Original post on typo.social

typo.social

Announcing the Unicode® Standard, Version 18.0

Version 18.0 of the Unicode Standard is now available. The Unicode Standard is the foundation for all digital communications, and this new version supports a wider range of text encoding needs. This major update includes new characters and code charts, updated data files, and updated specifications that define many fundamental aspects of text processing. This version adds 13,007 new characters, including nine new emoji characters as well as many other characters and symbols, bringing the total number of encoded characters to 172,808. Among the most anticipated new characters are three new currency symbols: * U+20C2 RUFIYAA SIGN * U+20C3 UAE DIRHAM SIGN * U+20C4 OMANI RIAL SIGN Each of these symbols was authorized for public use by the respective monetary authority over a year ago, but usage has been hindered by lack of a standardized encoding. With the release of Unicode 18.0, vendors are now able to implement support for these symbols. The largest set of new characters is for the historical Seal (or “Small Seal”) script. This set of 11,328 ideographic characters has important cultural significance in China, dating back to the Qin Dynasty (around 200 BCE). Another new cultural heritage script from China is Jurchen, used in northeastern China during the Jin Dynasty. See the delta code charts for details on all the new scripts and characters. For additional details regarding new emoji, see Emoji Recently Added, v18.0 No new algorithms have been introduced in this release, but new data files have been added for Seal and other East Asian scripts, along with a new Unicode Standard Annex documenting these new data files: UAX #60, Data for East Asian Scripts. Conformance language related to variation selectors has been updated, making clearer which uses of variation selectors are or are not conformant to the Unicode Standard. Recommendations for implementations were also added to make non-conformant uses of variation selectors visible in text. This is important as research has shown that sequences of invisible variation selector characters can be used to attack modern AI applications. For complete details on Unicode Version 18.0, see https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode18.0.0/.

blog.unicode.org

Original post on typo.social

typo.social

Original post on mastodon.xyz

mastodon.xyz

For too many people, moving the digits around in some variation of Patriots69Lover is their idea of a strong password. So you might expect something complicated like” “ji32k7au4a83” would be a great password. But according to the data breach repository Have I Been Pwned (HIBP), it shows up more often than one might expect. This interesting bit of trivia comes from self-described hardware/software engineer Robert Ou, who recently asked his Twitter followers if they could explain why this seemingly random string of numbers has been seen by HIBP over a hundred times. > Fun thing I learned today regarding secure passwords: the password "ji32k7au4a83" looks like it'd be decently secure, right? But if you check e.g. HIBP, it's been seen over a hundred times. Challenge: explain why and how this happened and how this password might be guessed > > — R (@ArcaneNibble) March 1, 2019 Have I Been Pwned is an aggregator that was started by security expert Troy Hunt to help people find out if their email or personal data has shown up in any prominent data breaches. One service it offers is a password search that allows you to check if your password has shown up in any data breaches that are on the radar of the security community. In this case, “ji32k7au4a83″ has been seen by HIBP in 141 breaches. Several of Ou’s followers quickly figured out the solution to his riddle. The password is coming from the Zhuyin Fuhao system for transliterating Mandarin. The reason it’s showing up fairly often in a data breach repository is because “ji32k7au4a83″ translates to English as “my password.” I reached out to my friend Ben Macaulay to help us verify what’s going on here. Macaulay is a graduate student in linguistics and Taiwan enthusiast who is focusing on endangered language documentation. He also regularly uses a Zhuyin (aka Bopomofo) keyboard, which is a key to this riddle. Macaulay told us it’s the most commonly used system for typing in Taiwan. The phonetic system is recognized by Unicode, and Macaulay confirmed that this is the general, simplified version of how the translation breaks down when the characters interact: > ji3 -> 我 -> M > 2K7 -> 的 -> Y > au4 -> 密 -> PASS > a83 -> 碼 -> WORD (Here are two charts explaining how the Unicode works.) That’s the only translation most of us need, but Macaulay elaborated on how it works. I’m just going to quote it all for no other reason than it makes me appreciate the fact that I only ever have to type in one language. > There are four tones: 1st tone (hold Space), 2nd tone (6), 3rd tone (3), 4th tone (4), unstressed/lack of tone (7). > Then, consonants for the beginning of the syllable, arranged by place of articulation: b (1) p (q) m (a) f (z); d (2) t (w) n (s) l (x); g (e) k (d) h (c); j (r) q (f) x (v); zh (5) ch (t) sh (g) r (b); z (y ) c (h). > Then, the vowels/semivowels: i/yi/y (u) u/wu/w (j) ü/yo (m); a (8) o (i) e (sounds like ‘uh’; k) e (sounds like ‘eh’; _). > Then, some syllable-final consonants and vowel+vowel/vowel+consonant combinations: ai (9) ei (o) ao (l) ou (!); an (0) en/-n (p) ang (;) eng/-ng (?). > To type in zhuyin, you type one of each (in that order, except the tone is last). > I = 我 = wo3 = u (j) + o (i) + 3rd tone (3). > Then the possessive marker 的 (like English ‘s) = de (toneless) = d (2) + e (k) + toneless (7). > Password = 密碼 = 密 ‘secret’ + 碼 (the second half of 號碼 ‘number’) 密 = mi4 = m (a) + i (u) + 4th tone (4) 碼 = ma3 = m (a) + a (8) + 3rd tone (3). What’s the lesson here? Well, you might conclude that people in Taiwan appear to have some bad password habits, just like the rest of us—but who knows what’s really going on here. They may be in on the joke. Also, you should add a quick check on the HIBP database to your good password creation practices just to make sure that your seemingly random string of characters doesn’t actually have another meaning. And above all, it’s a big wide world out there just waiting to pwn us all. [Robert Ou, Have I Been Pwned]

gizmodo.com

The Physics Behind the Poo Emoji’s Shape

The Physics Behind the Poo Emoji’s Shape: And how lugworms tweak the rules by pooping upside down

nautil.us

Wiretext — Unicode Wireframe Design Tool

A spatial design tool where everything renders as Unicode box-drawing characters. Create wireframes, diagrams, and mockups. Share as text.

wiretext.app

Original post on mastodon.social

mastodon.social

w3c.social

social.linux.pizza

norden.social

Punycode: My New Favorite Algorithm - Ian Duncan

A deep dive into how Punycode works, and why I think it's so neat.

iankduncan.com

mendeddrum.org

front-end.social

Composing Text in Emacs: Unicode, Emojis, and the Power of C-x 8 | Rahul's Blog

Rahul's Blog

rahuljuliato.com

Don't leave the screen reader hungry - HTMHell

A collection of bad practices in HTML, copied from real websites.

htmhell.dev