Slashdot Mirror
XML for Ancients
Andrew writes: "More than 5,000 years ago, the very first information revolution occurred when some unknown research team in Mesopotamia found a way to download and store language through a killer application called "writing.". The cuneiform digital library will have 60,000 texts ready in a couple of years. Using SVG and XML to represent their documents. Similar efforts are underway for hieroglyphics."
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is subset of XML. Stating that something is stored in SVG AND XML format is a tautology.
"There is a terrorist behind every bush"
the xml.org link for cuneiform encoding initiative is at http://www.jhu.edu/ice/
There is an initiative for almost every ancient language that is know (and decipherable). I'm sure digging thru xml.org will turn up a bounty of results =]
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
Claytablets also had a very good way of authenticiation: "...The task of preserving the integrity of the records, incidentally, posed the problem of how to prevent
unauthorized changes. Seals were in wide use, but the Assyrians invented a system of wrapping the
clay tablet with a contract in a second layer of clay and copying the contract again on the enveloppe.
In case of disagreement on the authenticity of the text on the outer layer, this layer was broken and
the inside could be inspected. As there was no way of changing the inside tablet without damaging
the outer layer beyond repair, this offered an early but very effective way of authenticiation
Hans Paijmans
So, did they have the slashdot effect back then? Umm, like 100 scholars trying to access a single clay tablet at the same time? Did the clay tablet crash? Wait a minute - did I just give an anology where slashdotters were scholars? Woah, must have regular dose of caffine before I make more 'horrendous mistakes'.
-Shaunak.