DocBook 4.5CR1 now available.

Norm Walsh has uploaded DocBook V4.5CR1 to the OASIS mirror on http://docbook.org/ (it will appear on the official OASIS site asap).

There are no technical changes in the 4.5CR1 release (from 4.5b1), but a formal motion to make a 4.5 Committee Specification followed by ratification as an OASIS Standard. This will be made official if no errors are reported before the next TC meeting.

Changes from the 4.4 Spec include:

• RFE 1055480: Allow revnumber to be optional in revision per the November, 2004 meeting.

• RFE 1070458: Allow colophon in article per the November, 2004 meeting.

• RFE 1070770: Allow procedure in example per the November, 2004 meeting.

• RFE 1071686: Add isrn as a value of class attribute on biblioid, citebiblioid, bibliosource, and bibliorelation per the December, 2004 meeting.

• Added mathphrase per the February, 2005 meeting.

• Added termdef per the March, 2005 meeting.

• Allow common attributes on HTML table elements (tr, td, etc.) per the April, 2005 meeting.

Please try this version out, and report any problems or concerns ASAP to docbook@lists.oasis-open.org

See also: DocBook

My new favorite app

Google has really done it now. Not only is Blogger extremely easy to use for blogging, but they've come out with Picasa and Hello to make it even easier!

I really don't want my blog to turn into a photo blog, but as busy as I've been, I'm finding less and less time available to blog. I have many emails in my gmail box reminding me of cool things I've found that "I should really blog someday..."

Picasa is my new favorite app. I've been managing all my photos on the iMac with iPhoto, but Picasa (even though it doesn't run on Mac, yet. GRRR. HINT, HINT Google dev guys...) goes a step further. Not only can you assign Keywords for metadata, create slideshows, organize, touch up, burn CDs, backup, create posters and collages, and more, but with Hello, can also publish straight to your blog!

This feature alone makes it worth moving all my pics to Picasa. If I get too busy to do updates, but actually have had a semblance of a life and take pictures, I can slap on a caption and post!

I wish there were some blog templating things I could do around the photos (like adding my XML wrappers), but it posts the captions, and that's usually enough. I'd like to auto-assign or templatize the addition of technorati tags, though.

I also found another cool tool called Google Earth, but I haven't had time to play with it yet...

See also: General

Another Father's Day treat: The Georgetown Loop Rail Road! This is Engine #12.

The best singing cowboys around: The Flying W Wranglers! Truly a Father's Day treat. If you are ever in Colorado Springs, you have to plan a dinner at the Flying W.

Connor and I during our EVA as Mission Specialists during our first shuttle mission (in 5DF chairs to simulate weightlessness).

Scott in the Multi-Axis Trainer (MAT), simulating a spacecraft tumbling out of control.

Connor spins in every direction in the Multi-Axis Trainer (MAT).

Connor experiences weightlessness in the 5DF (5 Degrees of Freedom) trainer.

Space Camp at night

Our view of Space Camp from the Marriott.

Connor and I in front of the Pathfinder Shuttle.

Flight Engineer 1 and 2 performing experiments aboard the International Space Station sim.

Connor and I outside the mission simulator!

Scotty at the entrance to Space Camp and Habitat 1.

Connor at the entrance to Space Camp and Habitat 1