Microsoft to Remove Swastikas from Software Fonts (no more protection from Rakshasas)

Yahoo News ^ | 15 Dec 04 | Reuters

[AreaMan]

Microsoft to Remove Swastikas from Software Fonts

Mon Dec 15, 9:35 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Friday that its latest version of Office software inadvertently contained a font featuring two swastikas, and said it would offer tools to remove and replace the offending characters from the program.

The swastika, which was made infamous by Nazi Germany, was included in Microsoft's "Bookshelf Symbol 7" font. That font was derived from a Japanese font set, said Microsoft Office product manager Simon Marks.

"It was discovered by one of our customers a couple weeks ago," Marks said, adding that there was "no indication of malicious intent."

The Redmond, Washington-based software maker said that it had contacted various Jewish organizations about the font and said a utility would be immediately available on its Web site that would remove the characters from the system.

Microsoft said it will release other tools at a later date to remove only the offending characters.

A form of the swastika has been used in the Buddhist religion to symbolize the feet or footprints of the Buddha. The symbol, which was also used widely in the ancient world including Mesopotamia, Scandinavia, India and the Americas, became common in China and Japan with the spread of Buddhism.

German dictator Adolf Hitler adopted the swastika as the symbol of the Nazi Party because of its nationalist identification, according to the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights group.

[AreaMan]

If we have learned anything from watching re-runs of Night Stalker, it is that you can't protect your yourself from Rakshasas without the ability to print out swasktikas in 200pt font and hang them all over the place.

I tell you what, if I am devoured by a Rakshasa as a result of this...my estate will sue Microsoft.

[Oztrich Boy]

Television. Teacher. Mother. Secret Lover.

[tallhappy]

That font was derived from a Japanese font set

Swastikas are common Buddhist associated symbols in Asia.

This sounds like they are not properly respecting diversity.

[StatesEnemy]

Night Stalker re-runs??? Where?!

[AreaMan]

Actually you can get them on DVD. I haven't seen them on TV in decades, but then again I cancelled my sat TV years ago.

[supercat]

Which way did the Swastikas point in the MS fonts? I believe the Nazi ones pointed the opposite direction from the Japanese ones.

[TSgt]

Office 2003 - Bookshelf Symbol 7

~ is the swastika

t is the star of David

Interesting...

[Amerigomag]

"The Swastika" is the oldest cross and emblem in the world. It forms a combination of four "L's" standing for Luck, Light, Love and Life. It has been found in ancient Rome, excavations in Grecian cities, on Buddhist idols, on Chinese coins dated 315 B.C., and our own Southwest Indians use it as an amulet.

Here is the source for the quote.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

What is Microsoft going to do about the Swastika Public School?

[solitas]

I believe you'll find it in the embellishments in Eastern Rite (i.e. Byzantine) churches too.

[Delta 21]

Stupid is as stupid does.

[Jackson Brown]

In addition, it was/is widely used by Native Americans/Mayans/Aztecs since LONG before white men arrived in the western hemisphere.

The word swastika is derived from the ancient Sanskrit word: Swastika, which means “being fortunate.”

[SAMWolf]

For the first fifteen years of its existence as a Division, members of the 45th Infantry division proudly wore on their left shoulders an ancient "good luck" symbol, the swastika, in yellow on a square red background. But when the swastika was adopted by Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party in Germany during the late 1930's, it became an odious symbol and was abandoned as the insignia of the 45th Infantry Division.

[BradyLS]

Take a look at the US Department of Labor's mark: Two letter-L's encompassing a star. Each 'L' has a knock-out stripe that mimic stripes on the flag. However, it looks more like a swastika that was broken and reassembled around a star.