[Bjorn240]

In the initial rules update, I promised an updated, corrected, 2004 rulebook by 3/24/04.

Here is an update: We've converted the correct 2003 rulebook from locked .pdf to writable .doc. We are currently in the process of adding the 2004 rules changes to this book. There are 19 pages of updates.

The updates are being done by myself, Doug & Sue, John McArthur, and Bruce Weinman. I anticipate these changes being done by Thursday 3/25/04. Once this is completed, the entire 2004 rulebook will be forwarded to Alan Perry for his review of changes and proofreading. I've asked Alan to try and complete this in a 2-3 day timeframe.

Once this is completed, I will take the full 2004 Rulebook and convert it to a .pdf doc. The new anticipated completion date is Monday, March 29. Possibly, Tuesday the 30th.

To try and answer the obligatory questions:

1) Yes, these people got involved by volunteering. Many thanks!
2) Yes, we will try to include the black bar - this is a challenge in Word, but I am working on it.
3) Yes, it has lifetime scores.
4) Yes, it will either not have a master password, or the master password will be the name of my dog.
5) Yes, my dog's name is readily found on the internet, though it helps to know what breed he is.
6) Yes, sorry for no longer posting much. I don't have access from work.
7) No.

Thanks,
- Christian

Bjorn Christian Edstrom
www.christianedstrom.com

 

[Jason_Grahn]

>7) No.
>
>Thanks,
>- Christian
>

Darn, and my seventh question was if you were going to send cheeseburgers to everyone anytime soon! Oh well, here's to hoping!

Thanks for all the hard work!

-Jason

 

[Paul Nelson]

>The updates are being done by myself, Doug & Sue, John
>McArthur, and Bruce Weinman.

Thanks to you, Doug, Sue, John, and Bruce for your hard work.

Thanks for keep the members informed.

Paul

 

[jimmy]

Christian-

In case you CANNOT do the black bars, may we get a copy of the 19 pages and we can do our own black bars. I have tried comparing parts of 2004 to 2003 to FIND those changes, and it is a real pain. I don't want to miss something significant.

And thank you to those who volunteered to help!

>There are 19 pages of updates.
>
>2) Yes, we will try to include the black bar -

press on,

 

[Andrew Comrie Picard]

FS: the name of Christian's dog. Contact me at [email protected]

ACP
Flirting with the laws of physics.

PS isn't it great that Christian is involved with the SCCA now? The resemblance of many procedures to real-world business is kinda spooky.

A.

 

[Don Kennedy]

Thanks for all the work guys, particularily in a time constrained situation.

BTW, ACP, I tried that e-mail address and it just bounces back and says "No friends found" ;-)

 

[jandreini]

You have to use the password to get in. It's the name of ACP's cat.}>

 

[Guest]

Won't Word also (fairly easily) do a redline version?

I know redline isn't the same as the bars, but perhaps its a viable option given the time constraints.

 

[nicebloke]

FS - ACP's cat's name: email [email protected]

Neil.
Team SoCalRally Audi Quattro

 

[jandreini]

To include the track bar, create two styles, one with a left hand border; one without. Toggle between these styles to turn the "change bar" on and off.

Hope this helps. You can e-mail me directly if you have questions.
[email protected]

 

[hilmera]

Speaking as someone who did techwriting and was forced to use Word, Word is the zed and omega of evil when trying to get actual work done. I was one of the unfortunates who learned how to use it fairly well, well enough to help write the training manual for our special package of templates, and I would rather chew on my toes than repeat the experience.

I suppose it would beat unemployment, though.

I would use the borders function, myself. The styles thing may work. God help you if you try to create the bars by placing graphics off to the side. It will work just fine until that random cosmic ray pops one of them off, at which point the formatting for the whole document will go all Madison Avenue on you. Maddening. Absolutely maddening. Word is such a waste of time.

andy
--
Viva la ProleRalliat!

 

[jandreini]

Well, if you're looking for an argument, you'll have to pick a different subject. However, the PRR are in Word, and have been for at least 15 years(the first time I had to deal with them). Also, SCCA is a Word shop. It would be nice to switch everyone to a program that works, but, in the real world, we must play the hand we're dealt.

By the way, as I explained to Christian privately, I suggested using borders within the two styles. It just has always seemed easier to set one style with a border and one without, and toggle between them. Word seems to get less confused that way.

 

[hilmera]

As much as I wail about Microsoft and Word, there are only two cost-effective alternatives that have any legs: OpenOffice.org or handwriting the things in XML. OpenOffice would work at least as well as Word, but getting the powers that be to switch is difficult. Raw markup isn't an option either, even though, in truth, most communications and documents need to go through a competant techwriter anyway. The alternatives work and they're cheap, but persuading folks to do it right is impossible.

I love Word and Microsoft, actually. I do backup and restore admin these days, and every new release of Orifice expands the data storage needs for systems and documents. It also mushifies brains and results in more "whups, I deleted my crucial file" restore tickets. Job security, you know.

andy
--
Viva la ProleRalliat!

 

[AlanPerry]

I have done a bunch of standards work. The drafts have usually been in Word. In one group, we had a huge template document with lots of styles and automatic table of contents, figure listings, etc. generation and more. For small specs, it was nice. However, the specs didn't have to get very big before Word just couldn't cope. It would seem to lose track of what style was associated with a paragraph and you would need to reapply the style. One had to tweak things all of the time to make it look right. Microsoft attended these standards meetings and would get a lot of flak over it.

Showing my Unix bias, I do the Seattle-area Lotus club newsletter and the annual car club photo calendar in Framemaker.

alan

BTW, I am still waiting for the new rulebook to proofread.

 

[Foghorn]

>BTW, I am still waiting for the new rulebook to proofread.

Ouch, best laid plans of mice and men...and all that...

Kent Gardam

 

[Bruce]

Since Christian is too busy at the moment, I figured I could provide a small update. Adding the changes to the rulebook was divided among several of us by sections. What Christian had anticipated would take "1-1/2 - 2 hours max" took several days...at least my sections did. I haven't heard from the others directly, but I THINK all sections are done. Now the task becomes re-merging those sections, making things like pagination come out right, then proofreading and putting it back into PDF.

We're still working on it...thanks for your patience.

Bruce

 

[RichardM]

Who said we were patient? Some body get a rope!
Richard

 

[Guest]

If you folks are after another set of eyes to proof things (or do other work on it), please feel free to e-mail me a copy.

I realize you probably have this covered, but the offer to help is there if desired.