We seem to continue the ongoing conversation about the major word processor options available. This announcement is exciting news, particularly if you've tried Neo/J OpenOffice and found the interface lacking.
The OpenOffice Mac team has just announce at the OpenOffice conference that they are going to stop the java development route and begin a full-fledged, up-to-date port of OpenOffice into aqua-OSX-native Cocoa.
This is outstanding news.
Thanks to Michael Bird for stimulating this discussion of his list of top 25 NT scholars. It's like sticking one's neck out... along with a few "amens," it's bound to invite critique. So, for the bravery... kudos.
So, here's my complaints. :)
Actually, no complaints, though I resonate with Mark Goodacre's points. How G. Theissen does not make it onto such a list is beyond me. (I guess in order to make room for Origen and Bruce.)
As for period parameters, I would at least take a cue from Bill Baird and make a cut-off starting date somewhere around the Reformation at the earliest. Not only does that represent the beginning of a newer type of NT scholarship, it also corresponds with the newer textual medium, the printed text, that facilitates this type of study.
However, my genuine suggestion is that in order to make a more meaningful list, the start date should be something like "Post-Westcott-Hort," for obvious reasons. After all, the vast majority of the current listees fit this era anyhow, and it allows the comparison of apples to apples.
A side reflection... I wonder if in years to come, NT scholarship will be divided into "pre-computer-assisted" and "computer-assisted" scholarship.
Rick has a great post on the tremendous availability of word processors . Thanks for the interesting entry, Rick. I counted 13 wp's and text editors omm (=on my machine). Of course, several of those are text editors catering to programming. This count doesn't include Unix apps such as emac and vi, etc.
Exciting news on the Hebrew-supported word processing front. ThinkFree Office has released a new version and they have added right-to-left language support. The small price tag and the non-proprietary formats it uses make it well worth trying out the 30-day free trial if you are currently considering your word processing solution.
So, if you're keeping track... to use Unicode Hebrew on your Mac, Micro$oft Word is OUT.
Mellel, ThinkFree Office, NeoOffice/J Open Office, and Apple's Pages are IN.
Well, it's good to be back. After weeks of travelling from Dallas to Houston to Oklahoma City to Portland to Atlanta, my family has ended up in our new home in Kansas City. I started last week as a pastor of a 127 year old congregation, and have just gained some sense of normalcy regarding my online activities.
