LEAD STORIES:
Is XML a Prerequisite to a Content Management System (CMS)?; A Point-Counterpoint Discussion

Fully Automated Legacy Conversions to XML, and other Urban Myths: An Interview with Michael Gross, DCL's CTO

OTHER NEWS:
Rolls-Royce Aero Engines' Steve Mulvaney on XML and S1000D

A Million Family Snapshots to Rebuild Rome - Virtually

9.5 Secrets for Managing DITA XML Migration

Open Source and Low-cost Tools to Get Your Content Organized

GREAT WEB SITES YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER SEEN:
Beethoven-Haus Bonn Digital Archives

ASIDE:
The 10 Worst PC Keyboards of All Time

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

FAVORITES:
Popular articles from recent issues

EXTRA:
Upcoming conferences

LEAD STORIES

Is XML a Prerequisite to a Content Management System (CMS)?; A Point-Counterpoint Discussion

Don Bridges | Scott Abel

While most people would agree that a Content Management System (CMS) would be good to have, how best to implement and to use a CMS is still for many a topic of confusion. In this lively discussion, Don Bridges of DCL and The Content Wrangler, Scott Abel, square off on the reasons for an organization to implement a CMS and whether XML is a prerequisite to a meaningful implementation vs. launching a CMS before you're ready for XML. This spirited conversation between two of the best-informed experts on the subject may not give you all the answers, but it will give you a chance to ask yourself some important questions to help you decide.

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Fully Automated Legacy Conversions to XML, and other Urban Myths: An Interview with Michael Gross, DCL's CTO

If everyone formatted documents "correctly", following all the rules, document conversion would be a "piece of cake", as Michael Gross likes to say. But that's not the real world. People don't "always" read manuals, they might take some shortcuts, and sometimes they use software in ways never conceived by their developers. In this interview Michael Gross tells us about the hidden traps that can ambush a conversion effort.

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OTHER NEWS

Rolls-Royce Aero Engines' Steve Mulvaney on XML and S1000D

Steve Mulvaney of Rolls-Royce Aero Engines talks to DCL's Don Bridges about real-world uses of XML and S1000D in the field. In this live interview Steve uses terms like "intelligent data" and "interactivity" to describe the advantages of using XML at Rolls-Royce, and reveals the vision Rolls-Royce has for using S1000D to document both civil and defense aerospace products. Listen to Don's 4.5 questions on XML and S1000D.

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A Million Family Snapshots to Rebuild Rome - Virtually

You never know how all the mounds of data appearing on the web might be used by creative minds. Now, a new use for those millions of snapshots people are uploading every day. A team at the University of Washington is gathering thousands of photos from Flickr to recreate virtual 3D images of famous landmarks across the world. The key is new technology which allows one to standardize data from many sources, much like what XML does in the text world. According to UW associate professor Steve Seitz, "The long-term vision is to be able to reconstruct the detailed geometry of all the structures on the surface of the Earth." And for starters his team has downloaded about a million photos of Rome in an attempt to recreate the entire city over the next few years. Read how they are doing it using grandma's vacation pictures.

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9.5 Secrets for Managing DITA XML Migration

DCL Commercial Tech Docs Manager and author, Don Bridges, shares his secrets for successfully moving to an XML environment. Now that the real world implementation of content reuse has become a major part of an organization's return on investment when opting for an XML solution, how do you define an approach that is practical and realistic? Don suggests you start by learning a few of the basics, set realistic expectations, and understand and manage change. But that's only a few of his secrets. You'll want to read the article to learn the other 6.5.

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Open Source and Low-cost Tools to Get Your Content Organized

One way or another you are going to have to get your content and content creation processes organized. There’s just too much of it to ignore any longer. And searching for it, updating it, and maintaining it is starting to cost money—lots of it. This overview reviews some of the Open Source and low-cost systems out there. While there aren’t many who would suggest you trash the idea of a full-scale CMS solution, and this might not be for the faint of heart, you might want to at least consider using wikis, blogging tools, or an open source CMS to get you moving in the right direction.

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Uncover the thoughts, life, and work of Ludwig van Beethoven through this extensive on-line collection. Thousands of digitally preserved sketches, original manuscripts, personal letters, and compositions are housed at The Beethoven-Haus (museum) in Bonn, and made available to the world through this incredible audio and visual journey. Read. Listen. Enjoy.

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ASIDES

The 10 Worst PC Keyboards of All Time

The road from the IBM Selectric to modern day keyboarding was full of bumps and bruises, some inflicted as a result of banging our heads against the wall. Like any good experiment in engineering, we had to live through what didn't work before someone found what did. From a spill-proof keyboard, to the first wireless model (circa 1984), these are some of the worst faux pas of computer technology.

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QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Popular articles from recent issues

S1000D: Six MORE Reasons to Consider It for Your TechDocs
http://www.dclab.com/s1000d_reasons2.asp

Cooking up CMS Success: Emma Hamer on the Human Side of Content Management System Implementation
http://www.dclab.com/content_management_interview.asp

DITA-izing Your Documents: Five Issues to Think About When Converting Your Legacy Publications to DITA
http://www.dclab.com/dita_conversion_tips.asp

What Fast Food Managers Have and Tech Pub Managers Need
http://www.dclab.com/content_quality.asp

EXTRA

Upcoming conferences

Gilbane Boston Conference Don Bridges in panel discussion on "DITA: One Size Fits All for Technical Publishing?" November 29, 2007, Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA

DIA EDM Visit the DCL Exhibit February 5-7, 2008, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Philadelphia, PA