[Indic-computing-users] Final call for First National Indic-Font workshop

[Vijay P. S. A. <vi...@ek...>]

Hi All,

This is the final day (20th march 2003) for registration to the "The=20
First National Indic-Font workshop" to be held from 28th to 30th March=20
2003, at PESIT Bangalore, India. We request all members who wish to=20
participate to send in there applications by today. Although we have=20
been having very large no. of applications we are looking forward to=20
participation of all language groups which as of now are un represented.

Please find under the latest workshop updates and logistics information=20
for participants.

best

vijay

--=20

Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya
ekgaon technologies
email: vi...@ek...
website: http://www.ekgaon.com


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Indic-Computing Consortium
Forging community partnerships to enable Indian language computing

The Indic-Computing Consortium is an initiative of software developers, b=
usinesses and academic institutions to help evolve appropriate standards,=
 resources and technologies for the Indic-Computing community.=20

The Indic-Computing Consortium is designed as a national-level participat=
ory organisation that serves as a common forum for discussion, informatio=
n exchange and advocacy on behalf of all parties interested in the develo=
pment of Indian Language Computing. The consortium aims to make true acce=
ss of computing possible for Indian people by enabling support in local l=
anguage.=20

A framework is being built for creation of a hierarchy of participatory c=
onsortia, which would facilitate broad regional and local participation i=
n the standardization and development process from a variety of stakehold=
ers with differing areas of expertise and specialization. It is aimed tha=
t these consortia be participatory and inclusive to properly represent th=
e viewpoint of local developers, users and other stakeholders. In step tw=
o, Indic-Computing Consortium would encourage & support formation of stat=
e-level consortia for each regional language, which could include partici=
pants from the following key member groups:

Developers: Software developers and managers developing local-language to=
ols

Technologists: Academics and other experts in encoding and representation=
 issues

Users / Practioners: Government agencies, publishers, NGOs and other majo=
r users of local-language software

Linguistic Groups: Academics and other experts of the linguistic features=
 of a language and it's script
 =20
Working closely with the State Government, this state-level consortium wo=
uld serve as the representative body for deciding standards and other tec=
hnical decisions for computing in a given regional language. The major ro=
les to be carried out by the state-level consortium would be as follows:

Discuss various technical, linguistic and practical issues related to com=
puting in the regional language

Serve as a capacity-building and educational resource for small regional =
software developers and users

Publish documents, tools & other materials helpful for local-language com=
puting and development

Represent the regional language at National consortium meetings

Represent the regional language at International Standardization consorti=
ums and proceedings such as Unicode and ISO

In September 2002 Indic-Computing organised its first National workshop, =
which aimed at finding the various problems faced by the developer commun=
ities and issues related to standardization, technical support, policy an=
d tools. To know more about the consortium, workshops and other initiativ=
es, visit us at  http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net

=20

Indic-Computing Consortium

 announces=20

 First National Indic-Font Workshop

 Date: 28th to 30th March 2003

Venue: PESIT, Bangalore

 Sponsors:
PESIT, Bangalore
Vishwa Kannada, Bangalore
DeepRoot Linux, Bangalore
CHiPS, Chattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society, Raipur=20
Sarai, New Delhi
Indlinux.org, Mumbai =20
ekgaon technologies, Madurai
=20

The workshop:=20

One of the working groups formed at the first Indic-Computing workshop wa=
s for development of OTF & issues related to language standardization and=
 representation in international consortium. One of the action point and =
agenda for the group was to =1CHold OTF training workshop for developing =
major Indian language OTF fonts=1D. Dr. U B Pavanaja took upon to hold an=
d coordinate this workshop and Mr. Abhas Abhinav proposed to coordinate f=
or logistics & sponsorship, Mr. G. Nagarjuna proposed to help coordinate =
with Akruti for making available fonts to be used for develop OTF. This g=
roup succeeded in its tasks making this workshop possible, Akruti release=
d some free fonts to be used for conversion to OTF, which were taken up b=
y some of the language groups (for more details on the language groups an=
d the major issues being dealt by it please go through the proceedings of=
 first workshop at our website)

 Some of the major concerns raised by the language community were:

 i.     Developing good look fonts
ii.     Development of open source tools for rendering and hinting of OTF=
 fonts (currently OTF development uses proprietary =20
        tools)

iii.    Finding font developers for all Indian languages and coordinating=
 the group

iv.    Making available fonts to be converted to OTF=20

This workshop seeks to address some of these issues and others enclosed i=
n the workshop program as under. This is the first national workshop on t=
he subject, while it shall focus on OTF, but it shall equally share conce=
rns of open standards community and would have talks, demos and training =
sessions of open source tools, as well as various alternative technologie=
s for Indian fonts. We propose to take up more regional language font wor=
kshops in future to give focused attention to each language, these worksh=
ops would be held all across India in different parts and would hold trai=
ning programs and technology demonstration. We invite volunteers who woul=
d take upon to hold these workshops and provide coordination & logistics =
support. The Indic-Computing Consortium would provide necessary technical=
 support and capacity building to these regional groups.

Why OpenType?

OpenType is an extension to TrueType, and uses Unicode as standard for ch=
aracter encoding. It also provides additional tables for defining rich se=
t of mappings between characters and glyphs. It also provides for a havin=
g a large glyph set and even glyph variants. All the features provided by=
 OpenType format can be made use by having a application independent, pre=
ferable system level library with a api interface usable by applications.=


For Indic script processing OpenType tables like GSUB (glyph substitution=
) and GPOS (glyph positioning) gives font designer to define his rules on=
 what conjuncts or combinations could be made available. Application prog=
rammer is relieved of the burden of knowing all the linguistic part. Also=
 OpenType sort of makes the concept of glyph standard or font encoding st=
andard redundant, again giving font vendors freedom to follow their own g=
lyph sets and not really affecting the application. To summarize OpenType=
 provides lot of benefits to Indic computing and also renders redundant s=
ome issues faced in Indic computing.

There has been an ongoing debate on whether OTF is right for Indian Langu=
ages. The debate is relevant and contextual also. One of the perspectives=
 penned by G Karunakar in support of OpenType is here for participants to=
 explore. However the debate goes on and we invite all to participate in =
it on the Indic-computing mailing list. For more click on why OTF?=20

Who can participate & pre-requisites:

Any developer/company/organization having interest in language technology=
 and interested to learn development of OTF,understanding of Unicode, var=
ious technologies for Indian languages and related issues.

Pre-requites

*=09

Understand how to make a font

*=09

Knowledge of Unicode

*=09

Have a font that it/he/she can use for lab time

*=09

A willingness to keep trying until it/he/she understands

*=09

To get comprehensive information on pre-requisites mentioned above please=
 go through the following links=20

*=09

Creating and supporting OpenType fonts for Indic scripts http://www.micro=
soft.com/typography/otfntdev/indicot/default.htm

*=09

Building OTF http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otfntdev/intro.htm

*=09

Details about VOLT http://www.microsoft.com/typography/developers/volt/de=
fault.htm

*=09

Unicode FAQ about Indic http://www.unicode.org/faq/indic.html

*=09

Unicode code charts http://www.unicode.org/charts/
=20



How to participate:=20

i.        The workshop is by registration only, last date of registration=
 in 20th March 2003

ii.       Participants interested to participate in the workshop should s=
end there applications to Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya <vi...@ek...>

iii.     Application format
*	Name
*	Organisation
*	Communication Address
*	Whether participating in individual capacity or representing your organ=
ization
*	In either case please write in 200 words your interests and what do you=
 expect from the workshop
*	If there are more then one participant from your organization/group ple=
ase provide the numbers and communication address only.


iv.   Fill online application at http://www.realityinfo.com/indic/indic-c=
omp.pdf=20

v.   The registration fee of Rs. 200.00 is to be paid in cash by the part=
icipants on the first day.=20

vi.    Participants please note that all registered members would get, li=
terature, CD with important font development softwares,  lodging and boar=
ding for three days (also dinner for the night before the workshop starts=
).

vii.   The workshop announcement and programme schedule in pdf could be d=
ownloaded from http://www.ekgaon.com/~vijay/indic-font-ws.pdf=20

 Contacts:=20
Participants are advised to contact the following for there queries:=20
Dr. U B Pavanaja: <pav...@vi...>  Technical clarification, =
sessions of the workshops, required preparation, fonts etc
Mr. Abhas Abhinav: <ab...@de...>
 Logistics, Lodging & Boarding, Venue etc
Mr. Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya: <vi...@ek...>
 Workshop registration application, coordination, any other issue not cov=
ered above

Instructions for Participants:

1)   The participants are advised to go through the pre-requisites and eq=
uip themselves with necessary knowledge on font & Unicode standard.

2)   The staying arrangements are from the evening before the day of star=
t of the workshop. Dinner would be provided for the night also, for all p=
articipants reaching before 9.00 PM only.

3)   The lodging & boarding provided by PESIT is in hostels & mess, and i=
s modest by all means. Participants who wish to opt out of this arrangeme=
nt can make there own staying arrangements. Please notify the same to us,=
 also it is expected that the lunch would be taken by all the participant=
s irrespective of there place of stay at mess only as there is not much t=
ime available in between the session.

4)   The staying arrangement in the hostel is till 3rd day evening, it is=
 expected that the participants would vacate the rooms by evening.

5)   PESIT is at outskirts of Bangalore, participants are expected to mak=
e there own arrangements for local travel, as nothing could be provided b=
y the organizers.=20

Venue & how to reach:
PESIT (PES Institute of Technology)
100 Feet Ring Road,=20
Banashankri =13 IIIrd Stage, (Off. Mysore Road),
Bangalore.
Phone: (080) 672 0007.

For participants arriving at Airport, take a prepaid taxi to the above ad=
dress, the place is known to the prepaid stand.

Directions from Airport:

Airport Road--->Domlur signal--->Inner ring road--->Koramangala--->BTM La=
yout--->Banneraghatta Road--->100 Feet (outer) ring road--->PESIT on 100 =
Feet (outer) Ring Road

For participants arriving at Railway station & Bus station, best is to ta=
ke a prepaid taxi to the above address, the place is known to the prepaid=
 stand. A Bus is also available=20

Directions from Railway Station:

Station--->Chamrajpate--->Ashram--->Hanumant Nagar--->Hosakerehalli--->PE=
SIT 100 Feet Ring Road

 Workshop program:

Day-1:=20

 09:00 - 09:45          Registration

09:45 - 10:15          Welcome & Inauguration =13 G Karunakar / Director =
PESIT

10:15 - 10:45          Overview - Pavanaja

10:45 - 11:00          Tea break

11:00 - 11:30          Planning glyph repertoire - Pavanaja

11:30 - 13:00          Introduction to Indian scripts, Character set, too=
ls & Glyph Design & current trends in fonts- Ravi Pande

13:00 - 14:00          Lunch break

14:00 - 15:00          Testing glyphs, Generating Fonts, Font format - Ra=
vi Pande

15:00 - 15:15          Tea break

15:15 - 17.15          Lab: Define glyphs and fill out repertoire

17.15 -                   Tea & informal interaction

Day-2: =20

09:30 - 10:15          Encoding - G Karunakar

10:15 - 10:45          Introduction to OTF - Pavanaja

10:45 - 11:00          Tea break

11:00 - 11:30          Open Type Tables - Pavanaja

11:30 - 13:00          Introduction to VOLT - Pavanaja

13:00 - 14:00          Lunch break

14:00 =13                  Lab: Open type tables

Day-3:=20

09:30 - 10:15          Testing - Pavanaja

10:15 - 10:45          CDAC (to be confirmed)=20

10:45 - 11:00          Tea break

11:00 - 11:30          Digitally signing the font - Pavanaja

11:30 - 13:00          Fonts on Linux - Karunakar

13:00 - 14:00          Lunch break

14:00 =13                  Lab: Open type tables                  =20

Special presentations proposed:=20

a.   Sunil Abraham, Mahiti, Bangalore, would arrange for an IPR (cyber la=
ws) lawyer Lawrence Liang, who would discuss the issue of OTF openness af=
ter understanding the Adobe & Microsoft agreement on release of the fonts=
=2E

b.   Development of Otf from Ttf (Akruti) experiences: Nagarjuna

c.   Open/free software tools for Otf development: M Arun=20

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Information for participants:
=20
All the participants who have registered to the Indic-Computing's "The Fi=
rst National Indic-Font workshop" to be held from 28th to 30th March 2003=
, at PESIT Bangalore, India is 20th march 2003. Here is some logistics re=
lated information, we require your cooperation to facilitate your stay in=
 Bangalore during the workshop.
=20
Accommodation:

 1) We would only provide modest hostel accommodation at the PESIT, which=
 would be free
2) Those who would like to make there own arrangement are encouraged
3) If you require our assistance in booking hotel for you, here are some =
rates detail, those who wish that we book for them, please notify us by 1=
5th March 2003, please send your travel plan, we shall book for you, need=
less to say that cost would be borne by you. We cannot take responsibilit=
y of non availability of rooms for applicants after 15th March 2002. Thes=
e hotels are near the Venue: (please write to <vi...@de...>)
=20
Jayanagar Guest House:

Non A/C with TV -> 385 Rs/day
Non A/C without TV -> 330 Rs/day
=20
PAI Vijay Hotel:

Double Delux Non A/c -> 600 Rs/day
Double Delux A/c -> 800 Rs/day

Transport:

For Taxi the best option will be City taxies , you have to make a call an=
d they will pick you from any place. The numbers for taxi are : 080-67800=
22/44/66.

Workshop:

a) 30 PCs with Win XP and RedHat (8.0) as dual boot pre installed are ava=
ilable for the workshop lab work. Some basic software yet needs to be ins=
talled for the workshop (ex. VOLT, VTT etc.), would be done in time. If t=
here is any other requirement of participants/speakers please let us know=
 in advance. (please write to <vi...@de...>)
b) LCD Projector for presentation with audio system is available
c) Over Head Projector could also be made available, speakers who wish to=
 use one, please let us know in advance.
d) As per our instructions earlier the participants should bring the foll=
owing things with them for the seminar
       1) Their own TTF font to be used for converting into OTF
       2) Their own Floppy properly tested (to copy their work from the w=
orkshop)
=20