On Wed, Jan 16, 2002 at 11:33:48AM -0700, Robert Palais wrote:
> is at the same time somewhat a Catch-22. Nelson Beebe recommended it since
> he figured unicode 3.2 would be the make or break for "getting it in use".
It's too late for Unicode 3.2. In any case, there's a lot of people who
would like to add a character or script to Unicode. (I'd personally like
a LATIN CAPITAL LETTER L WITH BELT, myself, and some Free Software
people were pushing for a copyleft sign.) Proof of use is one way that
Unicode keeps the requests down to a dull roar.
> I'd be curious if you disagree with the thesis that a symbol for
> 6.28 has scientific/mathematical merit (in comparison 3.14...), and if so
> why?
In an abstract sense, I can't disagree with your arguments, any more
than I can disagree with the fact that English should use an
alphabet/orthography that consistently distinguishes between vowel
sounds. But while introducing the tri is simpler than revising English's
orthography, it still comes off as one of those reform schemes that are
more trouble than they're worth.
Have you considered using a preexisting symbol? The Cyrillic section of
Unicode has a bunch of symbols distinct from current math symbols that
fit in with the Greek/Latin characters currently used. Say, 0416, or
0418, or 0409, or 044E.
> It was also accepted
> "in use" in the Mathematical Association of America's refereed Journal
> of Online Mathematics www.joma.org/more/palaismore.html where the
> one revolution periodicity and 1/4 phase shifts are represented and
> the graphs are labelled more simply with this symbol.
This is more important. If there are a number of uses and a number of
users, especially in formal, edited or refereed sources, then Unicode is
much more likely to encode. But one source isn't enough - I can come up
with a bunch of new characters with one or more sources in a few hours.
-- David Starner - starner@okstate.edu, dvdeug/jabber.com (Jabber) Pointless website: http://dvdeug.dhis.org When the aliens come, when the deathrays hum, when the bombers bomb, we'll still be freakin' friends. - "Freakin' Friends"
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