Raph Levien
Raph Levien | |
---|---|
Born | 1970 (age 53–54) |
Citizenship | American |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
Occupation | Programmer |
Employer | |
Known for | Advogato |
Children | 2 |
Website | www |
Raphael Linus Levien (also known as Raph Levien; born April 6, 1970) is a software developer, a member of the
Imaging and typography
The primary focus of Levien's work and research is in the varied areas regarding the theory of imaging—that is, rendering pictures and fonts for electronic display, which in addition to being aesthetically and mathematically important also contribute to the accessibility and search-openness of the web.
Levien has written several papers documenting his research in
In 2009, Levien completed a PhD thesis entitled 'From Spiral to Spline: Optimal Techniques in Interactive Curve Design'
Beginning in 2010, his work with Google largely focused on introducing high-quality, open licensed, well organized webfonts to the internet through Google's webfont API.[6] Here, his experience with typographical technology, history and industry[5] helped to shape the development of this growing resource, though he has since moved on from the project to work on Android fonts and text layout.[1]
One of his own fonts, Inconsolata (named in 2009 as one of the ten best programming fonts by Hivelogic,[7] and generally known for its clean lines and elegant design) is now available within the Google library.[8] Regarding this font and his curves work in general, Levien had to say, "And, in fact, I don't just use the Euler spirals, I use a mixture of curves (my package is called Spiro, which is kind of an abbreviation for polynomial spirals). Most Inconsolata (the monospaced font mentioned above) is drawn using G4-continuous splines, which are a very close approximation to the Minimum Variation Curve of Henry Moreton. I now think that's overkill, and G2-continuous splines (the Euler spiral ones) are plenty, and could be done with fewer points."[1]
Advogato
In November 1999, Levien founded
The site has been successful from the point of view of the first criterion, surviving many attacks aimed at subverting the attack metric, made both by developers trying out attacks, and by
The site has had a more rocky road as a forum for free software developers, and currently[
Activism in GPL-licensed software and encryption legislation
Levien played a small part in precipitating the relaxation of the US
ZD-Net's Interactive week summarised the issue that patents pose to the free software community:[10]
Levien recognizes the paradox: On one hand, he made money from forcing everyone who used his patented ideas to give him royalties. On the other, he shared the source code of several programs and recognized how the cooperation helped him and others. The two models were in conflict.
As a resolution to this conflict, in March 2000, Levien made a patent grant of his patent portfolio to the GPL community.
Personal life
He is divorced, with two sons: Alan and Max. He is a member of the
Bibliography
- Raph Levien (2004). Attack Resistant Trust Metrics. Early draft of abandoned PhD manuscript.
- Raph Levien (2007). Lessons From Advogato (video) (abstract). Google Tech Talks, June 25, 2007.
References
- ^ a b c d "Raph Levien". Levien.com. Archived from the original on Apr 10, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Levien, Raphael (2018-08-28). "A New Adventure". Raph Levien’s blog. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ "Raph Levien (@raphlinus)". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ a b Levien, Raph (23 August 2008). "The elastica: a mathematical history" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on Sep 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
- ^ a b Levien, Raphael. "From Spiral to Spline: Optimal Techniques in Interactive Curve Design". Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- ^ Google I/O 2011 Webfonts Presentations. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- ^ Benjamin, Dan. "Top 10 Programming Fonts". Hivelogic. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- ^ Levien, Raphael. "Inconsolata". Webfont API. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- ^ Chapter six of (Levien 2006).
- ^ Peter Wayner, ZD-Net Interactive Weel, 8 November 2001. Levien provided an annotated summary of the article.
- ^ "Berkeley Monthly Meeting website". 2022-07-20. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ISBN 978-0982462607.