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Shorthand

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

a page for Shorthand which possesses cyphering and coding possibilities

Stephensonia

Samuel Pepys was happy to master a method of Shorthand. Ponder root as did Randy Waterhouse and suspect if a hacker with mad skills has got you entangled.

Authored entries

Wikipedia: Shorthand

Shorthand is a writing method that can be done at speed because an abbreviated or symbolic form of language is used. It is commonly used by court stenographers. The word stenography comes from the Greek for "close writing".

Many forms of shorthand exist. The method was more popular in the past, when anything needing transcribing had to be written in real-time. This was a valuable skill to secretaries. Shorthand is basically a way of writing that represents common words, phrases and sentences in symbols or abbreviations that the writter can write faster, to allow people to write as fast as people speak.

Samuel Pepys

As Secretary to the Admiralty, an appointment he held with one interruption of four years at the end of Charles II's reign until the Glorious Revolution when he retired from public life. As well as being one of the most important civil servants of his age, he was a widely cultivated man, taking a learned interest in books, music, the theatre and science. When Pepys died his diaries were bequeathed to Magdalene College. The six volumes were written in a cipher based on shorthand called the Thomas Shelton short writing method.

The books were first deciphered by a Mr. John Smith from 1819 to 1822. A shortened (and expurgated) publication appeared in 1825; the complete diary of more than 3800 pages appeared in 1893. Samuel Pepys recorded his daily life for almost ten years in breathtaking honesty, his women, his friends, his dealings are all laid out. His diary reveals his jealousies, insecurities, trivial concerns, and his sad mistreatment of his wife. It is an important account of London in the 1660s. Included are his personal account of the restoration of the monarchy, the Great Plague of 1665, the Great Fire of London of 1666, and the arrival of the Dutch fleet, 1665-1667.

Forms

One of the most widely known forms of shorthand is the Pitman method, developed by Isaac Pitman in 1837. Issac's brother Benn Pitman, who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, was responsible for introducing the method to America. The method has been adapted for 15 languages. The system is phonetic as it is the word sounds that are written rather than the letters. For this reason, the system is sometimes known as 'phonography', meaning 'sound writing' in Greek. One of the reasons this method allows fast transcription is that vowel sounds are optional when only consonants are needed to determine a word.

Although Pitman's method was extremely popular at first (and is still commonly used) its popularity has been superseded by a method developed by John Robert Gregg in 1888. Gregg's system, like Pitman's, is phonetic, but has the advantage of being "light-line." While Pitman's system uses thick and thin strokes to distinguish related sounds, Gregg's uses only thin strokes and makes some of the same distinctions by the length of the stroke.

Other systems have been developed by, among others: 1. Robert Boyd (Boyd's Syllabic Shorthand), 2. Hamden L. Forkner (Forkner Shorthand), 3. James Hill (Teeline Shorthand), 4. Joe M. Pullis (Speedwriting)

Dutton Speedwords is a method of shorthand that had the dual function of also being an international auxilary language.

Usage Then

Many businesses in the "Telegraph Age" had their own brand of Shorthand for messages; Newspapers were one. One imagines before implementation, a unscruplous operator could help one paper scoop rivals.

Usage Now

Short message service (SMS) is a service available on most digital mobile phones that permits the sending of short messages (also known as text messages, or more colloquially texts or even txts) between mobile phones and other handheld devices. SMS was originally designed as part of the GSM digital mobile phone standard, but is now available on a wide range of networks, including 3G networks.

The first SMS is believed to have been sent in December 1992 from a Personal Computer (PC) to a mobile phone on the Vodafone GSM network in the UK.

The message payload is 140 bytes: either 160 7-bit characters, 140 8-bit characters, or 70 2-byte characters in languages such as Chinese, Korean, or Japanese when encoded using 2-byte UTF-16 character encoding (see Unicode). This does not include routing data and other metadata, which is additional to the payload size.

SMS service is developing very fast through out the world. In 2001, more then 250 billion SMS were sent, comparing to the 16 billion sent in 2000. SMS is very popular in Europe, Asia and Australia, but is relatively less used in the United States. It is so popular that the term texting (used as a verb) refers to the act of cell phone users sending SMS text messages back and forth. In China, SMS is very popular, and has brought service providers large profit(18 billion SMS were sent in 2001 [1]). And a lot of services based on SMS have formed, like providing news, weather reports etc.

It is particularly popular amongst young urbanites. In the favoured markets, it is comparatively cheap (for example, in Australia a message typically costs 20–25 Australian cents to send, whilst a voice call costs anywhere between A$0.40 and A$2.00 per minute; in Singapore, one can send hundreds of them for free a month!) and it is possible to send and receive messages in noisy environments (for instance, bars) that would defeat a voice conversation.

Because of the limited message lengths and tiny user interface of mobile phones, SMS users commonly make extensive use of abbreviations, particularly the use of numbers for words (for example, "4" in place of the word "for"), and the omission of vowels, as in the phrase "txt msg". To avoid the even more limited message lengths allowed when using Cyrillic letters, some Russians use the Latin alphabet for their own language. Predictive text software that attempts to guess words (AOL's T9) or letters (Eatoni's LetterWise) reduces the labor of time-consuming input and may make abbreviations less necessary.

Several telecommunication carriers have recently started offering so called premium rate short messages, which through higher pricing and revenue sharing allow companies to be paid for their services by sending a short message. This is also becoming increasingly popular, but problems arise when the premium pricing is not advertised.

An increasing trend towards spamming cell phone users through SMS has prompted cellular service carriers to take steps against the practice, before it becomes a widespread problem. No major spamming incidents involving SMS have been reported as of October 2003, but the existence of cell-phone spam has already been noted by industry watchdogs, including Consumer Reports magazine.

SMS has caused subtle but interesting changes in society since it became popular. Newsworthy events include (in chronological order): * In January 2001, Joseph Estrada was forced to resign from the post of president of the Philippines. The popular campaign against him was widely reported to have been co-ordinated with SMS chain letters. * In July 2001, Malaysia's government decreed that an Islamic divorce (which consists of saying "I divorce you" three times in succession) was not valid if sent by SMS.

Wikipedia: Leet

Leet (often Eleet, leetspeak, l33t, 31337, or 1337; from "Elite") is a cipher, or simply a novelty form of English spelling. It is characterized by the use of non-alphabet characters to stand for letters bearing a superficial resemblance, and by a number of quasi-standard spelling changes such as the substitution of "z" for final "s" and "x" for "(c)ks". Leet is traditionally used on the Internet and other online communities, such as bulletin board systems, to complement Internet slang or "chatspeak". Leet is used by crackers, script kiddies, gamers, and even lamers. It has never been popular amongst real hackers, who consider it a sign of the immaturity of these communities and prefer in their conversation the same cleanliness of syntax as in their code. However, leet is still a cultural phenomenon well-known amongst hackers, and used (usually in a jocular mode of expression) by many computer professionals because of this.

Certain factions maintain that "true" leetspeak is spelled correctly, with the exceptions described above. They do not consider the use of extreme short forms (such as "b" for "be", or "u" for "you") to be leet or leetspeak; instead, they refer to it by such terms as "AOL speak" because they associate such habits with people who chat using http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Messenger MSN Messenger] or AOL Instant Messenger. Another habit which is sometimes associated with leetspeak or Internet chatting is capitalizing every other letter (JuSt LiKe ThIs), sometimes called stickycaps. A similar habit involves capitalizing every letter except for vowels (JuST LiKe THiS).

Overview

The term "leet" comes from the word "elite". Leet can be either pronounced as "leet" (monosyllabic, rhymes with "meat") or by pronouncing the L separate from the rest of the word as "el eat" (elite). The most probable explanation of its origin is from bulletin board systems (BBS's) in the 1980s and early 1990s where having "elite" status on a BBS allowed a user access to file areas, games, and special chat rooms, often including archives of pirated software, pornography, and text files of dubious quality documenting topics such as how to construct explosives and manufacture illegal drugs. It may also have developed to defeat text filters created by BBS sysops for message boards to discourage the discussion of forbidden topics (such as cracking ).

Leet is also known as hakspek or leetspeak, especially when used to shorten messages. This type of Leet may have been developed to decrease bandwidth usage before the bandwidth explosion of the 1990s. It is also regaining popularity in SMS (Short Message Service) media, especially among users of Trillian. More recently, leet has re-entered the mainstream thanks to such webcomics as Megatokyo and its character Largo.

Leet is a form of written slang. It is used to create group identity, and to obscure meaning from outsiders, especially newbies (which may be written "n00bs"). It also establishes a hierarchy, as more complex forms of leet are increasingly unreadable to the untrained eye (consider the phrase "PHr3Ku3N7ly H4s {3d K0o£St330nZ!": it translates to "frequently asked questions". Note the extraneous h in front of asked and the construction "teeonz" as meaning "tions"). Simple forms of leet are making their way into the mainstream, as employees whose companies use email filters resort to creative spellings to prevent swearwords from being censored.

Websites exist that are written entirely in leet. There are also converter programs which amusingly render ordinary English text into leet, at varying levels of complexity. External link: 1337 Google

Examples

  1. "warez" for software (typically software piracy bootlegged software)
  2. "pr0n" for pornography
  3. "sploitz" (short for exploits) known vulnerabilities in computer software
  4. "script kiddie" — a derogatory term used by computer professionals to denote people who download pre-made automated exploit scripts and who possess little actual understanding of how computer software works internally. Another uncommon variant is "skript kiddie"
  5. "0wned" — completely dominated (in a game); hacked into (of a computer), in the past tense, this is "0wnz0r3d". This word may also be used as a non-leet, conversational slang term. This term is sometimes spelled pwn or pwnz0r3d, and the origin of this variation is said to have derived from a typo (although this explanation is probably apocryphal): a user-created Warcraft level included a message sent to all players in the event of a player's defeat: (player name) has been owned. However, because P and O are side-by-side in the QWERTY layout, the message is said to have been (player name) has been pwned, and when the level was released, pwned entered the l33tsp33k vocabulary.
  6. "CC" or "carding" for credit card fraud of one form or another
  7. "eggable" for Unix shell accounts (where one can install and run Eggdrop, an IRC bot)
  8. "r00t" for adminstrator privileges (from the Unix administrator account root).
  9. "m4d sk1llz" for hacking talent of one sort or another and also being possessed of great ability in terms of computer games, Webmastering, or flaming. Also used for other talents, in "m4d [talent] sk1llz"; "m4d" itself is often used for emphasis (such as in "m4d fragging").
  10. "phreaking" for hacking telephone systems and other non-internet equipment
  11. "w1k1", "w1 <1" or "\^/! {!" for "wiki"
  12. "n00b" for someone who acts experienced in an area despite little knowledge of that area, also occasionally "pr013", short for "proletariat". (Various other adjectives abound, these being the most civil of them.) Also "pe0n". They are sometimes said to throw n00ks around in nation role-playing games such as NationStates.
  13. "w00t", "w007", or "\^/007" or the smiley "\o/" is a common interjection, analogous to "Yeah!" or "Yippee!" One view is that it originated as a variant of the interjection "whew". Another view believes that it is from hacking, when a hacker would exclaim "Root!" when he got root access. Yet another view is that it originated from an acronym for Want One Of Those. It also may have started as part of the online arena-FPS gaming community (esp. Quake) — short for "We Own the Other Team". Another possible reason is that it is a somewhat flawed acronym for "wow loot" originatining from MUD (multi user dungeon) games when coming across treasure.
  14. "haxor", "#4><0 2" for "hacker" — where the symbols are used to draw rough approximations to letters: >< is an "x", 2 is an "r". It is possible that the substitution of "ck" with "x" is an intelligent nod to the Greek letter chi.
  15. Note that the construction "-xor" or any variation thereof can mean not only "-ker" but also "zor" (which is how a majority of English speakers would say it). In the phrase "r0x0rz my b0x0rz", which means the object of the phrase (usually a Computer_game game, Computer_program program, exploit, etc.) is of high quality, "x0rz" in the word "r0x0rz" is almost ignored (pronounced "ks" so that the whole word is "rocks") while the "x0rz" on "b0x0rz" is pronounced "kszors". It is important to note that while "b0x0rz" appears to be leet for "boxers", it is actually from a common leet expression "r0x0r j00r b0x0rz", "b0x0rz" meaning "computers" (sometimes referred to as boxes, or among system administrators, boxen). "r0x0rz" is generally pronounced as "roks-ors", which is how it is spelled; however, a very small minority pronounce it "rockers", following the usage in "hax0rz". The term "r0x0r j00r b0x0r" itself is probably a derivation from "r0x0r j00r s0x0r" ("rocks your socks"). It should be noted that although the spelling of leet is fairly standardized, pronunciation differs widely, as does the actual alphabet used. Much depends on which forum, newsgroup, or chat room the leet is being spoken in.
  16. "h4x" for "hacks"
  17. "sux0rz" for "sucks" in "sux0rz my nutz0rz" when one feels pity for someone else, or when angry.
  18. "suxxor" for some other person considered unfriendly, this is also used in friendly name calling among gamers.
  19. Thus there are many incarnations of leet, and it is continuously evolving as more people add to it, and thus, a single word can be "spelled" in many different ways. For example, "phonetic" could be > - 0n371><, p - 0 \ 3+1 <, >h0 \ 371<, ph0n371k.

"Phonetic" spellings

  • "d00d" for "dude"
  • "joo" for "you", also written as "j00" or "_|00"
  • "ph" for "f", as in "phear" for "fear" (as in "ph34r my l33t skillz")
  • b4k4^2 or |34|<4^2 for " baka Ni". Baka is the Japanese word for "idiots" or "stupidity", while Ni is the Japanese word for "two", so it is meant to be read as "Baka raised to the second power" or "baka squared" (meaning quite stupid) (see Baka-Ni t-shirt). The term is used by the character Ruri Hoshino (as baka baka) in the anime series Martian Successor Nadesico, but subsequently popularized by MegaTokyo.

Note that in true leet, the following are considered improper. * "kewl" or "ku" or "ql" for "cool" * "r" for "are", "u" for "you", "c" for "see" (giving the common "see you") * "2" for "to" or "too", "4" for "for" (but note "4" can also represent an "A") * "8" for "-ate", as "l8r" for "later" * "ne" for "any"

Frequent misspellings

Frequently, common typing errors are also absorbed into leet, such as * "yuo" for "you" * "teh" for "the" (also sometimes used as an intensifier: "He is teh lame") * "pwn" for "own" (to defeat badly, as in a game: "You got pwned") For instance: _|00 607 |\^/||3|) — in other words you got owned, and were the subject of major "ownage". The term "0\/\/nze|>" has similar meaning, referring to the process of getting "owned".) * "smrt" for "smart" (this may also be an intentional reference to an episode of The Simpsons* in which Homer misspells "smart" in song: "I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! S-M-R-T! ... I mean, S-M-A-R-T!") * "waht" for "what" * "leik" or "liek" for "like", usually sarcastic * German "ist" for "is", often used with word "death". eg. "mp3 ist death" * "loose" for "lose"

Other examples

"WHeRE @Re J00" for "where are you" "wH4+'S uR nAME" for "what is your name" "/\/\¡|<£'§ 7££+ §|<¡77§ þ|/||| _|¤¤" — an example of especially obfuscated leet (see: obfuscated code), this translates to "Mike's leet skills own you".

Leet also draws elements from Engrish, such as "b4k4" ( baka ), a Japanese term for "fool". Lately, leet draws more and more from Japanese slang, due to the increasing fascination of leet-speakers with it. An exception is the Korean "g0s\/", whose parent word became well-known in the West through online games of [Starcraft with/against the massive population of Korean gamers.

Another common feature of leet is over-exclamation, where a sentence is postfixed with far too many exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!! In some cases, because the exclamation symbol (!) resides on the same key as the number 1, over-exclamation can be accidentally typed with extraneous digits, owing to the excitement of the typist: d00d th1s r0x0rz!!!!!11 Additionally, the tilde key (~) is used in this fashion: leik this OwNz!!11!!!~~ Some users have adopted this and include it deliberately. A growing phenomenon is deliberately typing the word "one": pwnz0r3d!!!!!11oneoneone ; in some cases, this has been purposely exaggerated for comic effect, i.e., L0l!!!11!eleventy-one1!1!11one1 . Interestingly, letter-to-number translations do not often occur within these "oneoneone" blocks.

Common letter-to-number or letter-to-symbol translations

(subject to a great deal of individual variation):
A 4 or /\ or @ G 9 or 6 M //. or ^^ or v or [V] or {V} or \/ or /\/\ or (u)
B 8 or 6 or 3 or > H # or [-] or {=} or <~> or - or ]~[ or }{ N // or ^/ or
C [ or ¢ or < or ( I 1 or ! or O 0 or () U (_) or _
D ) or o or [) J , or _ or ; P
E 3 or & K < or { or {< Q 9 or (,) or < W
F = L 1 or or _ R 2 or 2 or P\
  • Note: The word "I" will sometimes be replaced with the word "eye" (3j3).

In recent years, leet has become more and more out of style. The vast majority of gamers and internet users today do not use leet as it is seen more as a sign of weakness and immaturity rather than coolness or of "having skills" (or sk1llz, as the case may be). However, many words from leet have survived and become part of modern Internet culture, such as "pwned", the common leet misspellings such as "teh", and especially the "z" at the end of words, such as "skillz". Another prominent example of a surviving leet expression is the ever-popular "woot/w007". Although using leet speak seriously is out of style, many gamers use it in a joking context. "h42 h42, u ar3z s00 1337" or "ph342 m/\ 1337 sk1llz."

Another location for similar text obfuscation is in Multiplayer gaming, except involving other characters from the ascii set. Some Multiplayer games allow for users to be kicked out if they are "being lame" with a simple command like "!kick username" which works fine as long as the username constitutes letters that can be typed with a normal keyboard. To prevent some kicks, people may use names such as "Élí†è Hàxór" which is difficult to type in, if possible at all.

See also

Shorthand Reference