. With both PS/2 and USB connectors, the keyboard features the compact SteelSeries Media Controls, an essential gaming element that allows the user quick access to volume, muting and other audio controls.

Recognizing the importance of high-performance PC gaming equipment, professional Counter-Strike player, Franz “mouz/gore” Burghardt, said that,

“SteelSeries creates top quality gaming gear that helps players perform at their best. The 7G has taken gaming keyboards to a whole new level by eliminating anti-ghosting and increasing the response time, which is so important for first-person shooter games. It’s a tool I can rely on even on a professional level.”

Franz Burghardt and his teammates from mousesports recently won the ESL Masters championship at CeBIT in Germany, beating the best teams in the world and winning $50,000 USD.

The mechanical tactile system is ergonomically designed to ensure ease-of-use, and the no-click switches and iron-infused plastic make the SteelSeries 7G keyboard both comfortable and durable for professional or competitive gamers.

The new SteelSeries 7G keyboard, with an MSRP of $149.99 USD, is available for purchase at Dell.com, AlienWare.com, NewEgg.com, Amazon.com and on the SteelSeries Web site at http://www.SteelSeries.com.

7G no handrest

More pictures of the 7G can be found on the SteelSeries Website

Recoil Gaming will be holding it 5th Recoil LAN on May 23rd. (This is our third year and most likely our last LAN Please help us make it the best and biggest we can.) More information can be found on the Recoil Website www.rec0ilgaming.com there are a limited amount of seats for 250 people. Please read all about registration under the Registration Tab on the site

Event Information

When: Friday May 23rd
Where: Crowne Plaza, 164 Fort Couch Road, Pittsburgh PA 15241
How much: $15 for pre-registration
$25 for at the door registration
$5 for non-electronic gaming

The doors open at 6:30pm and we don’t have to be out until 1pm on the 24th.

PC Games

• Counter Strike: Source
• Unreal Tournament
• WarCraft 3
• World of Warcraft
• Team Fortress
• And we expect many people to be playing Call of Duty 4 at this lan party.

Tournaments

• Halo 3
• Guitar Hero 3
• DDR
• Rock Band
• Super Smash Brothers: Brawl
• Magic: The Gathering

Hey there BAWLS fans. We need your help! We know that BAWLS and Starbucks Coffee would be a perfect combination for every BAWLS fan. Starbucks is looking for energy drinks to sell and they’re taking your suggestions on MyStarbucksIdea.com. This is where you come in!
Go to http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/ideas/viewIdea.apexp?id=087500000004c2s and click on the green “Vote” check mark to cast your vote for BAWLS. Each vote adds ten points and the highest numbers actually get reviewed by Starbucks! Don’t forget to leave comments to let everyone know how much you love BAWLS and why you would like to see it at Starbucks. It’s that simple. Let’s work together to get BAWLS at a Starbucks near you!

Carlsbad, CA – April 18, 2008 – Razer™, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle electronics peripherals, today announced the news that XiaoFeng “Sky” Li and Jaeho “Moon” Jang of MYM have been chosen by the BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad) to bear the Olympic torch as it travels through China.

10 pro gamers were selected by the BOCOG, of whom, 2 of them, “Sky,” and “Moon” are part of Team Razer, which is an umbrella for all the pro gamers Razer sponsors globally.

“Team Razer extends hearty congratulations to Sky and Moon, and we are just as excited as they are. Being a torch bearer at the Olympics is a momentous event, and this is a historic moment which will remain etched in their memories,” said Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff, president of Razer. “This is symbolic of how much e-sports has grown and is great for the advancement of e-sports not only in China, but around the world.”

“It’s a great honor for me to be part of something so special. Bearing the Olympic flame is a once in a lifetime opportunity and one I will treasure, not only because I’m from China, but also because I represent e-sports, which is a discipline growing in popularity,” said XiaoFeng “Sky” Li.

Fellow torch bearer, Jaeho “Moon” Jang commented, “It will be amazing being part of the contingent bearing the Olympic torch. The Olympics comes around once every four years, and this is an opportunity for me, and everyone to embody the Olympic spirit and bring greater awareness to e-sports. ”