Congratulations Mikal

My Friend Mikal is a Google Star! (about 11th in the Misc category.)

This is very cool for me.

Why? Because I was recently involved in a court case because I “unlocked” a locked pdf and extracted the data. This meant we could run an analysis of the data provided to us and ‘prove’ the other party had broken foreign ownership rules.

Which meant I had to testify to the unlocking of the pdf… The conversation went something like this…

Lawyer dude: “So - you unlocked the pdf”

Me: “Yes.”

Lawyer dude: “How did you know the pdf could be unlocked?”

Me: <thinks - if you can lock something it seems pretty obvious you can unlock it you idiot> “Umm well pdf is an open standard and I have a friend who has written his own pdf interpreters so I knew the locking mechanism didn’t have to be obeyed by all pdf interpreters.”

Lawyer dude: “…right…”

<pretty obviously this guy doesn’t understand what I’ve just said>

Me <smiles helpfully>

Lawyer dude: “Did you have other experience in unlocking pdfs”

Me: “Yes. Occasionally at a former employer.”

Lawyer dude: “Excellent, you had prior experience.”

Me: “Yes”

Lawyer dude: “And would you describe this friend of yours as an expert?”

Me: “Yes.”

… Now I’d be able add “He’s a Google Star!”