In many Dead Sea Scrolls, the divine name or Tetragrammaton was written using a different script…Paleo-Hebrew (this is true even in the earliest Greek LXX fragments). The script characters of The Name chosen for this font were taken from the Psalm Scroll 11QPs. The entire Tetragrammaton is instantly triggered by a single keystroke.
By a stroke of luck, I stumbled on a high quality image of one of the earliest Leviticus scroll fragments and am now using it in combination with the smaller Great Isaiah Scroll pics for reference. As you can see, the font is taking on a stylized typesetting which is not only readable and printable, but makes the archaic script look quite elegant.
After rummaging around online and only finding a couple fonts for the script of the Dead Sea Scrolls (which looked like handwritten scribbles other than any kind of typeface and were not Unicode), I decided to take it upon myself to create one. The Unicode DSS Font will be based on the script of the Great Isaiah Scroll (since it had the highest quality images I could find online for reference). When finished, it will be available here under the Open Source General Public License to freely download, copy, manipulate, distribute, print, or use in any program or software for any purpose. Pictured is an example of a few preliminary script characters from the Unicode DSS font (lower) in comparison with the SBL Hebrew font (upper).
So you have Hebrew working in OpenOffice under Linux and a handy keyboard map for reference (see previous entry). Or perhaps you are ready to write Hebrew using some other piece of software…
The problem is…you have no experience using an Israeli keyboard! You have to learn to type all over again. Fortunately, Yale University has made it easy. Learn to use an Israeli keyboard online with the Hebrew Keyboard Tutor.
This quick tutorial is provided to help those who, like myself, are or have been interested in utilizing Hebrew in OpenOffice under the KDE desktop.
I’m going to assume, first of all, that you’ve downloaded and installed the latest stable version of OpenOffice. Apparently, versions previous to 2.0.0 have been somewhat buggy trying to render vowel points/diacritics or nikud. Since I’m using Fedora Core 5, I simply used my package manager to update everything and install any extra language components. It doesn’t hurt to update KDE to the lastest release either.
Next, download the SBL Hebrew font from the Society of Biblical Literature website. This is a Unicode Hebrew font (which means you can copy and paste the Hebrew into other software applications and it will be recognized and displayed correctly). Trust me when I say this Hebrew font looks immaculate.
Once you have the font, install it in your KDE Control Center (kcontrol in the terminal) under System Administration - Font Installer
While you’re in Control Center, you need to enable a Hebrew keyboard (so that when you type, it will display Hebrew characters instead of English ones).
click on Regional and Accessibility - Keyboard Layout - double click on Israel (il) to add it
Note: To enable use of vowel points/diacritics or nikud, go to layout variant
and select lyx
. Now you can write vowels.
Hit apply.
KDE automatically generated a keystroke shortcut for you to switch easily between English and Hebrew keyboards (CTL+ALT+K). To check or change your keystroke shortcut, go to Keyboard Shortcuts. I changed mine to CTL+ALT+Up Arrow.
Lastly, set up OpenOffice.
Go to Tools - Options - Language Settings - Languages - and check to see that Complex Text Language (CTL) is enabled. Then set SBL Hebrew as your default font in Format - Character - CTL font.
Hopefully, you already have two buttons in your menu bar which change the direction of writing from a left-to-right
orientation to a right-to-left
one. If not, the default shortcuts are CTL+SHIFT+A (left-to-right) and CTL+SHIFT+D (right-to-left).
Diacritical marks are:
Check out the keyboard chart map below and get your Hebrew on.
Here’s to hoping that the music industry and Movie industry actually listen to Steve Job’s for a change:
Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.
Steve Job’s February 6, 2007
Go to Steve’s blog to read more about Steve Job’s thoughts on DRM
Click on the links to check out my current Fedora Core 5 incarnation…
Old news, but still cool news…
When it comes to one of the greatest special effects outfits in the business, it’s not Microsoft or Apple, but Linux that ILM trusts to get the job done and get it done better than anyone else. Star Wars Episode II and Episode III depended on linux computers.
The old system is so slow that the clones firing lasers appear to be throwing javelins. We’ve seen about a five times speed improvement with Linux, which is appreciated! I’d say Linux is one of the most successful efforts we’ve had.
Due to the speed of Linux, for the first time in my life, 15 years in the business, I’m starting to feel some RSI [repetitive strain injury]’’, says Technical Director Robert Weaver. “Usually you are working the machine, but Linux is so fast it can overwork you.’’ Weaver has to remember to take breaks because with Linux he doesn’t get any breaks waiting for the machine anymore.
