Slashdot Mirror
The Math of Text Readability
An anonymous reader writes "Wired magazine has an article that explains The Law of Optical Volumes, a formula for spacing the letters on a printed page that results in maximum readability. Wired's new logo (did anyone notice?) obeys the law. Unfortunately, Web fonts don't allow custom kerning pairs, so you can't work the same magic online as in print. Could this be why some people still prefer newspapers and magazines to the Web?"
So why 'Volumes', not 'Areas'?
It looked better in print.
Personally I've noted that Magazines and Papers put a good bit of thought into layout, but I've never found them easier to read.
Yeah, I agree, though I think that has more to do with their dumbed-down slang phrasings than the typography.
8-year-old: "6 divided by 3 is 2."
Time magazine: "Okay, take the number six. You're all familiar with it, yes? It's a half-dozen. Now, imagine it divvied up into little chunklets -- three, specifically -- and each chunklet has the same number that math professor Gregory Beckens at Overinflated Ego University calls a 'quotient'. The so-called 'quotient' in this case? Dos."
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
What kind of geek are you? I would think the biggest advantage of running 3200x2400 is the ability to fit at least 16 reasonably sized fixed-font xterms onscreen AT THE SAME TIME!
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73