Jitai (字体): The font randomizer that fits

obskyr said...Hahah, that's kind of how I feel! I'm really happy someone liked Jitai enough to put it in their app (the most popular app, even). Luckily it wasn't entirely plagiarism either - there is a little notice that says "original script by obskyr". Seeing as there's no link to this thread or my GitHub or anything, though, and as it says "original script" as if it's just based on Jitai (when in fact it's just been very slightly modified to switch from hovering to touching), I'm still a bit miffed.
There are several links to this thread:
  1. In the OP of the thread where I introduce the app: /t/iOS-Mobile-AlliCrab-for-WaniKani/10065/1
  2. In the post where I announce the new version: /t/iOS-Mobile-AlliCrab-for-WaniKani/10065/171
  3. On the product page in the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keitaiwanikani/id1031055291?ls=1&mt=8
  4. On the README for the app's GitHub project: https://github.com/cplaverty/KeitaiWaniKani
  5. Within the user script itself, where the full script header from your original script was left intact, where the @homepageURL still points to your original gist: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cplaverty/KeitaiWaniKani/master/KeitaiWaniKani/User%20Scripts/jita...
About the only place I didn't put a link to your topic was in the settings screen of the app where you can enable it, and that's something which has been on my mind to change but have not yet done so as I've been deciding the best way to go about it from a technical perspective.

As a developer, I take accusations of plagiarism very, very seriously.  I do not feel that at any point I sought to claim credit for the script from you.  Perhaps I should have spoken to you first about the modifications, and for that I apologise.  If you have wording you feel is more apppropriate than "original script" to provide attribution of the script to you, then I am very open to changing the wording that is there.
cplaverty said...[...]
Thanks for reaching out!

I think we have slightly different criteria for what constitutes "credit". For example, links are present here and there, but no name. The only place that truly matters (more than the others, at least) is within the app - most people will get the app without reading the forum thread, without visiting the GitHub repository, and certainly without reading the source code. Even then, I feel a link to the thread or similar would be preferable - which you did do in some of the documentation, but not within the app.

I do realize I haven't formally licensed Jitai, but... you know, that means it falls under normal copyright, etc. Despite that, I suppose I just would've appreciated hearing about it. I didn't call it plagiarism, and wouldn't either, but it did give me a bit of an iffy feeling. As mentioned, however, I'm mostly just happy you decided to include it. Thanks for that!

As for the wording, I'd definitely expect it to be something more along the lines of simply "by @obskyr". Of course, you did make a couple of modifications, but... they're fairly minor, and to me "original script by[...]" says it's a redone version of it.
obskyr said...
Thanks for reaching out!

I think we have slightly different criteria for what constitutes "credit". For example, links are present here and there, but no name. The only place that truly matters (more than the others, at least) is within the app - most people will get the app without reading the forum thread, without visiting the GitHub repository, and certainly without reading the source code. Even then, I feel a link to the thread or similar would be preferable - which you did do in some of the documentation, but not within the app.
You make a valid point that most people will only look at what's in the app, and will generally not read the App Store description or my forum thread.  Like I said, this was more down to the technical implementation of that view, rather than any attempt to mask the authorship of the script.  I will make it a priority to include a link to this thread in addition to your name within the app, and to include the names of the script authors to all the places where I currently have just links to forum threads.  Hopefully you feel this would be sufficient attribution, but please let me know if you disagree.

I do realize I haven't formally licensed Jitai, but... you know, that means it falls under normal copyright, etc. 
The link to the script on OpenUserJS (https://openuserjs.org/scripts/obskyr/Jitai) indicates the licence is MIT.  If it wasn't your intent to select this licence, then you may want to update that particular site.  When you have selected a licence, please let me know and I will ensure I am fully-compliant (or, where I can't or won't comply, cease distribution of the modified script).

I will also do the same for the other scripts I've included.  Admittedly, I have been lax on this point as I'm not including the licence details for any of the user scripts on my acknowledgements view like I do for the third-party libraries I'm using.

Despite that, I suppose I just would've appreciated hearing about it.
A fair point, which I will take on board for any future scripts I may include in the app.

I didn't call it plagiarism, and wouldn't either, but it did give me a bit of an iffy feeling. As mentioned, however, I'm mostly just happy you decided to include it. Thanks for that!
Your reply to Plantron ("[l]uckily it wasn't entirely plagiarism") gives a very strong implication to me, through the inclusion of the word "entirely", that you deemed it a form of plagiarism.

The public airing of this grievance has given me a bit of an "iffy feeling" and I wish you'd contacted me privately to resolve this.  A contact email is not only on my app's forum thread (which as I write this is still on the first page of this forum) but there is also a contact link on the same settings page where you can enable the script in the app.  You could have also contacted me through GitHub, since that's where I assume you saw the source for the modified version of the script in order to belittle the scope of my (admittedly minor) changes.

As for the wording, I'd definitely expect it to be something more along the lines of simply "by @obskyr". Of course, you did make a couple of modifications, but... they're fairly minor, and to me "original script by[...]" says it's a redone version of it.
I will make this change as a matter of priority.  The wording wasn't intended to give the impression your script was merely an inspiration and I had rewritten it, and I am happy to clear up any confusion on that front.  If you feel that way, you're likely not alone.  I will drop the word "original".
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@obskyr  aren’t you being a bit hypocritical? Your userscript is based on another userscript (which isn’t entirely plagiarism I suppose).  @cplaverty actually did more to give you credit than you have to @wind, so why are you expecting more?

cplaverty said...[...]
I... feel like you're taking this entirely too seriously. The reason I didn't write to you personally - and instead only mention it in passing in a post mostly about something else - is simple: it's not that big a deal. I'm glad it's in the app, am a bit unhappy with how attribution was handled, but overall it's all just very mild.

cplaverty said...Your reply to Plantron ("[l]uckily it wasn't entirely plagiarism") gives a very strong implication to me, through the inclusion of the word "entirely", that you deemed it a form of plagiarism.
Ah, I'm sorry. That's not how I meant it. I don't feel like you plagiarized anything.

cplaverty said..The link to the script on OpenUserJS (https://openuserjs.org/scripts/obskyr/Jitai) indicates the licence is MIT.
Oh, whoops. I forgot OpenUserJS automatically says scripts are licensed under MIT if you don't manually change it in post. Well well, it's my favorite license in any case; I'll keep it. Regardless of license, though, I'd appreciate the attribution.

cplaverty said...[...]I assume you saw the source for the modified version of the script in order to belittle the scope of my (admittedly minor) changes.
Then I wasn't really belittling the change, was I... Don't get me wrong, it was a necessary and good change, but it was really minor.


dshoemaker said... @obskyr  aren't you being a bit hypocritical? Your userscript is based on another userscript (which isn't entirely plagiarism I suppose).  @cplaverty actually did more to give you credit than you have to @wind, so why are you expecting more?
Ah, maybe it's not clear enough in the description - Jitai isn't actually based on @Wind's Wanikani Random Fonts. In fact, Jitai was written from a blank canvas up. It was the reason I decided to make Jitai, however, which may be the source of the confusion.

I have changed from Chrome to Cent Browser which is typically improved Chrome, because they still support GDI. And the script isn’t working for me. Actually, there is like one font the whole time and when I hover with mouse over the text it changes to default font, but apart from that nothing changes. 

embe said... I have changed from Chrome to Cent Browser which is typically improved Chrome, because they still support GDI. And the script isn't working for me. Actually, there is like one font the whole time and when I hover with mouse over the text it changes to default font, but apart from that nothing changes. 
Whoaaa, that's really weird...

I downloaded Cent Browser to try it, but I couldn't reproduce the bug. I also installed Reorder Ultimate, which has typically been a source of problems, but still everything worked fine. Are you running any other extensions alongside it? Does it work if you isolate Jitai to be running by itself? Oh, and are you using TamperMonkey?

It does randomise but only 3 fonts at different intervals, that is, once for different amount of word change.

embe said... It does randomise but only 3 fonts at different intervals, that is, once for different amount of word change.
I don't entirely understand what "once for different amount of word change" means, but in any case, I don't have that problem. Even in Cent Browser, it uses all the fonts I have installed. As mentioned, it'd be good to know if you're using TamperMonkey or just the built-in Chromium userscript facilities, and whether you've tried isolating Jitai.

Something I’d really like to see is a button to temporarily switch to the browser default font. I know I can do that by hovering over the kanji, but that is kind of awkward because I have to get to the mouse, and then I often forget to move the mouse back off the kanji, so I don’t get any benefit from having Jitai for the rest of the session.

(Left CTRL would probably work well.)

Taschi said... Something I'd really like to see is a button to temporarily switch to the browser default font. I know I can do that by hovering over the kanji, but that is kind of awkward because I have to get to the mouse, and then I often forget to move the mouse back off the kanji, so I don't get any benefit from having Jitai for the rest of the session.

(Left CTRL would probably work well.)
Thanks for the suggestion! We've talked about this before a few times, though. Basically, it counters the point of Jitai a bit.

That you forget to remove the mouse from the word is a bit of a problem though, hmm... I feel a bit silly asking, but is that something you could learn to not do? The only solution I can think of is doing the hover via JavaScript instead of CSS and undoing the hover effect each time the font switches, but that'd be some really weird behavior I think...

Oh, by the way, your avatar is from a real sweet game series! Nice one.

I can see that it counters the point a bit, just like the possibility to hover does.

My angle is that learning to read some of the weirder fonts in Jitai’s list just requires the possibility to switch back to contrast and compare, which a) allows you to learn instead of just guessing when you first encounter a weird glyph, and b) strenghtens recognition of the basic shapes of individual kanji. And I probably don’t have to tell you how hard distinguishing between “plate” and “blood” can be in some fonts (while it’s fairly obvious in some others).

Taschi said... My angle is that learning to read some of the weirder fonts in Jitai's list just *requires* the possibility to switch back to contrast and compare, which a) allows you to learn instead of just guessing when you first encounter a weird glyph, and b) strenghtens recognition of the basic shapes of individual kanji. And I probably don't have to tell you how hard distinguishing between "plate" and "blood" can be in some fonts (while it's fairly obvious in some others).
Absolutely, it does require the possibility to compare. However, having a keyboard shortcut makes it too easy. The first time you encounter a new glyph you don't understand you can hover if you can't figure it out, and then hopefully after that you should know it - or at least be better at recognizing it. If it's a bit more of a hassle to checck the normal font, it's harder to reflexively go for the font switch and negate any interpretation practice you might've gotten if you kept at it for a little bit more.

Hey, I need some help for the additional fonts.
I have unzipped everything and have différent types of files (.lzh, .crx, .ttf, .otf, .eot, .woff). The readme files are not lisible. What do I have to do with these? Can’t open them.

Sorry if someone already asked the question.

plantron said...
Capu said... Hey, I need some help for the additional fonts.
I have unzipped everything and have différent types of files (.lzh, .crx, .ttf, .otf, .eot, .woff). The readme files are not lisible. What do I have to do with these? Can't open them.

Sorry if someone already asked the question.
 Can you at least tell us your operating system and version?
 Oh sorry!
I use Windows 10.
Capu said...
plantron said...
Capu said... Hey, I need some help for the additional fonts.
I have unzipped everything and have différent types of files (.lzh, .crx, .ttf, .otf, .eot, .woff). The readme files are not lisible. What do I have to do with these? Can't open them.

Sorry if someone already asked the question.
 Can you at least tell us your operating system and version?
 Oh sorry!
I use Windows 10.
 lzh: some version of japanese zip files〜
crx: uwaa〜 as far i know this is chrome extension〜 why it included in font files?
ttf : true type font〜 it's golden standard but now begin replaced by OTF
otf: opentype font〜 new modern standard and have more advanced ligature and glyps compared ttf〜
eot: embedded font usually for web purpose〜
woff: function same like eot for displaying on web〜

purotip〜 if your package contain both otf and ttf〜 im prefer otf since it more robust〜 but if your package contain only TTF nothing wrong with that and is okay for use〜

otf/ttf  is cross platform which is also okay on win 10〜 make sure dont install both to avoid conflict in some program〜

ciao〜♪
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Thanks for your answers! I think it was not recognized and considered as a unidentified file at the begining, this is why I couldn’t do anything with the files (I maybe wrong though).

For the crx it’s my mistake. It’s a chrome extension like you said.

So I have nothing to do with the .lzf file?

k thx

I just tried this out on my review session and it was quite refreshing. Thanks for this incredibly practical userscript!

I haven’t scoured this thread, so I apologize if this has already been mentioned, but I use the rikaisama extension all the time and the moving the cursor to the kanji or word makes it dangerously close to revealing the answer through a pop-up for me, and that did happen on a few occasions. If it was possible to extend the mouse detection range (perhaps even to the upper frame of the review screen) or allow a keyboard shortcut that would be fantastic.

Been using this since level 1, and it is absolutely awesome.  Thank you so much!

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