Non Latin Characters for Domains

ICANN board directors will now vote on allowing Non Latin characters in domain names as specified by the IDN protocol. If the proposal passes then it will mean that we will soon be able to see domain names in Arabic, Chinese and even hindi.

More on this story in the CNN Technology website.

I still cannot imagine how I would be able to type in the domain names using my keyboard. Changing the charset is going to be a pain each time you need to visit a site.

Google flirting with Code 128 barcodes ?

The Google search page is showing a 1 D barcode (Code 128 font) on the search page instead of the logo. Wonder whats the reasoning behind it... I wouldn't have been surprised to see a 2 dimensional QR code to allow a user to repeat the same search on their mobile phone but the use of a 1D font is intriguing to say the least. I wonder what could be the data encoded in the barcode.... from the looks of it .. shouldn't be more than 8-12 chars given the high density of the code 128 font.

Update:

The barcode has "Google" encoded inside it and the logo has been changed to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the first barcode patent. More...