File formats for information exchange

This blog post by Eugene Spafford points out that

Microsoft Word:

1. Is not a document interchange format -- it is not designed for document transport
2. Is not installed on everyone's machine, nor available for everyone's machine
3. Not all versions of Word are compatible with each other
4. Results in huge, bloated, files for tiny content (such as memos)
5. And of course, Word is commonly a vector of viruses and maicious hacks.

He includes a link to the (plaintext) "bounce message" that he uses to educate people who send him Word documents. Well worth a look.

Similar considerations apply to files produced by PowerPoint, Finale, Photoshop, and other programs. Open-source, cross-platform programs like Audacity and the Gimp aren't immune either: even when they're available cross-platform, you shouldn't use them for email.

If you're actively collaborating with somebody who you know is using the same program and version (I'm upgrading to Audacity 1.3; this isn't just a Microsoft problem by any means), by all means use that program's file format, but put it on a website and email the URL rather than trying to ship the whole darned thing in email. Many email systems will bounce big files anyway.

If you're sending a finished product, use plain text, HTML, or XML if at all possible. Other text-based standards include LaTeX for typeset documents and ABC for music. Images can be sent as PDF or JPEG, formatted documents as PDF, music notation as a zipped MIDI file, and sound files as FLAC or Ogg. But even here they're big enough that you'll want to put them on the web and email a link.

(via spaf_cerias.) ETA Oh, and if you're thinking this was inspired by a particular piece of email, or a particular blog post, it wasn't. Just seemed like a good reminder, especially now that I'm trying to put together a CDROM.

Lemmings with Personality

( results behind cut )

A Day in the Life...

Stayed home today -- my boss is on vacation, my schedule is flexible, and I have a lot of vacation to use up so as not to start losing it. The plan was to get some work done on the album(s), and in this I was not entirely unsuccessful.

Had a late breakfast/brunch rather than separate breakfast and lunch; the flower_cat had planned to take a friend out to Flames; she invited me to join them, so that's where we went. Chain coffeeshop with a large selection (I had eggs, hash browns, and chile rellenos) and decent prices.

After that I came home and hacked briefly, then went out for my walk about 2:30. I find that I can easily skip breakfast, but have a much harder time if I eat breakfast and try to skip lunch. Brunch works.

Spent the rest of the day hacking on the Makefiles and scripts involved in pulling together a CD/CDROM combination. This is largely motivated by the impending deadline for the "bonus disk", About Bleeding Time! It's entirely possible that I won't have them in any quantity by the first of the year, but I want to have at least a rough cut so I can put together a package for the InterFilk auction at GAFilk. I'm not particularly worried about not having disks in hand, even though that was the original plan, because I realized about a week ago that I'd need a temporary seller's permit for Georgia and I didn't have time to get one. Works better this way -- I'll print a flier with an order form and receipt at the bottom.