HEADLINES

INSIDE STORY
- Tell me again ... why should I care about XML? (White paper)

PLUS...
- Adobe PDF Conversion: How, For Whom, And When? (Part II)
- New aviation XML spec
- Recently Asked Questions
- Don't Forget To Visit DCL's Tech Library

OTHER NEWS
- Information providers increasingly asked to upgrade
  from HTML to XML
- Sports writers get their own markup language
- World's largest digital library for children opens its "doors"
- B-2 stealth bombers to be deployed overseas -- thanks to
  maintenance crews
- Silk Road treasures put in "virtual museum"
- New jet flexes its wings

ASIDES
(The month's offbeat news)
- Archive your life as a searchable multimedia package ...

BEST OF DCL-NEWS
- Best Stories From Previous Issues

COVER STORY:
Firms pushing forward with data conversion projects despite tough economy
Date: 12/3/2002, DCLnews Exclusive

DCL's second annual survey on data conversion, just released, shows a positive picture despite the state of the world economy. Many firms are increasing their conversion efforts and only a tiny percentage are cutting back. As might be expected, XML was the most popular format to migrate to ... more

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INSIDE STORY:
Tell me again ...
Why should I care about XML? (white paper)
Date: 12/3/2002, DCLnews
Converting to XML not only gives you the ability to publish documents to the Web, print, CD-ROM, and to handheld devices at the click of a button, it also brings very real cost savings ... more

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PLUS...
Adobe PDF conversion: how, for whom,
and when? (Part II)
Date: 12/3/2002, DCLnews Extra
Lazar Weisz of DCL provides the lowdown on PDF conversion in the second of a series of white papers on the subject. This month, PDF Image Only ... more

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New aviation XML spec
Date: 12/3/2002, DCLnews Extra
To facilitate the commerce of parts in the commercial aviation industry, the Air Transport Association (ATA) defined an XML specification for e-commerce transactional information.  The spec is known as "SPEC2000" and includes all information relevant to this industry, including part and serial numbers, application data, part history, etc.

As more and more airlines, maintenance facilities, and parts manufacturers migrate to an XML data format, SPEC2000 is also migrating to become XML enabled.  At the recent SPEC2000 forum, (October 2002 in Orlando, FL), Mr. James Taylor presented the status of XML usage in SPEC2000 transactions.  His presentation is available here.

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Recently Asked Questions
Date: 12/3/2002, DCLnews Extra
This month, Mike Gross, DCL's Chief Technical Officer, discusses the converting of Adobe PageMaker and Adobe InDesign documents to XML ... more

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DCL Technical Library
Don't forget to visit our technical library for insider information about XML and SGML, e-books, technical documentation, and scientific and educational publishing ... click here

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OTHER NEWS:

Information providers increasingly asked to upgrade from HTML to XML
Date: 11/30/2002, ADTmag.com

Business news and information providers are increasingly being asked to upgrade from HTML to XML. This happened to OneSource Information Services, Inc, based in Massachusetts. The company was delivering business information, including news, articles, and reports, to customers in HTML format. But last month, the firm announced it would be providing an enhanced version of its services in XML.

"There are two reasons why XML is important from our customers' viewpoint," said Mary McCabe, senior vice president of OneSource. "One, they want to be able to display the data in a user interface visually the way the rest of their applications look, rather than having it come up the way we've designed our HTML. The other is to get at the field-level data so they can access our data right along with internal data that is relevant to whatever it is they are working on."

Commenting on the story, DCL president Mark Gross, said: "Going from HTML to XML is undoubtedly a viable upgrade. HTML doesn't provide sufficient information to allow data reuse for new applications, or even for new versions of HTML. As data use applications become more advanced we expect to see more and more firms adopting XML. Many DCL clients have been using XML or SGML as the base format and automatically converting to HTML when that was what was needed for delivery. This frees them up considerably." ... more

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Sports writers get their own XML-based markup language
Date: 11/7/2002, USA Today

New XML-based markup language, SportsML, makes it easier for sports writers and editors to format, store, and publish sports information for newspapers, websites, and other media. The Sports Markup Language takes typical sports information, such as game or player statistics, and breaks it up into basic elements. The language then defines how that information should appear in print, in a database, on the web or wireless device, or on interactive TV. Any changes can be made once and will be reflected across all media and hardware platforms. Editors say SportsML will cut out much of the drudge work that goes with sports statistics formatting. "The newspaper industry has been waiting for years for something like SportsML," said Walter Baranger of the New York Times.

Commenting on the story, DCL president Mark Gross said: "The first thing to note is the SportsML story was published in USA Today, which shows that XML has really hit the mainstream. Secondly, the strength of XML is that, rather than being a single format, it is a language that allows you to define new specialized formats for special applications. SportsML is one example, but there are many others -- MathML being one. These specialized applications are emerging as XML support is becoming more prevalent. The story also highlights how waiting around for XML to be totally standardized is a waste of time -- as it will arguably never happen."... more

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World's largest digital library for children opens its "doors"
Date: 11/18/2002, NPR.org

Last month, the International Children's Digital Library went live. A joint project of the University of Maryland and Internet Archive, the library is free to anyone with Internet access, and is being billed as the world's largest digital library for children.

Every page of Alice in Wonderland and 200 other books have been scanned into the library's collection. Eventually, 10,000 texts from 100 cultures are planned. So it will be truly multicultural. But for the $5 million project to be a success, children will have to enjoy reading from computer screens ... more

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B-2 stealth bombers to be deployed overseas -- thanks to maintenance crews
Date: 11/8/2002, NPR.org

The Air Force  will deploy its B-2 stealth bombers from bases overseas for the first time, putting the bat-shaped aircraft close to any possible action in Iraq or other theaters of conflict. Since its inception in 1993, the B-2 has flown all missions from its home base in Missouri. Air Force confidence that the B-2s are ready to deploy abroad is recent. Only a year ago, Air Force top brass expressed concern that four mobile shelters ordered to house the stealth bombers outside the U.S. might not meet exacting specifications.

To be combat-ready, the aircraft's unique charcoal colored skin -- made of composites fashioned to help keep the aircraft invisible from radar -- needs facilities where temperature and humidity are closely controlled. But now, B-2 pilots are confident the shelters' problems have been solved. "Our maintenance folks have figured out how to make them work," said one pilot. Currently, five shelters are ready for use in Diego Garcia, a British island in the Indian Ocean. According to sources, modifications are being made at the Royal Air Force's Fairford base, in Gloucestershire, England, to accommodate the B-2s -- and some shelters may be put up there too ... more

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Silk road treasures put in "virtual museum"
Date: 11/7/2002, International Dunhuang Project

A treasure trove of over 100,000 manuscripts and paintings from the Silk Road are going on show on the web. In real life, these treasures are spread out across the world. Researchers can now view the artifacts digitally on a website developed by the British Library and the National Library of China. The materials, some of which were recovered from the Dunhuang Cave in China in 1900, offer a glimpse into the lives of merchants, officials, soldiers, monks, and farmers living and working in towns along the Silk Road.

Placing the artifacts in a "virtual museum" also ensures  they will be preserved for future generations. "These are a delicate, fragile collection," said Doctor Susan Whitfield, director of the British Library's International Dunhuang Project. "They have worldwide significance and handling does compromise their long term preservation ... more

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New jet flexes its wings
Date: 11/18/2002, L.A. Daily News

NASA has begun test flights of a modified jet fighter that has flexible wings -- an idea first mooted in the days of the Wright Brothers. The AAW (Active Aeroelastic Wings) aircraft made its first flight last month at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in tests to see whether flexible wings can improve a pilot's control of his plane. During the one hour eight minute flight, NASA research pilot Dana Purifoy checked the modified Navy F-18A's flight controls, avionics systems, engine operation, and newly installed test instrumentation. Purifoy also evaluated the inboard and outboard leading-edge flaps used in AAW research.

NASA officials say the tests are steps toward the long range goal of aircraft that sense their environment and adapt their shape, engine performance or control systems to flight conditions such as speed of direction or even damage from enemy fire or accident. The space agency, the Air Force, and Boeing modified a Navy F-18A to reduce the stiffness of its wings. The test program will determine whether using wing twisting rather than conventional flaps alone, will provide better control at speeds just below and above the sound barrier.

"We're extremely happy to get the aircraft off the ground after a lot of hard work by a lot of good people at Boeing, the Air Force, and NASA Dryden," said Denis Bessette, NASA Dryden's AAW project manager. "This is the beginning of the 21st century aircraft, where morphing technology will create wings that bend and shape themselves for aircraft control and efficient flight from low to high speeds and low to high altitudes. We're expecting very productive research ... more

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ASIDES
( THIS MONTH'S OFF-BEAT NEWS)
Archive your life as a searchable multimedia package...
Date: 11/20/2002, New Scientist

Developers at Microsoft's Media Presence lab in San Francisco are working on software that will chronicle your life events and make them searchable. Literally anything can be recorded into the multimedia database that has been dubbed "MyLifeBits."

Besides storing official documents like his passport, Gordon Bell, one of the developers, has posted everything from letters and photos to home videos and work documents. All his email is saved to the system, as is anything he reads or buys online. Plus he as started recording phone calls and meetings, which are stored as audio files.

MyLifeBits could help us preserve our experiences more vividly for posterity -- like a hi-tech equivalent of the artifacts found in the Dunhuang cave in China that chronicle life along the Silk Road 2,000 years ago (see Virtual Museum story above) ... more

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Best of DCLnews:
Read through a selection of the best articles from previous issues of DCLnews. You'll find articles on e-books, technology, Internet, data conversion, and digital publishing, as well as off-beat news.
Click here

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DCLnews Staff Editor: John Shreeve Publisher: Mark Gross, President DCL Data Conversion Laboratory 61-18 190th St., 2nd Floor Fresh Meadows, NY 11365 Telephone: 718-357-8700 Website: www.dclab.com Editorial E-mail: DCLnews@DCLAB.COM

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