# Symbol font now available. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 2, 2001, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016 "2001-10-02T18:38:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/41 "2001-10-05T11:05:42Z")
Do not mock the Koalas, they will not tolerate it. [sym]O{[sup]=[/sup]·[sup]=[/sup]}O[/sym] [sym]O{[sup]=[/sup]·[sup]=[/sup]}O[/sym] Respect the Koalas and they will love you. [sym]O{[sup]©[/sup]·[sup]©[/sup]}O[/sym] [sym]O{[sup]©[/sup]·[sup]©[/sup]}O[/sym] ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/42 "2001-10-05T11:34:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*[Sym]esti moi ellhnikon![/Sym] I’m just going to assume that this works, even if I can’t see it. \*\* I’m curious whether this problem is related to vBulletin or not. Can you see the symbol font on pages written directly in HTML? The fourth column of the second table of [this page](http://www.geocities.com/maineiac_bibliophage/elements.html) should be Greek. What do you see? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/43 "2001-10-05T21:25:29Z")
The problem is not with vBulletin, and I can not see the Greek on your page, **bibliophage**. I tried making the following HTML document: \\ \This is a test\ \\ And, the text showed up in Times, just like here, and just like on that page you linked me to. Out of curiosity, I tried replacing “Symbol” with every font that Character Map says I have. The following fonts worked like you would expect them to: Arial, Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Arial Unicode MS, Batang, Book Antiqua, Bookman Old Style, Century, Century Gothic, Comic Sans MS, Courier, Courier New, Fixedsys, Garamond, Haettenschweiler, Impact, Lucida Console, Monotype Corsiva, MS Sans Serif, MS Serif, PMingLiU, SimSun, Small Fonts, System, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Webdings, and Wingdings. The following fonts did not work, and instead reverted to the default font: Marlett, NWCV15, Symbol, Terminal, Wingdings 2, and Wingdings 3. I’m trying to find the pattern. All of the fonts in the second category do not follow Windows ASCII standard. Terminal comes closest, but its extended ASCII is that of DOS. Furthermore, all of the fonts in the first category _do_ follow Windows ASCII standard, with the exceptions of Webdings and Wingdings. I tried searching on the Internet for an explanation as to why Netscape 6 would do this, but no luck so far. ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/44 "2001-10-06T02:54:57Z")
I [sym]©[/sym] NY [sym]´[/sym] 6000 ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/45 "2001-10-06T11:15:39Z")
**Achernar** , now you’ve got me wondering. If I were you, I’d start a thread in GQ about it. I think you’d be more likely to get an answer over there. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/46 "2001-10-06T14:03:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zut \* > Tell me, **Tuba** , was this just a matter of hitting a switch in vB, or did it take some intensive programming? Yeah, I’m curious, too. ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/47 "2001-10-06T15:46:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > \*\*[sym]ó[/sym]³[sym]Ö[/sym]3[sym] > ô[/sym]z²dz×cos(3[sym]p[/sym]/9) = ln³[sym]Ö[/sym]e > [sym]õ[/sym]1 > > (bows out) \*\* Integral z-squared dz from 1 to the cube root of 3 times the cosine of three pi over 9 equals log of the cube root of ‘e’. For those of you who were having problems! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/48 "2001-10-06T17:43:27Z")
**grumble, grumble** … I failed algebra twice and finally passed with a sympathy D. Math humor is lost on me, sadly. Still, I’ll print this out and keep it handy. **TubaDiva** , you are the goddess of code. I kneel before thine amazingliness. I grovel shamelessly down about thine sneakers. Mine eyes cast up, adoration springing forth like the tears of a clown. 😃 [elvis]I luv ya baby.[/elvis] Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/49 "2001-10-06T17:44:22Z")
…since ln³([sym]Ö[/sym]e) [sym]¹[/sym] ln(³[sym]Ö[/sym]e). ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/50 "2001-10-06T17:56:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Musicat \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by zut \* > > Tell me, **Tuba** , was this just a matter of hitting a switch in vB, or did it take some intensive programming? > > Yeah, I’m curious, too.\*\* Well, not to speak for what **Tuba** et all did, but in vBulletin you can assign what are known as “substitution” or “replacement” variables (depending on which version you have). In this case, the assignment was: {sym} = \ {/sym} = \ and your browser does the rest. It is a simple find-and-replace action. Note, one could do lots of things with this. For example, one could put: ```auto {dingus} = **Anthracite** {/dingus} = and that's what **Cecil** said. ``` So one could type: {dingus} is pretty cool sometimes, if you ignore her periods of insanity, {dingus} and get the following text: **Anthracite** is pretty cool sometimes, if you ignore her periods of insanity, and that’s what **Cecil** said. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/51 "2001-10-06T18:01:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > \*\*Well, not to speak for what **Tuba** et all did, but… \*\* …that was just what I did. I’m saying, there are other ways it could have been done, but I’m 99% certain the example I showed is what was used. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sorbust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Sea\_Sorbust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sorbust)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/52 "2001-10-06T18:51:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by **erislover** \* > > [sym]ó[/sym]³[sym]Ö[/sym]3[sym] > ô[/sym]z²dz×cos(3[sym]p[/sym]/9) = ln³[sym]Ö[/sym]e > [sym]õ[/sym]1 > > (bows out) Cool limerick, **erislover !** But I confess that my interpretation > [@](#): > > Integral from 1 to 3 root 3 > z squared dz > times cosine 3 pi over 9 > equals log cubed root e was different than > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Iguana Boy** _ > Integral z-squared dz > from 1 to the cube root of 3 > times the cosine > of three pi over 9 > equals log of the cube root of ‘e’. While I got “Integral from 1 to 3 root 3” for the first line and “…equals log cubed, root e.” for the last line, the numbers suck. Maybe, alas, **RTFirefly** , who said “The Calculus limerick needed some parentheses…”, was right. Perhaps **"** …= log esup[/sup]\*\* "\*\*, which at least seems to give 1/3 = 1/3 (but reads like crap). :eek: Cool limerick, tho. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sorbust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Sea\_Sorbust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sorbust)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/53 "2001-10-06T18:54:18Z")
On re-read of the limerick, I should have noticed the tiny 3 next to the regular-sized 3 under the root-sign. The original reads nicely, and my nit-pick was too picky. 🙂 I retract my nit-pick. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/54 "2001-10-06T19:01:49Z")
This is strange. On preveiw, every one of the the symbols shown below **does** appear. But before previewing, the only the bullet appears as expected. All the others show up as some completely different symbol. Is it thus for all? What I see **before** previewing is listed below (I do see the correct symbols in preview) [sym]·[/sym] 0183, bullet – yes, I see a bullet [sym]©[/sym] 0169, heard – no, I see a copyright symbol [sym]Ü[/sym] 0220, left arrow – no, I see a U with two dots [sym]Þ[/sym] 0222, right arrow – not an arrow [sym]Ý[/sym] 0221, up arrow – I see a Y with an accent mark [sym]ß[/sym] 0224, down arrow – not an arrow [sym]¬[/sym] 0172, left arrow – not an arrow [sym]®[/sym] 0174, right arrow – I see a “registered” symbol [sym]¯[/sym] 0175, down arrow – not an arrow ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/55 "2001-10-06T20:52:02Z")
That’s because the characters you see in your text box are rendered in the font _for that text box_, which depends on OS and browser settings. What you see after submitting are the characters “translated” into symbol fonts by the software. ---
**Author:** ![Anubis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Anubis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anubis)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/56 "2001-10-06T22:00:06Z")
Whoo-hoo! Fun! [sym]AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz 1234567890-=;’/.,[/sym] Hehe! Translate this: [sym]Can you read this? If so, you have a long attention span.[/sym] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/57 "2001-10-06T23:23:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bobevilsquid \* > \*\*Whoo-hoo! Fun! > [sym]AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz > 1234567890-=;’/.,[/sym] Hehe! Translate this: > [sym]Can you read this? If so, you have a long attention span.[/sym] \*\* {sym}Can you read this? If so, you have a long attention span.{/sym} Too easy, just quote it and disable the tags, the Koalas are quietly amused. [sym]O{[sup]Ç[/sup]·[sup]Ç[/sup]}O[/sym] [sym]O{[sup]Ç[/sup]·[sup]Ç[/sup]}O[/sym] ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/58 "2001-10-06T23:28:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by bobevilsquid \* > > \*\*Whoo-hoo! Fun! > > [sym]AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz > > 1234567890-=;’/.,[/sym] Hehe! Translate this: > > [sym]Can you read this? If so, you have a long attention span.[/sym] \*\* > > {sym}Can you read this? If so, you have a long attention span.{/sym} > > Too easy, just quote it and disable the tags, the Koalas are quietly amused. > [sym]O{[sup]Ç[/sup]·[sup]Ç[/sup]}O[/sym] [sym]O{[sup]Ç[/sup]·[sup]Ç[/sup]}O[/sym] \*\* Or you can just read it. I mean, c’mon, it’s not that hard to learn the Greek alphabet. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/59 "2001-10-06T23:57:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*Or you can just read it. I mean, c’mon, it’s not that hard to learn the Greek alphabet. \*\* Sure, works for the Greeks. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbol-font-now-available/85016/60 "2001-10-07T04:26:37Z")
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