May 7, 2010

Arabic on the Net

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Just so you know: according to ICANN, today was “the most significant day” since the launch of the internet. Why? Because for the first time ever, you can type in a full URL, including the top level domain name, in a non-Latin alphabet. Namely, Arabic:

One of the first websites with a full Arabic address is the Egyptian Ministry of Communications. Egypt’s communication and information technology minister Tarek Kamal told the Associated Press that three Egyptian companies were the first to receive registrar licences for the ‘.masr’ domain, written in Arabic.

Other countries will get top level domains in Arabic shortly, and further non-Latin alphabets are in the works. So now you know.

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DECEMBER IS MAKE OR BREAK

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

With only days left until December 31, we've raised about half of our $400,000 goal—but we need a huge surge in reader support to close the remaining gap. Whether you've given before or this is your first time, your contribution right now matters.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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