Thomas Milo

Background

About Thomas Milo

I am an independent scholar, adventurer and entrepreneur- studied Slavic languages- studied Turkic languages- studied Koranic and Classical Arabic as well as various dialects- travelled extensively with a focus on the areas whose languages I was learning such as the Balkans, Turkey and the Arab world, but also North America as far as Nome, Alaska- drove both Amsterdam city buses and European long-distance coaches- drove international long-haul trucks in Europe and the Middle East- served in the Army as a peace keeper in a war zone- set up a company of inventors and designers- invented smart font technology together with my partners- made computer models ("fonts") of previously unreproducible Arabic scripts- contribute regularly to Unicode and typography conferences- contribute regularly to the World Public Forum on Rhodes- contributed to the emerging text critical analysis of the Koran on several Corpus Coranicum conferences in Berlin- am a member of the Inarah Institute for Research on Early Islam and Koran in Saarbruecken, Germany- co-authored with Eildert Mulder a critical analysis of Western Islam studies (De omstreden bronnen van de Islam - the debatable origins of Islam)- published many articles on the structure and history of Arabic script- wrote a number of newspaper articles and op-eds in the Dutch (Trouw, Volkskrant, NRC) and international press (Christian Science Monitor, Jordan Times, as-Sayad Magazine Lebanon) about Middle Eastern politicsSpecialties: Writing systems, multi-lingual typography, Arabic-scripted typography; early Islam, Global Computing