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
Yearly Archives: 2006
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
If I were a science writer…
I don’t know about hell (yet), but Albuquerque, and all of New Mexico, froze over (why “over”?) last night. And with it, the bird bath in this photo.
Notice the the peak of ice near the peak of the brick. It almost looks like the water bubbled up just as it froze. I can’t believe the proximity of these peaks is coincidental. Did the brick conduct cold deeper into the water? Did it merely provide a surface to climb? (Though the ice peak is not exactly next to the brick.)
If I were a science writer and didn’t know the answer, I’d know someone who does. mjh
The End of All Debates
ABQjournal: Wilson Hangs On Despite Trends By Jeff Jones And Michael Coleman
Brian Sanderoff, president of Albuquerque’s Research & Polling Inc., points to Madrid’s debate mistakes— and more specifically the way Wilson took advantage of them— as the single most important factor.
“This is going to become a classic, textbook example of one defining moment affecting the outcome of an election,” Sanderoff said.
In future elections in New Mexico, when not a single candidate is willing to participate in debates, don’t blame Bill Richardson, blame Heather Rove Wilson. Why would anyone risk a gaff becoming the defining moment of the entire election? It turns out Richardson’s selfish, cowardly act was a wise move — you know what a snake like Dimdahl would have done with any odd gesture or miscue.
Long before Madrid’s brain freeze, the GOP (god’s Own Party) sent out fliers designed to frighten voters. The funniest one linked Madrid to Hillary Clinton’s massive plan to socialize medicine in America (the last step before turning everyone gay!). Once Madrid handed The Party of Fear her own open-mouthed head on a platter, the fear factor was “can we trust her?” As if she would have a finger on the button, 500th in succession. As if the innumerable blunders, verbal and otherwise, by inarticulate Duhbya haven’t lowered the bar to ground level.
In two years, remember Wilson’s presumptive arrogance in declaring herself the winner 10 days before the facts came close. Remember the slap in the face to everyone who did not vote for her (the vast majority of voters in the district). Remember the Party of Arrogance and Fear. mjh
In Which Adair Makes an Ass of Himself
Most of us have come to expect arrogance from Republican leaders, as well as some disconnect from reality. Rod Adair seldom disappoints on both counts. In his latest column for the Journal, Adair explains that everything good is and always has been Republican and everything shifty and immoral is and always has been Democrat.
Adair writes about “our ancient foes in the Democratic Party.” That’s a healthy attitude. Listen to this: “Our opposition [is] to Democrat ideas, whether slavery, segregation, the Ku Klux Klan, poll taxes, Jim Crow laws and the like…” Yes, Rod Adair believes slavery is a Democrat idea and the KKK is a Democratic PAC. Which party supports unfettered private property rights and opposes an intrusive Federal government forcing change on those who would not have it?
Let’s be clear about one thing that Adair does not understand. The GOP is NOT the Party of Lincoln. They tell themselves that to comfort themselves, but in the early 1900’s, the Republican party became the party of the rich, the party of the landholder, the party of unchecked business, the party of the anti-progressive reactionary and the redoubt of angry white males — Adair being a case in point. Lincoln’s influence ended in the late 1960’s, when the Republicans began to appeal to white Southerners who resented Federal intrusion in their state’s rights. Since the 1960’s, the Party of Lincoln has not said, “You Dems are finally getting on board with desegregation and affirmative action.” Instead, they’ve said, “Those Dems are interfering with your time-honored ways.” Ways that include Jim Crow and lynching.
Adair claims, “We are the party that fought against slavery and won. Who opposed us every step of the way? The Democrats.” So Jefferson Davis was a Democrat? The last election shows the Republican Party has become the party of the South–perhaps Trent Lott’s return is another indication, scooping up all those former Democrats who despised Kennedy and King. So, while Adair wraps himself in the flag, he’d better make sure it isn’t confederate (like George Allen’s).
Adair writes, “We must admit that over the past 12 years, our congressional majorities and then our administration tried to out-Democrat the Democrats— pork-barrel spending run wild, copying Democrat ideas that legitimize illegal immigration, complete abandonment of fiscal discipline at all levels.” Everything wrong in the past 12 years is due to the GOP embracing the Democratic ideals. Yeah, right.
Finally, Adair beats the drum again against “the liberal media.” The very media that publishes him? The media that makes Lush Limbaugh an idol of countless ditto-heads? The media that burned Dixie Chick records? Fox News? Please, Rod. mjh
ABQjournal: Voters Hold Republicans to Higher Standard By State Sen. Rod Adair, Roswell Republican
mjh’s blog — Rod Knows Bigots
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Embittered Insiders Turn Against Bush – washingtonpost.com
Some insiders said the White House invited the backlash. “Anytime anyone holds themselves up as holy, they’re judged by a different standard,” said David Kuo, a former deputy director of the Bush White House’s faith-based initiatives who wrote “Tempting Faith,” a book that accused the White House of pandering to Christian conservatives. “And at the end of the day, this was a White House that held itself up as holy.”