Avro is in Linux!

Probably the most popular Bangla writing software Avro Phonetic is now available for Ubntu. For a long time, many linux users of Bangladesh were expecting this great news. Though there is a semi-phonetic writing tool in Ubuntu named Probhat, but still that is not considered as complete replacement of Avro.

Avro running in Linux Mint 7

Scim-avro, the open source edition of Avro Phonetic typing system in Linux, works as an IMEngine (plug-in) of scim (Smart Common Input Method). Scim is delivered now a day with most of the major Linux distributions, so the installation is really simple. Upto now the binary package only for Ubuntu 9.04 (32 bit) desktop edition is released. Within a very short time the source code will be available, so that you can compile it in any Linux distribution you are using.
The installation is really simple. And right now I am using it in my laptop. And it works fine except some minor bugs. But  keep in mind that it is still in beta. So the final edition will be error free.
For more information please visit here.

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Bangla Unicode Fonts in Firefox 3

Previously I’ve written a step by step guide for setting the Firefox up for Bangla unicode fonts. That was for Firefox 2. But that guide can also handle Firefox 3 (some of my reader have already done that and I myself also). So if you are using Firefox 3 and can’t see Bangla fonts then click here.
Another common problem is, many users are seeing the Bangla title in the tabs too small too read clearly. This can be fixed if you use Solaiman Lipi as your default Bangla unicode fonts. Click here to download Solaiman Lipi fonts. Another font with which you can resolve this problem can be downloaded from here. Also you can use Siyam Rupali for avoiding this problem. If the problem still exists then go to Vrinda Hacking; download the Vrinda font from there and put it in your Windows’ Font folder replacing the older one. It should make your Bangla look better. (I myself didn’t try with the Vrinda font, because I got the better look with the Solaiman Lipi font and I actually don’t recommend Vrinda.) You also can download a lot of Bangla unicode fonts from Omicronlab.
If you are new to Bangla keyboard or facing problems in writing with Bangla fonts, you can read this article.
If you are done then welcome to Bangla Blogosphere.

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Bangla Unicode Fonts in Opera

If you can’t read then you surely need to carry out the following instruction guide. By the way this guide is for “Windows XP Service Pack 2″. So make sure you are using that. I’ve not tried whether it works in SP1 or Vista. But as the release dates of Windows XP and Windows 2003 is almost same, it should work in Windows 2003 server. And for Vista it should work automatically.

• Step 01:

Download the latest version of Opera.

• Step 02:

Download Unicode Bangla Fonts from the web and install them on your operating system. Here I am using the Solaiman Lipi font.

• Step 03:

Download the file for complex scripts and install it. After installing the file, go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Language, and check the Install files for complex scripts and right-to-left languages option. Click Ok.

• Step 04:

Go to the menu bar of your browser for Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Fonts.

• Step 05:

Go to the button International Fonts.  In the Writing system, select Bengali. From Normal font, select SolaimanLipi font. Then click Ok.

• Step 06:

Go to the browser’s View menu and set the Encoding to: Unicode [UTF-8].

Now your Opera is fully compatible for the Bangla Unicode Fonts. Visit this page again and see the test sentence written in Bangla at the beginning of this article, whether you can read it completely. Hope you will successfully read that sentence.

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Can’t see Bangla?

This site is not written entirely in English. Some parts are written in Bangla. All the materials of the Bangla part is Unicode (utf-8) compatible. If your system is not configured properly for Unicode (utf-8) then right now you may be facing problem with reading Bangla. The solutions are depicted below.

First of all, please use Firefox instead of other browser(s). Not all browsers have the capability of handling Unicode Fonts (UTF-8) smoothly. Then, please follow the following steps:

• if you are using Ubuntu or Fedora, then you should not have any problems regarding Unicode Bangla Fonts. So you do not need any kind of modification. Just make sure that you are using Firefox 3.0 or later.
• if you are using Windows then CLICK HERE to setup your browser Unicode compatible.
• if you are using Mac OSX, then you need to DOWNLOAD & INSTALL Bangla unicode fonts which support Apple Advance Typography (AAT).

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Quick Tips to setup Bangla in your computer

1. Download the Firefox browser (if you have not yet).
2. Download your favorite Bangla font. The recommended font is Kalpurush.
3. Intsall the downloaded font.
4. Then go to the Preference menu and select the Content tab.
5. Go to the Fonts & Colors section and press the Advanced button.
6. Now choose the preferences as the image below and click Ok.

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Bangla Unicode Fonts in Google Chrome

If you can’t read then you surely need to carry out the following instruction guide. By the way this guide is for “Windows XP Service Pack 2″. So make sure you are using that. I’ve not tried whether it works in SP1 or Vista. But as the release dates of Windows XP and Windows 2003 is almost same, it should work in Windows 2003 server. And for Vista it should work automatically.

• Step 01:

Download the latest version of Chrome.

• Step 02:

Download Unicode Bangla Fonts from the web and install them on your operating system. Here I am using the Solaiman Lipi font.

• Step 03:

Download the file for complex scripts and install it. After installing the file, go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Language, and check the Install files for complex scripts and right-to-left languages option. Click Ok.

• Step 04:

Go to the menu bar of your browser for Customize and Control Google Chrome -> Options .

• Step 05:

Go to Minor Tweaks tab. Then click Change font and language setting.

• Step 06:

Go to Fonts and Encoding tab. Select SolaimanLipi font as all the fonts and select Unicode (UTF-8) as Default Encoding.

• Step 07:

Then go to Languages tab. Click Add button and select Bengali as language. Then click OK.

Now your Chrome is fully compatible for the Bangla Unicode Fonts. Visit this page again and see the test sentence written in Bangla at the beginning of this article, whether you can read it completely. Hope you will successfully read that sentence.

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Mozilla Firefox configuration for Bangla

• From Tools menu, select Options.

• From this Options window, click on Contents.

• Click on Advanced button in Fonts & Colors section.

• Click on the drop down list for option Fonts For. Select Bengali from this list.

• Complete all the option fields as in the following image (you may choose your any favourite Bangla font) and then click on OK.

 

• Go to Control Panel, Regional and Language Options

• In the Language tab, select Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages (including Thai)

• Click Ok.
  

 

 

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