>
>00/00/00 - General form for dates expressed as numbers
>00/00/0000 - Alternate to above after Y2K
>
>Consider the convention in blackletter German publishing of setting
>'italic' text as letterspaced text.


They would emphasize text with letterspacing, where the Latin
tradition used a cursive italic. Each emphasized in their own way.
Today, we can suggest such relativist methods by using an <em> element instead.

>That breaks the flow, but it is
>also the prevailing convention. For that matter, italics break the flow
>so the reader can see the distinction the author want to convey. I
>believe numbers and numerical values, being different from words,
>should stand out slightly, at least when set with lining figs.


Er, what, I agree mostly; and please lets remember that a significant
portion of a figure's meaning is in its place; that is, its column
for ones, tens, hunds, thous, etc. Without that columnating ability,
a face is useless in its basest form. Thus, the crass comm figs that
are, admit it, much more versatile in application than a specialist
proportional old style can be. Nice to have, but hell it it's to be
used in a spreadsheet!

>But I'm a fan of OS figs, and so I don't object as strenuously, maybe
>because the 1 and l aren't so easily confused (although now the 1 looks
>like an i--an i for an l, eh?).
>
>-----
>Michael Brady
>http://www.unc.edu/~jbrady/index.html


--
Gary Munch
<http://www.munchfonts.com>