Gadgetopia

Authenticity of new Bush military papers questioned: The question of whether the damaging military records on President Bush are accurate or not is coming down to a Word formatting question.

Independent document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines said the memos looked like they had been produced on a computer using Microsoft Word software. Lines, a document expert and fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, pointed to a superscript — a smaller, raised “th” in “111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron” — as evidence indicating forgery.

Microsoft Word automatically inserts superscripts in the same style as the two on the memos obtained by CBS, she said.

“I’m virtually certain these were computer generated,” Lines said after reviewing copies of the documents at her office in Paradise Valley, Ariz. She produced a nearly identical document using her computer’s Microsoft Word software.

Finally there’s some value for knowing the 95% of stuff in Word that no one ever uses or cares about. Who knew that knowing that could change the course of history?

I demand apologies from all the people who made fun of me for exploring all the buried submenus in Word! I have the power to bring the President down, people! Don’t tempt me!