Tuesday 29 December 2009

Chinese Universities

Most Chinese Universities now have IDNs. The following is a selection of Universities, Institutes, Colleges and Academies idn addresses. I have not listed any that redirect to an ASCII address. Addresses that end in 中国 are Simplified Chinese and those that end in 中國 are Traditional Chinese. Both 中国 and 中國 mean China. Some of the Universities I have listed below do not have the 中國 form because they have not yet configured their DNS for 中國
  1. Anhui Xinhua University 安徽新华学院.中国
  2. Beihua University 北华大学.中国
  3. Běijīng Film Academy 北京电影学院.中国 & 北京電影學院.中國
  4. Běijīng Forestry University 北京林业大学.中国 & 北京林業大學.中國
  5. Beijing University of Chemical Technology 北京化工大学.中国
  6. China Women's University 中华女子学院.中国
  7. Communication University of China 中国传媒大学.中国
  8. Dalian University of Technology 大连理工大学.中国
  9. Fujian Medical University 福建医科大学.中国
  10. Fujian Medical University 福建醫科大學.中國
  11. Fuzhou University 福州大学.中国
  12. Fuzhou University 福州大學.中國
  13. Gānsù Coal Technical School 甘肃煤炭工业学校.中国
  14. Guangdong University of Foreign Studies 广东外语外贸大学.中国
  15. Guangdong University of Foreign Studies 廣東外語外貿大學.中國
  16. Guangxi Normal University 广西师范大学.中国
  17. Guangzhou University 广州大学.中国
  18. Guilin University of Technology 桂林工学院.中国
  19. Guilin University of Technology 桂林工學院.中國
  20. Harbin Institute of Technology 哈尔滨工业大学.中国
  21. Harbin Institute of Technology 哈爾濱工業大學.中國
  22. Hebei University 河北大学.中国
  23. Hebei University 河北大學.中國
  24. Heilongjiang University 黑龙江大学.中国
  25. Heilongjiang University 黑龍江大學.中國
  26. Henan University 河南大学.中国
  27. Henan University 河南大學.中國
  28. Hong Kong University of Science & Technology 香港科技大学.中国
  29. Inner Mongolia University 内蒙古大学.中国
  30. Jimei University 集美大学.中国
  31. Jimei University 集美大學.中國
  32. Lanzhou University of Finance & Economics 兰州商学院.中国
  33. Lanzhou University of Finance & Economics 蘭州商學院.中國
  34. Liaoning University 辽宁大学.中国
  35. Nanchang University 南昌大学.中国
  36. Nanchang University 南昌大學.中國
  37. Nanjing University 南京大学.中国
  38. Nanjing University 南京大學.中國
  39. Ningxia University 宁夏大学.中国
  40. Peking (Beijing) University 北京大学.中国
  41. Peking (Beijing) University 北京大學.中國
  42. Qinghai Normal University 青海师范大学.中国
  43. Qufu Normal University 曲阜师范大学.中国
  44. Shaanxi Normal University 陕西师范大学.中国
  45. Shandong University 山东大学.中国
  46. Shandong University 山東大學.中國
  47. Shandong Xinhua Computer College 新华教育.中国 & 山东新华电脑学院.中国
  48. Shandong Xinglin Vocational College of Science & Technology 山东杏林科技职业学院.中国
  49. Shanghai Jiao Tong University 上海交通大学.中国
  50. Shanghai Jiao Tong University 上海交通大學.中國
  51. Shànghǎi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 上海中医药大学.中国 & 上海中醫藥大學.中國
  52. Shantou University 汕头大学.中国
  53. Shantou University 汕頭大學.中國
  54. Shenyang University 沈阳大学.中国
  55. Shenzhen University 深圳大学.中国
  56. Shenzhen University 深圳大學.中國
  57. Sichuan Agricultural University 四川农业大学.中国
  58. Sichuan Agricultural University 四川農業大學.中國
  59. Sichuan University 四川大学.中国
  60. Sichuan University 四川大學.中國
  61. Southeast University 东南大学.中国
  62. Southeast University 東南大學.中國
  63. Tianjin University 天津大学.中国
  64. Tianjin University 天津大學.中國
  65. Wuyi University 五邑大学.中国
  66. Wuyi University 五邑大學.中國
  67. Xī'ān Jiāotōng University 西安交通大学.中国 & 西安交通大學.中國
  68. Xī'ān Jiāotōng-Liverpool University 西交利物浦大学.中国 & 西交利物浦大學.中國
  69. Xihua University 西华大学.中国
  70. Xuzhou Normal University 徐州师范大学.中国
  71. Yanbian University 延边大学.中国
  72. Yanbian University 延邊大學.中國
  73. Yangzhou University 扬州大学.中国
  74. Yangzhou University 揚州大學.中國
  75. Yanshan University 燕山大学.中国
  76. Yunnan University 云南大学.中国

Monday 28 December 2009

I have discovered three more fascinating Chinese Characters that are being used as Given Names. Each character 汉字 is constructed from three occurrences of a single radical.

晶 jīng ≅ crystal/bright/radiant. The radical is 日 which means Sun.

磊 lěi ≅ Sincere/Great/Massive/Pile of Stones. The radical is 石 which means Stone.

鑫 xīn ≅ Symbolises Prosperity. The radical is 金 which means Gold.

Monday 21 December 2009

When choosing an English Given Name there are considerations, such as, meaning and sound. There are extra dimensions when choosing a Chinese Given Name. I was recently introduced to a Chinese female Given Name: 淼 (miǎo). This has various meanings, including: Infinity / A Flood / A wide expanse of water. In the context of a Given Name I will take the meaning to be Infinity.

淼 is a fascinating character because it consists of the radical 水 repeated three times. 水, as a standalone character, means water. One can easily appreciate the connection between 水, 淼, flood and hence Infinity.

Friday 18 December 2009

On Wednesday I gave a presentation on IDNs to UCISA-NG (Universities & Colleges Information Systems Association - Networking Group) Committee. The following is a short article I have written for the UCISA Newsletter.


Internationalisation (i18n) is on the Agenda

André 小山 Schappo - Loughborough University

Internationalisation is on the agenda and now is a golden opportunity to turn aspirations into reality in the IT domain. There are many aspects of IT that can be internationalised. This brief article will focus primarily on Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs).

Loughborough has a set of fully functioning IDNs in several languages/scripts. These include:

http://ラフバラ大学.com/ - Loughborough University Japanese IDN
http://拉夫堡学生会.cn/ - Loughborough Student Union Simplified Chinese IDN

The complete list of Loughborough IDNs can be viewed at http://yep.it/idns

I term these PIDNs, that is, Partial Internationalised Domain Names because the TLD is still ASCII. During 2010 there will be some ccTLD FIDNs, Fully Internationalised Domain Names. 拉夫堡学生会.cn will become 拉夫堡学生会.中国 where 中国 means China. In actuality, 拉夫堡学生会.中国 already works but not when using the ICANN Root Servers.

The implementation of internationalised gTLDs is longer term but we will probably see them in 2011. My considered prediction is that .com will be .公司 in Chinese and .コム in Japanese.

Registering IDNs is straight forward and inexpensive. At Loughborough ラフバラ we use dynadot.com as our Registrar for IDNs. Currently, not all Registrars are IDN aware or capable.

Along with Loughborough Students, one of my current activities is the development of AI (Adaptive Internationalised) websites. These websites adapt content according to: language of the IDN used to access the website, browser preferred display language, Region and Date. So, for example, one of the adaptations is display of prices in the currency of the Region of the visiting browser.

With commitment and imagination the opportunities for internationalisation of IT are limitless and boundless.

TLD ⇄ Top Level Domain
ccTLD ⇄ country code TLD eg jp, uk, cn
gTLD ⇄ generic TLD eg com, net, org

Saturday 12 December 2009

Today 今日 Carolyn キャロリン Moses of BBC East Midlands filmed me writing Japanese 日本語 on Loughborough ラフバラ Market. I was writing the names of the fruit and veg in Japanese on the tickets of Joe ジョー Newsome's Stall. This film will be a part of a BBC special feature on how the region is benefiting from the Olympic Games.

More when I know more ☺

The Japanese writing is part of an initiative to Internationalise Loughborough ラフバラ Market. To learn more about this initiative see yep.it/lborom

Friday 4 December 2009

It is an interesting challenge to transliterate English Names to Chinese. The technique I use is to try and get as close as possible to the sound of the English Name in pinyin and then find good/interesting Chinese Characters to match the pinyin. I mainly use the MDBG dictionary to lookup the Chinese Characters.

Elaine I transliterated as 爱兰 which I translate literally as Loves Orchids. The pinyin form of 爱兰 is àilán.

Deacon I transliterated as 螮空 which I translate literally as Rainbow Sky. The pinyin form of 螮空 is dìkōng.

Roger I transliterated as 柔杰 which I translate literally as Gentle Hero. The pinyin form of 柔杰 is róujié.