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TNPC for 15 June 2006
By DanB | June 23, 2006
by Dan Butler
15 June 2006
Hello
Thank you for reading TNPC.
This issue Al Gordon returns with an article about
Document Standards and Government agencies. This
is a far larger topic than it appears at first.
Think about the movements here in the U.S. for a
national I.D. card or the constant stories about
stolen data or even the portability of personal
data. Data formats impact all of these things. I
don’t like the idea of trusting Microsoft with
data or security - ever. Their track record in
this regard should speak for itself. But that is
all I will say for now.
You will also find some comments on The Trigger
Point Therapy book that many of you are finding
relief from pain. I had several notes from readers
who suffer from Fibromyalgia who have found help.
If you have pain - especially in your hands,
wrists, and arms - you should check this book out.
It could help you.
I am still thinking about the RESEND emails. I
will try something different this week. There are
still thousands of people clicking on the link so
it is important to help them see the emails they
requested.
First make sure you read the previous issue of
TNPC here:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/c2.html
Several possible answers to “grain of sand” quote
I asked about last issue. More than likely it
points to Buddha. The quote as I had it last issue
carries a slightly different meaning than the
Buddha references I was given. You can read the
comments over at the blog:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/blog/
My most recent project is a book titled “Quick and
Effective Internet Business.” I finished it just a
few days ago. If you have thought about starting a
small business or just picking up a little extra
money have a look:
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/p/quickbiz/
** Open Document Formats and Microsoft and Massachusetts by Al Gordon
Here’s how we here in Massachusetts know there is
something serious to the Open Document/Open Office
movement: the state legislature held hearings on
it.
I kid you not.
A few months ago, Massachusetts’s Information
Technology Division (a unit of the Executive
Office for Administration and Finance - the state
equivalent of OMB) released its “Enterprise
Technical Reference Model v.3.5″ setting state
software policy for the next several years. Most
significantly, it required that by January, 2007,
all offices in the Commonwealth’s executive branch
must save documents in “open” (meaning not
controlled by any one company) formats such as the
commonly used PDF (Portable Document Format) or a
new standard called “Open Document.” Ruled out are
the familiar file formats used by Microsoft Office
- “.doc” for Word, “.xls” for Excel, and so on.
In this context, “format” doesn’t mean the styles
you use in a document - doing a letter in 10 point
Arial, for instance - but rather the coding in the
file that tells your computer to use 10-point
Arial. Governments, big corporations, and other
large institutions (”enterprises” in tech jargon)
want file technologies based on a standard called
XML (”Extensible Markup Language”). A product of
the Internet age, XML can be used interchangeably
to define a conventional document or a Web page
reflecting the fact that the lines between the two
have blurred in today’s business world.
Microsoft also is planning to adopt XML in the
next version of Office. But as is its wont, the
company plans its own proprietary version.
Massachusetts’s proposal gave a big thumbs down to
that idea.
Naturally, politics quickly came into play.
Republican Gov. Mitt Romney’s Administration is
backing the plan. So inevitably Democratic critics
such as Secretary of State William Galvin and
members of the Legislature are questioning the
idea. Galvin, who has the responsibility for
maintaining state records, was not at all amused
by the idea that a major change affecting his
office was being made without consulting him.
Microsoft’s commercial interests aside, state and
local governments here (as elsewhere) have a huge
installed base of Microsoft Office and little
enthusiasm for the cost of replacing it. After
all, the government wouldn’t go with the free
version of Open Office; it would turn to a
commercial release that has vendor support behind
it.
The outcome was somewhat predictable: The state
backed down and announced that it would OK
Microsoft’s new “Office Open XML” format. But to
win that approval and fend off similar moves by
other government entities, Redmond committed
itself to submitting Office Open XML to
international standards bodies for their scrutiny.
So Microsoft won, but it had to make concessions
to do so. The mighty haven’t exactly fallen. But
they did stagger a little.
(c) 2006 Al Gordon.
In addition to his computer interests, Al Gordon
is a Boston-area media and political consultant.
His web site is www.algordon.com and his TNPC blog
is http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/al/blog.html.
** From the Book Shelf…
I continue to receive positive comments on “The
Trigger Point Therapy Workbook.” Here is what a
few of the other TNPC readers have said.
This comment from Kathryn was posted to the forum:
Dan,
Thanks so much for telling me about the
Workbook. I have fibromyalgia, and the massage
techniques help immensely with the pain and
stiffness that I have on a daily basis. I have
used the text to help others in my family and the
results are excellent. Thanks for making my life
easier.
Kathryn
And this in the email:
Re: the trigger point/Fibromyalgia, I have FMS and
it is painful as all get out and nothing has
helped much except the trigger point therapy.
David S.
How to Read a Book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671212095/tnpcnewsletter
Relearning to See:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556433417/tnpcnewsletter
That is it for this issue. Thank you for reading.
–
© 2006 Dan Butler
Dan Butler is the Editor-in-Chief of TNPCNewsletter.com and the
author of the amazing new book that shows you how to save your
identity, get your email read, and put more time into the things
you really enjoy…
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out of sight and out of mind.
http://www.TameYourEmail.com/
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Copyright 2006 Dan Butler
All Rights Reserved.
ISSN: 1522-4422
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