[quote author=Neo link=board=a-suggest;num=1090131683;start=0#0 date=07/18/04 at 02:21:23]Is it possible to add Unicode to this forum’s features?
I second, third, fourth , fifth, and sixth that proposal.
I can confidently predict, however, that the answer (were the owners of this site ever to speak) would be a resounding "no"—since the prospect of implementation of Unicode ("only encourages subversive foreign languages") would be highly unlikely to cause any $-signs to flash up before said owners’ eyes.
[quote author=Coemgenus link=board=a-suggest;num=1090131683;start=0#2 date=07/23/04 at 20:22:11]
I second, third, fourth , fifth, and sixth that proposal.
I can confidently predict, however, that the answer (were the owners of this site ever to speak) would be a resounding "no"—since the prospect of implementation of Unicode ("only encourages subversive foreign languages") would be highly unlikely to cause any $-signs to flash up before said owners’ eyes.
C.
You get what you pay for, and sometimes, as in the case of Enron stock, you pay for what you get!
That being said, this forum is free, and yet yDc does have a business to run.
You might check out the Good Doctor’s Bucknell resume (sans barbe!) and bibliography, this interview, and the yDc Advisory Councel of Experts to find out their views on "subversive foreign languages." I can’t think of a Cold War-era language more subversive then Dr. Language’s specialty. (Or did you mean that modern subversive language, French? )
It should be very simple to change the so called encoding of a site.
In one site’s source code a <charset> should appear. There you can see what encoding it uses.
In a program such as Outlook Express to change the encoding of your emails you should go to Options => Read => International Settings. Such possibilities should exist in Agora software, and it’s not about money.
I have found a discussion board where you can post Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script. The procedure is extremely simple: You write Roman letters, in a fairly transparent transcription, highlight the text and choose a Gurmukhi font. Copying Gurmukhi from other documents and pasting is equally simple (after the first shock, when the pasted text turns up as a non-standard transcription in the editing window).
It shouldn’t be all that difficult to allow writing in IPA using, for example, X-SAMPA and applying a suitable font.
I think that people managing a language site should be sufficently interested to check out, for example, sites where posting in Chinese and Japanese is possible, find out how it’s done and explain what such a possibility would mean financially.
We all know the answer to that, a $ followed by some arbitrary number and a lot of zeros. Free sites remain free by expanding their base, not by limiting it. I’ve seen sites that went through the ‘upheaval’ of internationalizing, and failed. But I’ve seen more sites that succeeded and became global.
It’s all about numbers, if Google is any indication. And they are doing OK.
I haven’t read this anywhere, but the simple fact may be that the bulletin board software that runs this form, YaBB, may not support Unicode at all (it may be ANSI based code). This would explain the complete lack of response on the topic, and would also point to indications of financial requirements of incorporating Unicode, as it would mean completely replacing the forum software.
[quote author=BELLATOR link=board=a-suggest;num=1090131683;start=0#10 date=07/23/05 at 01:04:02]Oh how convenient it would be to be able to cut and paste text without having to insert the formatting code for each word…
I know it’s none of my cybernetic busy-body business but does anyone remember what happened to dear old Katy, apparently expunged from all current public record here?
