South Africa protests Microsoft Office 2007

South Africa is appealing a decision to make Microsoft Corp.'s Office Open XML format an internationally recognized standard for electronic documents, officials said on 28 th May. The South African Bureau of Standards sent a letter of protest to two Geneva-based organizations that held a worldwide ballot on Microsoft's application last month, complaining that the process was poorly conducted and rushed. SABS Chief Executive Martin Kuscus said on May 22 “"We challenge the validity of a process that, from beginning to end, required all parties to analyze far too much information in far too little time," through letter to the International Standards Organization and the International Electrotechnical Commission.

Long before Microsoft started selling Office 2007, its plan to switch to OOXML for saving Word, Excel and PowerPoint files sparked worries among competitors that future changes made by the software maker could render government or corporate archives unreadable especially by non-Microsoft programs. That could lock the lucrative large customers in to buying software from Microsoft forever, they said. Supporters of a rival format called OpenDocument Format have claimed that Microsoft used strong-arm tactics to win approval from the national committees that voted on the new standard last month. ODF also an international standard recognized by ISO is used by Sun Microsystems Inc. and IBM Corp. software.

South Africa's appeal is in line with its government's policy to use free open-source software except in cases where proprietary software is "demonstrated to be significantly superior," according to a government Web site. The country is also home to Mark Shuttleworth, founder of a popular flavor of the Linux open-source operating system called Ubuntu, who has publicly expressed his opposition to the OOXML ratification. South Africa may also have been swayed by arguments from Sun and IBM, said Rob Helm, director of research at the independent group Directions on Microsoft

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Commonsense Knowledge Bases in Artificial Intelligence

In artificial intelligence research, commonsense knowledge is the collection of facts and information that an ordinary person is expected to know. The commonsense knowledge problem is the ongoing project in the field of knowledge representation (a sub-field of artificial intelligence) to create a commonsense knowledge base: a database containing all the general knowledge that most people possess, represented in a way that so that it is available to artificial intelligence programs that use natural language or make inferences about the ordinary world. Such a database is a type of ontology of which the most general are called upper ontologies.

The problem is considered to be among the hardest in all of AI research because the breadth and detail of commonsense knowledge is enormous. Any task that requires commonsense knowledge is considered AI-complete: to be done as well as a human being does it, it requires the machine to appear as intelligent as a human being. These tasks include machine translation, object recognition, text mining and many others. To do these tasks perfectly, the machine simply has to know what the text is talking about or what objects it may be looking at, and this is impossible in general unless the machine is familiar with all the same concepts that an ordinary person is familiar with. Information in a commonsense knowledge base include the following:

• An ontology (computer science) of classes and individuals
• Parts and materials of objects
• Properties of objects (such as color and size)
• Functions and uses of objects
• Locations of objects and layouts of locations
• Locations of actions and events
• Durations of actions and events
• Preconditions of actions and events
• Effects of actions and events
• Subjects and objects of actions
• Behaviors of devices
• Stereotypical situations or scripts
• Human goals and needs
• Emotions
• Plans and strategies
• Story themes
• Contexts

Decorating Ideas for Your apartment Windows

Your windows are the eyes of your apartment. You windows are often the most noticed part of your apartment. When it comes to decorating your windows you have many options. You may go with drapes, curtains, blinds, or shutters just to mention a few. All of these options have their own advantages for your windows. You may want to add more light in to your apartment or may want to have more privacy for your apartment. The type of window treatments that you choose can help you to solve all of your window problems. And can add window decor to the inside and outside of your apartment.

Drapes are a good choice for your windows. They are lined to make them heavier and thicker then regular curtains. They hang nicely at your windows. And when closed they can be good to keep drafts from coming in around your windows. They offer good privacy for your windows. And can block the light from coming in to your apartment. Drapes come in many colors, designs and patterns to match the decor you have in your apartment. Drapes are a good window treatment for your home but can be a more expensive window treatment. Curtains are a very common window treatment for your apartment. They are inexpensive and are used on many windows in many homes everywhere. Curtains are usually not lined, and are made of thinner material then drapes. They come in a wide variety of colors, patterns and designs for your windows. There are different types of curtains you can get for your windows. Some of them are valances, swags, panels and tier curtains. Curtains are a good option for any window in your apartment.

Blinds and shutters are also good options for decorating your windows. Blinds are inexpensive and are another common window covering found in most apartments. Blinds give you privacy and come in a variety of styles like Venetian blinds, vertical blinds, and horizontal blinds, Blinds are durable and last a long time in your apartment. They are easy to clean with a damp cloth. Shutters are not found in most homes. But can be a good window covering for many reasons. Shutters are very durable and add good privacy to your windows. They are decorative and keep the sun from getting in to your apartment. They are also good for keeping cold drafts out from around your windows. Shutters are more expensive then other window treatments. But can be a very good choice of window coverings for your windows. These are just a few of the many decorating ideas for the windows in your apartment.

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