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Re: Where do byte orders come from

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  Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-24 03:51 -0700
    Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-24 03:54 -0700
      Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-24 04:00 -0700
      Re: Where do byte orders come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-24 15:54 +0000
        Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-24 09:23 -0700
        Re: Where do byte orders come from Gareth Evans <headstone255@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-24 17:28 +0100
          Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-24 09:56 -0700
            Re: Where do byte orders come from Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> - 2020-07-24 14:08 -0400
              Re: Where do byte orders come from robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-07-24 17:54 -0700
              Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 01:57 -0700
                Re: Where do byte orders come from Gareth Evans <headstone255@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-25 11:57 +0100
                  Re: Where do byte orders come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-25 17:23 +0000
                  Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 11:39 -0700
                    Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-25 14:43 -0700
                      Re: Where do byte orders come from Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-07-25 22:21 +0000
                        Re: Where do byte orders come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-25 22:49 +0000
                      Re: Where does PDP-11 floating point come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-25 22:34 +0000
                Re: Where do byte orders come from Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> - 2020-07-25 14:38 -0400
                  Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 11:42 -0700
                    Re: Where do byte orders come from Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> - 2020-07-26 17:11 -0400
                    Re: Where do byte orders come from Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> - 2020-07-26 17:13 -0400
                    Re: Where do byte orders come from Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> - 2020-07-26 17:15 -0400
                      Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-26 16:22 -0700
                        Re: Where do byte orders come from Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-27 06:35 +0100
                          Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-27 11:42 -0700
                            Re: Where do byte orders come from JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2020-07-27 13:54 -0500
                        Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-27 00:37 -0700
                          Re: Where do byte orders come from Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-27 09:05 +0100
                            Re: Where do byte orders come from "Kerr-Mudd,John" <notsaying@127.0.0.1> - 2020-07-27 11:27 +0000
                            Re: Where do byte orders come from JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2020-07-27 10:27 -0500
                              Re: Where do byte orders come from Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2020-07-27 20:45 -0400
                                Re: Where do byte orders come from JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2020-07-28 09:24 -0500
                                  Re: Where do byte orders come from Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-07-28 17:30 +0000
                                    Re: Where do byte orders come from JimP <chucktheouch@gmail.com> - 2020-07-28 15:56 -0500
                            Re: Where do byte orders come from Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2020-07-27 22:34 +0100
                        Re: Where do byte orders come from Andreas Eder <a_eder_muc@web.de> - 2020-08-02 12:00 +0200
                          Re: Where do byte orders come from JimP <chucktheouch@gmail.com> - 2020-08-02 14:02 -0500
                            Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-02 15:03 -0700
                              Re: Where do byte orders come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-08-02 22:59 +0000
                              Re: Where do byte orders come from Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2020-08-03 06:57 +0000
                              Re: Where do byte orders come from maus <maus@dmaus.org> - 2020-08-08 22:21 +0000
                                Re: Where do byte orders come from Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2020-08-09 16:50 -0400
                                  Re: Where do byte orders come from maus <maus@dmaus.org> - 2020-08-10 23:07 +0000
                                    Re: Where do byte orders come from J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-10 19:14 -0400
                                      Re: How did byte order get to horses? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-10 20:39 -0400
                                        Re: How did byte order get to horses? J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-10 20:51 -0400
                                          Re: How did byte order get to horses? Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-10 22:38 -0400
                                            Re: How did byte order get to horses? J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-10 22:50 -0400
                                              Re: How did byte order get to horses? robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-10 20:35 -0700
                                    Re: Where do byte orders come from Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2020-08-11 03:42 -0300
                            Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-03 07:45 -0700
                              Re: Where do byte orders come from JimP <chucktheouch@gmail.com> - 2020-08-03 13:45 -0500
                                Re: Where do byte orders come from Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2020-08-06 23:47 -0400
                          Re: Where do byte orders come from Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-08-02 21:58 +0000
                          Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-02 15:04 -0700
                  Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-25 14:43 -0700
                    Re: Where do byte orders come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-25 22:35 +0000
                    Re: Where do byte orders come from Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2020-07-25 16:54 -0600
                    Re: Where do byte orders come from Gareth Evans <headstone255@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-26 09:43 +0100
                      Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-26 05:54 -0700
            Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 02:03 -0700
              Re: Where do byte orders come from Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-25 10:54 +0100
                Re: Where do byte orders come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-25 17:25 +0000
          Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-24 10:32 -0700
            Re: Where do byte orders come from Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-24 11:45 -0700
              Re: Where do byte orders come from scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2020-07-24 19:32 +0000
                Re: Where do byte orders come from Richard Milward <rsmilward@gmail.com> - 2020-10-07 12:45 -0700
            Re: Where do byte orders come from Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-24 20:54 +0100
              Re: Where do byte orders come from Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 01:55 -0700
            Re: Where do byte orders come from Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-07-24 16:40 -0400
          Re: Where do byte orders come from John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-24 19:30 +0000
        Re: Where do byte orders come from Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-24 21:06 +0100

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#212385

Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:

> On Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 12:38:17 PM UTC-6, Radey Shouman wrote:
>  
>> That would require knowing how they write their numbers.  I don't, do you?
>
> As a matter of fact, as a coin collector, yes, I know that old coins from India, 
> Thailand, Burma and so on that have dates written using their versions of the 
> digits from India have the most significant digit on the left.

Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.

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#212386

Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:

> On Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 12:38:17 PM UTC-6, Radey Shouman wrote:
>  
>> That would require knowing how they write their numbers.  I don't, do you?
>
> As a matter of fact, as a coin collector, yes, I know that old coins from India, 
> Thailand, Burma and so on that have dates written using their versions of the 
> digits from India have the most significant digit on the left.

Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.

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#212389

Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> wrote:
> Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:
> 
>> On Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 12:38:17 PM UTC-6, Radey Shouman wrote:
>> 
>>> That would require knowing how they write their numbers.  I don't, do you?
>> 
>> As a matter of fact, as a coin collector, yes, I know that old coins from India, 
>> Thailand, Burma and so on that have dates written using their versions of the 
>> digits from India have the most significant digit on the left.
> 
> Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
> at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.
> 
> 

I think it has to do with right-hand/left-hand bias. We haven’t even talked
about scripts written from top to bottom. 

-- 
Pete

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#212394

On Sun, 26 Jul 2020 16:22:19 -0700
Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> wrote:

> > Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
> > at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.
> 
> I think it has to do with right-hand/left-hand bias. We haven’t even
> talked about scripts written from top to bottom. 

	It's also worth considering that several early scripts were
boustrophedon.

-- 
Steve O'Hara-Smith                          |   Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN                                     | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins.                |    licences available see
You lose and Bill collects.                 |    http://www.sohara.org/

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#212417

Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 26 Jul 2020 16:22:19 -0700
> Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
>> Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>>> Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
>>> at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.
>> 
>> I think it has to do with right-hand/left-hand bias. We haven’t even
>> talked about scripts written from top to bottom. 
> 
> 	It's also worth considering that several early scripts were
> boustrophedon.
> 

I thought of them, but weren’t they mostly carved? Were any written in ink?
If a right-handed person writes right to left their hand drags over wet
ink. Same with lefties and r-l, I’ve seen the contortions they go thru to
avoid having their hand cover the newly-written text.

-- 
Pete

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#212421

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:42:23 -0700, Peter Flass
<peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
>> On Sun, 26 Jul 2020 16:22:19 -0700
>> Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>>>> Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
>>>> at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.
>>> 
>>> I think it has to do with right-hand/left-hand bias. We haven’t even
>>> talked about scripts written from top to bottom. 
>> 
>> 	It's also worth considering that several early scripts were
>> boustrophedon.
>> 
>
>I thought of them, but weren’t they mostly carved? Were any written in ink?
>If a right-handed person writes right to left their hand drags over wet
>ink. Same with lefties and r-l, I’ve seen the contortions they go thru to
>avoid having their hand cover the newly-written text.

I saw info recently on a papyrus that was found in the Middle East.
Tests show the papyrus and the ink predates the pyramids.

-- 
Jim

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#212397

On Sunday, July 26, 2020 at 5:23:41 PM UTC-6, Peter Flass wrote:
> Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> wrote:
> > Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:
> >> On Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 12:38:17 PM UTC-6, Radey Shouman wrote:

> >>> That would require knowing how they write their numbers.  I don't, do you?
 
> >> As a matter of fact, as a coin collector, yes, I know that old coins from India, 
> >> Thailand, Burma and so on that have dates written using their versions of the 
> >> digits from India have the most significant digit on the left.

> > Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
> > at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.
 
> I think it has to do with right-hand/left-hand bias. We haven’t even talked
> about scripts written from top to bottom. 

It is true that a special technique, involving writing sideways, was used to 
write Hebrew scrolls to avoid the further-right portion of the right hand 
smearing the ink, so left-to-right writing does have one genuine advantage.

John Savard

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#212399

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:

> It is true that a special technique, involving writing sideways, was used
> to write Hebrew scrolls to avoid the further-right portion of the right
> hand smearing the ink, so left-to-right writing does have one genuine
> advantage.

	Only to the right handed, watch a left handed person writing
English some time, the hand position they have to use looks quite
uncomfortable.

-- 
Steve O'Hara-Smith                          |   Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN                                     | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins.                |    licences available see
You lose and Bill collects.                 |    http://www.sohara.org/

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#212407

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 08:05:38 GMT, Ahem A Rivet's Shot
<steveo@eircom.net> wrote: 

> On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
> Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
> 
>> It is true that a special technique, involving writing sideways, was
>> used to write Hebrew scrolls to avoid the further-right portion of
>> the right hand smearing the ink, so left-to-right writing does have
>> one genuine advantage.
> 
>      Only to the right handed, watch a left handed person writing
> English some time, the hand position they have to use looks quite
> uncomfortable.
> 

It is. The invention of the biro was a blessing.

-- 
Bah, and indeed, Humbug.

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#212412

On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 09:05:38 +0100, Ahem A Rivet's Shot
<steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
>On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
>Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>> It is true that a special technique, involving writing sideways, was used
>> to write Hebrew scrolls to avoid the further-right portion of the right
>> hand smearing the ink, so left-to-right writing does have one genuine
>> advantage.
>
>	Only to the right handed, watch a left handed person writing
>English some time, the hand position they have to use looks quite
>uncomfortable.

That curved over for a left hander is when they were beaten as
children for writing left handed. I don't have that. My mother had a
rather one-sided conversation with my first grade teacher about that.

Years later I was at a high school on the east coast of the U.S. Left
handed students wants to do the same way as me. The teacher told them
they couldn't. 

I encountered this idiocy even in the year 2009. Some twit tried to
claim me being left handed was the mark of the devil. I informed that
person this wasn't the Dark Ages and their claim was nonsense.

-- 
Jim

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#212427

JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:

> On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 09:05:38 +0100, Ahem A Rivet's Shot
> <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
> >On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
> >Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
> >
> >> It is true that a special technique, involving writing sideways, was used
> >> to write Hebrew scrolls to avoid the further-right portion of the right
> >> hand smearing the ink, so left-to-right writing does have one genuine
> >> advantage.
> >
> >	Only to the right handed, watch a left handed person writing
> >English some time, the hand position they have to use looks quite
> >uncomfortable.
> 
> That curved over for a left hander is when they were beaten as
> children for writing left handed. I don't have that. My mother had a
> rather one-sided conversation with my first grade teacher about that.
> 
> Years later I was at a high school on the east coast of the U.S. Left
> handed students wants to do the same way as me. The teacher told them
> they couldn't. 
> 
> I encountered this idiocy even in the year 2009. Some twit tried to
> claim me being left handed was the mark of the devil. I informed that
> person this wasn't the Dark Ages and their claim was nonsense.

This discussion reminds me of a 1970s/1980s era coffee mug cartoon captioned

	HIRE THE LEFT-HANDED, IT'S FUN TO WATCH THEM WRITE

but we live in more polite times, don't we?

-- 
Rich Alderson					  news@alderson.users.panix.com
      Audendum est, et veritas investiganda; quam etiamsi non assequamur,
	  omnino tamen proprius, quam nunc sumus, ad eam perveniemus.
									--Galen

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#212436

On 27 Jul 2020 20:45:19 -0400, Rich Alderson
<news@alderson.users.panix.com> wrote:
>JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 09:05:38 +0100, Ahem A Rivet's Shot
>> <steveo@eircom.net> wrote:
>> >On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
>> >Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>> >
>> >> It is true that a special technique, involving writing sideways, was used
>> >> to write Hebrew scrolls to avoid the further-right portion of the right
>> >> hand smearing the ink, so left-to-right writing does have one genuine
>> >> advantage.
>> >
>> >	Only to the right handed, watch a left handed person writing
>> >English some time, the hand position they have to use looks quite
>> >uncomfortable.
>> 
>> That curved over for a left hander is when they were beaten as
>> children for writing left handed. I don't have that. My mother had a
>> rather one-sided conversation with my first grade teacher about that.
>> 
>> Years later I was at a high school on the east coast of the U.S. Left
>> handed students wants to do the same way as me. The teacher told them
>> they couldn't. 
>> 
>> I encountered this idiocy even in the year 2009. Some twit tried to
>> claim me being left handed was the mark of the devil. I informed that
>> person this wasn't the Dark Ages and their claim was nonsense.
>
>This discussion reminds me of a 1970s/1980s era coffee mug cartoon captioned
>
>	HIRE THE LEFT-HANDED, IT'S FUN TO WATCH THEM WRITE
>
>but we live in more polite times, don't we?

Not really, but more people are trying to be polite.

-- 
Jim

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#212440

On 2020-07-28, JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 27 Jul 2020 20:45:19 -0400, Rich Alderson
> <news@alderson.users.panix.com> wrote:
>
>> This discussion reminds me of a 1970s/1980s era coffee mug cartoon captioned
>>
>>	HIRE THE LEFT-HANDED, IT'S FUN TO WATCH THEM WRITE
>>
>> but we live in more polite times, don't we?
>
> Not really, but more people are trying to be polite.

At least they're trying to look polite, while distracting
others from the fact that they haven't changed at all.

Isn't it odd that all this Politically Correct renaming of
sports teams is happening right at the time that the Black
Lives Matter movement is trying to gain traction?  This way
people can create the impression that Something is Being Done
while continuing to be racist in the ways that count.

-- 
/~\  Charlie Gibbs                  |  Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ /  <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid>      |  Apple is a cult.
 X   I'm really at ac.dekanfrus     |  Linux is anarchy.
/ \  if you read it the right way.  |  Pick your poison.

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#212447

On 28 Jul 2020 17:30:56 GMT, Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid>
wrote:
>On 2020-07-28, JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 27 Jul 2020 20:45:19 -0400, Rich Alderson
>> <news@alderson.users.panix.com> wrote:
>>
>>> This discussion reminds me of a 1970s/1980s era coffee mug cartoon captioned
>>>
>>>	HIRE THE LEFT-HANDED, IT'S FUN TO WATCH THEM WRITE
>>>
>>> but we live in more polite times, don't we?
>>
>> Not really, but more people are trying to be polite.
>
>At least they're trying to look polite, while distracting
>others from the fact that they haven't changed at all.
>
>Isn't it odd that all this Politically Correct renaming of
>sports teams is happening right at the time that the Black
>Lives Matter movement is trying to gain traction?  This way
>people can create the impression that Something is Being Done
>while continuing to be racist in the ways that count.

Yup, but its some progress, even if not very much.

-- 
Jim

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#212423

On 27/07/2020 09:05, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Jul 2020 00:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
> Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>> It is true that a special technique, involving writing sideways, was used
>> to write Hebrew scrolls to avoid the further-right portion of the right
>> hand smearing the ink, so left-to-right writing does have one genuine
>> advantage.
> 	Only to the right handed, watch a left handed person writing
> English some time, the hand position they have to use looks quite
> uncomfortable.

	That's only if they are made to write in that awkward position,
typically with the paper in the right-handed position.  If you position
the paper "north-south" in front of your left arm, then the normal
left-handed writing position has the palm and wrist "south" of the pen
and writing fingers.  Perfectly natural and no smearing.  The problem
comes if the paper is in front of the right arm and the left hand is
therefore forced to be more "east-west", or even to curve round over
the top, which is the really awkward position you sometimes see.

	To inject a fragment of computing, Dennis Babbage, a distant
relative of Charles, used to write with both hands, changing over in
the middle of the line.  This made his writing on the blackboard
uncomfortably fast for those of us trying to take notes, esp as he
was standing in the middle in front of it.

-- 
Andy Walker,
Nottingham.

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#212499

On So 26 Jul 2020 at 16:22, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:
>>
>>> On Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 12:38:17 PM UTC-6, Radey Shouman wrote:
>>>
>>>> That would require knowing how they write their numbers.  I don't, do you?
>>>
>>> As a matter of fact, as a coin collector, yes, I know that old coins from India,
>>> Thailand, Burma and so on that have dates written using their versions of the
>>> digits from India have the most significant digit on the left.
>>
>> Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
>> at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.
>>
>>
>
> I think it has to do with right-hand/left-hand bias. We haven’t even talked
> about scripts written from top to bottom.

And then there is also boustrophedon (βουστροφηδόν) where the direction
changes after each line.

'Andreas

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#212502

On Sun, 02 Aug 2020 12:00:27 +0200, Andreas Eder <a_eder_muc@web.de>
wrote:
>On So 26 Jul 2020 at 16:22, Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Radey Shouman <shouman@comcast.net> wrote:
>>> Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:
>>>
>>>> On Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 12:38:17 PM UTC-6, Radey Shouman wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> That would require knowing how they write their numbers.  I don't, do you?
>>>>
>>>> As a matter of fact, as a coin collector, yes, I know that old coins from India,
>>>> Thailand, Burma and so on that have dates written using their versions of the
>>>> digits from India have the most significant digit on the left.
>>>
>>> Thanks, that's interesting.  Seems human language endianess was arrived
>>> at fairly randomly, not unlike the case of computer hardware.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I think it has to do with right-hand/left-hand bias. We haven’t even talked
>> about scripts written from top to bottom.
>
>And then there is also boustrophedon (????????????) where the direction
>changes after each line.
>
>'Andreas

Doesn't Sumerian cuneiform change direction on each line ? Or was that
Egyptian hyroglpyhics ?

-- 
Jim

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#212507

On Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 1:03:36 PM UTC-6, JimP wrote:

> Doesn't Sumerian cuneiform change direction on each line ? Or was that
> Egyptian hyroglpyhics ?

Neither one. Egyptian hieroglyphics are usually written from right to left like 
Hebrew, but they can occasionally be written the other way.

Boustrophedon was used in writing Greek at a very early stage in the development 
of the written form of the language, and that's about it.

John Savard

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#212511

In article <0529b080-3aee-493e-b4b4-d82bebb724abo@googlegroups.com>,
Quadibloc  <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>On Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 1:03:36 PM UTC-6, JimP wrote:
>
>> Doesn't Sumerian cuneiform change direction on each line ? Or was that
>> Egyptian hyroglpyhics ?
>
>Neither one. Egyptian hieroglyphics are usually written from right to left like 
>Hebrew, but they can occasionally be written the other way.
>
>Boustrophedon was used in writing Greek at a very early stage in the development 
>of the written form of the language, and that's about it.

I'm pretty sure that predates any stndards organization specifying charater sets,
placements, and approved colors of ink.

About 45 years ago we had an early Diablo daisywheel printer with a
very primitive interface that just took instructions to move the type
carriage left or right, move the platen up or down, and rotate the
wheel and strike a character. Someone built an interface to our PDP-11
out of about four chips, and I wrote a Unix driver to print ASCII text
on it. It would combine strings of white space and move directly to
the place to print the next character. Then I wrote a little user mode
program that flipped the order of every other line of text, adding
spaces and backspaces so it would come out at the right place when
printed. Then I printed stuff, voila, boustrophedon printing. It
wasn't all that much faster but it was way cool.

-- 
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

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#212515

Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> schrieb:

> Boustrophedon was used in writing Greek at a very early stage in the development 
> of the written form of the language, and that's about it.

Don't foget Luwian.  There is at least one monumental hieroglyphic
Luwian inscription which saved you the trouble of walking back and
forth more than necessary this way:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felsinschrift_von_Bulgarmaden

but the Hittie empire and its successor states had quite a few of those.

And, of course, there is the lapis niger inscription.

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