"Save As DAISY XML" versus "Laptop Catches Thieves"

Yesterday was the official release of Microsoft's "Save As DAISY XML" translator for Word and the simultaneous release of the newest version of the DAISY Pipeline.

The direct link to the Microsoft Save as DAISY area is in the Projects area of the DAISY Web site at: http://www.daisy.org/projects/save-as-daisy-microsoft/

Information, links to the DAISY Pipeline press release, and downloads for the Pipeline are in the DAISY Pipeline project area at:
http://www.daisy.org/projects/pipeline/

Press releases for Microsoft's "Save As DAISY XML" translator are also available in DAISY 2.02 format. This DAISY DTB with synthetic speech was created using the "Save As DAISY XML" translator and the DAISY Pipeline.

This announcement led to quite the conversation on the listservs about what this development may mean to ... well ... I guess we are not really sure. The good people of Dolphin Computer Access take a stab at clarification on their website:
http://www.yourdolphin.com/index.asp?id=149

As exciting as this anouncement is - can it compare to the AP story about the laptop that assisted in the capture of the guys who stole it?

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A Westchester woman who had her laptop stolen was able to connect to the computer, photograph two suspects and file the photos to local police who used the photos to arrest two suspects. Police say they also recovered most of the $5,000 worth of electronics stolen from the woman's White Plains apartment back on April 27.

Police say the woman got a call from a friend asking if she was online. The victim said no and was told by the friend that her computer showed her as being on the Internet. At that point the victim signed onto another computer and used the "Back to My Mac" program to determine that her stolen MacIntosh laptop was on the Web. She then used the stolen computer's camera to photograph the suspects.