Yuri Rubinsky
Encyclopedia
Yuri Ivan Rubinsky was a writer, software executive, and well known promoter of the Standard Generalized Markup Language
(SGML), which was the basis for the now-ubiquitous XML
. In Canada, he is probably best known as founding co-director of the influential Banff Publishing Workshop and for his work in applying technology to help visually impaired people. He died on January 21, 1996 after suffering a massive and unexpected heart attack. The Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award
was created posthumously in his memory.
on August 2, 1952, the son of Andrew and Anna Rubinsky. He and his family emigrated to the Toronto
, Canada
area when he was three. He is a graduate of Brock University
and studied architecture at the University of Toronto
. After a variety of jobs in the Yukon
, Yuri focused on the publishing industry. During the summer of 1978, he attended the Radcliffe Publishing course (now Columbia Publishing course) at Harvard University. Yuri was so impressed with this course that he persuaded the Banff Centre for the Arts to sponsor the Banff Publishing Workshop (now the SFU Summer Publishing Workshops) two years later.
In 1984 Yuri married Holley Rubinsky
, a writer.
. SoftQuad developed and sold a variety of SGML tools, such as Author/Editor, and notably one of the first commercial HTML
authoring products, HoTMetaL
. From the beginning, Yuri was instrumental in bringing the SGML community together and spreading the SGML gospel. He was widely respected and well liked. He was one of the founders of the SGML Open consortium, and very active as an organizer and speaker at industry and standards events. In 1995 Yuri sponsored the SoftQuad Web Award presented to Doug Engelbart at the Fourth Annual WWW Conference in Boston, publishing the keepsake booklet Boosting Our Collective IQ as a special tribute to Doug to be given to attendees of the award ceremony.
--making software and information more usable for people with physical disabilities. In particular, he was active in using SGML to improve the access to information of blind and visually impaired people. He was technical chair of the International Committee for Accessible Document Design (ICADD), and worked towards making HTML
more accessible. Using SGML source files, Yuri's novel Christopher Columbus Answers All Charges (see below) was coded into Braille
and produced on voice synthesizer before it was printed on paper.
's The SGML Handbook (1990) and SoftQuad's The SGML Primer (1991). At the time of his death he was working on SGML on the Web (1997) which was completed by his friend and colleague Murray Maloney.
In addition to books, Yuri co-authored and produced the play Invisible Cities in 1981, authored a one-edition newspaper spoof, Not The Globe and Mail (1984), created and edited Yorker magazine (1985-86), and co-authored and produced SGML: The Movie (1990).
"There is no point in storing anything unless you can find it again, in its most useful component elements, ready to be re-purposed. There is a danger in allowing your most valuable asset - the 90% of your information that is in documents - to be locked away in proprietary, unmanaged, unmanageble electronic formats. Luckily, SGML provides an internationally standardized, vendor-supported, multi-purpose, independent way of doing business. If you aren't using it today, you will be next year." (1994)
Standard Generalized Markup Language
The Standard Generalized Markup Language is an ISO-standard technology for defining generalized markup languages for documents...
(SGML), which was the basis for the now-ubiquitous XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
. In Canada, he is probably best known as founding co-director of the influential Banff Publishing Workshop and for his work in applying technology to help visually impaired people. He died on January 21, 1996 after suffering a massive and unexpected heart attack. The Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award
Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award
The "Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award" was a prize that was awarded annually at the International World Wide Web Conference. Yuri Rubinsky, in cooperation with the International WWW Conference Committee, presented the SoftQuad Award for Excellence to Doug Engelbart at the Fourth International WWW...
was created posthumously in his memory.
Early life
Yuri was born in Tripoli, LebanonTripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
on August 2, 1952, the son of Andrew and Anna Rubinsky. He and his family emigrated to the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
area when he was three. He is a graduate of Brock University
Brock University
Brock University is a comprehensive university located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Brock offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs that include co-op and other experiential learning opportunities to an enrolment of over 17,000 full-time students.The enabling legislation is...
and studied architecture at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. After a variety of jobs in the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, Yuri focused on the publishing industry. During the summer of 1978, he attended the Radcliffe Publishing course (now Columbia Publishing course) at Harvard University. Yuri was so impressed with this course that he persuaded the Banff Centre for the Arts to sponsor the Banff Publishing Workshop (now the SFU Summer Publishing Workshops) two years later.
In 1984 Yuri married Holley Rubinsky
Holley Rubinsky
Holley Rubinsky is a fiction writer who lives in British Columbia, Canada. Born in Los Angeles California, she came to B.C. in 1976 with her daughter, the artist and children's book writer, Robin Ballard....
, a writer.
SoftQuad and SGML
In 1984, along with partners David Slocombe, Stan Bevington, and Patrick Dempster, Yuri founded a small Toronto-based technology company called SoftQuad, of which he was President. SoftQuad was started in order to improve automated typesetting at Toronto's Coach House Press, and for many years developed a version of troffTroff
troff is a document processing system developed by AT&T for the Unix operating system.-History:troff can trace its origins back to a text formatting program called RUNOFF, written by Jerome H. Saltzer for MIT's CTSS operating system in the mid-1960s...
. SoftQuad developed and sold a variety of SGML tools, such as Author/Editor, and notably one of the first commercial HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
authoring products, HoTMetaL
HoTMetaL
HoTMetaL was a very early commercial HTML-authoring software, released in 1994 by SoftQuad Software of Toronto, Canada.Based on the SGML engine of SoftQuad Author/Editor, HoTMetaL was released with a free version and a professional version . There was also a "light" version...
. From the beginning, Yuri was instrumental in bringing the SGML community together and spreading the SGML gospel. He was widely respected and well liked. He was one of the founders of the SGML Open consortium, and very active as an organizer and speaker at industry and standards events. In 1995 Yuri sponsored the SoftQuad Web Award presented to Doug Engelbart at the Fourth Annual WWW Conference in Boston, publishing the keepsake booklet Boosting Our Collective IQ as a special tribute to Doug to be given to attendees of the award ceremony.
Accessibility
Yuri was interested in the problem of accessibilityComputer accessibility
In human-computer interaction, computer accessibility refers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people, regardless of disability or severity of impairment...
--making software and information more usable for people with physical disabilities. In particular, he was active in using SGML to improve the access to information of blind and visually impaired people. He was technical chair of the International Committee for Accessible Document Design (ICADD), and worked towards making HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
more accessible. Using SGML source files, Yuri's novel Christopher Columbus Answers All Charges (see below) was coded into Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
and produced on voice synthesizer before it was printed on paper.
Writing
Yuri was an author of both fiction and scholarly material, a publisher, and most importantly a visionary. His books include A History of The End of The World (1982), The Wankers' Guide to Canada (1986) and (as co-author, with Marc Giacomelli) the novel Christopher Columbus Answers All Charges (1993). He was editor of Charles GoldfarbCharles Goldfarb
Charles F. Goldfarb is known as the father of SGML and is a co-inventor of the concept of markup languages. In 1969 Charles Goldfarb, leading a small team at IBM, developed the first markup language, called Generalized Markup Language, or GML. In an , Dr...
's The SGML Handbook (1990) and SoftQuad's The SGML Primer (1991). At the time of his death he was working on SGML on the Web (1997) which was completed by his friend and colleague Murray Maloney.
In addition to books, Yuri co-authored and produced the play Invisible Cities in 1981, authored a one-edition newspaper spoof, Not The Globe and Mail (1984), created and edited Yorker magazine (1985-86), and co-authored and produced SGML: The Movie (1990).
Quotes
One of Yuri's most famous quotes..."There is no point in storing anything unless you can find it again, in its most useful component elements, ready to be re-purposed. There is a danger in allowing your most valuable asset - the 90% of your information that is in documents - to be locked away in proprietary, unmanaged, unmanageble electronic formats. Luckily, SGML provides an internationally standardized, vendor-supported, multi-purpose, independent way of doing business. If you aren't using it today, you will be next year." (1994)