VMs: RE: Embeddable VMS fonts testing

["GC" <glenclaston@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Under linux, neither KDE Konkeror, nor Mozilla can
> display that page in the
> intended fonts.

Linux - that's the kid with the blanket, right? :-)  At least you
can still see the ascii representations under Linux and Mozilla?
I'm surprised that this is still happening with versions
supporting Gecko.  ASCII is probably the only level of
compatability we'll ever be able to achieve.

> > should have most of the character possibilities
> covered, and only
> > the characters you use on that page are embedded,
> saving web space
> > and download times.
>
> I don't think so. Each time one looks at a page with
> embedded fonts one is
> downloading the fonts too, or am I wrong? Every page
> will have a copy of the
> fonts?

Not on Windows systems, anyway.  This font is set to be
imbeddable-AND-installable, which means that once the data is
downloaded, it should sit in the browser cache until the cache is
periodically cleared.  Setting the flag to imbeddable-ONLY causes
the browser to automatically delete the data.eot file when the
browser is closed.  This is the same technology used for imbedding
fonts into word.docs and .pdf files.

> BTW, I noticed that some people use the term "picnic
> table" for different
> things. Just to make things clear, I think that the
> term has been used
> earlier in this list to name eva <x>, which looks like
> a capital T with two
> legs instead of 1 (like an inverted v with a T on top).
> It would be confusing if we use the same name to design
> differnt letters.

When I was describing the missing information in the eva <x>
character, I was using your definition of <x> as the picnic table.
As I pointed out earlier, the use of a simple <x> when addressing
this character ignores the "feet" at the bottom of each leg. The
first two examples on f46r, lines 1 and 2, have "feet" pointing to
the right of the page.  While most examples of this character <x>
tend to be "standing" rather than "moving", in the string on f66r
we find all three types of "feet", standing, moving left, and
moving right.  This appears to be intentional on the part of the
author and not just a quirk of the pen.


> Regarding the embedding of fonts, this happens because
> the fonts are
> copyrighted. This is one of the few mechanism we have
> to avoid changes to the
> fonts and the eva alphabet becoming a mess with n
> different versions.
> Everybody is welcome to use them freely as stated in
> the txt file included in
> the font package, but they should not be changed or
> considered public domain.
> I hope that this is not too much to ask.

Making a font imbeddable does not give anyone the ability to alter
the font.  There is no copy protection or encryption of any
standard font file, so anyone with an editor can modify and copy
EVA or any other True Type or Adobe font.  Imbedding technology on
the other hand, serves only to stabilize the presentation medium,
and only imbeds the characters of the font that are used, not the
entire set of glyphs.  If alteration is the worry, distributing
the entire font file is a far more risky endeavour than imbedding.
Setting the imbedding flag simply adds a degree of flexibility to
the font, making it available for use in .doc and .pdf files, as
well as other imbedding and style sheet technologies, none of
which allow editing of the glyphs themselves.

I agree that EVA Hand 1 is rightly copyrighted, since the file is
a representation of EVA transcription, and not a representation of
the original Voynich glyphs.  This is equal to a copyright on the
EVA transcription method.  My font will necessarily be public
domain, since copyrighting the Voynich glyphs themselves is to me
no different than copyrighting images of the manuscript.  500
years after its creation I'm quite certain that morally, if not
legally, the manuscript belongs to history and the public domain,
and Yale is merely its caretaker.

I'd like to make clear that I'm not making this font to challenge
any authority or transcription scheme, rather to get to the bottom
of what constitutes an actual Voynich glyph and what doesn't.  I
will make many mistakes along the way, and probably have to update
the font several times, but I hope this happens because of
engaging discussion on the glyphs themselves, and not just another
competing transcription method.  Imbedding only aids in this
discussion.


GC