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From: dorayme on 19 Nov 2009 15:19
In article <7mldp9F3g1rfiU1(a)mid.individual.net>,
"Chris F.A. Johnson" <cfajohnson(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> On 2009-11-19, dorayme wrote:
> ...
> > - You might google up for issues to do with Verdana ("problems with
> > Verdana" or some such phrase)
>
> There is no problem with Verdana. It is slightly larger than
> Helvetica/Arial, which is considerably larger than most serif
> faces.
>
> There is only a problem when it is given a font-size less than
> 100%, and that is a problem with *any* font.

A climate change skeptic in the Australian federal parliament this week
was keen to point out that CO2 is not a poison. Me, I just think of the
higher principle: everything has its place.

--
dorayme
From: David Stone on 20 Nov 2009 09:01
In article <doraymeRidThis-9C4D7F.07192520112009(a)news.albasani.net>,
dorayme <doraymeRidThis(a)optusnet.com.au> wrote:

> In article <7mldp9F3g1rfiU1(a)mid.individual.net>,
> "Chris F.A. Johnson" <cfajohnson(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On 2009-11-19, dorayme wrote:
> > ...
> > > - You might google up for issues to do with Verdana ("problems with
> > > Verdana" or some such phrase)
> >
> > There is no problem with Verdana. It is slightly larger than
> > Helvetica/Arial, which is considerably larger than most serif
> > faces.
> >
> > There is only a problem when it is given a font-size less than
> > 100%, and that is a problem with *any* font.
>
> A climate change skeptic in the Australian federal parliament this week
> was keen to point out that CO2 is not a poison.

Then they are an idiot, for two reasons:
(1) It's not about the toxicity but the ability to trap heat
(2) You can suffocate if the CO2 levels are high enough
- remember Apollo 13?
From: dorayme on 20 Nov 2009 15:50
In article <no.email-B19039.09015420112009(a)news1.chem.utoronto.ca>,
David Stone <no.email(a)domain.invalid> wrote:

> In article <doraymeRidThis-9C4D7F.07192520112009(a)news.albasani.net>,
> dorayme <doraymeRidThis(a)optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
> > In article <7mldp9F3g1rfiU1(a)mid.individual.net>,
> > "Chris F.A. Johnson" <cfajohnson(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > On 2009-11-19, dorayme wrote:
> > > ...
> > > > - You might google up for issues to do with Verdana ("problems with
> > > > Verdana" or some such phrase)
> > >
> > > There is no problem with Verdana. It is slightly larger than
> > > Helvetica/Arial, which is considerably larger than most serif
> > > faces.
> > >
> > > There is only a problem when it is given a font-size less than
> > > 100%, and that is a problem with *any* font.
> >
> > A climate change skeptic in the Australian federal parliament this week
> > was keen to point out that CO2 is not a poison.
>
> Then they are an idiot, for two reasons:
> (1) It's not about the toxicity but the ability to trap heat
> (2) You can suffocate if the CO2 levels are high enough
> - remember Apollo 13?

Yes, right enough, but I hope you got the point I was making...

--
dorayme
From: Ben C on 21 Nov 2009 04:36
On 2009-11-20, David Stone <no.email(a)domain.invalid> wrote:
> In article <doraymeRidThis-9C4D7F.07192520112009(a)news.albasani.net>,
> dorayme <doraymeRidThis(a)optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
>> In article <7mldp9F3g1rfiU1(a)mid.individual.net>,
>> "Chris F.A. Johnson" <cfajohnson(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > On 2009-11-19, dorayme wrote:
>> > ...
>> > > - You might google up for issues to do with Verdana ("problems with
>> > > Verdana" or some such phrase)
>> >
>> > There is no problem with Verdana. It is slightly larger than
>> > Helvetica/Arial, which is considerably larger than most serif
>> > faces.
>> >
>> > There is only a problem when it is given a font-size less than
>> > 100%, and that is a problem with *any* font.
>>
>> A climate change skeptic in the Australian federal parliament this week
>> was keen to point out that CO2 is not a poison.
>
> Then they are an idiot, for two reasons:
> (1) It's not about the toxicity but the ability to trap heat
> (2) You can suffocate if the CO2 levels are high enough
> - remember Apollo 13?

I don't know what point he was making, but it is easy to lose
perspective. If you're planning on spewing a lot of stuff out of a
chimney or something, it doesn't get much more harmless than CO2.

One problem with all the hysteria about CO2 is you may get worse
pollution from the alternatives. Tax carbon enough and nuclear power
will become economical ahead of its time.

Now I like nuclear power, but it does demand a certain level of
responsibility, which things can easily lose once they become
economical.
From: dorayme on 21 Nov 2009 08:20
In article <slrnhgfd59.47j.spamspam(a)bowser.marioworld>,
Ben C <spamspam(a)spam.eggs> wrote:

> >> > There is only a problem when it is given a font-size less than
> >> > 100%, and that is a problem with *any* font.
> >>
> >> A climate change skeptic in the Australian federal parliament this week
> >> was keen to point out that CO2 is not a poison.
> >

> I don't know what point he was making,

A bit less than 100% for Verdana is less of a problem than for many
other fonts. So it is not quite true that the very same problem exists
for *any* font. One notable problem, perhaps the only real one, is that
if you set a font-size for Verdana less than 100% and someone does not
have Verdana on their machine, they will probably get a font that is
naturally smaller than Verdana and so less than 100% can *more* easily
trip them into having reading difficulties.

Let's put this in another way: There *are* problems with all texts set
too small to read - obviously! It is a constant phenomenon and does not
depend on Verdana being in the equation at all. But if Verdana is in the
equation, then there is a particular danger because Verdana is not only
a bit bigger to start with than many other fonts but is also a bit
better designed to be read at smaller sizes than some other fonts. If
Verdana is in the author's mind when setting a size less than 100%, he
is likely not imagining or testing for when some other naturally smaller
font is fell back upon when the user does not have Verdana.

In other words, to put it simply, there is a special sort of problem
with Verdana.

So too with the CO2 being produced on earth lately. It has not been a
problem for billions of years. But it is now. In a particular situation,
it is a problem. Never mind some very narrow technical definition of
"poison", it is a very bad gas to have in some quantities for many
living things in certain circumstances. That it is not a bad gas in
other "normal" situations does not change this fact. Pointing out that
it is not bad normally might well distract people from the fact that in
some special circumstances it is very bad. Pointing out that all text
that is less than 100% is a problem could similarly distract from what
is particularly pertinent to the problem with Verdana.

--
dorayme
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