Thank you for the post double-question-mark.

August 17, 2005 5:59 AM

Thank you for the post double-question-mark.

peacay is referring to '김치' but only sees '??'. There are a lot of people not getting the proper encoding, what's the best way to update, through the browser?
posted by The Jesse Helms to Bugs at 5:59 AM (33 comments total)

I see question marks too. Or boxes, depending on which browser I use. Thanks for asking this.
posted by iconomy at 6:06 AM on August 17, 2005

On the machine I'm using now, it shows up as [AE40 in a box] [CE58 in a box]. I'm calling him "U+AE40 U+CE58" from now on.
posted by grouse at 6:11 AM on August 17, 2005

I thought encodings weren't allowed in usernames.
posted by null terminated at 6:19 AM on August 17, 2005

Instructions for Windows, for Korean, at least.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:25 AM on August 17, 2005

null terminated:

That was post 김치 registering.
posted by OmieWise at 6:31 AM on August 17, 2005

peacay now sees
"peacay is referring to '??' but only sees '??'"

If you download a unicode font, your problems should soon be over. I use Code2000 and it works beautifully. It's shareware, so feel free to donate to the efforts of making funchie characters on the web a reality for everyone.
posted by NinjaPirate at 6:38 AM on August 17, 2005

There are a lot of people not getting the proper encoding, what's the best way to update, through the browser?

Get a Mac. Encoding and unicode support are built-in...
posted by Rothko at 6:45 AM on August 17, 2005

They are with WinXp too, you just have to activate it. Now that I know how...

Start / Control Panel / Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options / Add Other Languages / Languages / Click on Install Files for East Asian Languages.

And this is what you see.

posted by iconomy at 6:48 AM on August 17, 2005

Thanks for the Code2000 link, NinjaPirate. Worked perfectly for my work machine running Win2k.
posted by wells at 6:53 AM on August 17, 2005

Forgot to say thanks to stavros for the link.
posted by iconomy at 6:59 AM on August 17, 2005

Neat, that Code2000 font works fine. It's so strange not to see ??; I was kind of used to that.
posted by smackfu at 7:08 AM on August 17, 2005

BTW, what language is that, that it doesn't work by default in Windows XP and Firefox? Most foreign websites I've run into in the past worked just fine, like ones with hebrew and japanese.
posted by smackfu at 7:10 AM on August 17, 2005

Same for me smackfu (getting used to ??) - I'd tried to load the script support from a Vietnamese hack-XPpro less than reputable quality disk onto my laptop ages ago and gave up. But thanks stavrosthewonderchicken & iconomy - this desktop has a bona fide XP disk so installation was easy. I had said 'double-question-mark' as a kind of joke actually. But nonetheless, thanks 김치 !!
posted by peacay at 7:14 AM on August 17, 2005

Oh and thanks The Jesse Helms for bringing this up.
posted by peacay at 7:15 AM on August 17, 2005

Thanks, Iconomy. I knew the setting was in there somewhere, I just hadn't bothered to poke around on the work machine. Now I see kimchee properly.
posted by frykitty at 7:37 AM on August 17, 2005

I'm not going to allow unicode for usernames. It's a big ball of problems apart from one user with question marks.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:04 AM on August 17, 2005

I already talked about this. For XP users, I'd bet that the division ends up being between those who have Office installed and those who do not. Office includes the Arial Unicode MS unicode font, which is probably the most complete unicode font you'll easily find. Default XP installs do not include this font.

Just because your computer supports unicode natively doesn't mean that you'll have a font installed which includes a particular unicode character set.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:11 AM on August 17, 2005

I'm not really sure what's up with my snippy "I've already talked about this comment" aside. I must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Hmm, nope, the "wrong" side is still covered with books and stuff. Can't be that. Oh, well. Sorry.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:18 AM on August 17, 2005

You sleep with books?

Pervert.
posted by Kwantsar at 8:52 AM on August 17, 2005

A good book is better than a beautiful...oh, fuck it. Who am I kidding?
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:48 AM on August 17, 2005

Thanks for the heads up The Jesse Helms. I had been thinking user 25955 was a long-lost cousin.
posted by ?! at 10:06 AM on August 17, 2005

I see ?! and don't think I'll be downloading 230 megs of files to see kimchee instead. Sorry but I'll very likely keep referring to you as ?!.
posted by fenriq at 3:56 PM on August 17, 2005

heh heh heh. ?! *IS* ?!.

김치 is kimchee.
posted by fishfucker at 4:50 PM on August 17, 2005

You sleep with books?

My baby loves a bunch of authors.
posted by wakko at 5:16 PM on August 17, 2005

Code2000 is worth every cent. Thanks, NinjaPirate!
posted by shoepal at 8:41 PM on August 17, 2005

Metafilter: It's a big ball of problems apart from one user with question marks.
posted by eriko at 5:15 AM on August 18, 2005

"My baby loves a bunch of authors."

Well, that's funny in ways you don't intend. Being that my ex-wife dated Mike Ford before we met and knows those four guys really well. My opinion? Mike's wonderful, Jean's a fuckwit.

That was their best album.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 6:52 AM on August 18, 2005

ummm, matt?

try two.
posted by ハッカー at 9:24 AM on August 18, 2005

Matt doesn't allow html entities in usernames. That's different.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:37 AM on August 18, 2005

Thanks fishfucker. I have been ?! since 1984. Not here of course. I finally joined Metafilter in Sep. 2002.

I am confused about "unicode" and the names of users 25979 and 25955. Are they in "unicode" or not?

Thanks for any help.
posted by ?! at 12:22 PM on August 18, 2005

I was always a huge fan of Murray. But Mike seemed the most down-to-earth of the fourt of 'em.
posted by wakko at 12:39 PM on August 18, 2005

Thanks wakko. I see now. Matt doesn't allow encoding in usernames and Matt doesn't allow html entities in usernames and ?? is really ハッカー

Third base.
posted by ?! at 2:57 PM on August 18, 2005

Actually, ハッカー should show up as 4 ?'s (or boxes), not 2. 김치 should be 2.

This presence was a point for matt above. kimchi (김치) highligted the ability, but hacker (ハッカー) slipped through before the transition to not allowing. There are two main ones, not just one. There are a few others who experimented with the idea, but with entities for standard chars and not with asian language chars (If I'm wrong and there are more, please tell who).
posted by mystyk at 3:39 PM on August 18, 2005