June 2007

An ODF/OOXML File Format Timeline

June 24, 2007

I suppose the downside of a blog post containing only a picture is that there is nothing for anyone to quote. So here are a few themes that struck me while putting this chart together: Microsoft once made file format information on the binary formats readily available, in fact encouraged programmers to use the binary [...]

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The Value of Choice

June 21, 2007

Here in Westford, Massachusetts, some of our public schools have boilers that can be powered by natural gas or heating oil. This way the schools can have their choice of fuel, which they can alter year to year, or even month to month according to the comparative prices of these two commodities. Such a choice [...]

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No Representation Without Specification

June 19, 2007

Maybe I just have an ear for this, but whenever I hear a number of people saying the same odd thing, using the same strained phrase, it catches my attention and makes me take a closer look. Individuals naturally have a great diversity of expression and phrasing, so where this is lacking, and the Borg [...]

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Hemidemisemiquavers

June 11, 2007

Some “short notes” to share with you: From a GrokLaw news pick we hear that ZDNet’s David Berlind recently interviewed Tim Berners-Lee in Boston, where Sir Tim received the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Watch the whole interview if you have 12 minutes, though I will transcribe one passage which highlights the [...]

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Documents for the Long Term

June 5, 2007

We all will die. Institutions come and go. Empires and nations crumble. But what is written down may have transcendent longevity. Whether it is a personal letter from a departed friend, the minutia of administration or the recorded contemporary reports of great historical events, the durable written word has almost mythic status in our culture. [...]

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