Proof

As you may know, I’m writing a book on Microsoft Windows Vista, the next version of the operating system. You may also recall that I wrote about my encounters with a very aggressive Copy Editor who can’t believe English is my first language (or read about that, if you don’t recall).

This week, I saw a draft of the book cover. I am now going through Adobe Acrobat PDF files, looking at the text and figures as they are laid out for printing. It finally looks like a book and seems more real than ever.

These files contain comments from a proof reader (could be one word or hyphenated — I’m not the guy to tell you). Many of the proofreader’s comments have been spot on, to the point of catching extra or missing spaces and more.

One thing that frustrates me is the proof-reader “correcting” something that has been “corrected” several times already. For example, I prefer to write “websites.” However, from the beginning in this book, I have written “Web sites” and that has stood the scrutiny of the DE, TE, PE and CE. Now, the proofReader suggests “websites.” So, I have to argue against a change I approve of because it would have to be made 1000 times (insert comma, if you like — I don’t like a comma in 1000). Sure, search and replace (capitalized? italics? quotes?) makes that easy, but why are we discussing this at the bitter end?

Having been through the wringer with the CE, I thought I might be too calloused to care any more, but I do note a few of the PR’s comments here:

I wrote: The joke at the turn of the century is “The whole world is in beta.”

He notes: Are we still at “the turn of the century”?

Later, he notes: Is there maybe too much complaining in this procedure? move remarks into a sidebar?

I wrote: pronounce it like a Klingon

He notes: really sounds like that?

I wrote: Have your notary click the OK button and initial here (X ____) and here (X ____).

He notes: humor here OK?

I think that centuries turn slowly, like ocean liners. Maybe that’s because I am more than half a century old, myself, or that when I studied the turn of the 1900s it seemed to last more than a few years. As for the Klingon remark, the real joke is that the text referred to would not be pronounced at all, but spelled out (like FBI, not AWOL). Finally, I do not advertise myself as a comedian, or even a humorist; I do think a bit of levity lightens dull topics.

At this point, I would pay to see the ProofReader and the Copy Editor fight to the death. Humor here OK? mjh

Inquiry Sought Over Evangelical Video

Inquiry Sought Over Evangelical Video By Alan Cooperman, Washington Post Staff Writer

A military watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform in a promotional video for an evangelical Christian organization.

In the video, much of which was filmed inside the Pentagon, four generals and three colonels praise the Christian Embassy, a group that evangelizes among military leaders, politicians and diplomats in Washington. Some of the officers describe their efforts to spread their faith within the military.

“I found a wonderful opportunity as a director on the joint staff, as I meet the people that come into my directorate,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack J. Catton Jr. says in the video. “And I tell them right up front who Jack Catton is, and I start with the fact that I’m an old-fashioned American, and my first priority is my faith in God, then my family and then country. I share my faith because it describes who I am.”

Pete Geren, a former acting secretary of the Air Force who oversaw the service’s response in 2005 to accusations that evangelical Christians were pressuring cadets at the Air Force Academy, also appears in the video. The Christian Embassy “has been a rock that I can rely on, been an organization that helped me in my walk with Christ, and I’m just thankful for the service they give,” he says.

The 10-minute video is on the group’s Web site, Christianembassy.com. … The Christian Embassy Web site says the group holds prayer breakfasts each Wednesday in the Pentagon’s executive dining room and organizes small groups to help military leaders “bridge the gap between faith and work.”

Army Brig. Gen. Bob Casen refers in the video to the Christian Embassy’s special efforts to reach admirals and generals through Flag Fellowship groups. Whenever he sees another fellowship member, he says, “I immediately feel like I am being held accountable, because we are the aroma of Jesus Christ.”

Defense Department regulations [bar] personnel from appearing in uniform in “speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration . . . which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted.”

All the officers are identified in the video by their Defense Department positions….

In 2003, Army Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin drew criticism for appearing in uniform before church groups and saying, in remarks captured on video, that President Bush was “appointed by God,” that the United States is “a Christian nation” and that Muslims worship “an idol.” The inspector general’s office determined that Boykin had not violated any rules, and he remained in a top intelligence post.

This year, Navy chaplain Gordon J. Klingenschmitt was court-martialed for appearing in uniform at a political protest in front of the White House, though he maintained that all he did was lead a prayer.

Democratic Wave in Congress Further Erodes Moderation in GOP

Democratic Wave in Congress Further Erodes Moderation in GOP By Zachary A. Goldfarb, Special to The Washington Post

[T]he Democrats’ victory in the midterm election accelerates a three-decade-old pattern of declining moderate influence and rising conservative dominance in the Republican Party. By one measure, the GOP is more ideologically homogenous now than it has been in modern history. The waning moderate wing must find its place when the Democratic majority takes over in January.

“The irony of this election is that the public, in seeking change, has . . . weakened the center,” Leach said recently. “In a sense, what has occurred is the strengthening of the edges of the parties.”

Eight of the House’s 20 most moderate Republicans lost their seats: Rob Simmons and Nancy L. Johnson (Conn.); Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass (N.H.); Michael G. Fitzpatrick and Curt Weldon (Pa.); Sue W. Kelly (N.Y.); and Leach. Also, moderate GOP Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert (N.Y.), is retiring, and he will be replaced by Democrat Michael A. Arcuri, the Oneida County district attorney.

On the Senate side, the defeat of Lincoln D. Chafee (R-R.I.), a critic of the war who declined to vote for Bush’s reelection in 2004, underscored the same trend.

By one measure, the 110th Congress will have the fewest moderates since the 19th century. …

An important factor in the Democrats’ victory in the midterm election was that independent and moderate voters abandoned the GOP in droves. Since the 2002 midterms, support for the Republican Party has declined seven percentage points among moderates and nine percentage points among independents, according to exit polls.

Another Milestone

I am happy — oh, so, happy — to announce I have completed the second round of Author Review of my book (“my book”!), PC Magazine Windows Vista Solutions (Wiley Publishing). The first draft took about 8 weeks. The two rounds of Author Review took another 6 weeks and increased the book from 100,000 words to 160,000, if that is a measure of anything.

We’re not quite done yet, though I hope there is a small I in We. There is still some layout to be done. Then, I have to review PDFs, which will be my first opportunity to see the many screen captures in place within the text. Then a long pause before the book hits the shelves around the end of January, when Windows Vista is officially available in retail. mjh