Well, here I am.
It’s spring here!
The reason, of course, is to attend the DIS29500 (OOXML) BRM. If you want to know more, there’s the meeting convenor’s blog and an organizers’ FAQ. Oh, you want flavor. For pro-OOXML words, visit Brian Jones and Rick Jelliffe. On the Anti side, Rob Weir provides comprehensive one-stop shopping.
And that’s all I’m going to say about the subject under debate until, well, somewhat later.
Travel · The trans-Atlantic slog from Vancouver is unpleasant, but then the transfer gates at Frankfurt were like a hundred feet apart, and the hop to Geneva is nothing. At the airport there’s a machine that’ll print you a public-transit ticket good for anywhere in the city. I looked at the sun outside and thought “screw taxis” and was downtown in minutes. I thought the train station would be pretty near the hotel, so I bought a map and sallied forth, was baffled in half a block.
I summoned up my courage, shook some rust off the internal French-language gears, and approached a policeman. He was friendly and helpful; even walked me a couple of blocks in the right direction. And the French worked better than I’d hoped. Over in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the German sounds funny. But the French here sounds ordinary to me.
The Venue · I thought I’d do a trial walk from my hotel to the meeting location. Are there ever a lot of glass-faced buildings around here.
Anyhow, when I got back to the hotel I realized I’d snapped the building on the wrong side of the street from where the meeting is, but hey, it’s the ITU world headquarters. In the neighborhood, more ways than one.
For my sanity’s sake I’ll try to find something else to write about this week.
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: Andreas Reufer (Feb 24 2008, at 13:13)
Well don't worry, Swiss German is usually not even understood by native speakers of standard German.
Have a nice stay in Switzerland.
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From: Tony Fisk (Feb 24 2008, at 16:28)
Those shots remind me of a Leunig cartoon which started off with a neighbourhood putting mirrors up in front of an unpleasant streetscape to enhance the view. The idea takes off over the next frames before ending whimisically with:
"And the world became one big reflection of nothing in particular."
Keep your powder dry.
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From: Jonas Pfenniger (Feb 25 2008, at 00:42)
Welcome in my city !
Because you like taking photos, I recommend you go to the "Jardin Botanique". You can then continue by the lake. On the other side, you also have the "Jet d'eau" but make sure to not get your camera wet :)
On the same side, you also have the "Veille ville". This is the old town. For 1 swiss franc, if I remember well, you can go on top of the Cathedral. The view is pretty good for other shots.
Have fun,
Jonas
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From: Adam Fitzpatrick (Feb 25 2008, at 02:48)
> For pro-OOXML words, visit Brian Jones and Rick Jelliffe. On the Anti side, Rob Weir provides comprehensive one-stop shopping.
Between the three of them, it all just makes me hope that there's some way to make sure both sides lose.
A pox on both their houses.
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From: Firmalar (Feb 27 2008, at 07:47)
"And the world became one big reflection of nothing in particular."
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