4 ms·

Elephants are fine animals, but the Unicode standard features a distinct and disturbing lack of guinea pigs — as well as capybaras — severely limiting the range

Elephants are fine animals, but the Unicode standard features a distinct and disturbing lack of guinea pigs — as well as capybaras — severely limiting the range of my digital expression. (I mean, if we can have 'taco'…)

tmnstr85 2y ago
2nd
oconnore 2y ago
[dead]
AceJohnny2 2y ago
you should start a petition! (/s because from TFA "Petitions are not considered as evidence since they are too easily skewed")
- Dalewyn 2y ago
  Boat owner: "We have a new boat and we need a name, let's have the internet vote! It can be the people's boat!" Internet: "Boaty McBoatface." Boat owner: "Democracy is a mistake."
  - akira2501 2y ago
    "Democracy is fine. You tried to cheap out on marketing and you got what you paid for."
    - netsharc 2y ago
      Reminds me of the Priiiiillll debacle: https://heideblog.com/2011/05/12/eine-abstimmung-fur-rasereigesicht/ https://heideblog.com/2011/05/12/eine-abstimmung-fur-raserei... (the title is in German and is unconnected) TL; DR: washing-up-detergent maker Pril does online competition and promised to put the winning design on shelves, the design that got most votes: https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot-2011-05-13-at-4-09-17-pm.png https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot... Somewhere online there's a pic of these things on the shelves/they did make them as collectibles.
      - bombcar 2y ago
        I’d buy it. I love stuff like that. Boaty McBoatface is the most famous boat behind the Titanic, so it definitely worked.
      - Retric 2y ago
        If I saw that Peil design on store shelves I’d likely buy it, so it likely worked quite well as a limited edition. Really click the line and ask yourself if you’d do the same. https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot-2011-05-13-at-4-09-17-pm.png https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot... The inherent issue with these campaigns is the select for initial response not how long you’re going to like some design.
      - Dalewyn 2y ago
        That is awesome.
  - dustyventure 2y ago
    If marketers found that any vote spontaneously creates the invested interest a democratic process needs then we all would have starved during the subsequent storm of pointless elections.
notatoad 2y ago
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=elephant,%2Fm%2F01zh5,%2Fm%2F0gy7v,%2Fm%2F07crc&hl=en-CA https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=elephant... capybara and guinea pig are both far less popular than taco or emoji interestingly, the spike of taco in google trends seems like it might be correlated to it's addition to emoji - that spike would be about a year after iOS got the Taco emoji.
- TheAceOfHearts 2y ago
  Capybaras are a rising trend in the last few years. There's a ton of fan pages with cute capybaras pictures and videos. You need to invest early.
  - squidgedcricket 2y ago
    Capybaras don't have shit on hyraxes. I'm trying to be an early adopter, but like all hot new products that seem to be out of stock everywhere. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax
    - rsynnott 2y ago
      They're disadvantaged in the cute-animal stakes by their name, I think. The name implies something large, dangerous, and possibly mythical; it really doesn't fit with "round fuzzy thing somewhat smaller than a cat".
    - itishappy 2y ago
      Solid market analysis. I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.
- bombcar 2y ago
  Capybara are being artificially held down because there isn’t a confident and convenient emoji for them! I suppose you could start a popular open source project and name it the word you want to become an emoji.
IncreasePosts 2y ago
Without any relative scale, can you even tell the difference between a capybara and a guinea pig?
- Freak_NL 2y ago
  Certainly. Capybaras are semi-aquatic mammals, and their head as a consequence is positioned significantly higher than their bodies, resulting in a general pose which can only be described as 'regally aloof'. Cavies on the other hand look like adorable furry idiots with a much less angular — in fact, rotund — outline. Aside from both being rodents and (apparently) delicious, these are quite different animals.
  - latexr 2y ago
    The head shape is also quite different, as are the ears and eyes. I’m struggling to understand how someone could mix them up.
    - IncreasePosts 2y ago
      My implication was "at the resolution of an emoji" - you can clearly tell the difference in real life, but what about when you only have 18x18 pixels to work with?
      - Freak_NL 2y ago
        If you can't tell the difference between a capybara and a guinea pig, you won't be able to tell the difference between a cat and a dog either. The former pair differs more in terms of their silhouette than the latter. 18×18 probably means you won't be able to tell quite a lot of emoji apart, but don't blame these rodents for that.
  - pxc 2y ago
    They also feel extremely different to the touch. Capybaras have really rough coats! They're not soft at all. You could tell a guinea-pig-sized capybara apart from a guinea pig, or a capybara-sized guinea pig apart from a capybara, blindfolded. Probably anyone who expects guinea pigs to be soft but has never met a capybara would get it right on the first try.

tmnstr85 2y ago

2nd

oconnore 2y ago

[dead]

AceJohnny2 2y ago

you should start a petition! (/s because from TFA "Petitions are not considered as evidence since they are too easily skewed")

Dalewyn 2y ago
Boat owner: "We have a new boat and we need a name, let's have the internet vote! It can be the people's boat!" Internet: "Boaty McBoatface." Boat owner: "Democracy is a mistake."
- akira2501 2y ago
  "Democracy is fine. You tried to cheap out on marketing and you got what you paid for."
  - netsharc 2y ago
    Reminds me of the Priiiiillll debacle: https://heideblog.com/2011/05/12/eine-abstimmung-fur-rasereigesicht/ https://heideblog.com/2011/05/12/eine-abstimmung-fur-raserei... (the title is in German and is unconnected) TL; DR: washing-up-detergent maker Pril does online competition and promised to put the winning design on shelves, the design that got most votes: https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot-2011-05-13-at-4-09-17-pm.png https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot... Somewhere online there's a pic of these things on the shelves/they did make them as collectibles.
    - bombcar 2y ago
      I’d buy it. I love stuff like that. Boaty McBoatface is the most famous boat behind the Titanic, so it definitely worked.
    - Retric 2y ago
      If I saw that Peil design on store shelves I’d likely buy it, so it likely worked quite well as a limited edition. Really click the line and ask yourself if you’d do the same. https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot-2011-05-13-at-4-09-17-pm.png https://heideblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/screen-shot... The inherent issue with these campaigns is the select for initial response not how long you’re going to like some design.
    - Dalewyn 2y ago
      That is awesome.
- dustyventure 2y ago
  If marketers found that any vote spontaneously creates the invested interest a democratic process needs then we all would have starved during the subsequent storm of pointless elections.

notatoad 2y ago

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=elephant,%2Fm%2F01zh5,%2Fm%2F0gy7v,%2Fm%2F07crc&hl=en-CA https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=elephant... capybara and guinea pig are both far less popular than taco or emoji interestingly, the spike of taco in google trends seems like it might be correlated to it's addition to emoji - that spike would be about a year after iOS got the Taco emoji.

TheAceOfHearts 2y ago
Capybaras are a rising trend in the last few years. There's a ton of fan pages with cute capybaras pictures and videos. You need to invest early.
- squidgedcricket 2y ago
  Capybaras don't have shit on hyraxes. I'm trying to be an early adopter, but like all hot new products that seem to be out of stock everywhere. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    They're disadvantaged in the cute-animal stakes by their name, I think. The name implies something large, dangerous, and possibly mythical; it really doesn't fit with "round fuzzy thing somewhat smaller than a cat".
  - itishappy 2y ago
    Solid market analysis. I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.
bombcar 2y ago
Capybara are being artificially held down because there isn’t a confident and convenient emoji for them! I suppose you could start a popular open source project and name it the word you want to become an emoji.

IncreasePosts 2y ago

Without any relative scale, can you even tell the difference between a capybara and a guinea pig?

Freak_NL 2y ago
Certainly. Capybaras are semi-aquatic mammals, and their head as a consequence is positioned significantly higher than their bodies, resulting in a general pose which can only be described as 'regally aloof'. Cavies on the other hand look like adorable furry idiots with a much less angular — in fact, rotund — outline. Aside from both being rodents and (apparently) delicious, these are quite different animals.
- latexr 2y ago
  The head shape is also quite different, as are the ears and eyes. I’m struggling to understand how someone could mix them up.
  - IncreasePosts 2y ago
    My implication was "at the resolution of an emoji" - you can clearly tell the difference in real life, but what about when you only have 18x18 pixels to work with?
    - Freak_NL 2y ago
      If you can't tell the difference between a capybara and a guinea pig, you won't be able to tell the difference between a cat and a dog either. The former pair differs more in terms of their silhouette than the latter. 18×18 probably means you won't be able to tell quite a lot of emoji apart, but don't blame these rodents for that.
- pxc 2y ago
  They also feel extremely different to the touch. Capybaras have really rough coats! They're not soft at all. You could tell a guinea-pig-sized capybara apart from a guinea pig, or a capybara-sized guinea pig apart from a capybara, blindfolded. Probably anyone who expects guinea pigs to be soft but has never met a capybara would get it right on the first try.