I know that if I took the time, and dug a bit more, then I'm SURE that I could find out if Open Beta has started (I'm thinking not yet,) / When Open Beta will start, but, alas, I have put in my 5 minutes I allotted to the task, and figured that I would throw myself upon the mercies of the interwebz.
a) I know some of you HATE it when a person pops in here and asks a question that there are a gagillion answers to already - be it known here and now, this question's not for ye. Feel free to stop reading now, as there will be nothing more that you like about this post.

I have read the announcement post about the delay back in October... it mentioned that it would be a 'short' delay while they worked out some bugs before going into open beta (an act I think we all applaud ) and I have read several posts that indicate that there are still some issues that the community really hope get fixed before open beta. So, it leads me to believe that open beta is a bit off still and I'm looking for 'ball park' estimates.
I know I ought to be playing now, but honestly, I think I'd just rather wait till the game is at the nice 'stable' stage, AND where my XP doesn't get reset and all my progress will count, so, I'm waiting for Open beta.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and to those that respond with helpful answers, thank you too!
May the odds be ever in your favor!
(wrong book? :-P )