cyrillic
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ICANN set to allow non-Latin characters in domain names, half the world rejoices
In the name of cultural and linguistic diversity, our loyal comrades over at the ICANN are about to approve availability of domain names in non-Latin alphabets. That's right, Chinese and Japanese folks will finally be able to address their websites in their native tongue, as will fans of Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek or Hindi scripts. Basically, linguists of every type are finally invited to the interwebs party, a move described by ICANN chairman Peter Thrush as "the biggest change technically to the internet since it was invented." This follows an extensive two-year testing period for a translation engine that can convert your lazy Latin scribblings into the refined hieroglyphics of modern Cantonese. Pending approval this Friday, the first new domain names will start coming out in 2010, when we can expect a whole new wave of internet land grabbing. [Via Switched]
Soviet-era computer mice were plain, functional
You know, there was a time when the Soviet Union produced some of the greatest technology on Earth. Only problem was that was around 1957 -- and the USSR took another 30+ years to die a slow, painful death. Sometime during the Gorbachev era, scientists discovered "personal computers," and thus began a long tradition of making high-quality computer mice. In fact, the Russians were so good at making mice that they decided to write the word "mouse" on them in Cyrillic and include a little picture so that people wouldn't forget what it was. Perhaps there's a market for this type of antique obsolete computer hardware? Or maybe Logitech's next mouse will be inspired by this classic showing of Russian functionality -- surely that would be better than its sleek designs of today.[Via digg]
