[Liverpool] Unicode in the console

[Simon Johnson]

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On 07/10/2011 19:44, Bob Ham wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> At a recent meeting we discussed the value of having Unicode characters
> display in the console. I just experienced a perfect example and I
> thought I would share it.
>
> I maintain a reading list in a hand-written XML file. A number of
> foreign authors' names contain high-byte Unicode characters. Editing
> this in the console (using Emacs of course :-) is no problem and
> people's names show up properly:
>
> http://pkl.net/~node/misc/utf8-console-usage.png
>
> In that screen shot the first entry, Ervin László, and the second from
> last, Stanis?aw Lem, both contain high-byte Unicode characters (as they
> do in this email :-)
>
> Bob
>
 
Computing is a global endevour and not just the preserve of the West.
Everything should support Unicode these days.
 
Unicode isn't perfect but at least it doesn't freeze out people in the
Middle and Far East.
 
In the same vein I object to the file's use of our Gregorian calendar.
It is not inclusive of other cultures. In fact, it contains the subtle
mistake that the date is ambigious. Does the date added field refer to
the time in San Franisco or Sydney? If someone in Sydney added an item
to the list before a person in San Franisco, the date added field might
show the entry from the person living in Sydney as occuring after the
entry was made in San Franisco; a violation of causality.
 
The date added should really be recorded as the time since the Unix
epoch, and converted on the fly ;)
 
Cheers,
 
Simon
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