Well, the comet circumflex system has had one public review so far. Most of the review is about the way in which I design web pages. The reason that I use SIZE=5 lettering is that when I started producing web pages I found that SIZE=4 did not seem to come out right on a web page, some sort of aliasing problem with the font I suspect, so I used SIZE=5, which, like SIZE=7, seems to always look good typographically. Also, I took my basis for page design regarding type size from the display used for teletext on television screens. Certainly that is intended for viewing from a distance on a larger screen, yet I do dislike web pages where one needs to peer hard at the screen from close up in order to read the text. I have found that with SIZE=5 one can sit back and read slowly and deliberately without the display medium being a factor in the understanding of the text.
Larger text than many web pages use is not a problem over using more paper in the way that printing a hard copy document all in 36 point type would be, as the electronic surface on which the larger type is displayed on a web page costs no more than if I had used a smaller total area for the document. In relation to the comet circumflex system itself, well, these are early days for implementing the comet circumflex system and much of the documents are necessarily in the precise all-but-pedantic detail necessary to specify precise encoding of comet circumflex sentences using Unicode characters. I suspect that the expressive power of the comet circumflex system will increase significantly as the number of encoded sentences increases, maybe with even some sort of exponential effect. However, rather than start by devising and publishing lots of sentences I decided to start with just a few sentences, about the number necessary in order to demonstrate that the comet circumflex system can work in practice. In the classic British manner of "if in doubt, talk about the weather" the sentences are about the weather. I am hoping that the comet circumflex system will find its niche in internationalization. For example, is the internationalized poetry of the comet circumflex system a first in the field of internationalization and localization? Is such poetry an artform in its own right? I have had great enjoyment in trying to write poems using the comet circumflex system, trying to express meaning within the tight constraints of the available language. I am fascinated to think that it someone translates the sentences into their own language that someone else who speaks that language yet does not know any English might be able to enjoy a poem written by me in the comet circumflex language. An interesting matter is that, now that the Unicode conference has been renamed the Internationalization and Unicode conference, whether discussions of internationalization are now automatically on-topic for this mailing list. An unfortunate aspect of the review is that it does not state any specific reasons for the comment made about the comet circumflex system itself. I have found that when people have expressed reasons for their comments that that is usually extremely helpful and guides me to thinking through the reasons given. So, I do wonder if perhaps the specific reasons for the comments could please be stated so that both I and other readers may consider the comments in the context of the reasons, so that a critical assessment of the reasoning for the comments could be made. I am not a linguist, so the precise high quality comments of a linguist could be invaluable in thinking out the route of progress for the comet circumflex system. I have recently been trying to devise a simulation of a web-based shop which uses the comet circumflex system. It will need some more comet circumflex sentences to be devised. Thus far I have produced a gif file 64 pixels wide by 32 pixels high showing a comet circumflex, without a keycap, followed by an envelope, so that that can have the meaning of "We are willing to accept emails in comet circumflex code, please click here to send one." It is a cyan comet and a cyan envelope on a blue background, with a green circumflex accent over the comet. The web page itself displays in the font Songs about Landscape which is available for free download from the following web page. http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ngo/founts1.htm The reason for using that font is that the page will look as being in an unknown language in an unknown script to all users of the simulation. The text is just saying it is a simulation if read in English, so the Songs about Landscape font needs to be installed locally in order to get the proper effect of the simulation. The simulated web-based shop has as its product (which, in fact, is given away in the simulation) gif files representing pieces for a board game, so hopefully the simulation will have a practical use in being a source of those gif files. Each gif file has a part number. It is quite fascinating to get immersed in the simulation. Hopefully it can go live on the web when I can get it finished, then I can respond in comet circumflex language to any emails in comet circumflex language which arrive from within the simulation. The use of the Songs about Landscape font is remarkably effective in producing a web site for the purpose of the simulation, as headings and paragraphs can be set out. William Overington 30 October 2002
