Stan's List

Microsoft has submitted the Office Open XML document format to the Ecma international standards body, garnering the support of Apple, among others, in its effort. CRN reports Apple made a strong endorsement of the Microsoft submission, too. ‘Apple and Microsoft will continue to work closely together to deliver great products to Mac users and application developers for many years to come’” said Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, Philip Schiller, in a statement. Massachusetts officials maintain that a move to the OpenDocument format would open up office productivity software to more competition.”

This is from the iTunes Music Store:

Haunting, mysterious, ethereal, but never dull—Trio Mediaeval’s performances have earned them a reputation as one of the most exciting early music groups around today. The Scandinavian threesome has a history of combining some of the oldest and newest works in the vocal repertoire. On their latest album, Stella Maris they perform chants from the 13th Century alongside a contemporary setting of the Mass Ordinary, commissioned by the trio from Korean-born composer Sungjil Hong. This week’s “free” Discovery Download, Dou Way Robyn / Sancta Mater is practically unique amongst early English vocal music because while the lower part in in English, the upper melody line is in Latin.

I enjoy the Discovery Downloads as I likely would not get to know this talent