(Update) ISO has alsways moved the goalposts in the middle of the match, not only at the BRM, but when it became clear MS didn’t have enough votes in first round of balloting, MS rented NBs who had never before participated in IT standardization, and even after that couldn’t get enough votes, read more (PDF)

There will be no Finalized Text from the BRM for National Bodies to vote on. The results of the BRM only emits editorial changes. The National Bodies’ final decision will be based on the BRM editors instructions (which contains complex and big structural changes), 2300 page ECMA proposed disposition (which may or may not have been approved by the paper vote) and the original 6000 page document. National Bodies are expected to approve’ a large body of text which doesn’t exist. This is irresponsible.

What you can do and say No to OOXML: Contact your national body. Here is a list of National Bodies by Countries

There will be a BRM (Ballot resolution meeting) in Geneva on 25-29 February 2008 to answer the comments by National Standard Boards on OOXML and to resolve issues.

Microsoft has set up a situation where many of the shortcomings and thousands of comments which need to be resolved at the BRN will not be addressed. They have closed this process as much as possible and have delayed National Boards from having adequate time to review proposed changes. They are setting themselves as heads of the National Boards in Portugal and Ireland. Many National Boards are still loaded and influenced by Microsoft Certified Partners and over a dozen counties have been lobbied by MS for the sole purpose of advancing Microsoft’s interests alone, as opposed to advancing the broader global community which ISO serves.

In the instances cited above, National Boards have become de facto agents of Microsoft’s interests. For example, the following would constitute a country that is acting effectively as a Microsoft agent rather than a member that acts in good faith:

• If a country that has never before participated in JTC1 activities joins JTC1 as a P-member just two days before the OOXML ballot concludes
• If that country then votes an unqualified YES without comments on a 6,000 page standard
• If that country is without an industry or public consult
• If that country then goes on to ignore every other ballot that comes before JTC1

When the above happens 20 times, then it is committee stuffing and the process is damaged.

Read on, mon cher! »

Posted by Russell at 10:29 AM PST

5 Comments »

We thought we’d end the week with a little love, and the best way to illustrate this tolerance and play is to point you to the coolest video on the Web this week.

In this video, you’ll see a wild polar bear play with a tame and chained Husky. It’s an amazing incident caught on tape so that you can enjoy.

Posted by FA Editors at 8:00 AM PST

No Comments »

Rob Weir found a very interesting image (shown here), where sixteen men were lined up outside an early Renaissance church with one foot behind the other. He writes:

“This print, from a 16th century surveyor’s manual by Jacob Koebel, called Geometrei. Von künstlichem Feldmessen und absehen, explains the procedure:

“‘Stand at the door of a church on a Sunday and bid 16 men to stop, tall ones and small ones, as they happen to pass out when the service is finished; then make them put their left feet one behind the other, and the length thus obtained shall be a right and lawful rood to measure and survey the land with, and the 16th part of it shall be the right and lawful foot.’”

Weir then goes on to wonder why - from a technical perspective - these men didn’t use or develop a standard rule, even a crude ruler, to measure this rood. But, at that time, the entire world was hard pressed to develop a map, let alone a standard rule. After all, the English didn’t develop the compass until 1745 (although the Chinese were well ahead of this development and didn’t share because of geography). Remember, the world is just emerging from some very dark ages at this time.

The word “rood” is said to come from the Latin for “crucifix”; but other sources show that this word also means, simply, “pole,” or a measurement that equaled one-eighth part of a statute acre in Wales (an erw) or in England at the time. The public measurement that Weir discovered, although inconsistent, was developed in public and it was determined by feet that belonged to ordinary men - but this might have been conducted when a “standardized” pole wasn’t available.

While this process seems democratic and a great analogy to ISO (which means “equal” in Greek), and while the image and remarks mimic the process in which international standards might be initiated or even developed, another look at history reveals that this form of measurement wasn’t a European standard during the 16th century. Nor did it evolve into an international standard even after the American Revolutionary War.

Read on, mon cher! »

Posted by ewoman at 8:00 AM PST

No Comments »

I’m lucky, because I have the best of both worlds. I live in an area which feels like it’s in the heart of the country, but I can be in Manhattan, NYC in less than 1 hour. I reside right next to Glenclyffe, a 93-acre parcel of land on the Hudson River in the Highlands, in the Hudson Section of land preserved through the efforts of OSI and its partners.

The OSI gives me daily inspiration for my pursuits of advocating Free Open Source software, especially free software developed by volunteers collaborating as a community for the benefit of freedom and open standards. Open Standards gives the ability for anyone to implement easily, innovate on and expand on with no restrictions. The OSI, FOSS and open standards have parallel philosophies and a similar mission. they both about humanity, all allow freedom.

Here is more on the OSI taken from thier Mission Page:

The Open Space Institute (OSI) protects scenic, natural, and historic landscapes to ensure public enjoyment, conserve habitats, and sustain community character. OSI achieves its goals through land acquisition, conservation easements, regional loan programs, fiscal sponsorship, creative partnerships, and analytical research. OSI has protected more than 100,000 acres through the New York Land Program, through direct acquisition and conservation easements in the State of New York. Through the Conservation Finance Program, which provides low-cost bridge loans, OSI has assisted in the protection of an additional 1.7 million acres across the East Coast. The Conservation Institute influences land use policy and practice through research, communication and training.

All of OSI’s work is directed by a consistent overall conservation strategy that emphasizes permanent protection on a landscape-level scale. Each discrete transaction, whether buying a conservation easement on a small family farm in the Hudson River Valley or helping fund the purchase of 100,000 acres in Maine, represents an effort to align the pieces of the landscape puzzle, and prevents fragmentation, which disrupts key wildlife corridors, impairs water and air quality, and diminishes the beauty and scenery of natural areas. Visit the Open Space Institute.

Posted by Russell at 12:36 PM PST

No Comments »