Arabic on the Net

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Monika Bauerlein,
CEO

Dear Reader,

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising. We have a $350,000 goal that we simply cannot afford to miss. And in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we explain, as matter-of-fact as we can, how being a nonprofit means everything to us. Bottom line: Donations big and small make up 74 percent of our budget this year and are urgently needed this month, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal. Please pitch in if you can right now.

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we hope that giving it to you as matter-of-fact as we can will work to raise the $350,000 we need to raise this month. Donations make up 74 percent of our budget this year, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal.

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Just so you know: according to ICANN, today was “the most significant day” since the launch of the internet. Why? Because for the first time ever, you can type in a full URL, including the top level domain name, in a non-Latin alphabet. Namely, Arabic:

One of the first websites with a full Arabic address is the Egyptian Ministry of Communications. Egypt’s communication and information technology minister Tarek Kamal told the Associated Press that three Egyptian companies were the first to receive registrar licences for the ‘.masr’ domain, written in Arabic.

Other countries will get top level domains in Arabic shortly, and further non-Latin alphabets are in the works. So now you know.