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How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

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Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#71

Post by deltateam »

arif_sohaib wrote: post #66
deltateam wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having dealt with so many Pakistani web/graphic designers and photo retouchers back then, I don't think it is highly unlikely at all. There was such a competitive race to the bottom with graphic design work that I could have seen the Prime Minister's son, daughter or anyone in their network having had that font on their computer. At the time of this trial, I always had to laugh about the argument and wondered if I co…

I double Hamza Shahbaz or Mariam Nawaz even know how to use Word on a normal PC, let alone get and install beta software.

Its not my problem that the defense never brought it up.

Shows a real lack of imagination.

"Actually we used to moonlight on Craigslist and routinely searched for fonts in leaked beta software to differentiate ourselves"

Now I'm being facetious.

But there are a lot of probable ways a font was added, ESPECIALLY for people that aren't good with computers. A toolbar added by a hacker group could have stolen fonts in it.

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#73

Post by deltateam »

gpvos wrote: post #70
deltateam wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having dealt with so many Pakistani web/graphic designers and photo retouchers back then, I don't think it is highly unlikely at all. There was such a competitive race to the bottom with graphic design work that I could have seen the Prime Minister's son, daughter or anyone in their network having had that font on their computer. At the time of this trial, I always had to laugh about the argument and wondered if I co…

Then, as Carter wrote, it must be easy to find documents by one of them also using Calibri.

shrugs

Honestly I have never seen any drama from Pakistan that matched my expectations of due process.

The rebuttals and speculation are mildly entertaining, and the finality of their court garners no respect from me either way.

If the whole case hinged on the font actually existing in the wild in some capacity but the probability that it was on someone's computer at that point in time, yet some obvious to me possibilities were never even brought up, then all I can say is "lol, Pakistan."

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#74

Post by baybal2 »

arif_sohaib wrote: post #55
baybal2 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Attack on Dawn and Geo were first of a kind after 5 years lull. In last 5 years, Pakistan saw, well, nothing less than an explosion in privately owned press and TV channels.

Not last 5 years. That was mostly under an actual dictator Perviz Musharraff. That period was more democratic than after him which removed all power for local governments and probably more censorship/bans by PEMRA, our media regulatory agency. I think people are too quick to judge other countries through their lens. This is as true for some of us Pakistanis judging to the west through our cultural lens.

>This is as true for some of us Pakistanis judging to the west through our cultural lens.

Am I? Well, media curbs were then and now, but have you noticed a very apparent change in tone?

Yes, there were already quite a few private medias by late Musharaf, but back then news section was nearly the same all across them. Aside from the usual aha, aha, nod, nod, in news coverage of the junta, they just varied in kinds of entertainment content.

But once Mush was gone, it was only then for the first time in decades that news became somewhat resembling what they are supposed to be.

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#75

Post by perl4ever »

sjm-lbm wrote: post #62

The scandal wasn't near as big, but a similar issue arose during the 2004 US Presidential election. Documents claiming to be from the early 1970s about George W Bush's air national guard service were found to use things like proportional-width fonts - and, indeed, the entire document seems to have just been typed using the default settings for a contemporary version of Word. Here's some details: https://en.wikipedia.…

The letters were short, so someone could easily have retyped them in Word. Did anyone old enough to have used a typewriter seriously claim they were photocopies of 70s era typewritten documents? Surely Dan Rather of all people must have some experience with typewriters.

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#76

Post by et2o »

cm2187 wrote: post #56
huntertwo wrote: post #2

That’s really funny. Don’t think I’ve ever seen Calibri on any legal document now that I think of it.

Judicial experts in France love to make reports with fancy fonts.

My quick Google was unsuccessful. Care to provide an example?

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#77

Post by djrogers »

perl4ever wrote: post #75
sjm-lbm wrote: post #62

The scandal wasn't near as big, but a similar issue arose during the 2004 US Presidential election. Documents claiming to be from the early 1970s about George W Bush's air national guard service were found to use things like proportional-width fonts - and, indeed, the entire document seems to have just been typed using the default settings for a contemporary version of Word. Here's some details: https://en.wikipedia.…

The letters were short, so someone could easily have retyped them in Word. Did anyone old enough to have used a typewriter seriously claim they were photocopies of 70s era typewritten documents? Surely Dan Rather of all people must have some experience with typewriters.

Yes, on air Dan Rather did in fact claim they were taken directly from Killian’s files and had been ‘authenticated’. The person who sent them to 60 Minutes also claimed they were originals, which he subsequently burned after faxing.

CBS then spent the next couple of weeks in a ‘strident defense’ (their own investigators’ words) of the documents and their use, before ceding they screwed up and firing people over the incident.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian_documents_controvers...

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#78

Post by yorwba »

arif_sohaib wrote: post #64
amriksohata wrote: post #9

Pakistan is not a democracy, it is run by the military regardless of who is in power, the ISI it's it's real head of state, which have a pro-islamist agenda but with a slightly modern outlook for economic growth. Regardless if he did any wrongdoing, there have been far worse acts by politicians in Pakistan and they have got away with it.

[flagged]

Your comment looks like part of the venom. "The top of Hacker News" is determined by a mixture of recency, votes and flags. Everything starts on top and then it's downhill from there. The comment you're responding to has been flagged, by the way.

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#79

Post by emeth »

userbinator wrote: post #8

It's like watching a movie set in the 1950s and noticing someone in the background walking past with his head looking down at a smartphone.

Like this Charlie Chaplin 1928 movie, with a time traveler talking into a cell phone walking by?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU_k4yGPeOI

Re: How a Microsoft Font Brought Down Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2017)

#80

Post by nashashmi »

maxpert wrote: post #68

I’ve been following this case from the beginning. I think in a country like Pakistan it’s a huge accomplishment! Pakistan is known for its corrupt leaders because they control the system inside out this is probably the first time law is being upheld and people are backing it.

It's not over yet. The person is still in London.
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