writer

Make sure Word, OpenOffice.org Writer play well together

The first few times I worked on Word files in the OpenOffice.org Writer program, I was satisfied if the documents opened at all. That's a long way from being able to trust the open-source app with a Word file from your boss that you need to work on and return with all functions and formatting intact. These steps won't guarantee trouble-free file transfers between Word and OOo Writer, but they'll help you prevent some of the most common conversion glitches.

Keep it simple: Word files with complex graphics, nested tables, fancy fonts and formatting, and OLE … Read more

Sundancers are Web-conscious

PARK CITY, Utah--It seems wherever I go in this crowded ski-haven-turned-Tinseltown, people are talking about the Internet and its implications for the Sundance Film Festival and the overall indie film industry.

Whether it's chit-chat about the Hollywood writers' strike over compensation for content sold on the Web, or more formal panel discussions such as Saturday's "Webolution: Hollywood Adapts to the Web," the topic is ripe for discussion.

As for the writers' strike, the buzz on the street is that studio specialty divisions and other distribution companies will be buying Sundance films in earnest to fill their … Read more

Letterman's got a lot of love

With the writer's strike 10 days in, many of those employed by talk shows and other programs are beginning to feel the financial effects of the silent set, but some folks have been spared the impact (at least for now).

David Letterman, who hosts the The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, has offered to pay his staff through the rest of the year. According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, the money will come directly from Letterman himself. His production company, Worldwide Pants, also owns The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and the employees of that show will also be provided for throughout the remainder of 2007.

Zoho Writer adds pages, headers, language support

Zoho Writer, one of the most full featured Web alternatives to Microsoft Word, has added a handful of new features this morning. Most notable is the addition of page support and headers, making the application a little friendlier for editing large, multipage documents. While it doesn't have Word's fancy side-by-side and zoom controls, Zoho offers a good way to give your document the once over before printing. Support for headers and footers is simple, letting you add things like page numbers, text, and images to the top and bottom edges of your document.

Writer has also added Chinese … Read more

Screenwriters strike playlist

While some 12,000 TV and film screenwriters go on strike this week, people are filling the void by turning to other forms of media, such as DVDs and the Internet. Ironically, these outlets are exactly what the members of the Writers Guild want more of the profit of (and don't want people to support). They're hoping to come to an agreement soon, although the last walk out like this (in 1988) lasted for five months. Ouch.

We'll miss The Office, Desperate Housewives and Conan O'brien, but it's not the end of the world, right? … Read more

Eisner's advice to striking writers: Blame Steve Jobs, not the studios

NEW YORK--In his keynote speech on Wednesday morning at the Media and Money conference hosted by Dow Jones and Nielsen, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner talked about writers as though they were a minority group that he didn't particularly understand well. "I like writers. Some of my best friends are writers," he said as though attempting to save face. But nevertheless, his foremost epithet for the ongoing Writer's Guild of America strike was "stupid."

"I see stupid strikes, and I see less stupid strikes. I see smart strikes," Eisner said in the … Read more

It's official: film and TV writers strike on Monday

TV and film writers will officially go on strike starting Monday at 12:01 PST, a spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America said on Friday.

As the weekend may bring more negotiating between the guild and the group representing film and TV producers, one of the main sticking points is Internet revenue, according to a story published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.

The writers want a share of ad revenue generated by online broadcasts of TV shows. Producers insist that the Web is more of a promotional tool and hasn't brought in much money.

The dispute comes … Read more

Microsoft to acquire OfficeWriter

Since posting this, we learned that SoftArtisans no longer offers the OfficeWriter for Java product. Office Writer is an ASP/ASP.NET reporting tool currently only available for Windows.

Microsoft plans to acquire OfficeWriter, a business intelligence tool produced by SoftArtisans, the company said Wednesday.

Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division, is scheduled to make the announcement at the first Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference opening Wednesday in Seattle.

OfficeWriter is a ASP/ASP.NET reporting tool that enables people to generate Microsoft Office documents from any data source through a Web browser. It can manage reports from within … Read more